Lost perspective, need some help - constantly gassy and soft stool

[Anonybrit]

I'm really struggling with anxiety relating to the development of some bowel symptoms I've had in the past week. I feel like my anxiety has made me lose perspective on how worried to be and what the causes could be, and I really need some help getting that back.

To cut a long story short I woke up 1 week ago with really bad trapped gas and gripey pain that lasted all day. I went to the out of hours doctor who said he didn't think it was anything serious, probably a bug and to just wait and see.

The pain that night went away as I managed to pass most of the gas.

Since then, every day I wake up with lots of gas (no pain) and my stools are soft.

Things seemed to be getting better slowly until today when my stool was sloppy again and I've had worse gas all day, like I'm being blown up like a balloon.


It's been 1 week. If it's anxiety why did it start with a bang like that? If it's a bug why isn't gone by now and why don't I feel under the weather?

My only symptoms as lots of gas and soft stool (not diarrhoea). What else could it be? I've got myself worrying about horrible long term conditions etc.


I think I'm making things worse by worrying but I really need some help putting it all in perspective again.. I don't even know if I need to go back to the doctor or not. This could be "one of those things" that most people just ignore and disappears or it could be something everyone would worry about, I just don't know anymore :(

[percythetrain]

Hi Anonybrit, anxiety can certainly cause loose stools. I suffer from more or less chronic constipation but when I took a flight which I was terrified of, I had diarrhea during it. It was from all the adrenaline and fear.

Another thing you could be having is lactose intolerance. Try eliminating milk for a few days and see what happens. People do become lactose intolerant out of the blue sometimes. Other than that it could be IBS. Try to relax. My mom used to give me rice water to drink as a child when I had loose stools. That might solve the problem and allow you to relax.

[Anonybrit]

Thanks for your reply Percy, that does help although I'm not sure I would develop lactose intolerance so suddenly, but the other probably do fit..

I just find it so strange, particularly having so much gas build up fairly non stop, I've never had that for so long before, it's been going on a week now :(

[Anonybrit]

I went to the GP today who still says it was probably a bug but that maybe my anxiety has taken over now, and gave me Buscopan which I hope works.

[Anonybrit]

Well I feel like the Buscopan has helped slightly which makes me wonder if this is stress related, although possibly it would help regardless of the cause.

Still I am finding myself very gassy in the morning and evening, and my stools are not back to normal yet.

Has anyone had a bug like this? Or does it really just sound like stress?

[Vida]

I've been horribly stressed and have noticed constant loud stomach noises and my stool is soft. It hadnt been but I've got myself in a panic and it started. Hopefully it's our stress. Hugs to you

[popejoan]

I think I should share my story with you. Around November/December one day I thought I had blood in my stool, it turned out to be beet juice later but it was red enough to go to A&E. I started having extremely loose stool, diarrhea like cramps, and I was going to toilet like at least 5 times a day. My blood test showed low Ferritin and I convinced myself I had bowel cancer as I googled and read low ferritin can indicate bleeding and I thought it wasn't beet juice it was blood. As my anxiety went out of control, my stools became more frequent, more loose.
I know it's gross but everyday I was wearing gloves and examining my poo. One day, when I was also on my period I found blood clots in my poo and that was it for me. I had full blown panic and could barely wait my colonoscopy appointment.
I had a colonoscopy and I was sedated so when I woke up the nurse said it's all clear and they couldn't find anything I couldn't believe him, I thought I was dreaming.
After colonoscopy my bowel movements turned back to normal and I no longer examine my poo, that's the best part of it, I can just flush it away :)

I'm sure your symptoms are anxiety related and the more you focus on them the worse they will get.

[Anonybrit]

Thanks for your posts guys, I really want to let myself believe it's anxiety.

Really gas is my biggest problem, I just seem to start inflating like mad, particularly in the morning. It's approaching 2 weeks now and really there's not been much improvement at all.

Some days I'll wake up and do a normal hard stool and feel like things are improving but then an hour later I'll just go and do a soft one again :(

Then again it sounds like you guys had similar problems that sound to be from stress, I guess I just need to be reassured that it isn't something else though, so I wonder if it will take some investigations before I can let it go :(

[Anonybrit]

Really struggling to stop worrying for at least a day to see if this is related to anxiety or not, just seems that at some point I will manage to get really worked up that I have something terrible :(

[Anonybrit]

I did a 100% normal stool yesterday and today woke up with a bit less gas but my stool was very soft.

I am so confused and it's really getting me down.

Is this likely IBS? Or could it be something worse? Or could it still just be "one of those things" that just goes away even after ~10 days?