I have an irritated bowel, that I know, it's easy to tell.
I have had all the unpleasant things poked into orifices and nothing found.
In discussion with the consultant afterwards I mentioned IBS, he said
"It's not a phrase we like use professionally; it's too vague, it's an umbrella name, covers too many symptoms and causes BUT it's a handy one for patients to explain their problems to others without having to resort to graphic detail."

He gave me some leaflets about diet and said "Experiment with these suggestions to see what makes it better or worse but do make sure you still have a balanced diet and DON'T follow any silly diet!"

My most painful symptom is bowel spasms/cramps, my GP prescribed Macrogol "so that the bowel always has something soft to work against".

Most of the time it seems to work pretty well.

Mike