What kind of symptoms? I also have celiac disease beside IBS-D, so I have multiple autoimmune problems that add up to many symptoms. The celiac disease being undiagnosed until I was 54, but I was born with the disease and it caused my autoimmune illnesses.

I have migraines, hypothyroidism - which causes fatigue, anxiety, hair thinning, dry skin, low libido, just to name a few, Addison's - which causes fatigue, and low blood pressure, there are more but I think you get the picture. So it would be easier to answer your question if you were more specific.

You might be having malabsorption problems if you are having a lot of diahrea. You might want to get your vitamin D and vitamin B's checked to see where that is at. I'm on high doses of both to keep in the normal range. If you feel like you are totally falling apart you might want to see how your adrenal function is. If your adrenals are not working correctly you will feel unbelievably bad. Like you said, like you are falling apart. It took me 9 months to get my doctor to test me, most people take a long time to convince their doctor to get this test. But the sooner you know the better, you might be able to avoid steroids if this is caught early.

I hope this helps. Good look.

Thanks. Sorry I didn't go more in depth, I was kind of rushed at the moment. I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease also, but I'm the kind of person that believes that is caused by something else wrong in the body. I have the normal fatigue pretty bad, not really dizziness but lightheadedness, high anxiety, heart palpitations (mild ones) difficulty breathing at times, just to name a few. I've had test after test ran on me, tons of blood work, and everything comes back normal. I did have a upper scope done a few weeks ago and I have 2 pretty nasty peptic ulcers, but other than that and the IBS, they can't find anything else wrong with me. (I've had all heart tests ran too, some more than once, all ok)
I've read a lot of articles online about people having problems other than GI problems with IBS. I was just wondering how common it is to have the weird symptoms. It has gotten to the point that it's really having a negative effect on my life, and with 2 small kids and a passion for being in the woods, it's starting to really get to me. Thanks again for any replies.

It sounds like thyroid from the symptoms you are describing. If you go to stopthetyroidmadness.com you will get a really clear picture about your thyroid. I haven't had those symptoms but almost everyone else has had the heart palpitations you are talking about. The anxiety can be just awful until you get treated and up to a good level on the thyroid meds. Have they checked your thyroid? Hyperthyroidism is more common among women but men do get it. Good luck.

Actually, the last blood test my doc did was test my thyroid and it was normal. I'm just trying to piece everything together, lol. I've read the ulcers and IBS can irritate the vagus nerve and cause palpitations.

The problem with what doctors consider normal for your thyroid depends on what he/she is going by. If they are going strictly by your TSH number it could be at the very high end of normal, and that number varies depending on who you are talking too. Most doctors won't treat if your TSH is under 10, but that number will make you feel sick. But the really important numbers are your Free T3 and Free T4 numbers. If they didn't run the blood work on that then you really don't know if you have a thyroid problem. Your TSH should be about 1. You should ask for a copy of your labs regarding your thyroid. We all get a copy at each visit to track where we are and keep track of our dose increases/decreases. The newest information in treating thyroid problems is to go gluten free because the gluten causes the immune system to attack itself, attacking the thyroid, causing hypothyroidism. So it can start in the intestines even if your not gluten intolerant or don't have celiac disease. Thyroid problems can be very difficult to understand at the beginning. But you do have enough of the symptoms to seriously consider it to be your thyroid. I have been hypothyroid now for 15 years. Good luck in your search for answers.

My doctors office has s secure online site where I can look up my information, so I just looked up my most recent lab results. Tsh: 1.518 uIU/mL. Free T4: 0.90 ng/dL. I don't see anything about Free T3, but there is also a comprehensive metabolic panel and the only thing that registered high was Ast: 40 U/L, whatever that is. I guess I just have to go on the assumption that my problems have to be coming from my IBS, even though I have some crazy symptoms from it. I'm so tired of being tested for this and that my head could explode, lol.

Do you know your lab ranges for the Free T4? That looks like a really low number to me. Each lab has its own set of ranges for their tests.

0.8 - 1.8 ng/L from what I can tell

Ok here is the result from your Free T4 test. It is why you are feeling so badly. You want to be in the upper 25% of the lab range to feel ok again. You are barely in the range at all. You definitely need thyroid meds but a lot of doctors look at your TSH and aren't willing to give you meds because your TSH is close to 1.

The Lab Range is 0.8 - 1.8
Results 0.9 very low

This is the math to figure out what the percentage should be:

1.8 - 0.8 = 1.00
1.00 times 75% = 1.75
00.8 times 1.75 = 1.40

Your T4 should be between 1.40 and 1.80 to be in the upper 25% of the range. Only when you get close to these numbers will you start feeling better.

Thyroid meds convert T4 into T3 which can effect the TSH, causing it to go lower. That is why your doctor probably doesn't want to put you on meds. But as long as your T4 is that low you will feel bad and probably get worse over time. If you post on the hypothyroidism site they can help you. But they will probably tell you to fire your doctor, they tell a lot of people that. I would see an endocrinologist if you can and talk about your numbers. Also keep a diary of your symptoms to back up your low numbers when you see the doctor as that helps a lot. It takes a really long time for thyroid meds to work. So it is a slow progress to get better. Good luck.

Thank you. I'll check out the hypothyroidism group.