Tired of this, should I go to the doctor?

[Librella]

Sorry I know there's a lot of threads like this but I need to vent, and any advice appreciated. I've had a "weak stomach" prettymuch my whole adult life. A lot of things I eat make me feel sick the next day. I have gas, bloating, and stomach cramps often. I also get acid reflux pains. And oh the gas...so embarrassing. I sometimes have diarhea, I sometimes have constipation. Things like sleep deprivation or skipping a meal can trigger it too, but sometimes I just feel bad for no apparent reason. I get sick almost every time I travel which is such a pain. I'll go through weeks or months with no problems and then it flares up again. Diet changes and eating probiotics regularly seemed to help for a while but then symptoms came back.

It's been flaring up again for the past 3 months, and the more I get anxious about it the worse it gets. I'm so tired of not being able to go out with friends because I feel sick to my stomach for mysterious causes, or being terrified to get on a plane because I'll probably have to keep running to the bathroom, or sitting through work with horrible stomach cramps.
Do I have IBS? Or do I have colon cancer or ovarian cancer like my anxiety keeps thinking? I'm terrified of medical tests (I break out in a cold sweat even thinking about bloodwork, can't even imagine having a colonoscopy or something), so I'm scared to go and have to go through a lot of tests for nothing. Or they'll just say it's anxiety and that won't help.

[Fishmanpa]

Certainly you could visit the doctor but it does sound like many other threads here. Anxiety can and does cause digestive issues like you describe. You could also try an OTC PPI and follow the FODMAP diet. Keep a diary of what and when you eat to see if there are patterns and/or foods that make it worse and most importantly, treat your anxiety as these things are a catch 22 type of scenario.

Positive thoughts

[Librella]

Thanks for your response. Sometimes I don't even feel anxious and yet I have problems. I know anxiety can manifest later or subconsiously though.
I have been thinking of trying the low FODMAP diet, it sounds difficult but might be worth it.

[Fishmanpa]

Thanks for your response. Sometimes I don't even feel anxious and yet I have problems. I know anxiety can manifest later or subconsiously though.
I have been thinking of trying the low FODMAP diet, it sounds difficult but might be worth it.

Its really not as difficult as you think. Eat the good foods and avoid the bad ones. My wife and I follow it and we've found (by keeping a food diary) that some on the good list don't agree with us and some on the bad list are Ok. For example, cow's milk for us is a no-no (we use almond milk now) but Greek yogurt is ok... go figure.

You're right about the anxiety. I'm sure you've read my campfire analogy....

Anxiety is like a campfire. When you're in the midst of a spiral the fire is burning bright and hot. When the flames die down, there's still a bed of red hot coals burning away just waiting for some more fuel. You may not feel anxious but your body is still on high alert and has a bed of hot anxiety coals inside just waiting to flare up. Just like a campfire, the hot coals of anxiety take a long time to finally go out.

It helps if those coals aren't so hot all the time

Positive thoughts

[MrLurcher]

Hi Librella, if you read my thread called Bowel Cancer Worries you can see the state I was in while suffering with various bowel issues for around 4 months, and a lot of my symptoms are documented there. Things like diarrhoea, terrible wind and bloating, strange pains in my pelvic and rectum area, fullness in my rectum......all sorts of strange stuff! This culminated in me having 2 sets of bloods done, stool test and eventually a flexible sigmoidoscopy - which showed nothing.

I was a right anxious mess for 4 months, worrying and thinking EVERY DAY about bowel movements, checking stools each time, worrying about the tests results - like you I hate medical tests and the worry before getting results is the worst. However after I had the flexible sigmoidoscopy, my symptoms started to quieten down and (touch wood) my bowels have been much better and settled since. I still get the odd bought of bloat and loose stools. I've had these IBS type symptoms for over 10 years, but being anxious and worrying about it excessively made them 100% worse. However at the time I didn't believe anxiety and worry could cause my symptoms to worsen, and like you, believed I had bowel cancer or some other serious bowel issue.

[Librella]

Thanks Mr Lurcher, I looked at some of your thread and I'm glad you're feeling better now. Crazy how anxiety can make you feel real symptoms.