Suddenly anxious about IBS

[emlica]

Hi everyone,

I know we're not meant to seek medical advice here, so I guess I'm just wanting to hear some other people's experiences and maybe some 'how to chill out about it' type advice as well! I'm new to the forum, mainly because I'm completely new to having this type of anxiety. I guess I've always been inclined to be a bit stressy about things, but this is the first time it's been quite so... all-consuming, I guess. Sorry this is long, but I think just getting it off my chest is probably helping!

I had a nasty (downwards!) tummy bug that started about a month ago. It lasted a good five days, which is longer than any tummy bug I've had before. Since then - so 3+ weeks - my bowel habits have not gone back to normal. My doctor - who I've now seen twice about it - says that for some people it can take "a couple of months" for the bowels to return to normal, and she doesn't seem unduly concerned. But I can't convince myself to not be concerned! I have just had some blood tests done (results at the end of the week), but I got the impression she ordered them more for my peace of mind than because she thought they'd show something! She says it sounds like a bit of mild IBS after the gastroenteritis, but the blood tests will rule out anything else.

My symptoms are:
- what I think is an excess of gas being produced in my digestive system, leading to (again, what I assume are) gas-related 'twinges'. They seem to happen mostly (but not exclusively) in the right side of my abdomen. Interestingly (?), when I had the bug, it was the right side of my abdomen that felt worst. It's discomfort rather than pain, and it's not all the time by any means.

- slightly loose BMs. It's not diarrhoea (not what I'd call diarrhoea anyway), and it's not *every* movement - I have the occasional solid one! - but they're not 'formed', if you know what I mean? And I can see undigested food in them. But I'll be honest, before my bug I wasn't a great inspector of my poo (!), so maybe that was always the case. I only seem to go in the morning, but I'll go a few times in fairly quick succession on some mornings - that did actually happen occasionally before the bug as well, to be fair. After that I don't generally have to go for the rest of the day. I don't usually have pain before or during, no really obvious cramps (some gurgles occasionally), and not particularly bad urgency either. No blood, perhaps a bit of mucus (hard to tell), variable colour, generally smell 'normal'. It's just as if things are moving through my system too quickly, I think.

- lack of appetite. But the thing is, I'm pretty confident that this is, in reality, at least partly a side effect of the anxiety. My appetite is much, much worse when I've been at home on my own worrying about why I haven't recovered yet, whereas yesterday, for example, when I'd just been to the doctor and she'd said it was likely to just be taking a bit longer than usual to recover, plus I was very busy at work, I ate normally (still wouldn't have said I was hungry, exactly, but didn't have to force food down). Today, for some reason, I can feel that I'm anxious again, and I've just struggled to eat my sandwich at lunchtime. Which makes me anxious because I think lack of appetite is a sign of something bad, even though logically I know it's the anxiety that's causing it.

- and, of course, anxiety. Which is sort of making me sort of emotional. Ridiculously, I'm now occasionally getting worried about how worried I am (I know!!), thinking that there's something wrong with me mentally. It's constantly in the back of my mind. When I'm particularly anxious I struggle to concentrate, struggle to look forward to doing things, etc.

And in all that, have I even said what I'm anxious about? Nope. Because I'm not even sure that I know, I just have this 'oh god what if there's something wrong with me and I can never live a completely normal life again?' panic going on. I think my main worry is that when the doctor said it sounded like mild IBS, I immediately thought 'that's a permanent condition, it's not curable, oh my god, I'm going to have to spend my life planning visits to the toilet'. Which is a depressing thought! When in fact, I'm not even sure if the doctor meant that she thought I had 'long term' IBS, given that she said it could just be that the bug was taking a while to clear up and that for some people it could take a couple of months. I'm also starting to worry that, for example, I might have an intolerance to something (lactose, for instance) - which doesn't sound like a disaster, does it? But it upsets me anyway because of stupid things like not being able to have icecream - I know, first world problems, right? And that maybe, if things are moving through my system too quickly, and I'm seeing undigested food, does that mean I'm going to be malnourished?

See? Worrying about absolutely stupid things and I'm sure the worry will be making my bowels worse.

