Hitting the wall
#358552 - 05/11/10 06:16 AM
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Hey yall, I'm not new here...I just haven't logged in for so long I forgot the login info and can't find it. anyway...
This week has been rough...and its only tuesday morning. My wife is dealing with some medical issues right now that has me very stressed out. I started a new job this week that I really like, except it starts at 7am and I've always felt sick to my stomach from about 6am to 10am everyday. On a good day I'm just barely holding on enough to function, with the medical stuff I've pretty much hit the wall. I was diagnosed with IBS-D about 7 years ago....seems like yesterday though. My management skills have consisted of metamucil fiber and 10mg of nortriptyline before bed and Vicodin when i have an attack, but unfortunately the last few times I've used the hydrocodone it stops the attack but I become violently sick. My symptoms seem to be stress dependant more than anything, I'm beginning to think I have G.A.D. and that is the main trigger for my IBS problems? anyway, I just needed to vent for a minute.
-dan
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Hi there, I just wanted to comment since I have GAD and it is definitely a trigger for my worst attacks. I say I am IBS-A, but really I should be classified as IBS-C, unless something stressful is happening in my life, then I'm IBS-D. Anytime I travel or have a doctor's appointment or do anything else outside my comfort zone I have D attacks. It's really annoying. I do find that Pepto tablets help me when I know I am going into a stressful situation.
I take a very low dose of Prozac (10 mg) for my GAD and it helps a little. Takes the edge off, if you will. Have you thought about asking your doctor about something like that?
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Belinda
IBS-A since 1986 (age 8)
Recently realized I could do
something about it!
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I too have problems when when my daily routine is tweaked. All the stuff I'm dealing with right now would be workable if the things happened independently but with everything happening all at once it just feels overwhelming.
The university I attend offers counceling services to enrolled students. I am hopeing to be able to get through the summer and meet with a counselor in the fall when I'm enrolled again. I am uninsured and pretty much only go to see the doctor when I need a prescription refill. Honestly the medication I've been prescribed doesn't seem to do all that much, I can tell it does something but not really a big effect. And when I have an attack the medications might as well be an ant trying to stop a bulldozer. I'm tired of having to worry about what I can and can't eat or worrying about if I will get enough sleep so that I stand a reasonable chance of having an attack free day.
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Hey Dan
I am right where you are too.My life seems to have gotten crazy in the last few weeks and my stress level has gone through the roof ..consequently...my panic attacks have returned bringing along my IBS symptoms again.
Been having panic attacks all morning and they won't stop.
My IBS is triggered by stress and that seems to be your problem too,am I right?
I hope you feel better soon and remember just to eat really safe for a while,that's all I can think of right now.
Hope your wife is doing better soon too.
Take care.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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Hey, Dan, long time no see.
I'm sorry to hear about your wife and hope she's better soon.
A couple of thoughts about your IBS-D. (I'm assuming that by "sick to your stomach" you mean suffering from an IBS attack. If you mean nauseous then never mind.) You might try a SFS other than Metamucil. Metamucil is part SF and part IF and one that's all SF might be easier on your tummy. For anxiety, consider something like Ativan. I take 0.5mg for anxiety when I need it. I do think it makes me a little less sharp mentally so you'll have to see if you can take it and drive, work, etc.
You can also consider Imodium, of course, and/or try the hypnosis program. I posted on the Diet Board recently about Lotronex which is a drug specifically for IBS-D but it's super expensive and has some nasty potential side-effects.
And, of course, eat as IBS-safely as possible.
If you get up earlier will your tummy settle down earlier? (I hate to think how much earlier "earlier" would have to be if you're already getting up to be at work by 7am.)
I know what you mean about Vicodin. I took it a few years ago after surgery and while I felt somewhat nauseous I did okay. I tried it again this year for a bad shoulder and it made me horribly ill. And if I'm short on sleep it's makes my IBS much worse.
