Irritable bowel syndrome is an inflammatory condition whose underlying cause hasn’t yet been completely discovered. We know that stress and certain foods can trigger symptoms and that alcohol and smoking tend to irritate the condition in IBS sufferers. However, medical professionals aren’t sure exactly what causes it. For these reasons, many other conditions can be mistaken for IBS. In this post, we’re going to cover what can be mistaken for IBS and answer the questions: how do you know if it’s IBS or something else, and what can IBS pain be compared to?