Hi there, Thanks for your query. Apart from IBS, there are few other possibilities that need to be considered by your treating doctor :- * Food Allergies or intolerance (as you have mentioned that certain foods aggravate the symptoms) :- such as - Lactose Intolerance :- intolerance to milk and milk products; - Gluten intolerance :- intolerance to wheat, rye, barley and their products. * Allergy to certain foods, such as, eggs, soya products, shellfish, such as shrimp, crayfish, lobster, and crab; nuts from trees, such as walnuts; and peanuts, tomatoes, monosodium glutamate (ajinomoto), wines. - Psychological problems, such as, mental stress and anxiety, with or without associated depression * H.pylori infection of the stomach and intestine * C.difficile infection- which is usually hospital-acquired, particularly as you had been admitted to the hospital. If I had been your treating doctor, I would have recommended the following course of action :- (a) An empirical 2 weeks course of anti-H.pylori therapy; followed by 3-6 months of anti-acid drugs, plus monthly deworming course. --- (b) If you have mental stress/persistent anxiety, a long-term course of anti-depressant + anti-anxiety drug combination will give excellent results. incidentally, IBS too gets aggravated by mental stress and anxiety. (c) If you think it is mostly due to certain foods, maintain a diary of the foods which cause aggravation of symptoms; eliminate them from your diet, one by one and see the response. Elimination of the culprit food will improve the symptoms. Consult your doctor and apprise him of my opinion. I am certain that he agree with me, order required tests, and- based on the reports- will prescribe suitable treatment as advised. If you find my response helpful and informative, do not forget an “excellent” rating to my answer, to encourage all doctors- engaged in social service- to render sound advice to the FREE queries. Fond regards and have a nice day Dr. Rakesh Karanwal