Yeah, keep your fingers crossed if the diagnosis comes back as IBS vs IBD. Neither is a cakewalk, but my totally uneducated take on it is that Inflammatory Bowel disease is a chronic, long term incurable disease with progressive symptomology. whereas with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, although the syndrome may remain with you, there is typically little progression, nor drastic long term accumulated damage. Keep in mind that this is just a laymans view, and that I could be totally mistaken. I garnered what little info I have on these separate issues when I noticed an IBS study poster at my GI clinic last year, and asked a nurse practioner about it. so my info is pretty anecdotal, and it is based on my memory... Neither is all that reliable. As far as symptomology, its my best recollection that these two can mimic each other, one of the reasons that a definitive diagnosis of IBD is typically hard to determine. One potential con of an IBS diagnosis is that, since it isn't considered as bad as an IBD one, it probably merits less study, and possibly fewer support groups like this (maybe)
Think if given a choice, most members here would gladly swap their IBD dx for a IBS one (but that's just my gut talking, and it isn't too reliable latley either) OK?
