Nervous Stomach

Hello every one. I am wondering if anyone has found a remedy for "nervous stomach" my husband and I both have it terribly. Every time we are stressed or anxious or there is change we can hardly eat, we have pain and bloating and cramping and nausea. We are amidst a move out of state right now so stress levels are high, and although my husband can sleep anytime I have difficulty sleeping when I'm stressed (hence writing this at 4 AM). I've been diagnosed with IBS and acid reflux but I'm wondering if anyone has some advice. I also take 100 mg of zoloft 1x/day and have anxiety and panic attacks. The anxiety is what causes my stomach pain in the first place because I struggle with somatization disorder or being overly aware of your bodily functions and obsessing about if you are sick. Anyway, advice would be great!

[jul04]

I too have IBS and my gastro told me that ginger root is really good for settling the gas and peppermint works well to calm the stomach.  I drink peppermint tea and the ginger root I take in a capsule that I got from the health food store.  You can give these a try but just make sure that you can take them with your meds.  I think you probably can but just double check with your dr or a pharmacist.

I hope you feel better soon....Good luck with the move.  Think of it as an adventure and that might help reduce the stress...Lots of luck.....

[greenlydia]

You might want to go over to our Complimentary Medicine Forum and ask Laura or Paxiled about natural products to help you and your husband. Like jul suggested, peppermint and ginger root really do help calm nervous stomachs, but there may be other things as well you could try. Also as jul pointed out, make sure you ask about possible interactions with any meds you're currently taking. That is really important!
Since this seems to be an ongoing problem with both you and your husband, once you've moved and things have settled down, you two might want to think about some therapy to help you learn to deal with stress better............you don't want to end up with ulcers!
Best of luck!
Peace
Greenlydia

[Paxiled]

Peppermint isn't really for the stomach unless it's in an enteric coated capsule so it gets to the digestive system.  The tea might taste nice, but it's a placebo effect as to the stomach.  Chamomile is much better for relaxing the stomach.  Ginger is good for motion sickness or nausea, but for reflux, it is a hot herb and might make it feel worse.  Something better might be a few ounces of aloe juice and something called DGL, a form of licorice that is chewed as a tablet.  Digestive enzymes that include enzymes both for protein and carbs can be very helpful taken after a meal.