Inflammatory bowel disease ISN'T irritible bowel syndrome. Irritable bowel syndrome is the kind of "fibromyalgia" of the gastroenterology world - its the diagnosis you get when you have plenty of symptoms but they haven't managed to find concrete evidence of any inflammatory process or other disease. Inflammatory bowel diseases are things like crohn's or ulcerative colitis, ie where they have found evidence of inflammatory damage. If you do have a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome, and you think it is inflammatory or you have a co-existing arthritic condition then its well worth seeing a gastroenterologist and getting properly checked out again, because IBD needs to be properly treated.

for years i downplayed my IBS and focussed more on my gastritis because it used to be that doctors did treat IBS as you describe. but thankfully now at least not all doctors do. my gastroenterologist takes the IBS seriously. IBS is not IBD as you stated, but it can still involve inflammation and "crohn's like ulcers" (that's what i have). its not as serious (thankgoodness! my stepfather has crohn's so i know the difference), but its not sloughed off like it used to be either, at least not by all doctors. it is often a sign of spondy, so can often be used as part of the dx process. it may even be the root of at least some spondys (my rheumy thinks that) if one believes in the whole leaky gut theory. and one reason it shouldn't just be ignored is that there are things that can be done to treat it. like for me, probiotics seem to be the missing link. i was lactobacillus deficient (none detected in a stool sample test) and so taking it makes sense. and it cleared up my IBS so very much.

so my advice is to find a GI doc that doesn't treat IBS as the "fibromyalgia of the GI world" but one who treats it like the problem that it is. that's my opinion anyway. even if it is "Just" IBS.

IBD is Ulcerated Colitis or Crohns. Very serious conditions, can be life threatening.

I have had bowel problems (unchanged, not diagnosed for 22 years) including chronic liquid, mucus stool. This occurs between 5 to 10 times/day. Regular bleeding. Urgency. Incontinence. Fissures. Bowel contraction daily. No abdominal Pain. Ulcerated rectal fissures x 2. Four Colonoscopies. Flexible Sigmoid. Guided lights through my small bowels and stomach. Dilatation of my bowel for fissure repair. My GI doc states that, "In the absence, of an answer, as to why this is happening to your bowels. The diagnosis becomes IBS. All bowel problems with unknown reasons are classified as IBS". I respected him as a doc because he wasn't scared to say "I don't know" and offer alternative to drug aids. These help often.