Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Hi Andrew...
First and foremost, congratulations on your wife and you having a baby!
I can totally understand what you are going through. I had a horrific 6 months focusing on IBS and it's been about 2 1/2 years of ebbs and flows of getting really bummed out and negative about it. My lifestyle was already very healthy and now it is VERY VERY healthy, lol...
In any case, I am counseling psychology student, and from looking deeply at myself and my situation, I have found that the negativity and the worrying CONTRIBUTE to the IBS issue and make it much worse! And since I have been hyperaware of my digestion for the past few years, I can see how much better my digestion is during the times of my life where I am very relaxed and happy! I can eat a wider variety of foods and when I go to the bathroom I'm happy. However, on the other side, when I am going through any type of anxiety, I am not as hungry, many things don't agree with my stomach, and I am going to the bathroom A LOT more...
So you can see I really believe that I have a "disorder," or as I like to look at it, "a sensitive stomach," but it is made worse or better depending on what is going on in my life and also how I am viewing it. When I stress about it, it gets worse. for me it's obvious that STRESS makes it worse.... so stressing about having IBS is still stress, thus making it worse! If that makes sense....
Does any of this resonate with you? Would you say your digestion is worse when you are under stress? Do you think the negativity you are experiencing because of the IBS is in turn making your IBS worse?
I view it as a vicious cycle, and you are in the depths of it right now.... something radical needs to happen to take you out of the negativity, and what that is, I have no clue... but that's at least what happened for me, and I haven't gone back to that dark place for more than a few hours ever since...
Good luck to you and let me know if any of this makes sense to you.
- Heather

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