Anyone else panicking?
#284730 - 10/01/06 08:34 AM
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tml
Reged: 02/06/05
Posts: 18
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I'm just curious if anyone else developed panic or anxiety with their IBS symptoms... I have struggled for 6 years, and I'll be seeing a doctor tomorrow to try to treat a flare up in both, along with looking at my weight gain. I'm also struggling with some fertility stuff, and at this point traveling is my worst nightmare (which I need to do this coming weekend). I'm really worried about getting the brush off or not having all of my questions addressed tomorrow... I realize I've crammed a lot of issues into one post, but I am open to any thoughts or advice regarding any of it. Thanks- Tina
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Fertility problems? Have you been looked at for Endometriosis?
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Courtney (IBS-D)
"Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible." Romans 12:18
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I shouldn't say I developed anxiety cause I believe I discovered it about the same time I started IBS. I had several sessions with a psychologist who used the cognitive approach on me. Worked wonderfully. I still have days though when I too am traveling that I can feel very anxious. I usually can prevent a full blown attack by just talking myself out of it but it's still very scary. I dread traveling long distances too. I've been actually staying away from long travels which in NOT a good thing. You should make yourself do it and get over the fear but I've been slacking in that area lately. I just simply don't want to deal with it.
Your not alone 
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~~~Lisa~~~
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Re: Yep.
#284826 - 10/01/06 09:05 PM
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tml
Reged: 02/06/05
Posts: 18
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Thanks for saying I'm not alone. I have never felt more out of control and it is hard to feel like I'm not tough enough, or like traveling is easy- and fun- for everyone else. I also realized that I had anxiety/ panic at the same time as IBS, and the two seem to feed off of each other. Anyway, thanks for saying I'm not alone- that means a lot.
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No, I haven't been looked at for endometriosis. I actually had a miscarriage (@ 8 weeks), then I had a healthy baby girl who is wonderful, and a few months ago I had another miscarriage (D&C @ 12 weeks). I'm really lucky to have my daughter, and I don't think the doctors are concerned about the fact that I've had 2 miscarriages since I had a healthy pregnancy. However, my daughter was 10lbs 8 oz at birth, so I'm a little nervous that I may have developed gestational diabetes later in the pregnancy. I was also reading on this site about the role of hormones in women and IBS, and it makes me wonder if I have some hormonal problem that isn't being considered. I'm probably looking for a solution when there isn't one to be found, but I know that the stress of the miscarriages has played a major role in not eating right and having big IBS attacks. I'm also pretty worried that going on medication could be bad for a baby if I do get pregnant. We're not trying yet because I want to lose weight and get my IBS under control first (and to be frank, I'm not ready to face even the possibility of another miscarriage), but I don't want to do anything that could further complicate adding to our family. This was probably way more than you wanted to know, but that's what I meant about the fertility issues. I guess that's really an inaccurate statement, since I've gotten pregnant 3 times, but I didn't know how else to put it. ?
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I know them all well. First, let me express how sorry I am that you lost two babies. I know sorry doesn't even begin to express the pain you feel but having lost 5 of my own babies, I do truly understand the pain.
I have always been a bit of an anxious, nervous person. My ibs started when I was 15, I'm 36 now. I was prone to panic attacks and avoided big crowds and such.
We tried to start a family a few years back. At the time, I was pretty healthy, minimal ibs issues and the anxiety was under control. We got pregnant the second month off bc pills but lost the baby at 6 weeks. Got pregnant again right away but lost the baby at 8 weeks. Chromosome study done after d&c showed healthy female baby.
Took a month off, had some preliminary tests done. My progesterone was low so started using supplements after ovulation. About 6 months later, got pregnant again, ended with hemorrhaging and emergency d&c at 8 weeks. Again, chromosomally healthy female.
Went to a RE, reproductive endocrinologist. Had the whole fertility work-up done. Biopsy's, chromosomal analysis of me and hubby, sperm check, full clotting panel, full hormone level panel, infectious diseases, the list went on and on. Nothing was ever found.
Thought may be just a little short on hormones so we started clomid and climbed the fertility drug chain up to the daily injections of high dose gonatropins, hcg injections, blood thinners and progesterone supplements. This was last summer. During that time, I started having some other issues. My hands and feet would swell and were painful-they blamed it on the hormones. I developed uveities, an inflammation of the eye that I'm still battling. More of my joints became sore and I was so darned tired and just felt sick. They said it was all the fertility drugs.
