Is it IBS or not, going in circles
Hi all,
Coming back on here just to vent about what I've been dealing with lately and commiserate with others. I don't have an official IBS diagnosis but my doctor thinks it's a possibility and I do too although my anxiety always wants me to think it's something more sinister or I'm eating something that is contimanted/giving me food poisoning (a huge source of my anxiety)
My latest episode occurred 2 nights ago. I had been having a crazy amount of bloat and a lot of gas in addition to feeling a bit nauseous off and on and wired/anxious/achy and having trouble sleeping. I knew something was definitely off. I managed to fall asleep that night but then woke up in a panic and had a low grade panic attack - heart racing, crying, shaking, feeling a sense of doom, etc. Basically the root of it was I was terrified I ate something contaminated and I was going to have diarrhea/food poisoning. Of course anxiety makes you go to the worst possible scenario and all I saw was myself at the hospital being treated with something scary like botulism or something. I came down from it but still felt buzzy/achy all over my body and had trouble sleeping because of it. I was able to sleep a bit more but still had that buzzy/achy feeling (not pain but just malaise, and feeling uncomfortable if that makes sense). I ended up having 2 BMs that morning - none of it was diarrhea. In fact they were pretty smooth snake-like healthy looking poops lol, but just a lot and in short succession. After that I felt so much better but was still feeling that buzzy/achy/restless feeling and didn't have much of an appetite at all. I also felt super tired and I was mentally just feeling super down and exhausted from not sleeping well. Even though I was so tired I couldn't get to sleep right away. When I finally did I slowly started feeling better as the day went on and managed to eat some GF ramen and later on some oatmeal. That whole rest of the day I didn't feel nauseous, just achy and tired which was relieved by simple rest and a heating pad.
And today I feel pretty much back to normal. I got a pretty good night's sleep and have a normal appetite and energy. It's as if nothing ever happened.
Part of me still thinks, was this some virus from something I ate or something more sinister? But am I really having this many stomach viruses/food poisoning episodes in a year? That seems so bizarre. This recent episode is typical of what I keep experiencing, so I guess it's IBS?? In a way it's actually more frustrating when it's not obvious symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea and a fever because I'm left with, well what was that, what caused it, do I need to throw out all my food and start over? I have some ideas of what it might have been (I've been keeping a food diary - but of course when this happens I had been forgetting to record what I ate lol) but it's so frustrating not knowing for sure :(. This is motivating me to get back on the low FODMAP diet but it's just...exhausting. Food has become a big source of my anxiety and there are some days I just can't prepare anything good and go for easy/convenient meals that may or may not be low FODMAP. Gonna try and get back on track though. Ugh
Re: Is it IBS or not, going in circles
Hi there! Based on what you're saying I really don't think you had a virus or anything. I've had food poisoning and stomach viruses a few times before, including the dreaded Norovirus, and when I tell you it was bad it was REAL bad. I was sat on the toilet and had my head in the sink, pooping and vomitting at the same time. I realise that may be too much information, but it's just to reassure you that had it been anything sinister you really would have known about it. Like most people with anxiety, you're gonna suffer with digestive issues due to the connection between the mind and the gut. It's scary and frustrating, but it's not going to cause any internal damage or result in anything worse like cancer. I haven't had any stomach pain all week, but tonight my partner treated me to a take out and I'm sat here now gassy and with stomach pains. You could have eaten something you were a bit sensitive to and it's just caused disruption. Mix that with your panic attacks and general anxiety, it's gonna do a number on you! If you do actually vomit or have diarrhea out of the blue today or tomorrow, and you're not feeling anxious or anything, then contact the GP. But I honestly think you're ok and it was a case of anxiety making your gut go into overdrive.
Re: Is it IBS or not, going in circles
Hi thanks so much for your reply. Yes I’ve had horrible food poisoning in the past so I definitely know when it’s bad. The difference is I have SO much more anxiety attached to digestive issues now it’s so frustrating. it’s the chicken or egg scenario...like something won’t feel right or “normal” and i’ll get anxious about it, and sometimes like the other day it will escalate to full on panic. so then it becomes a mix of anxiety causing physical symptoms and physical symptoms causing anxiety and then I just start feeling out of control of my body or that I don’t know my body anymore :( It’s gotten to the point where I have so much anxiety with food and eating, I throw things out even when they are probably still good, I haven’t bought raw meat to cook in a long time out of fear of contamination, eating raw fruits and vegetables makes me nervous...eggs stress me out so much...when i’m really anxious all I can think is “what if this makes me sick?” Basically I’ve lost about 30 pounds over this past year because of it (luckily I had some to spare lol...ugh) In recent months I have made a lot of progress with my anxiety via small changes like meditation, exercise, Ive talked to my doctor, I’ve tried to eat healthy and reintroduce things back into my diet etc but I still have these major set backs. everything is fine until it’s not again. I just miss really enjoying food and cooking. what was once a fun hobby for me in the past is a source of stress and anxiety now :(
Re: Is it IBS or not, going in circles
Quote:
Originally Posted by
seashell07
Hi thanks so much for your reply. Yes I’ve had horrible food poisoning in the past so I definitely know when it’s bad. The difference is I have SO much more anxiety attached to digestive issues now it’s so frustrating. it’s the chicken or egg scenario...like something won’t feel right or “normal” and i’ll get anxious about it, and sometimes like the other day it will escalate to full on panic. so then it becomes a mix of anxiety causing physical symptoms and physical symptoms causing anxiety and then I just start feeling out of control of my body or that I don’t know my body anymore :( It’s gotten to the point where I have so much anxiety with food and eating, I throw things out even when they are probably still good, I haven’t bought raw meat to cook in a long time out of fear of contamination, eating raw fruits and vegetables makes me nervous...eggs stress me out so much...when i’m really anxious all I can think is “what if this makes me sick?” Basically I’ve lost about 30 pounds over this past year because of it (luckily I had some to spare lol...ugh) In recent months I have made a lot of progress with my anxiety via small changes like meditation, exercise, Ive talked to my doctor, I’ve tried to eat healthy and reintroduce things back into my diet etc but I still have these major set backs. everything is fine until it’s not again. I just miss really enjoying food and cooking. what was once a fun hobby for me in the past is a source of stress and anxiety now :(
I can relate to this completely. I don’t cook raw meat because I don’t trust myself, I hate using eggs because I’m worried about the mess and also risk of undercooking and I wash and wash salad etc even when it says washed and ready to eat. I’m terrified of food poisoning and stomach bugs because I’ve had some pretty bad issues in the past. I now have severe anxiety over my bowels and I worry every day about whether I’m going to have diarrhea or not.
