Hey guys
#223566 - 11/07/05 01:34 PM
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CindyG.
Reged: 01/26/05
Posts: 65
Loc: Mississippi
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hey I am new to this side of the board.I usually just post to Eating for IBS.. but I decided to try this side for a while.
I am 24 years old and married for 3 years.
I developed IBS after having a stomach virus episode..
I also deal with panic disorder and anxiety due the IBS. I am afraid of having attacks away from home. Which stops me from doing a lot I want to do! How do you guys deal with IBS-D attacks when you are traveling or shopping????? I also look for the bathroom wheN I first get somewhere but getting there is the hard part. I just feel like I am never finished.. if you know what I mean.. and I usually cant tell if I have to go or if its just cramps.. unless I am having a major D attack then I knOW!!
Well i went to the doctor the other day and he prescribed me xanax and lesvin.. he said this would be better than librax.
I havent tried them yeah but I hope they work!
I am really looking for some advice on how to deal with situations when you are out and about.. like what you tell yourself to keep from freaking out...
Thanks soo much!
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Hi and good to meet you! I have IBS-D too. The surest way for me to ensure I'm going to have a huge terrible attack is to go to the mall. Within minutes of getting in the door, I have to abandon all dignity in a desperate (break out in a cold sweat) dash to the bathroom. Hopefully, you will find with this diet, a good solid fibre supplement and the meds your Doc gave you, you will learn to better manage your symptoms. This takes time, though. Be patient. It'll take you a while to figure out your own individual tolerances for certain foods. Some will be fine, some no way. It's a trial and error approach and it's time consuming.
Thank God for imodium. Take one pill several hours before an outing. It will tide you over and ease your worries.
I also have an anxiety disorder. I know all about panic attacks. Take it one step at a time. Start out going down the street for a walk and back (like 2 minutes). Then stretch it out to 5, then to 10 an so on. Then try a trip to a local store that you know has a trusty bathroom. Then try a trip to a mall where you know where all the bathrooms are. And so on. It'll take time, but as you get more confident in your control over your symptoms, you'll lessen the anxiety, and getting out there will help you gain some confidence.
Hugs, Alicia.
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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Hi Cindy 
Have you always had anxiety or is it because of IBS? If it's the IBS I would try the hypno tapes (see the hypno forum on this website). Hopefully the xanax will help too
As far as the rest goes, I am not a D, however, I have interstitial cystitis (this means bladder frequency). I deal by doing a LOT of deep breathing, yoga, therapy, anxiety meds, and learning as much as i can about what I'm dealing with. The more I know the more it helps me to cope. (However going overboard can be a minus...don't want to get more anxious and spend all our time on the boards...though sometimes we have to go to extremes to balance out, make sense?)
Anyhow, it's great you're here...keep posting!
Love ya,
Ruch
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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i think i get really anxious/stressed from my IBS too! im not a D, but a Cer--but can totally relate about the mall thing. usually i shop alone so i get anxious having to be alone in the mall with all types of people--not that im antisocial! LOL i just moved out to chicago and find it hard to adjust to living so far away from home and what i know as comfort. im not sure what info i can offer for the D, but i use peppermint tea for my C cramps and find it really relaxing. i hear good things about heathers fennel tea too--although i purchase my own teas.
i 2nd ruchie's recommendation for yoga--i plan to start some too in dec b/c im at a loss w/the managing of my stress. its practically coming from every outlet in my life right now! but im working 2 jobs--- 
on a seperate note, i think thats really neat that youve been married for 3 years already and that youre still so young! ive been with my BF now for over 2 years and im only 20! we plan to get married too in the future 
anyways, have fun posting! see yah around the boards~
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VEGAN ASHLEY~IBS/C
www.myspace.com/dutchflowers
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HEY i have IC TOO!! I got diagnosed with it in 2002. It was such a horrible experience for along time cos I kept going to the doc for bladder infections and I would do the lab and it would show I didnt have an infection.. it was soo frustrating. That went on for a year.. until I finally went to a urologist and he did like the test where they look at my bladder.. and he said I had the worst case he had ever seen.. But I have been doing much better with that until lately. I was on Elmiron and Usept and I am fixing to get back on since it seemed to help alot.
