How To Test For IBS: Is There IBS Diagnosis?

Eric Bakker, naturopath from New Zealand, author of Candida Crusher, creator of the Candida Crusher YouTube Channel, and also creator of the CanXida range of supplements. Thanks for checking out this series on Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This video, we’re going to talk about tests and diagnosis of IBS.

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Medical practitioners have developed a set of specialized criteria to diagnose if you’ve got Irritable Bowel Syndrome or not. One is called a Rome criteria, where they’re going to basically want to know if you’ve got pain or discomfort in the abdominal area for three days in a row at least once per month for a three-month duration. That’s what they’re going to be asking you for. Then they’re going to be asking you if there’s been a change in the frequency of stool or the consistency of the motions. Those are sort of things that they look for.

They’re also going to be looking at your age. If you’re an old guy like me, about 50 plus, and you’ve had previously no kind of gut issues, that will raise one red flag. If you’ve had a sudden change in bowel motions all of a sudden, and you’re an old codger like me, bang, another flag goes up. If you’ve got rectal bleeding, a third flag goes up. Flags go up everywhere. It’s like a soccer match. They’re going to be looking basically for change. The big thing that they look for is stability and if there was a change. That will raise a lot of flags, age particularly.

They’re going to check for mucus, do a blood test, and check for bleeding. They also may screen you for Celiac, may do an anti-body test for Celiac. They may check you out for an enzyme to make sure that you break lactose down properly. They could be doing a lactose test. They could do a breath test to check for SIBO or small intestinal bacterial issues. Others may check for helicobacter.

Then there’s a series of other tests they may do. They may refer you then if they think, “Ok, well you’ve passed all these, but we’ve got a bit of a suspicion here.” So they may send you to the gastroenterologist. That’s the guy who’s got the cameras that go up in all funny areas of the body. Gastroenterology is nothing like it used to be in the old days.

I remember when my dad had a yeast infection back in the 80s. Poor old guy. He loved ice cream. He would eat 2 liters of ice cream for lunch. He would eat a whole packet of cookies, 30 cookies, sometimes during the day and keep dunking them in coffee. He’d probably have about 10 cups of coffee a day with 2 sugars in them, and then have lots of ginger biscuits/crackers. Dad loved those. In the coffee, in the mouth. Bloating and gas as a result. What the hell is wrong with me? I’ve got a gut problem.

At that stage in my life, I wasn’t really studying natural medicine, but I knew about cause and effect. “Dad, it’s those biscuits.” “Don’t be an idiot. The doctor said there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m going to go to the gastroenterologist.” He had a barium enema, and they pumped this foam in his bum into the colon. Oftentimes what they will do then is do an abdominal x-ray to check for blockages. The doctor never even asked about his diet. Didn’t ask about biscuits or sugar consumption or stuff like that. It was crazy. That’s called a barium enema. That can also be done. They’ll use a sigmoidoscope. It’s a very fine, flexible camera that gets inserted. It’s not a problem.

I’ve got a good friend who is a gastroenterologist, and I often talk about these kind of procedures. I’ve got another friend who’s a urologist – very cool guy. With a number plate: CME2P. Very nice guy. There’s a lot of really nice helpful professional people out there. It’s very important if you’re concerned to get checked out properly. Particularly if there’s been changes that occurred very quickly and you’re getting a bit older. That’s when it’s even more important to get checked out.

If you’ve had a little bit of history on and off for a long time, a stool analysis is often the first port of call I recommend. Particularly if you’re in your 20s, 30s or 40s. They reckon females have got a higher incidents of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Younger women particularly. When it comes to guys, it’s three to one, but I see lots of guys with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I would see just as many males as females.

The point is tests and diagnoses depend on the severity of the complaint, the duration of the complaint, the age. Those three factors in particular you need to be taking into account. As usual, if you’re worried, always get it checked out. Talk to somebody about it. Get a referral to someone who’s good. Get things checked out. It’s very important that you get the right treatment after the correct diagnosis.

That’s it for this video. Click on the link down below if you haven’t already got my report, and stay tuned, because I’m going to do another video right now on the best diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We’ll catch you in the next video. Thank you.

Before you leave the page make sure to watch My TOP 5 Candida Fighting Foods. I share my 5 favorite foods that beat candida overgrowth. The video is on my youtube channel and you can click here to watch it. Let me know if you have any other questions.