In my twenties I met my husband and my IBS was more mild then. Sometimes he jokes around and says he wouldn't have married me if he knew I had all these bathroom problems...totally joking. You kind of need to laugh at the ridiculousness of this syndrome sometimes (never mind the accidents and close calls that I've had...they are torture at the time but I can usually laugh through the embarrassment later with someone close).
But seriously, I give you a lot of credit being a guy your age and wanting to meet someone when IBS can really be so debilitating. First I would suggest getting your anxiety about it under control (through meds or hypno) so you'll be less worried about it. Then I would just tell whomoever you meet that you have some food allergies and leave it at that at first. No need to divulge the less than pretty details on a first date.
Like K2, I might try going somewhere other than dinner when you meet someone...this is good for you as a guy b/c if you are traditional, you will do the asking and have some control over where/when you want to go out. Eventually you'll want to take someone to dinner, so I'd advise finding a restaurant that you have frequented a few times with a friend/family member and know in advance what is safe on the menu. If you know for example that you can take a girl there, order fish with rice, offer her a dessert and take one bite with no adverse affects, you'll be able to focus on the date, rather than your IBS.
Yes, ultimately I agree with everyone that you should be honest and just explain the IBS, but realistically, I do think that it's not so easy to do when you are trying to put yourself out there in the dating field in a society that doesn't quite understand IBS. So get creative until you really know that you like someone and want to divulge it all. Just my opinion. Good luck.
-------------------- Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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