Stomach issues, afraid of something serious

[lobbie]

This is the first time I'm writing on this forum. I have however been lurking here on and off when my HA have been especially high.

To make a long story short I've been having a lot of anxiety for the past 6 months or so. It all started with a pretty bad panic attack at work which happened after I had been very stressed for a couple of months. Ever since then I've basically had anxiety every day, especially in the mornings. My symtoms have varied but I usually feel kinda hot (feverish), jittery, fast heart-beat,nauseated... Pretty much the "classic" anxiety symtoms. For the most part I knew they were anxiety so I managed to not freak out about them too much (as I've also had them in the past during my previous bout of HA), and somewhere around lunchtime the symtoms would get better and I could feel completely fine in the evening.

However, for the past 10 days or so I've been having stomach issues that I've never experienced before. Even if I've been really stressed/anxious my stomach have always been fine (apart from short moments of nausea).

It all started one day when I went to the toilet and discovered a small red streak on my stool. I initially got scared, but also knew I had been constipated recently and that it kinda hurt to "get it out" so to say... So I thought that probably was the reason and tried not to think about it too much.

The next day I woke up early morning feeling extremely bloated with stomach cramps. A short while later I have to go to the toilet and my stool is loose (not diarrhea but definately more loose than normal). I continue to stay bloated for a few hours and go to the toilet 2-3 times more. Its not a lot that come out every time but all of it is pretty loose and kind of a more light brown color. No more blood as far as I can see. Around lunchtime it settles down and I feel pretty normal for the rest of the day... But then next day the exact same thing happens; I wake up bloated, go to the toilet 3-4 times and then start to feel more fine around lunchtime.

After having this for about 3 days I started getting hard stool instead. The other symtoms were the same (bloated feeling in the morning) but then I only went to the toilet once a day and it was pretty hard. That went on for a few more days and now I seem to be back to being loose again. I don't have much stomach cramps anymore, just feeling uncomfortable from the bloating. Most days it seems to settle down around lunchtime but some days I can feel bloated and have gas all day. My appetite is also basically gone. In the morning it's the worst and I have to force myself to eat a little yoghurt. Later in the day it tends to get better but I rarely really feel like eating. Part of it is probably because when I eat (especielly if it's in the morning/noon) it makes me either feel even more bloated or I soon have to go to the toilet again for another round of loose stool. I really don't want to lose any more weight as I'm already pretty slim as it is.

I never have to go to the toilet after lunchtime or in the evening though. It's just in the mornings.

Been thinking about going to the doctor but my friends and family all think it's 100% due to my anxiety. Thing is this all started just when I was moving to a new apartment and not gonna lie I've been through a lot of stress because of this. I've never lived at any place by myself (always lived with parents/boyfriend/friends before) and being alone is one thing that really makes my HA go wild (always been scared something will happen to me when I'm alone and then no one is there to help). So these past days have been tough as I spend a lot of time by myself every day now.

I just would like to know if anyone out there have experienced similar symtoms, or if it's possible to suffer from anxiety for a long time and then suddenly develop IBS when you haven't had it before. If it helps I'm a 30 year old female.

I'm just scared that it's something serious such as the dreaded cc...

[NoraB]

Nothing you've mentioned makes me think it's anything other than irritable bowel syndrome due to anxiety.

I'm having a flare up at the moment and have everything you've described.

I came out the womb in a state of anxiety, but it took 21 years to develop IBS, and then it was just a bit of cramping and the odd 'urgent' poo. Now, my bum doesn't know if it's coming or going. I have a heat pad attached to some part of my tummy, and when I bloat - I puff up like I'm 6 months pregnant!

You're ok.

Take a really good look at your diet - go boring low fodmap (is what I'm doing) to give your digestive system a helping hand for a few weeks. Ginger tea for nausea and peppermint for gas. I always think a damn good fart helps to shift things along and peppermint is great for that. Speaking of which - Hubs walked in on me the other day and I was literally parting my arse cheeks to coax a fart out. He stared at me open mouthed for what seemed like forever, and I said, 'What? Have you never helped a fart out? He said. 'Yeah, but you've never witnessed me doing it.

Whatevs, mate.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes...

NO CAFFIENE!!!! UH HUH. It irritates the gut.

My appetite has gone as well. Sometimes I feel hungry but one pathetic quarter of a sandwich and I'm done - another delightful perk of IBS. That said, I needed to lose some weight, so silver linings and all that...

Hope this helps.

P.S there are some really good sticky's about IBS on here.

[lobbie]

Thankyou very much for your reply Nora.


I've read a lot of IBS-related posts on here but it's nice to know someone else can relate to my specific symtoms. As far as I know symtoms can vary a lot with IBS x)


I've already changed my diet somewhat (eating a lot of yoghurt and oats, drinking a lot of water, avoiding soda etc...). Also I never really consumed much caffeine apart from a couple of cups of green tea per day (changed that to herbal tea now), but I'll take a look at that fodmap diet that you mentioned. Also had no idea peppermint tea is good for gas! Will definately stock up on that.


