IBS or Just Anxiety/Stress?

[julia241977]

Whenever I'm at home, a very low-stress environment, I don't have any GI issues. But then, when I go away for school (I'm a college student), a more stressful environment, my stools often get softer/looser. That's really the only persistent symptom... I get gas/bloating/etc. on occasion, but those issues aren't nearly as frequent as the stool changes. I've started wondering about whether or not there's an underlying GI issue that's causing this problem, especially considering the associations between IBS symptoms and stress/anxiety. On the other hand, though, I do have a lot of health anxiety and so I'm wondering if perhaps I'm overreacting and it's just a matter of being better at managing my anxiety and reducing stress levels. My body is pretty sensitive to anxiety, I get tension headaches a lot.

Would it be worth asking my doctor about it?

[Carys]

Well, one thing is for sure - there isn't anything serious going on and if it comes and goes in different environments then there is nothing much to be worried about. IBS, yeah possibly, why not - indeed it is linked to stress very strongly and it sounds like it isn't causing you too much of a problem anyway (quite low scale symptoms). I guess it could also be that you eat differently whilst away from home, and this affects your bowel habits. Either way, you seem to have found a pattern that the slight tummy issues are when you are at college - so why not think about ways to reduce your stress there if possible as a way forward ?

[julia241977]

Yeah I've been thinking about the stress, as well as the dietary changes. The last time I wasn't having issues while at school was during a time where I was eating lots of fiber. So I'm starting to think that better managing my stress and diet might be a solution! Thanks