Does this sound like IBS or something else?

[kesai]

I have had digestive problems for as long as I can remember. I will attempt to keep the history brief.

First my parents: Dad has chronic diarrhea but he is an alcoholic and severe indigestion. Mom has Hypothyroidism (constipation) and Gerd.

As a baby I was allergic to cow's milk, so I was on a soy formula (my mom was unable to breastfeed). When ingesting dairy I got really high fevers. When I begin to eat solid foods my mom switched back to dairy. I suffered from constipation and frequent bouts of indigestion. I would gorge myself as a child whenever food was available to make up for those times when we didn't have enough food (we were poor).

I was overweight as a child. At 12 I became a vegetarian (I was tired of feeling sick whenever I ate and the indigestion was getting worse thanks to my high fat Southern diet) and eventually lost the extra pounds. My new vegetarian diet totally rid me of indigestion but I still had issues with constipation. In high school I went to get an X-Ray of my spine and the doctor told me that my constipation was so severe I would need to be hospitalized if I could not go within the next 24 hours (I was shocked as I hadn't went to the doctor about constipation and I felt pretty much the same way I always did).

I continued to suffer from constipation despite healthy eating and regular exercise. Then in my 20s I began to experience Steatorrhoea. I had some routine blood work done and the doctor told me I wasn't consuming enough fat but every time I ate fat it just came out again. This problem eventually cleared up on its own and I only have it rarely and only then if I eat a particularly high fat meal. I should also mention at this time I had to stop eating eggs, eggs had always done a number on my stomach but I just couldn't take it anymore.

At 28 I moved to a cold climate and started to eat meat again. I continued to have issues with constipation, bloating, difficulty passing gas, stomach cramps, and frequent bouts of the hiccups thanks to an inability to burp. I did not want to use laxatives to relieve my discomfort (my mom was dependent on them) so I tried things like elevating my feet, scheduling my drinking, always drinking a huge glass of water on waking,  relaxation techniques, and sitting down on the toilet even when I didn't feel the need just to try. One of my issues was that I almost never felt an urge to defecate. I should say that when I am constipated it causes problems for me in my lower back (when I finally go you can literally hear the spine snapping back into place).

At 31 or so I decided to go Gluten Free. I had a blood test done a few years earlier that said I was not Gluten Intolerant but I'd read only a bowel biopsy was conclusive. I could not convince the doctor to do more thorough testing so I decided just to try it and see if I felt better (I was desperate!). What I noticed from my time Gluten Free my nails actually started growing and were strong (they had always been brittle). I was going to the bathroom more regularly (still some constipation occasionally) and the biggest change was that my normal 26 inch waist went under 23 inches (no more bloating!) Then one day I went out to eat and got very sick with diarrhea I must have been sick for a few weeks with it and I switched back to a normal diet because the Gluten Free Diet was expensive and it was hard cooking separate meals and I didn't even have any lab work proving I needed to be on the diet which made me feel guilty for asking others to accommodate it. I also eat eggs again but never ever something like quiche because that makes me very ill. I try to eat them sparingly and stick to only 1 egg at a time. I also drink lactose free now because my daughter has issues with milk.

Now I am 35. Currently my digestive system is in a new phase. My waist line is back up and the bloating/cramping is back. In the mornings I have violently explosive, loose stools sometimes it is just brown water or brown water with pulverized stool. I only have this episode once a day (sometimes twice) so it's not exactly diarrhea. I am glad to be going, on the one hand, but on the other this doesn't strike me as normal either. My stomach has gotten very noisy when I need to go and now the urge is super strong. Sometimes I still get constipated but after passing a few very dry hard stools, the explosive diarrhea kicks in again so that I seem somehow to have constipation and diarrhea in the same movement!

I think maybe I have IBS? What do you guys think? I have never had blood in my stools btw. My thyroid levels fluctuate and I receive regular testing for that, it has been determined that in the future I will likely have Hypothyroidism and will need medication. I have Menorrhagia and am being treated with birth control but other than that I take no medications.