Last September we were getting ready to do an artificial insemination when I ovulated too early but we had sex one time and ended up pregnant with identical twin girls. Everything progressed great. The joint pain, swelling and tiredness continued but they blamed it on carrying twins. I didn't care, I was pregnant!
In mid December, at 12.5 weeks, a routine ultrasound showed both of my precious babies hearts had stopped beating. I was beyond devastated. Again, chromosome testing showed healthy, identical baby girls. Again, no reason was found.
After losing the twins, I was on the verge of a complete meltdown. My body started to swell all over, everything HURT, I couldn't move my fingers and could barley put shoes on my feet were so swollen. The first two docs I saw just said I was depressed. I KNEW i was depressed but I also KNEW there was something wrong.
Its now 9-10 months later and they still haven't exactly figured out whats wrong. The most probably diagnoses is RA, rheumatoid arthritis. My anti body blood test is negative but I have all the other symptoms and it would explain the miscarriages. My immune system is so revved up that it cant tell healthy tissue from bad tissue and attacks everything. My joints and my babies included.
I learned everything I could about miscarriages during these past few years. Early miscarriages, before 8 weeks are typically hormone related, mostly low progesterone. After that, auto-immune diseases, blood clotting disorders and thyroid issues are next on the list. Even though you did have one healthy baby, I would ask to start some of the fertility testing. If your not comfortable talking about this on line, my email is in my profile.
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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I'm so sorry for your losses. I can't imagine how hard the past years have been for you. My daughter has helped me bear my other losses, and I honestly don't know how I would have handled it otherwise, so I am in awe of your strength. I thought the IBS, panic, and miscarriages were a lot to deal with. I can't imagine the constant physical joint pain you're describing as well, and I can't imagine having that many D&Cs. So how are the doctors handling your treatment plan? If they get your RA under control will you be able to start trying again? How is your husband handling all of this? My husband is just now being treated for depression, and I suspect that a big part of his depression was the loss of our babies. He is a wonderful father and husband, but there is even less support for men who go through fertility issues or miscarriages.
As for a work up, I've been told again and again that it's not necessary. I'm going to ask again today at my doctor's appointment, but so far the response has been that this is perfectly normal and I've just had bad luck.
Can I ask if you've had any treatment for your anxiety through all of the fertility treatments or pregnancies? I am anxious about taking something, but right now traveling is excruciatingly hard because of the panic attacks that almost run together they are so close.
I really hope that your doctors are doing everything they can and referring you when they run out of answers, and that your health improves so you can hold your babies. One of the thoughts that has given me some comfort about my miscarriages is that I know that I loved my babies so much, and they deserved that love so much, especially given their short time.
-Tina
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The miscarriages have been the single most difficult thing for me to deal with. My hubby is just now also getting treatment for depression. He is suffering as well and it tears him up to see me suffer so much. The almost constant physical pain from the ra on top of the mental pain from losing my precious babies is almost unbearable some days.
After talking with a new re and the rheumy doc, they don't have real high hopes for me ever carrying a baby. They said if we can get this under control, I could try. I would be on steroids to help the baby fight off my immune system as well as daily shots of blood thinners. I'm 36 now and they say it will take at least 6 more months to begin to get this under control. It may take longer and my clock is ticking. Not to mention, I honestly do not know if I could handle another miscarriage. My heart is still not healed and I'm not sure it ever will be. I still lay awake in bed almost every night thinking about my babies, what they would look like, how big they would be, etc.
My anxiety wasn't really treated other than the low dose of zoloft. I was using some ambien when I knew I wasn't pregnant to help me sleep and an occasional xanax however, neither can be taken when pregnant.
Will you always need to travel or is this something thats just temporary? Xanax works quickly and is great for treating anxiety, it can be habit forming if abused and can not be taken while pregnant.
As far as what testing you decide to do, thats up to you. It is your body. You have had two miscarriages, it just may be a case of bad luck but they can do some simple blood tests to rule out things like hormones, sugar, clotting disorders and thyroid. If your insurance pays for lab work, I would insist on it.
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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I'm really sorry that they aren't more positive about future pregnancies, but my experience has taught me that doctors don't want to promise or even hint at something that isn't a sure thing, so I would stay positive. It can't hurt, and it might help. As for dealing with your losses and wondering about your babies, I'm sorry it's so hard but that shows how much you loved (and still do love) those babies. I understand feeling like you might not be able to bear one more loss. You don't have to worry about it right now, so you can use this time to take really good care of yourself and your husband. At the very least, your marriage must be pretty strong to withstand so much loss and hardship. Having a husband who was recently diagnosed with depression, that's not easy either. (But it's nice to find someone who has so much in common!)
