New here...Did anyone else have this issue aswell?
#322737 - 01/19/08 09:59 PM
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Hi there guys!
Well I wanted to ask if anyone else that has been diagnosed with IBS has this issue.
For as long as I can remember, I have had bowel issues, particularly cramping/sense of urgency etc...etc..
I was diagnosed with CFS/ME 2 years ago after having been tired and run down for many years and this Dr said that IBS is common for people with CFS/ME.
I have lived my life around going to places with a toilet. Long car trips have terrorised me-never knowing if I will need a toilet. At one point I even decided not to eat before leaving or during a trip so that I wouldn't get cramps or need a loo...and of course I felt weak and nauseous.
Currently I am taking gastro-stop and peppermint tea. I am avoiding my favourite foods of all-coffee and chocolate-the evil twins of IBS irritation.
But here's my main question:
When you want to go to a concert or something you like...maybe even just grocery shopping, do you start getting cramps etc?
A Dr about 3 years back said I had anxiety and sent me off to a psychologist to help me deal with it, but it did little to help because I was not anxious about seeing a band I Love or going shopping which I also love.
It was only when my current Dr mentioned IBS that I realised that this is what i must have.
But...do you guys get that feeling too? Like when you are in a car you can't wait to get to the concert because there are toilets there or you can't wait to get to the mall because there are toilets there should you need them.
Have you ever been trapped in a long queue and thought "OMG I HOPE MY BOWEL DOESN"T PLAY UP!!!" and then it DOES because it somehow reacts to your fear???
Is it just me..or is this exactly what it is like for you guys?
And do you start to feel like you need to go when you are in a queue or traffic or waiting somewhere or anticipating going somewhere where there is not a toilet?
Because my bowel is scared witless, and I have never known if that's just me or if that is what it's like for you guys too.
Thanks and Hello. 
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Absolutely, I have experienced exactly what you've described at least a million times... My take on it is that I've had so many situations (driving in a car, being in a mall etc.) where I had urgency leading to incontinence. Those incidents are not easily forgotten (I can probably name every single incident of incontinence I've had over the past 20 years). So I think it's very natural that anyone having experienced this would become nervous when put into those situations again. I think it creates somewhat of a Post tramatic disorder. You have a bad experience enough times, it just simply stays with you. I'm currently listening to the hypnotherapy CDs hoping that it will help with that part of the IBS. I don't feel (for me anyway) that the symptoms are caused by anxiety - I feel that it's the other way around. I do think that the CDs are beginning to help. One thing that always gets me really nervous is when I have to sit in long meetings (especially if there's a large group). At work, I have a weekly meeting that lasts 90 minutes to 2 hours. Inevitably, almost every week I start having BM after BM beginning just before the meeting. I typically have to leave the room at least 3 times before the meeting ends. Last week, I was feeling perfectly fine going into the meeting but within minutes of being in the meeting room, my tummy started gurgling and cramping. There were several times during the meeting that I considered going to the loo, but instead I did some deep breathing and focusing on some techniques I've learned from the hypno - believe it or not I managed to hold that poop for 90 minutes. It was kind of funny though b/c on my way to the loo (after the meeting had adjourned), I thought to myself "It must have just been gas not poo, b/c there's no way I could have held it that long" But then I got to the potty and nope it sure was poo. So, I'm beginning to think there may be some hope for me yet!! It's just so crazy how it all works.
Sure hope you find your way in this crazy journey we're on! and Welcome aboard.
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Jeanette IBS-D, then switched to IBS-A, now stable with Udo's Choice Super Bifido Plus Probiotic
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Yeah im with you here too ! im currently seeing a phycologist for my Anxiety - i have a generalised anxiety disorder and that came for me before the IBS however - because its developed over the years i now find that if i have a panic attck (onyl very mild ones) that kicks my stomach off so i panick more so my stomach gets worse - and also if my tummy plays up in a morning i become anxious its like a viscous circle and somehow we have to try and break that - if i discover a way i shall let you know - it is possible though we just haave to keep picking away at it !! xx
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Ibs sufferer for 7 years !
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I find that breathing slowly and distraction helps anxiety but if my stomach is playing up or I KNOW I just had something bad like a coffee or a chocolate bar and suddenly for some reason I have to go out...my stomach l siterally (well, figuratively) screams and I start to feel like I need the toilet.
Prayer helps but Jen make sure it's not the IBS MAKING you anxious because the Psychologist thought it was the other way around and that's BS because if I knew my bowel wouldn't play up I wouldn't get anxious in the first place! I think it makes you anxious and that can lead to over-breathing and panicing.
I'll keep you all in my Prayers. This is indeed a tough thing to live with.
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