I felt the same way when diagnosed, and then when nothing ever worked and my life was controlled by diarrhea (and all those embarrassing and trying ramifications) my depression got worse. My doctor put me on an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant (Effexor-XR), which also helped to lesson IBS symptoms for me. That worked great for a while, but most of those haven't been tested for long-term use and can only be used for about 6 months safely. After two and a half years on it the medication started to effect me badly (loss of short-term memory, hyper energy, wild laughter--signs of manic depression) and I had to get off the drug and my body had to return to "normal". Things were really bad when I got off, not only dealing with stabilizing emotions, but also returning diarrhea. Panic attacks were back, despair and hopelessness filled my heart.
Then two great things happened. 1) I found Heather's book and this website, which has been a tremendous help in managing my IBS so that diarrhea doesn't control my life anymore, and this forum has given me friends and co-survivors who understand the worries, fears, problems, and questions that come with dealing with IBS. The moral support of this forum has been fantastic, and 2) I discovered that I needed to go deeper with my Christian faith. I had to learn to trust Christ in ways that I hadn't considered before. It ended up being a blessing in my life spiritually.
Most of us on here have felt just like you feel right now. An IBS diagnoses means a lifetime of having to eat carefully and be constantly aware of your emotions and how you're dealing with stress. However, as have been mentioned already, this ends up being a good thing for us health-wise, we end up feeling better, losing weight, etc. The initial mourning over the loss of the care-free lifestyle we had hoped would return some day is tough, though. We're all rooting for you since we've all been there and know just how you feel. This has the potential to make you a much stronger person than you ever dreamed possible. Hang in tere!
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Re: Feeling depressed about IBS