I will discuss the blood tests with my dr today. Maybe it won't give me any solutions, but why go through loss un-neccessarily? Thanks for the heads up on the medication. I don't typically travel because of my IBS, but my sister recently had a baby, and we need to travel for the baby's baptism. It's only a few hours to Milwaukee, but it was brutally hard last time, and I'm dreading it. Hopefully I'll get some help today.
Hang in there, and please let me know how you are doing.
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Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'm having an extra hard time at the moment because I'm having a really bad ra flare and I'm on a really high dose of steroids which cause irritability and depression. Just makes everything that much harder to deal with. We haven't decided if we will try again or not. Right now, just trying to get healthy and hubby's trying to get back on track also. He just started effexor and they found him to be a quart or two low on testosterone so he is using a supplement for that as well.
I hope you doctors appt goes well today and your travels to Milwaukee are uneventful!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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I know how you feel with the anxiety. I was struggling with the same thing. I take Effexor for the anxiety. I just recently had to have a hysterectomy (almost 3 weeks ago) and believe it or not I have had normal BMs for a week. They are actually on the verge of constipation. I was IBS-D. I had severe endometriosis and cysts. My uterus, ovaries and tubes were all stuck down because of the endometreosis. I have noticed a huge difference this past week with the anxiety. It's almost non existant this past week. I found that my "female problems" were directly tied to my IBS and anxiety. {{{hugs}}}
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Hiya
I know all about the panicking and of course that makes the IBS worse. I had a bad panic attack on the loo once! Thankfully my other half turned up half way through and gave me a paper bag to breathe in.......the funny thing is that the panic made my fingers go ridgid and I couldn't hold the paper bag. I find the best thing to help with panics is breathing properly.....breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth and preferably with a paper bag (or your hands second best) covering both mouth and nose. Try it ........good luck x
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So I'm back from the doctor with prescriptions for xanax (sp?) for travel and prozac for daily use to try to head off the panic attacks. She said that the xanax can only be taken when it's really necessary but that some women stay on prozac throughout their pregnancies. Any thoughts, anyone? I'm being checked for thyroid function (she said sometimes thyroid function problems can lead to anxiety and miscarriage), diabetes (due to the 10 and a half pound baby), and cholesterol (she said we might as well?) tomorrow morning. I asked a few times about IBS & weight loss but she just said to eat smaller portions. I'm supposed to go back in a few weeks. I'm guessing the IBS stuff was put on the back burner for now to deal with the panic?
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I have found the xanax to be a life saver. It can be just taken as needed, calms things down in 20 minutes, it may make you tired though. After the loss of my twins, I was taking 4-6 5mg xanax a day-I needed it. Now, I pretty much just take one at night. Maybe once or twice a week, I'll take one during the day if things are bad.
Prozac is one of the safer ones to take while pregnant. Its technically a class c, which means they aren't sure. I did a lot of research on ad's and pregnancy and decided it was better to have a calm, happy mom albeit mildly drugged for lack of better word. Than to have a non medicated irrational, depressed and anxious mom. I found that if you ask 10 different doctors about their opinions on ad's and pregnancy, that you will likely get 10 different answers. If I ever try to get pregnant again, I will continue my ad's.
The tests so far sound good. I would also ask about a 7 day post ovulation progesterone test. Low progesterone can cause weight gain and depression along with miscarriages and several other things. How old are you? If you are over 30, I would ask about a cycle day 3 FSH level, another blood test to measure your ovarian reserve. Also, the last re I saw said she would test my thyroid monthly while pregnant because sometimes the pregnancy can cause it to fluctuate.
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Michele,
You don't know how invaluable your comments have been. It was really hard for me to go back to the doctor, and I'm anxious about medication, which makes it even harder. I really appreciate all of the information you've given me! Thanks so much!
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Yes I panic too! It is AWFUL. I've been on Lexapro for a few years now though and it it has been wonderful in preventing full-blown panic attacks.
It's hard to know for me which came first-IBS or panic/anxiety. Probably anxiety. I treated that first. Now I do get anxious and panicky sometimes when my stomach is upset so I'm working on that.
