Hello dtj89,

                 sorry to hear of your problems,its a real pain the you know where. A colonoscopy is in effect actually looking at the bowel,an MRI an image, so my thoughts would be that the colonoscopy would be the definitive one of the two.Having had rather too many of both,l always placed more trust in the colonoscopy.

Having become an unwilling afficienado of the bowel and its workings l have come to the conclusion that treatable bowel cancer is slightly more preferable than IBS or Chrones. People tend to initially underestimate the potentially debilitating effect they can have,but they really can cause havoc.

If the doctor diagnosed IBS did he also reccommend some form of treatment? or just grin and bear it.

My thoughts would be if this were a cancer tumour  triggering these problems,it would have been  seen on the scope, and most certainly would have progressed showing worsening symptoms,so l would be reassured. ln the meantime react to any substantial change in your bowel habits and try to assess any triggers for an IBS flare,diet or very importantly stress.As you claim to be bereft with worry,stress will always go to two places,mind and bowel,so this in itself could be your trigger for episodes.

 hope things improve for you,

                                                David

Sorry for the late reply David. Id just like to say thank you for your reassuring post. I'm going to try and change my eating habits and go from there. When I'm walking or out and about I dont seem to notice the symptoms so much.  No definitive diagnosis from the doctor, no advice, just grin and bear it. Ill try and get in touch with them this week. Thank you again. Daniel