IBS and feeling anxious!
#204279 - 08/10/05 12:02 PM
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Bethany
Reged: 02/27/04
Posts: 128
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Ok, so I am wondering if anyone else has noticed this with their IBS. If I get excited, or nervous, or a little anxious about something it immediately causes me to start bloating and feel gassy...and it takes me a long time to calm back down - or feel less jittery.
I never had this before IBS, and I guess it could kind of be like having enxiety. Sometimes just me thinking about it causes me to get that jittery feeling.
I know I just need to not focus on it, but sometimes I don't how to make it go away... I am just wondering what others do when this happens and is this normal.
On a side note, I have been running a ton since I am training for a marathon and I can say that it helps with my systoms. Just gets me up and moving.
Thanks,
Bethany
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"Love isn't love, until you give it away!" 
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i have a lot of the same issues with anxiety and ibs. anxiousness has always upset my stomach, and that definitely hasn't stopped with ibs. when my stomach starts to hurt, my heart starts pounding, and no matter how much i try to take deep breaths and think myself calm, the anxiety worsens the attack, which intensifies the anxiety, and so on.
it is possible to interrupt that cycle of anxiety. lots of people on the board have used the self-hypnosis for ibs program, and speak very highly of it. i can't afford the tapes, but i've found that listening to calming music helps a lot, especially music connected to a sense of safeness. for me it's dar williams, but i bet you could find something in your collection that taps into those associations.
also, if i know i'm going to have an anxious day (and i'm predisposed to anxiousness and nervousness in general) i make sure to be extra safe with what i'm eating, and just take good care of myself in general. you can also use thermacare heating pads as a bit of an extra measure. they're the self-heating ones that stick to your skin or the inside of your underwear. i'd used them before for period cramps, but they're great for soothing a tense belly. you can't use them for more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period, and you shouldn't use them too often, but once in a while they're a great extra measure of soothing. if you're in hardcore air conditioning, it might also help to wear a sweater, so the cold doesn't tense you up.
hope that helped. as a sidebar, when i was growing up, i would *always* get gas or a stomach ache as soon as i stepped into a library. even bookstores, sometimes. i've always *loved* books - maybe it was the stress of being quiet? or maybe it was love-jitters. who knows. it was always just very strange.
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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Great to hear that running has been helping you out!  Exercise is a great stress/anxiety reliever. Have you tried any other forms of stress relief? Quite a few people have been helped by the hypnotherapy CDs and yoga.
A lot of people here, myself included, are struggling with IBS and anxiety problems. I'd recommend doing a search on this; you'll find a lot of helpful info and tips.
In my case, I've been dealing with both IBS and anxiety for about ten years and recently was diagnosed as having GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and panic disorder. I'm on some medication for it now since it got to the point where I wasn't doing a good job helping myself. I've noticed that a decrease in my anxiety has led to a decrease in the severity of my IBS symptoms! So, dealing with the anxiety and following Heather's diet has done a lot to keep my IBS in check.
HTH!
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Thanks for the encouraging advice. It's weird that I have had these little feelings of anxiousness, because I never had them before.
I was always soo care free and, before IBS, could eat whatever and had the best abs!! But now with the bloating and such, I can't seem to keep my stomach as trim. Although the running has been helping.
I will try to dig out some good CD's for calming!
Thanks !!
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"Love isn't love, until you give it away!"
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I just had a thought about this nervousness/gassiness thing you mentioned, Bethany. When you're nervous/anxious/excited...your use of oxygen changes...so I suspect you're getting more AIR in your g.i. tract. Also, there's the fact that your muscles are constricting/contracting differently.
Kate.
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Just as an aside, does anyone know if you can get these in Canada? I haven't seen them anywhere I but I'd love to try them out! Thanks!
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In case you can't find them there, I believe they sell them on Amazon....(along with everything else ever invented, I swear!)
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