I m wondering how often IBS is a mistaken diagnosis for an ovarian cyst? Or, could they even be linked? My daughter began having frequent stomach aches around the age of 11. Because she was always healthy, tall, and athletic, the pediatrician suggested watching to see if particular foods bothered her because we did not want to get into a lot of invasive testing. In spite of keeping track of foods, etc., we could never identify any particular culprit. When she went on to get her period at age 13, it was never regular - not even after she d had it for a few years. She would get a period maybe once every six or seven weeks. They would last at least a week, often longer, and be fairly heavy with cramping etc. Stomach problems continued, sometimes so bad that she would be shaky and nauseous and have diarrhea. One morning, around the age of 16, she had such severe stomach pain that she passed out - and this is a kid who, when she broke her wrist, refused to even take a tylenol. We went to the ER, and the doc originally said - oh, it s probably the flu (I knew it was not) but let s do an ultrasound to make sure it s not her appendix. The ultrasound showed a ruptured right ovarian cyst (free fluid related to rupture of follicular cyst is wording), plus some small follicular cysts seen in the same ovary. Since then, she has been to a gyn and gone on a progesterin-only pill because of aural migraines (rarely has a migraine - hasn t had one in more than a year). On the pill, her periods are still not regular, but gyn is not concerned - and yes, daughter is very good about taking the pill at exactly the same time every day. Meanwhiile, bloatedness and stomach issues continued so we went to a gastro doc, who asked a lot of questions, did some blood work and said it is IBS. She was given medication and told to watch her diet. Since that time - about a year and a half ago, she has experienced what she is sure are several ovarian cyst ruptures (probably smaller, though - painful, but not like that first one), and while medications have seemed to be of help with the IBS symptoms (just slightly) for a while, nothing really takes away the bloating, gassiness, diarrhea etc. They have switched medications several times to try to find one that seems to work. Also, when she has had a urine check as part of her routine annual well-child visit, the last few years they have always shown a trace of blood. They would have her repeat it a few days later and it would be fine again. I guess what I m wondering is this - in a few weeks, we have lined up follow-up appointments with both the GI and gyn. Are there questions we should be asking? Is there some definitive testing that should be done? It seems like we are just circling and circling, never really getting any answers and no relief for her pain (which is usually moderate, except when the ovarian cyst events have occurred) and no relief of diarrhea (and occasional constipation, which I know, points to IBS also, but somehow that diagnosis does not really seem to fit her exactly). They did test her stool and said it was okay - so unlikely that it is IBD. Do you have suggestions for questions we should ask the various physicians? Thank you for your assistance. -- Adrienne