Can IBS be CAUSED by anxiety?

[asus15]

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[Mozie]

Hiya I don't think anxiety is the actual cause of ibs but I've read that alot of anxiety sufferes do actually suffer from ibs according to some medical studies they don't seem to know why this is.



I've suffered ibs for years well before I started with anxiety, I get the cramps and gas and the dreaded D, I also have the mucus or clear jelly after bowel movements

I seem to have bouts some last for along time and then I may not have another for months, when u get the anxiety though it does effect the ibs and it does seem they both go hand in hand but not all people with anxiety suffer ibs..

[wal_cott]

I actually talked to my Dr. about this recently and she said that any kind of hormonal changes in the body can effect your bathroom patterns. So say if you have been especially anxious you're either going to have to go to the bathroom a lot & have loose stools or you are going to feel like you can't go to the bathroom at all. I think they're related but you probably have to have a predisposition to IBS to have it effect your body and then the anxiety brings about the IBS through stress.

[Beckybecks]

For me the two go hand in hand. The IBS feeds the anxiety and the anxiety feeds the IBS. I got medication for the IBS and do CBT for the anxiety. But before this I would have bouts that lasted for months and it was a real nightmare.

[Libra]

Its the gut brain connection..very closely tied in.

[cry]

My anxiety started properly about three months ago and since then I've had a number of IBS symptoms. I am waiting on a scan to make sure it's nothing more sinister (the health anxiety in me has made me request that) but I think there is most definitely a connection.

[Ro5913]

I get severe IBS - D often and it really causes me to panic, it's starting to make me feel scared to leave the house. But of course the more I think about having an attack and paying attention to any feeling in my stomach I end up causing one. It's an awful cycle to live with and I don't know what to do any more, I am currently doing CBT for the anxiety but it is yet to have little affect but I am hopeful.

[StevieBleeds]

I get severe IBS - D often and it really causes me to panic, it's starting to make me feel scared to leave the house. But of course the more I think about having an attack and paying attention to any feeling in my stomach I end up causing one. It's an awful cycle to live with and I don't know what to do any more, I am currently doing CBT for the anxiety but it is yet to have little affect but I am hopeful.

CBT varies from person to person, I found some of the relaxation exercises quite useful, but I also started leaving the house with Imodium, Colofac and Rescue Remedy so I could at least leave the house and do normal things.

For me, it helped to rationalise that if I did have an IBS bout, I've got medication to help.

[Mojo61]

It was a bout of diarrhoea last year that started the health anxiety which culminated in my severe anxiety and depression. My doctor thinks they are all linked. I have never before suffered from anxiety, depression or any other illness come to that. It is scary what the brain can come up with when it wants to.

[debs71]

Yes. It is a huge cause or trigger for IBS.

As Libra said already, it is the brain-gut connection. Anxiety speeds up all of our bodily functions. Our nervous systems go into overdrive and causes our bowels to go haywire, which in turn creates the spasms of pain, etc.

Like Beckybecks, my IBS always flares up when I am stressed or my anxiety is bad again. I had a health worry a few years ago, with lots of tests and surgery and my IBS went beserk for months.

[steven67]

In a word yes if you go to dr Dani on YouTube she have said the evidence has just come out that stress builds up bad bacteria and this makes you sensitive to sum foods ,but because so many people are different that's why people have different sensitivities to so many different foods ,with me it was beans and peppers for someone else it maybe chicken and so on ,she reckons that if you lower your stress then avoid the foods that trouble you for 4 -6 weeks and take good bacteria the ibs will go,it's all dew to high stress which provides a over production of bad bacteria,well worth a look because it worked for me atvb Steve

[Sarahjosephine]

I think anxiety exacerbates it for sure. I feel it a lot more when I'm feeling anxious, your bowels really need to relax so your body and mind do too, also diet is important, alcohol, junk food, and trying the FODMAPs eliminations diet really helped me and seemed to mostly cure it, I know the foods I'm sensitive to now and just have them in small amounts or avoid them completely but sometimes you have to try the food again coz nerves can cause us to react to it. I had a bowel scan too just to make sure everything was all good. Drink lots of water and take a good pro-biotic too, with time it is manageable and I believe curable...love and light. Also when you're testing a particular food on the FODMAPs diet, only test one trigger food at a time for 24 hrs. Good luck lovely xoxox u will get through it

[Petesy]

For me the two go hand in hand. The IBS feeds the anxiety and the anxiety feeds the IBS. I got medication for the IBS and do CBT for the anxiety. But before this I would have bouts that lasted for months and it was a real nightmare.

I totally agree Becky that's what's happening to me right now trying too stay calm so it won't get worse, I've got the meds and had cbt but that was years ago (cbt) I'm talking about worked wonders think i need another course of it..because I'm going through that nightmare right now.