We’re currently weaning my daughter and my fears over food poisoning is really affecting the food I will make for her and I’m worried it’s affecting her taste and preferences because I won’t cook meat or raw fish for her so she’s had limited tastes of meat in the 3 months that she has been eating food. It’s causing me a great deal of anxiety overall.
Sorry this doesn’t help but I just wanted to say you’re not alone!
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Re: Is it IBS or not, going in circles
Quote:
Originally Posted by
fizzymoon86
I can relate to this completely. I don’t cook raw meat because I don’t trust myself, I hate using eggs because I’m worried about the mess and also risk of undercooking and I wash and wash salad etc even when it says washed and ready to eat. I’m terrified of food poisoning and stomach bugs because I’ve had some pretty bad issues in the past. I now have severe anxiety over my bowels and I worry every day about whether I’m going to have diarrhea or not.
We’re currently weaning my daughter and my fears over food poisoning is really affecting the food I will make for her and I’m worried it’s affecting her taste and preferences because I won’t cook meat or raw fish for her so she’s had limited tastes of meat in the 3 months that she has been eating food. It’s causing me a great deal of anxiety overall.
Sorry this doesn’t help but I just wanted to say you’re not alone!
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No it absolutely helps, I have some people in my life who are understanding but they don't fully understand, also some of it is just embarrassing so I don't really share it with anyone.
Do you buy pre-cooked meat? "Safe" food for me includes getting frozen chicken strips or nuggets that are already cooked so I just need to heat them up in the microwave or oven. I'll also get precooked chicken sausage or something but sometimes those are rough on my system. Fish is one thing I'm less nervous about - I did buy some fresh salmon recently. What's reassuring for me is that it's fairly easy to cook and there is a lower chance of getting food poisoning from fish. I'm trying to work my way up into buying ground beef but I'm not there yet :\
I have tried eating eggs again but it was such a stressful process, I kept overwashing my hands and kind of overcooked them so they weren't that great. It just makes me sad because I used to love eggs and I'd make poached eggs that were runny in the middle, I used to LOVE that but now all I can think is SALMONELLA and if I were to eat an undercooked egg it would send me in a spiral. I'm hoping one day I'll get back to where I was but it seems so far away.
Re: Is it IBS or not, going in circles
Quote:
Originally Posted by
seashell07
No it absolutely helps, I have some people in my life who are understanding but they don't fully understand, also some of it is just embarrassing so I don't really share it with anyone.
Do you buy pre-cooked meat? "Safe" food for me includes getting frozen chicken strips or nuggets that are already cooked so I just need to heat them up in the microwave or oven. I'll also get precooked chicken sausage or something but sometimes those are rough on my system. Fish is one thing I'm less nervous about - I did buy some fresh salmon recently. What's reassuring for me is that it's fairly easy to cook and there is a lower chance of getting food poisoning from fish. I'm trying to work my way up into buying ground beef but I'm not there yet :\
I have tried eating eggs again but it was such a stressful process, I kept overwashing my hands and kind of overcooked them so they weren't that great. It just makes me sad because I used to love eggs and I'd make poached eggs that were runny in the middle, I used to LOVE that but now all I can think is SALMONELLA and if I were to eat an undercooked egg it would send me in a spiral. I'm hoping one day I'll get back to where I was but it seems so far away.
I do buy cooked meat, mainly for my partner because he loves meat so we get cooked chicken and ham etc and I do buy cooked salmon for myself as well which is nice. I’m also trying to work up to buying ground beef but I’m not there yet either. I like using veggie mince but my baby girl is only 9 months and she can’t eat those products yet! I’d love to cook her a bolognese in our slow cooker but I don’t have the confidence yet.
I’m the same with eggs - I made some mini pancakes for my baby girl a few weeks ago and I overcooked them because I was worried about poisoning her and they were rubbery. Unsurprisingly she turned her nose up at them lol. My partner cooks with eggs and makes scrambled egg for me but I’m always behind him wiping the kitchen sides and anything he touches and making him wash his hands constantly.
It’s so so stressful so I feel your pain. I think it’ll be a long long time until I allow raw chicken to enter my house and fridge. We have frozen sausages and burgers that my partner cooks when I’m not there but I can’t be near them.
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