I kinda thought loss of appetite wasn't a typical IBS symtom but yeah, I know for sure it can be an anxiety symtom. I've had it in the past but it usually haven't lasted for more than a day or so. Always fun when the body throws new symtoms at you x)

[Manders139]

Hi

[Manders139]

Hi sorry this is my first post after just finding this website by pure chance.

I am absolutely panicked/beside myself/hysterical/cannot function with new stomach issues which started about 4/6 weeks ago.

A bit of background about me: i am a 47 year old woman with type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent) which i have had for 22 years. I started suffering from health anxiety about 5 years ago and find it completely consuming (when im in the panic) but can be forgotten about until the next health scare. I am writing this hoping im on the right path as i am so hysterical right now i cannot see the screen for tears so apologies in advance for typos.

Everything was fine until I started having low down abdominal pain but this soon radiated to my upper abdomen also. Then ofcourse the mind kicked and i soon started having diarrhoea. Ovet the hours everything became worse and my anxiety took off as did my diarrhoea. I called my gp the next day and she asked me to go up to be examined and take urine sample. She checked my urine (ok) she examined my stomach (everything fealt fine) and thought i had probably picked up a bug. Everything was fine for about a week then it all came back again, i phoned gp again and she organised for me to get my bloods checked and check for ovarian issues. After a stressful 3 days my results came back clear. Again i was ok fot a few days then the TERRIBLE diarrhoea started again with low stomach cramps, then this terrible pain moves up into my upper abdomen and travels to my back, this seems to last for 24 hours then disappears (Btw no blood in my poo and i also did a chemist test for bowel cancer and it came back with no blood). Unfortunately 3 days ago the whole cycle happened again but today I have the most awful wind which i cannot get rid of, it’s causing upper stomach pain, and feel totally bloated. Could anyone help put my mind at ease if they think this could be bowel cancer? So sorry also meant to say i had a colonoscopy 2 years ago (I thought I had blood in my poo) it came back negative and they suggested I have IBS??

Anyone’s advice would be so helpful I feel as if im going to have a nervous breakdown, thanks in advance

[Aussie11]

Sounds very much like IBS to me. Mine didn’t start until I was 30, following time of a lot of stress, so not unusual to come on suddenly like it has.

[Fishmanpa]

Look into the FODMAP diet. Its beneficial for IBS and reflux and generally healthy overall. Keep a food diary so you can identify foods that aggravate you. My wife and I both suffer from reflux and we've been following it for years and its really helped overall.

Positive thoughts

[lobbie]

Thought I would make an update to this thread, just because it may help someone who's reading this and experience similar symtoms.

First off my problems haven't gone away, but they have changed somewhat. I haven't had any loose stool now for a couple of weeks but instead my stool seem to be shifting between normal/hard, which is good I guess. I get to go once every day right after waking up.. Which is actually kind of new to me (I was often constipated in the past) but I guess that's also a good thing.

The gas and bloating is still there however. I wake up almost every morning with a lot of gas/bloated feeling. Sometimes it goes rather quickly and sometimes I have it for several hours. For the most part I don't have gas pain but more of an uncomfortable bloated feeling. My stomach also gurgles and make a lot of noise.

Honestly though some days when it's worse like today I get surprised how my body can even produce this much gas (??). I've had gas in the mornings even before but nothing like this.

I've started to drink peppermint tea right after breakfast which seem to help getting most of the gas out. Other than that I've been experimenting with things I eat but I can't find any clear pattern in my diet. Like, for example even if I eat a lot of junk and candy one evening my stomach can still be rather good the day after. It seems to be completely random how I feel exactly from day to day.

The thing that make me think it probably have to do with anxiety is the fact that I feel a lot better in the weekends when I'm not alone (as I wrote in my first post I kinda always feel at least slightly nervous when I'm by myself). Also I noticed one evening when I suddenly got a stomach ache that it went away after I started playing a game on the computer. So maybe all that's needed is some distraction to make it go away.

Regarding my appetite it's returned somewhat I would say. For breakfast and lunch I still don't eat that much, but I think it's mostly due to fear that my stomach would get worse after eating..
Which have been the case previously. Yesterday I suddenly got a bit hungry around 10am and ate a small sandwich and shortly after that I got stomach cramps and more gas.

In the evening can feel completely fine and usually have appetite to eat dinner and even some snack later. Ever since this started I usually feel completely ok for the last hours of the day and I go to sleep feeling completely ok too, then it's back to the same thing in the morning.

That's about it. Will update this thread later. Even if I'm not completety fine I'm happy it's at least moving somewhat in the right direction.

[NoraB]

Honestly though some days when it's worse like today I get surprised how my body can even produce this much gas (??). I've had gas in the mornings even before but nothing like this.

I did a fart this morning which lasted 10 seconds.

Like, for example even if I eat a lot of junk and candy one evening my stomach can still be rather good the day after. It seems to be completely random how I feel exactly from day to day.

How about the next day?

I can eat a bit of forbidden cheese (don't judge me) and the migraine not kick in until a day later..

Even if I'm not completety fine I'm happy it's at least moving somewhat in the right direction.

[WiseMonkey]

I did a fart this morning which lasted 10 seconds.

My Dad (when he was alive) and my brother used to fart the first part of "God Save The Queen" ...

(BTW I'm feeling a lot better now) X