Anxiety or Not???

[justfedup]

This is going to be long, so apologies in advance,

Hi there I am 43 and I was diagnosed with IBS about 14 years ago (maybe more). It tends to flare up if I eat something I shouldn't (certain cheese's & pasta) or if I am due to go somewhere weather it be somewhere nice or say a DR's appointment.

But things seem to have escalated, to the point where I have been getting alot of upper abdominal burning/tightening just below the rib cage (I am female). I thought it was just my acid reflux associated with my IBS as already taking Omeprazole for this as well as Colofac (Mebeverine).

This occured about 10 day's ago after I felt some rather uncomfortable sharp stabbing pains in my mid/lower abdomen, so what did I do I looked up my symptoms on Google (I know how silly) and it seemed to suggest all sorts of nasty things like Ovarian Cancer, Stomach Cancer etc, so I got myself into such a panic I ended up with diarrhea, no motivation to do anything and next to no sleep all weekend and this awful burning sensation in my upper abdomen.

I saw my GP on the Monday who said the pain in my lower/mid abdomen was because it was full of "poo" as I was constipated (hence the diarrhea) and it was causing it to move up to the top of my stomach hence the burning sensation, so she prescribed me Ranitidine for the burning and Fybogel for my constipation. After that appointment I felt so much better, and my symptoms virtually disappeared apart from some abdominal tenderness and constipation.

On Friday I got very stressed and upset due a work matter and the awful burning sensation returned with avengence, and it didn't ease off until late Saturday afternoon and only because I managed to stop myself from Googling the symptoms again. So I was fine until I had to go into work to sort this matter out yesterday morning and the burning in my upper abdomen reared its ugly head again, but it eventually stopped after I'd been to work. Which is now making me think I do have some sort of Anxiety issue.

My GP also told me I need to loose weight and I have adhered to that but my tummy always seem's tender and empty, but not sure if that's my body adjusting to my new eating habits or not.

I am so fed up of feeling "ill", I cry at the drop of a hat, 9 times out of 10 I either cannot get to sleep or I am always waking up several times a night and I end up getting up feeling worse than I was before I went to bed as normally end up with a horrid frontal headache. I suffer alot with lower back pain and get alot of stiff/sore necks.

I would go back to my GP but feel like I am wasting her time to be honest.


Am I just being silly or is this Anxiety. I think what does not help is my dad had Bowel cancer 8 years ago (he's fine now) and last year I had a scare with a breast lump, had a mammogram and an ultra sound and was clear I think this has gotten worse since then as every little ache, pain etc I think I have a terminal illness and this is just not normal. I just want to live a happy, healthy life with my 2 son's and my husband (I can't talk to him about this as he does think I'm being stupid).

Please help :'(

[Mindknot]

It sounds quite similar to what I have been experiencing, and I have been given the exact same diagnosis i.e. anxiety. So I'm going to go with yes, it is.

Now my stomach issues are like 60% improved these days, and that has helped my anxiety levels a lot (works both ways anxiety > guts > anxiety) - i think this has changed a lot based on my food choices (try low-FODMAP for a bit?), but I had also developed something of a pot belly, and have subsequently increased and changed my exercise regime - including strength exercises, so now that I have some sort of ab strength, I can still feel my gurgly guts inside, but it's a heck of a lot less uncomfortable on a day to day basis.
You could also try aloe vera juice mayhaps (i quite like it for calming down the "inflamed" sensation) but one thing I learnt is it takes time before you start to feel the effects.

Sore neck also sounds a lot like anxiety, I have that too. Got a new pillow and situation is slightly improved, but for me just reading about anxiety helps me to feel less anxious, so if you are going to Google anything, Google anxiety for more info and coping techniques. There's also a lovely thread over in the HA section "Getting there slowly" which is full of people trying our bestest to get past health anxiety :)

Give it say four weeks, if you are not feeling better go back to your GP - talk to them about anxiety, you are not wasting their time and they should give you information about getting CBT in your area.

[justfedup]

Hi Mindknot, many thanks for your reply, I am going to ring my Dr's up Monday to make a routine appointment with my own GP for 2 weeks later (typical she is on holiday at the moment) unless I bite the bullet and see a nurse practioner. But it is nice to know that there are many other people like me and that I am not going mad.

lots of love xx

[Mindknot]

Would advise waiting to talk to your GP if anything, I asked a nurse about something in a moment of panic and she more or less just said "speak to the doctor if it gets worse" which didn't help at all!

In the meantime, I think you would really benefit from reading more about anxiety using this website, or even order a book or something, you may find that you start to recognise it in yourself, and I think that's a good start - I'm still a long way off "normal" but at least I can get through most days without freaking out now because I've come to terms with the fact that I have no known illness other than anxiety. Besides, unlike most other illnesses, anxiety is the one you are most likely to be able to fix with research and brain training, so it's good to focus your mind at that rather than any symptoms you might have - your doctor will be able to tell you if those are worrisome or not, and right now she says not, so you're all good :)

N.B. my doc said to me that they basically weren't too concerned unless I had had the exact same symptom continuously for like 6 weeks! So i think you can hold out for 2 without worrying :)

[justfedup]

I have managed get a double appointment with my Nurse Practioner tomorrow morning but not 100% sure how to approach her without sounding completely mad....I have written down what I wanted to say does this sound silly ?

[justfedup]

Well been to the doctors this morning with my anxiety symptoms and yes that's exactly what it is, felt so good to be able to talk to someone who understands where I'm coming from even though I had to write everything down first, she has prescribed me Citalopram 20mg and wants to see me in 4 weeks.....

[Mindknot]

Good stuff :yesyes:

Now you know what to work on to fix your symptoms. Did the nurse give you any information about talking therapies in your area? As many people on this board have found, the best way to deal with anxiety it to help your mind out of the anxiety cycle, and CBT is very effective for that. There is also a free course available to download - CBT4PANIC - it's a sticky thread under panic attacks, have a look :)

---------- Post added at 11:11 ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 ----------

N.B. writing stuff down is the best policy, some lovely person on this board advised me of the same :)