What A Doctor Told Me...
#361729 - 10/28/10 09:56 AM
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I've been having digestive problems for over a year. My gastroenterologist has done many tests which haven't indicated any disease. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that one test showed my stomach empties slightly slow and another showed my stomach empties slightly fast. Do these cancel each other out? lol. He did not tell me I have IBS but all symptoms fall under it.
While having some neurological symptoms, I recently saw a neurologist. He happened to mention that people with IBS always have depression and anxiety which throws of the digestive system. The depression and anxiety come before IBS symptoms occur not because of them he stated.
Any opinions on his statement?
Thank you,
Terese
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The results probably cancel each other in the sense that there is some error in the measurement. So if you take into consideration the error in the measurements of the 'slightly slow' and 'slightly fast' emptying the overall result is likely 'slightly normal' 
It is more accurate to say that some people with IBS have depression and anxiety. Not everyone with IBS has these symptoms. For example, some individuals get IBS after a GI infection, known as post infectious IBS (PI-IBS). These individuals don't necessarily have depression and anxiety (albeit they may feel depressed about getting PI-IBS afterwards ). Also research shows that there is a different symptomatic profile for depression, anxiety and anger in IBS-C compared to IBS-D. Individuals with IBS-C appear to be more psychologically distressed than those with D-IBS. In summary not everyone with IBS is depressed or anxious.
It is annoying when a medical professional makes such wide sweeping unsupported statements.  On the other hand - having IBS is enough to make anyone depressed
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Thank you for your post. Was a little upset when he said this so I wanted to ask others how they felt about it. I am a nurse and have never heard of this before. Yep, IBS certainly can cause depression and anxiety. Booooo...
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