I don’t think it’s too extreme to go down the endoscopy/gastroscopy route, I had these done myself a few years ago when I had some major problems. Thankfully nothing sinister was revealed and they diagnosed me with “gluten intolerance”, without actually being coeliac. If you have the exams done, opt for a general anaesthetic, I did and am glad!

I went through this same thing last summer, and reading your post made me gag with the memory of disposing of my “hat” in our neighbor’s trash can. Seriously, the thought of going in the hat cured me of any pooping at all for about 2 days, a miracle in and of itself. And the thought of it even now makes me gag a little bit.

I just wanted to let you know that even though my GP and my gastroenterologist were absolutely sure I had celiac disease, I have tested negative for it twice on the blood test and had absolutely no relief of my symptoms after a 3 month hell of restricting gluten. My gastroenterologist now thinks I just have my own funky version of IBS, and her parting words of wisdom to me were: “Some people just don’t ever make a solid stool and that is ok.” I have gotten some minor relief from a low dose of Elavil, which is sometimes prescribed for IBS, but I did not think that level of relief was worth the side effects. My GP (who is very traditional and not at all an alternative medicine person) finally recommended a big dose of peppermint oil twice a day, and that has been helpful, if not a panacea.

The biggest thing that has helped me is that a doctor friend of mine who knew how much sugarless gum I chewed during the day told me that could be wreaking havoc on my stomach, and he was right: After I stopped chewing gum, my stomach issues were not cured, but I haven’t had a single instance of, ahem, not making it to the bathroom. (knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood)

Sorry for the forever long comment – just wanted to share my experience with you.

Also, a friend of mine did this allergen detox-y diet thing where she scaled back all eating to only veggies and something else, I don’t know the specifics, and then added back foods one at a time to figure out what the culprit was and eventually figured out she had a soy allergy and lactose intolerance. I don’t know the name of it, but perhaps that could be a way to self-diagnose that doesn’t have you up too late at night visiting Dr. Google?

Also, great crockpot recipes abound at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com

But as long as I avoid anything with maltodextrin, sorbitol, asorbic acid, et. al. and stay away from Mexican restaurants, I feel fine. And truthfully, I feel a lot healthier without the high fructose corn syrup in my diet.

Just something to ponder. You could try an elimination diet to see if it has any affect on you.

As for the colonoscopy – the prep sucks, but the procedure itself is not the end of the world. You won’t even remember it. And the side effect is that you’ll be super skinny for a week, but you can eat like a horse. Perfect if you need to fit into tight jeans or attend a special-dress occasion. :)

My husband has Crohn’s disease and I have often been his poo courier. I just assumed it went under “in sickness and in health, with loose stool and with firm.”

What? You didn’t say that?