[backfromthebrink]

Hi -

I can really identify with a lot of what you say.

I had a bad stomach bug a few months ago, and spent 5 days off and on, puking and pooping (sometimes simultaneously!). After that, I did have gas for many days. Not 3 wks, but I did notice the gas was bad.

Also with the lack of appetite - been there and got the t-shirt. I was so anxious about my health a few months ago that I've been having to force food down myself. THen I lose weight. Then I worry even more because 'unexplained weight loss' seems to be a symptom of almost everything scary. So then I'm more anxious. And even less able to eat. So even more likely to lose weight. And so on.

Also, when you are anxious, your stools stay looser and sloppier (sorry if TMI!). Your food goes through you faster and your body doesn't digest everything thoroughly. This is a result of anxiety. So you can lose weight because both you're putting less in, and what you're putting in, is going through you faster.

I told myself that my 'weight loss' started precisely when I noticed a symptom and went to the doctor, not before that. If it was caused by something physical it would have been happening even before I was anxious. And, these last couple of months I've been feeling much less anxious and better able to eat and I've put the weight back on easily and have to be careful not to go the other way and overeat!!!

So - appetite and stool formation are completely affected by anxiety levels. This can all become a vicious circle where anxiety causes lack of appetite and sloppy no 2s, which in turn increases anxiety, which makes appetite and stools worse… and so on.

[Lilharry]

Were you on antibiotics for the tummy bug? Antibiotics kill off all the bad stuff, but also the good stuff so it can take a while to rebalance. Even if you weren't on antibiotics, the tummy bug means you've had a lot of bad bacteria in there proliferating. I would get yourself some probiotics and eat some plain acidophilus yogurt to help rebalance your gut flora. Try keeping your food bland and nutritious - lots of veges, rice, chicken etc - stay away from dairy (apart from yogurt if you can tolerate) and sugar. Gluten isn't great when you've got a dodgy gut either. You need to feed the good bacteria in your gut with good, wholesome food. It can take a while to come right again. Don't worry about the undigested food, it should come right eventually and isn't anything to worry about.

[emlica]

Hi, thanks for the replies!

Backfromthebrink - yeah, that "anxiety-loose stools-lack of appetite-weight loss-even worse anxiety" cycle is pretty familiar. I think I'm doing a bit better with it - definitely eating more normally although I wouldn't say I was actually 'hungry' very often. I eat because I know it's time to have some food rather than because I'm hungry, but I don't have to force it down. I'm still slightly anxious, though, so maybe actual hunger won't come back until I can do away with that entirely. I think I'm gradually seeing a little bit of improvement on the stools front as well, though they're definitely not right yet. And I still have too much gas - or, perhaps, I have the same amount of gas but my intestines are just more sensitive to it.

Lilharry - no, I wasn't on antibiotics. I've been eating probiotic yoghurt as I thought the same as you - maybe just too many bad bacteria (which I think would probably explain the gas as well) after the bug and I need to 'rebalance' everything again. I'm keeping food fairly bland though without actually cutting out whole food groups - partly because if I go TOO bland I just don't want to eat it, and I need to eat! I've not noticed any particular food having a worse effect than others - except that dried fruit gives me gas (but I think dried fruit has always given me a bit of gas!). I think I'm seeing less undigested food in my stools in the last couple of days - also coinciding with stools being more solid more frequently, so hopefully it's a sign I'm on the mend!

It's really just that the longer the symptoms go on - even though realistically the symptoms are really mild - the more I worry that it's something permanent and I might be like this indefinitely (forums dedicated specifically to IBS are terrible for horror stories of IBS experiences :S). I get quite upset sometimes at stupid things like the thought that I might not comfortably be able to eat out any more. I'd always expect to have a week or so of things being a bit dodgy after a nasty tummy bug, but it's a month now and I'm not right. I have to keep telling myself that although it's still not right, it's not as wrong as it was, and that must be good!!

[Lilharry]

Dried fruit has a lot of sugar in it and it will ferment in your gut and the bad guys love it! I would cut back on anything sugary for now.