The same old prescription from the same old doctors
I have had IBS-D since I was 11-years-old. I am now 66. I have been living in Mexico for the last 10 years. All the major pharmacies have a doctor's office connected physically to the pharmacy. You don't need an appointment, you just wait your turn and the doctor will eventually see you.
Diagnosis not recognized
Well, for the first 3-4 years that I lived here, I made the mistake of going to see these doctors. No matter what pharmacy chain they were associated with, these doctors always told me to take probiotics and psyllium seed husks. Then, frequently they would take out a food chart and explain to me that I need to eat a balanced diet, and to avoid sodas and spicy foods. If I see another food chart I think I will scream!
I have explained to them that I have had IBS-D for more than 50 years, that I do eat a balanced diet, and that I have been diagnosed by Gastroenterologists in the United States. Here they never call IBS by its proper name. They always tell me I "just" have colitis. Even when I correct them and tell them I have IBS-D, and I say it correctly in Spanish, they do know the term, but for some reason they have one solution for everything: the food chart, and the probiotics and psyllium seed husks. I've tried explaining the excruciating pain that I experience to them, and how embarrassed I am that my young step-daughter hears her step-father screaming in agony in the bathroom during my attacks, but that makes no difference.
Stress and humiliation
Occasionally, they will tell me that I have some kind of parasite, and give me an anti-parasite drug. I live on Social Security Disability, and so I cannot afford to see a Specialist. I wish one doctor would give me a prescription for something for the pain. It is literally unbearable! And now to make matters worse, around the time I turned 60, the IBS-D is turning into IBS-C! I don't know who to turn to. It's so distressful and humiliating that my step-daughter is so worried about my health, and how she tells me that she prays for me when she hears me screaming in the bathroom. Please keep me in your prayers.
Join the conversation