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Thread: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

  1. #11
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Quote Originally Posted by wavey View Post
    Hi sial72, I've been trying to find out what might be causing the symptoms you explain as I've started experiencing them recently. My heart rate starts to increase; I start to feel hotter, I can feel adrenaline releasing in my chest area; I feel panicky with anxiety thoughts - I go for a BM and gradually things calm down - I can feel my heart changing it's rhythm as it starts to slow down. I can sometimes feel a bit weak and also slightly cold after as well.

    It is definitely associated with a BM because I can be quite relaxed when I feel the adrenaline begin to release in my chest, followed by the other symptoms. I am aware that anxiety or panic can cause bowel movements as I have suffered from anxiety on and off for years, but this is happaning the other way around - it's the BM causing the anxiety.

    I have ulcerative colitis and I keep a food, symptoms, meds diary which I have been looking at to try and spot why these symptoms may have started happening. It's quite difficult to see any correlation with anything in particular (which is a shame, because I'd be happy to cut out any offending food if it removed the symptoms).

    It has also started waking me up in the night as well, with the same symptoms occurring at various times.

    Have you any thoughts on why it may be happening e.g. your diet, a lifestyle change etc.?
    Sorry, me again. Can the colitis not have something to do with it? I have seen about 3 people mention it who also say they have colitis and someone suggested diverticular disease

  2. #12
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Hi
    my anxiety actually causes BM , i guess it’s the fight or flight response in the body when your Adrenalin level goes up.
    not sure if that’s what you talking about or you just get anxious before you go to toilet.
    I m still fighting this so not sure I can be helpful but what has helped in the past to certain extent was CBT , AD’s and relaxation.

  3. #13
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Hi sial72,

    It's weird isn't it. There doesn't seem to be any clear answers. I have considered a few things that it could be including some of the possibles you gave (low blood pressure, vagus nerve, candida/bacterial overgrowth, viruses etc.) I also considered a histamine reaction but I can't seem to correlate it with my food diary. Another consideration is electrolytes, which can also cross over with dehydration. A lack of potassium can cause a fast heart rate and anxiety along with other symptoms, but it doesn't make sense if you consider that the symptoms only occur before a BM.

    You'd think that dehydration, or low elctrolytes would affect you at any point, not just before a BM. However, this year I had an episode resulting from dehydration and low potassium - the symptoms were exactly the same as those I am experiencing with the BM e.g. they woke me up in the night with racing heart, anxiety, cold hot feelings and I had to have a BM. However, I also had a banana and a glass of coconut water with himilayan salt and tsp raw honey in it, plus I drank some water - the symptoms subsided gradually after this. Could it be that a low level potassium deficiency/dehydration over a period of time is causing it? Over the past couple of days I have started eating 2 banans per day and drinking a glass of coconut water, plus drinking more water to see if there are any changes.

    I also used to take VSL#3 probiotics for the UC, but didn't notice any changes/improvements. Kefir milk yoghurt has many more times the probiotics in it, and I know some with UC have seen improvements by taking it each day (quite a lot of it). But dairy isn't for everyone.

    In reference to the vagus nerve, it would definitely be affected by anxiety - it's connected to the large colon in some areas as well, but I'm not sure how it can be responsible for those symptoms - I thought it was triggered by other things.

  4. #14
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Hi Keta,

    What we're experiencing is a BM causing the anxiety symptoms e.g. I can be relaxed but I will start getting anxiety symptoms when my body is preparing for a BM.

    I've had anxiety that causes a BM before, I think it's fairly common synptom of anxiety. But what I'm experiencing at the moment is a bit confusing because it's the other way round - the BM causes anxiety symptoms, not anxiety causing a BM

    Hopefully that makes sense

  5. #15
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Quote Originally Posted by sial72 View Post
    Sorry, me again. Can the colitis not have something to do with it? I have seen about 3 people mention it who also say they have colitis and someone suggested diverticular disease
    I definitely think UC can have something to do with it. Inflammation in the colon can cause all sorts of symptoms. I considered a stricture, where the body has to work harder to get stool through a narrower section, but the symptoms don't seem to crossover with what I am experiencing. The lack of any pain or discomfort during the BM seems to suggest no inflammation - could it be nerve damage from past flare-ups? Just guessing!