But back to the anxiety I have always been anxious but it never stopped me from doing things... and when the IBS-D hit it I would avoid going places here and there and after a while I quit school with one semester left.. and for about 2 yrs have been agoraphobic.. I mean I dont completely sit home all the time.. I still go the grocery store and a few other places .. but I am soo sick of not being able to come and go as I want.
Thanks for your reply!!
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You have IC too? I cannot believe it! I posted a while back trying to find someone to share the IBS and IC diet with...and here you are I'm sorry you have both...but at least we can help each other out!
As far as anxiety...we're in the same boat. I go to the store and a few other places and that's it. (Prob for different reasons though). It takes time, patience with yourself, and trial and error. But you WILL get there (you've been through IC already...you know the works!)
I liked Han Solo's advice a lot...let us know though if there is more we can do...we have all been there!
Sending you lots of clarity and unanxious days to come!
*hugs*
Ruchie
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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Hey, Cindy. Like you, I have IBS-D, agoraphobia/generalized anxiety disorder, etc. I'm 31 years young (although I feel like a crone, today). I take buspar for my anxiety/panic and obsessive/compulsive disorder.
I also have epilepsy--but it's mild and I don't have seizures anymore beyond absence seizures. I take tegretol for that.
I also suffer from a bimodal circadian rhythm disorder and my body clock is beyond warped. I don't sleep.
I'm in cavewoman mode, currently...barely leaving the house, not to mention peeking outdoors. I'm so phobic that I won't even read the news to expose myself to potential fearful things. I haven't gone to church in years (phobia) and quit school due to anxiety/agoraphobia. Re: shopping. Well...beyond groceries which I do at quiet times as fast as possible and while on prescription drugs, that's about it.
I haven't been to a mall or even the silly Walmart in years, I think. I am too afraid now to even drive! Most of the time, I do not even answer the phone or the door. I have as much as I can have delivered to my home, done so.
So...that's me, today and lately. In hiding. Beyond SAD (seasonally affected).
I'm in "pink elephant" mode at the moment, dissociating to survive...on the "outside" looking in, just kind of hovering/floating, waiting until spring! I know, it's not even winter.
Re: Holiday shopping. I just give cash.
My dream/goal: SLEEP. Seriously, I can't remember sleep!
I feel like an "electric sheep" or an android, so sleep deprived and it intensifies the anxiety/panic so I just AVOID and in avoiding live in a void. So, it's a big cozy black hole--literally black as my blinds and curtains are black to block the light. Indeed, my house looks kind of macabre and is conducive to a seance.
You're not alone. Thanks for speaking up.
Kate, IBS-D.
I'm in a nasty spell of agoraphobia
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Is there a rhyme and rhythm to agoraphobia? It seems to get better and worse for me.
Just a thought...
i feel like I need to get out..but the idea of it is too much...
My bod wants to get out. To move. My mind...too scared...
Anyhow, just thought I'd share...
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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Yea I am so glad I met my hubby.. he has been my rock through all of this.. Sometimes I still cant believe that someone can love me so unconditionally..esp. because I am agoraphobic. I was totally not this way at all when we met which was like 6 sixs ago. But he is just so patient and understanding.. I am soo very lucky. I was 20 when I got married I just turned 24 last month.
Good luck with everything.. it really helps to have someone who will support you no matter what!!
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Hey Kate..
Girl I can soo relate.. I had several points where I was like that..I would send my hubby to do all the grocery shopping and he would totally get all the wrong things..lol.. I hated that though. I need to look for myself. I also hate that ppl cant rely or count on me for things.. and as far as gift giving I shop online. But now I and a little better and trusting my self more.. but I still only get out like once or twice a week.. but I am getting there..
Have you ever heard of a book called froM Panic to Power by Lucinda Bassett? Or Simple, effective treatment of agoraphobia by claire weekes.. Both of those are really good and have helped me alot.
One thing that has helped me.. is I treat my IBS as just another symptom of my anxiety.. cos mostly its the panic that triggers the IBS.. I mean there are times when its totally just IBS.. but mainly it just being nervous about the IBS. So I have tried to just see it in that sense. And that has help me think that I can control it.
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