Just take one thing at a time and follow your doctor's advice. Alleviating the panic will go a long way to helping your IBS.
Good luck!!
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This is a long post...but bear with me.
It sounds like you're getting really good advice from everyone. I've been struggling a year now with a mystery illness, and I'd like to share with you what I've discovered:.
1) Do LOTS of internet research -- my caveat would be to double check everything and don't believe anything with an advertisement attached.
2) I went through a lot of bad doctors before i found the one who diagnosed me with polycystic ovary disease, hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, and some nutritional deficiencies. (A GI health panel via a stool sample is pending...).
3) Although you may not fit the bill for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) exactly -- please read about it. It's more common than you think, quite complicated, under-diagnosed, and at least shows us how intricately involved all the hormones in the body are. You'll find that not all PCOS women have the actual polycystic ovaries/obesity/hirsutism...but they do usually have excessive insulin which can cause high cholesterol/triglycerides and the potential for diabetes. Even if you read about it and think "this isn't me"...you might end up thinking "I should at least check to see if I'm insulin resistant".
4) Consider researching "Adrenal Fatigue"
5) Hypothyroidism is actually VERY tricky to diagnose. Most doctors just check TSH. This can be very misleading because often the values for TSH are too broad -- so they'll call you normal when you're not. If you're showing ANY signs (and someone gave a GREAT list here) they should check T3 and T4 with your TSH. Keep in mind that the whole T3 issue is somewhat controversial so read about this, and be prepared for your doctor to argue with you about this, and maybe consider finding an endocrinologist/gynecologist who WANTS to check all three values. My TSH has been all over the board..but always somewhere in "normal range" so I've never been diagnosed even when I'd walk into a doctor's office with a whole list of hypothyroid symptoms, a subnormal temperature and a heart rate of 48.
Finally, THIS doctor checked my T4 and T3 levels. My T4 was normal but my T3 was abnormal. (The body converts T4 to T3 by taking off an iodine and in doing so makes it actually useable for the body). When I asked my doctor why my body wasn't doing this--it turns out when you are anemic or have excessive insulin the body won't do this conversion. So, how many doctors out there are checking T3? How many of you are anemic from eating poorly? How many doctors out there are checking your insulin to see if you are insulin resistant? How many IBS women struggle with their weight (possible sign of insulin resistance, polycystic ovary disease, or hypothyroidism)? How many women in general struggle with excessive water retention? (an indication that one of MANY hormones is out of whack).
If you are having fertility problems/anxiety issues/depression/GI issues -- you could DEFINITELY be having hormonal issues and/or thyroid issues...and the more I learn -- the more I see that every one of your hormones in the endocrine system is interlinked. And unfortunately, doctors tend to ignore the importance of your endocrine system even though it seems like the most important system in the body -- especially in women since we have two major hormones that naturally fluctuate every month. And when you think that the thyroid hormone controls EVERYTHING...it's frightening to consider that you might be called normal when you're not. Some doctors will even consider putting you on a trial of T4/T3 even if you have normal values IF you show enough signs of hypothyroidism -- this seems like a very kind, sympathetic thing to do.
I know this was a long post...but I hope it helped somewhat.
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First, thank you for taking the time to explain all of this. It's all entirely new to me, and, to be honest, shocking. Even if my thyroid checks out to be normal (which I guess I will still be concerned about because of the wide range of "normal"), it's maddening to me that this was not at least discussed or tested earlier. I was pretty anemic with one of my pregnancies, and my mom has a history of it- I'm not sure if either of those factors would be an issue. Part of me is worried about doing too much research, because I have found myself almost hoping that this was the problem the last few days. It would be nice to find something "fixable." I will have to do some research, though, just to be prepared in the doctor's office. I wish that going to the doctor was more about getting to the bottom of a problem rather than masking symptoms...
I'm really grateful to have a message board like this so I can be better prepared for dealing with this. Thanks again.
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You mentioned that traveling is your worst nightmare. That was my problem in the beginning. I actually ended up purchasing a pickup with a camper shell so I could always have access to a bathroom. A couple of years later those Global Positioning Systems became all the rage. So I sold the truck and got one. No matter where I was I always knew where the closest gas station and restaurants were. Plus, whenever I go inside a store, I always checked out where the restrooms are. This act alone resulted in my knowing exactly where hundreds of restrooms are, so now I can go anywhere I want.
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Sometimes I walk backwards to see where I have been!
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