    I had a quick look at diverticular disease but I can't see anything that particularly suggests palpitations, anxiety etc., seems to be the normal symptoms associated with UC e.g. cramps, bloating, pain, diarrhea or constipation, fever, chills etc.

  6. #16
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Hi, yep definitely know what your taking about, happens to me usually in the morning when I get up, sometimes a BM and anxiety seem to come at same time it’s hard to tell which came first, sometimes the anxiety is so high it makes you go to the loo but sometimes a BM actually causes anxiety and all the anxiety symptoms but like you said once you’ve been to the loo the anxiety calms down, I just put it down to the fight or flight feeling.

  7. #17
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Quote Originally Posted by YoullNeverWalkAlone View Post
    Hi, yep definitely know what your taking about, happens to me usually in the morning when I get up, sometimes a BM and anxiety seem to come at same time it’s hard to tell which came first, sometimes the anxiety is so high it makes you go to the loo but sometimes a BM actually causes anxiety and all the anxiety symptoms but like you said once you’ve been to the loo the anxiety calms down, I just put it down to the fight or flight feeling.
    It's definitely part of the fight or flight feeling from the sympathetic nervous system. The body releases cortisol to wake us up which is probably why some people experience anxiety in the morning. The body also releases cortisol to move waste for a BM - which explains why the 2 aspects (anxiety/BM) go hand in hand. However, the process of a bowel movement shouldn't be causing excess symptoms explained earlier in the thread - which would suggest there's another aspect to it (whether food intolerance, IBD, inflammation etc. etc.).

  8. #18
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Wavey, I was late for work yesterday because I had to go to the loo just as I was leaving for work. I work in a Physiotherapy and Osteopathy center so I told my boss what is happening to me, he touched my tummy area and said it's all very very tense, so I asked him what it could be from and he said FEAR (and I have never told him all my fears). He suggested I do a colon cleanse and then put live probiotics back in, so I will give it a try. At this point I'm willing to give (almost) anything a try.

  9. #19
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    Quote Originally Posted by sial72 View Post
    Wavey, I was late for work yesterday because I had to go to the loo just as I was leaving for work. I work in a Physiotherapy and Osteopathy center so I told my boss what is happening to me, he touched my tummy area and said it's all very very tense, so I asked him what it could be from and he said FEAR (and I have never told him all my fears). He suggested I do a colon cleanse and then put live probiotics back in, so I will give it a try. At this point I'm willing to give (almost) anything a try.
    Well he is partly correct to say fear is an aspect - I just don't understand why it happens without warning when we are relaxed. It feels like something in the colon must be causing it. I guess a colon cleanse and probiotics are a good idea to see if there are any improvements. I will be interested to hear if you notice any changes.

    I was thinking about natural antibiotics this morning e.g. oregano. But I'm just guessing that it might improve or at least change things.

    I had a terrible night last night - I woke at 0230 to pressure in the throat, pounding heart, adrenaline feelings. I had a BM after about 30 miins when I realised it was not getting better. Then about 30 mins after that I had some coconut water, himilayan salt, raw honey and also a banana to see if the feelings subsided. About an hour later they calmed down enough for me to sleep for a bit. Then a couple of hours later I woke with the same symptoms and needed another BM. I'm not sure the electrolytes made any difference, although I am at least not experiencing missed heart beats.

  10. #20
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    Re: Anxiety caused by bowel movement?

    How terrible!! at least it happened while at home. I'm beggining to want to avoid things because of this, this morning it happened at work and I feel like just leaving my job because I have such a bad time, but I like my job and I can't afford to leave. I've also got a city break in a couple of weeks and seriously considering cancelling as I can't face this happening to me on a plane or while away but it would upser my daughter as she's been looking forward to it for months 😔

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