When your GP says it's just IBS and you don't feel heard

Go back, and say plainly what is still wrong and what you’d like to happen next. IBS is a real diagnosis, but it’s meant to follow tests for other causes, so you can ask which were done, agree a review or see another GP. In England, Jess’s Rule also asks GP teams to think again after 3 appointments.

None of that is picking a fight. It’s how the system is designed to work.

I’ve been on the other side of this

A doctor once listened to my stomach for a minute, said IBS, and gave me a prescription for antispasmodics. Nobody asked what I ate. I sat in my car afterwards with the prescription in my hand, thinking that food should have been the first place to start, not the last resort.

I don’t tell that to knock the doctor. GPs carry a hard job here, and the chair of the Royal College of GPs put it fairly when Jess’s Rule was launched: many conditions are “challenging to identify in primary care because the symptoms are often similar to other, less serious and more common conditions”. The label may well be right for you. What matters is whether the checks behind it happened, and whether you left knowing what happens next.

Is “it’s IBS” a proper diagnosis?

It can be, and a good one. IBS is meant to be a positive diagnosis: given when there are no red flag symptoms and tests show no other cause. That’s different from “we couldn’t find anything, so it’s probably IBS”, and different again from a label given before any tests.

The tests behind it are a full blood count, markers of inflammation, a coeliac antibody test and, for many people, a poo test for inflammation in the bowel. How IBS is diagnosed in the UK goes through each one. If you’re not sure which you had, the NHS App shows results that have reached your surgery, or you can ask the practice.

What can I say if I don’t feel heard?

Say what has happened, then what you want. Short sentences land better than a long history, and writing them down first means nerves can’t wipe them.

Seeing letters written about you is something the NHS says you’re entitled to. Taking someone with you is fine too, and so is asking the GP to say something again or write a word down.

What is Jess’s Rule?

It’s a safety approach for GP teams in England, rolled out across the NHS on 23 September 2025. It asks GPs to think again if, after 3 appointments, they’ve been unable to offer a substantiated diagnosis, or the patient’s symptoms have escalated. The steps are reflect, review and rethink, which could mean a face to face appointment if earlier ones were remote, a thorough examination, more tests, a colleague’s view, or a referral.

It’s named after Jessica Brady, who died of cancer at 27 after more than 20 appointments with her GP practice in the five months before her death. It isn’t a form you fill in, and it applies to GP practices in England. But if you’re on your third visit with the same unexplained symptoms, saying so out loud helps everyone count.

Can I ask to see a different GP or get a second opinion?

Yes. A second opinion isn’t a legal right on the NHS, but the General Medical Council tells doctors they must “respect their right to seek a second opinion”. In practice that might mean asking to see a different GP at your practice, or going back to be referred to a different specialist. Asking shouldn’t affect your care or your relationship with your GP.

You can also change GP surgery. Everyone in England can register with a surgery or change surgery for free, and your old surgery is told automatically.

Should I go back if my symptoms change after an IBS diagnosis?

Yes. A diagnosis from years ago doesn’t cover symptoms that have changed since. Concerning symptoms are worth seeing your doctor about even if you already have a diagnosis of IBS, and red flags appearing during follow up should prompt further investigation or referral.

Bloating has its own version of this. If you have symptoms of ovarian cancer, which include feeling bloated frequently, roughly 12 or more times a month, and “you have previously seen a GP, but your symptoms have not gone away, are worse or more frequent”, see a GP again.

In the NHS’s own words, these are reasons to ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111:

• “you have lost a lot of weight for no reason”
• “you’re bleeding from your bottom or have bloody diarrhoea”
• “you find a hard lump or swelling in your tummy”
• “you have shortness of breath, noticeable heartbeats (palpitations) and skin that’s paler than usual”

Before you go back

Write down when it started, how often it happens, what you’ve tried and what changed, and put the most important thing at the top. A seven day symptom log does most of this for you. If you’re also wondering whether something else could explain your symptoms, IBS or something else covers the conditions that overlap, as reasons to ask rather than answers to give yourself.

And if bloating is the thing nobody seems to take seriously, the bloating quiz is six questions that end on a next step.