As someone who was diagnosed with IBS at 16, after suffering my entire childhood with embarrassing G.I. issues, (about a quarter century ago now! Geez, lol!!) I just wanted to let you know that, even though I consider my condition to be better/recovered because I do not get symptoms often anymore, I still could be symptomatic if I ate any triggering foods. Basically, similar to Fibromyalgia, IBS is a blanket term for “We don’t know what is wrong with you or why, but you share these constellation of symptoms w/ other people.” Essentially, what I wish someone had told me early on is that the IBS diagnosis oftentimes does not lead to any medical solutions. I was put on several different medications at that time, but progressively quit each one by one, as they only seemed to further exacerbate my symptoms. One of the meds I quickly quit was taken off the market by the FDA about a year or 2 later for CAUSING stomach cancer in prescribed patients!!! Thank goodness I’d had the sense to listen to my body & to not stay on it for long enough to do any known damage, but still a frightening situation that taught me that doctors don’t have all of the answers. IBS trigger substances & related (OCD &) anxiety conditions are actually really specific to each individual, & it will be up to you to figure out over time. Symptoms can arise probably up to 72 hours after the trigger substance is ingested, or reactions can be immediate, so this is a tricky trial & error process, but it is well worth it to know what aggravates your condition. Personally, it took me like 2 decades to figure out that I cannot digest animal proteins, & I am now mostly vegan (occasional egg ingredients only) for ethical reasons, as well. Although I still have stomach pain & issues related to my other diagnoses, I do not have constant gas & diarrhea like I used to, so I hope that you, too, will figure out what foods (& also beverages, don’t forget!!) trigger symptom flare ups! Good luck on your journey!!! :-)

Might be worth it to try a food sensitivity test, not sure if you’ve already done that. But I am planning to once I can afford one lol

Like @MeeB333 said, IBS is a diagnosis that's basically "there's no other answer to explain this". The diagnosis process for IBS is pretty much just process of elimination. They test for several other things and if those all come out negative... congrats, you have IBS. You'll probably have to give stool samples, blood samples, and more than likely you'll need an upper and lower endoscopy. I like to say there's a little goblin in my stomach that spins a wheel every time I ingest something to determine if I'll have a reaction or not. The problem is that 80% of the wheel is reaction and the other 20% is no reaction. I have IBS with mixed movements (basically meaning I have both constipation phases and diarrhea phases). I don't know what strugges you face specifically so I'll explain the treatment/advice I received for both diarrhea and constipation. Right now I'm on Dicyclomine on an as needed basis. I have to take it after a wave of diarrhea and then take it after every following wave until it stops and I can take up to 4 a day. Usually I don't need to take 4. 2 is on average the most I need to take in a day. It's a muscle relaxer so it's supposed to help with the pain and there's a side effect of constipation which pretty much cancels out the diarrhea. It helps me a lot so you can always ask your doctor if it's right for you. For constipation I was instructed to take over the counter gentle stool softeners as directed by the packaging. Since I struggle with diarrhea much more frequently than the constipation, that's why they prescribed me the Dicyclomine, plus the pain from the IBS cramps is a serious issue for me. In the meantime while waiting for a diagnosis, you can take Imodium for diarrhea episodes and gentle stool softeners for constipation episodes.

Well sadley you can't get a test for IBS it is purely symptom based. I had so many test done to me and it can be expensive but sometimes if you have a feeling it's better to do one to relieve your anxiety. I'd you don't poop once every 1-2 days then you have IBS-C. If you poop more than 3 times a day then you have IBS-D. And if you have both then you have IBS. 🙏Hope you get this figured out!