Good to see you again although I'm sorry it's because you're having such a hard time. Please let us know how you're doing.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I haven't had too much IBS-D, since I haven't eaten much since sunday....maybe a quarter chicken breast, couple fork fulls of rice noodles last night; half a pita bread and some hummus tonight. I feel nauseous. I don't think the metamucil is much of a problem. I forgot to take my meds last night and it doesn't seem to have caused a problem or made things better. I'm not insured, so like you said expensive medications area problem. The 'morning sickness' happens regardless of time awake. In the winter I work midnight shifts sometimes as a snowmaker at a ski hill. I will be fine all night and then suddenly around 6:30-7am I feel nauseous, upset stomach etc. I've tried experiments where I block my window and doors for 24-48 hour so I don't see the light cycles and only look at the clock to note when I have symptoms come and go. Sure enough, between 6:30ish to 10am I feel bad. I don't understand why this happens.
Midway though typing this I had to run to the bathroom. one minute I was fine the next minute I was doubled up in pain. Loose stool and mucus....only thing I've eaten in the last few hours is the pita bread/hummus. I don't understand this. I feel fidgety, anxious, trapt, alone. I just want to have a normal life.
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Strange ..thats when my symptoms are the worst too...
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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I know, its the weirdest thing. And the doctors have no clue why. it frustrates the hell out of me.
I just got back from the ER. I had contacted a local holistic doctor to see if I could get a consult and when they heard I hadn't eaten or drank anything significant since sunday they said I need to get to the ER. Er doctor ran tests and no...unfortunately my IBS has not morphed into something more treatable. They ran two bags of fluid into me and I still haven't pee'd so I guess I was pretty dehydrated. The doctor said my ketones were way high and that I needed to get some sugar into my system. I've had some fruit juice and some chicken noodle soup. I'm feeling better but still not good.
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there was a recent study about that - it's posted here
I know that's giving you info and not really concrete help, but it might lead to some ideas for future stability.
I hope you're feeling much better soon.
XXOO
Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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Thank you Heather, that was an interesting read and I have about 15 other tabs open from topics on that page.
Right now I am scheduled for a 7am-3:30pm shift. Though I just got approval from my supervisor to work half days starting at 10-11am ish until things get settled down and then hopefully go to full days. The shift work usually starts up in the fall through mid winter. Honestly, I feel the best when I sleep in till 10am, get up and go to school, then work a 4-12 shift. That way I sleep through the worst part of the day for me. I have pulled swing shift and doubles when people are sick during the snowmaking season, that raises holy heck with my IBS. 
I have eaten a small bowl of soup, drank a glass or so of watered down juice and had a single serving cup of the Activa yogurt that the ER doc recommended today. Feeling kinda crampy and I can hear and feel stuff rattling through my transverse colon....so I guess I'm headed in the right direction. Hopefully it stays that way.
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Stress is probably my major trigger....by far. Sometimes I have been able to eat *bad* mexican food and drink beer with no problems what so ever, even though I know I shouldn't cheat. Times like school breaks or the beginning of long weekends during a low stress time where if i had a problem I could get my stuff together before i had any real schedule to keep. Other times like monday night of this week I couldn't keep down boiled chicken and rice. This all being related to stress.
I talked with the ER doctor today and he was almost postitive part of my issue is GAD. Though he explained that his job today was to stabilize and it's the doc's job on monday to get the meds needed for daily life figured out. He was very adamant against valium or ativan or pretty much any other benzodiazepines, citing addiction and dependancy reasons. He said they would probably bump up my nortriptyline dosage from the 10mg I'm taking right now. My concern is that I've heard higher dosages of tricyclic antidepressants can actually increase anxiety rather than helping. Anyone have experience with antidepressants as a treatment for general anxiety disorder?
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Man stress will send me over the top really quick too. I am sorry to hear about your problem. As far as the time mine is always worse between 3 and 5 in the evening I can be doing something that keeps me unaware of the time and I will still start to have attacks glance at the clock and sure enough it is between 3 and 5. I work from home so I tried to nap at that time see if I could sleep through it but it will wake me up even when I am asleep it is really crazy
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IBS-D with gas
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