IBS? Scared, can anyone help?

Hi I am new to this forum, though have lurked for a bit.

I think I may have IBS but am not sure as my sypmtoms seem a little different to most peoples.

I have pain right in the middle of my abdomen, round the belly button or a bit lower, it is quite widespread but definately in the middle. Sometimes it goes lower and is more like period pain.

It started last autumn (2011) after a particularly stressful time in my life, and persisted for a few weeks then went, then came back for a week, then went and went on until end of Jan on and off.

Have had a pain free year though lots of other HA issues but these did not cause a flare up. (Had lots of heart tests and an MRI for constant PVCs).

It has come back again, briefly in Oct and briefly in Nov of 2012, then has been really bad over the Christmas holidays, when I should have been enjoying myself. :weep:

The thing is the pain is not every day. It seems to be ok as long as I do not have a BM, as I get more and more full the pain eases, especially after a large meal. And as long as I don't have a BM I am fine, but inevitably I have to maybe the next day, and then within a couple of hours the pain starts up again.

I do suffer from diarhoea and constipation too I would say, and sometimes feel like I want to go but only pass a very small amount. If i do that the pain is usually very little or stays away. I think of the 2 weeks of holiday I have had 2 days totally pain free, about 4 days with mild pain and the rest quite bad.

Is this IBS? As most of the literature and tests say that the pain should be relieved by BM and get worse after eating, but exactly the reverse is true for me.

Should also add last Jan/Feb time I paid to go privately to a hospital as getting nowhere with GPs who said 'it is not normal' in a sinister way. Private surgeon did not seem concerned and I insisted on having an MRI of my whole abdomen and nothing was found. But they did not ask me to fast and I read on the internet that the bowel does not show up clearly on an MRI if not completely empty, so how can they say there is nothing wrong with me?

I also half think the pain could come from my reproductive system as I also get brown spotting before and after each period, and sometimes a period after only 2 weeks. This has gone on for 8 years. Doctors again just send me away. Worrying about the last bout of this I think is what started this Christmas holiday pain!

Anyone any advice on this?

It could be ibs and if you have had tests done to rule out other problems then I would say that is what it is by the way you describe it. IBS can effect people in different ways.