anxiety and IBS

[erin626]

Has anyone else with chronic anxiety also had trouble with IBS? Right now I'm having very bad anxiety daily and have been having a lot of stomach issues which my dr believes to be IBS. My dr appt on wed is with my dr who prescribes meds and most likely will give me an antidepressant. Have meds helped anyone with ibs? I was told it could help especially since my symptoms were not as bad when I was on xanax.

[crazyperson_noreally]

I don't have IBS but I do have panic disorder!  Every time I have a panic attack my stomach turns in knots, I get all gassy and sometimes have diarrhea (my sister and I call it "the terribles" haha).  Definitely a link there.

[erin626]

Btw sillygirl is lomotil a prescription? If so I may talk to my doc about it on wednesday to take as well as the antidepressant.

[erin626]

I'm so glad other people experienced this with anxiety. Of course my anxiety made me think that I had some horrible stomach issue and that made my stomach problems 10x worse. I figured it was ibs but that was my rational mind...my anxiety mind decided it was a bad gallbladder or stomach cancer. So naturally I began worrying about that and so began the downward spiral. I lost my appetite and barely eat anymore so its no wonder I always feel lousy. Doctors seem certain its ibs. They want me to try the antidepressants and see if they offer relief and if not I get to have a lot of fun gi tests.

[cnote]

You can label it whatever you want IBS... or whatever. I too have digestion issues when going through bouts of anxiety spells... but I wouldnt say I have IBS... My stomach just get's so worryful that I have the bad butterfly feeling and anxiety actually causes food to digest quicker and all that fun stuff. But when I start feeling better, my stools and digestion go back to normal.

[29sillygirl]

Oh yeah!  Before anal cancer, I was diagnosed with IBS.  Definitely  a connection between anxiety and IBS for me.

Think clonazapam helps some now.  But the only med I can really count on when going out and the d*** cramps, diarrhea start up is to take a Lomotil.  It is a life saver for me.  I would have not been able to enjoy getting out and about nearly as much as I do now without it.

[mama23babies]

I have had ibs since I was about 10 years old and now that I'm 27 I'm starting to figure out that it was anxiety related.It's definately worse when my anxiety is bad. I hope you feel better soon!

[jul04]

I too suffer ffrom both ibs and anxiety.  I have noticed that my ibs does act up more when I am stressed and my anxiety is high.  

I am currently not on meds so I don't know if they will help the ibs.  I guess it makes sense that they would being that on the meds your anxiety should be more manageable.  There are certain foods that cause my ibs to act up.  Try and keep a food journal and you might be able to pinpoint some of the triggers.  Stress of course makes everything worse.

Good luck I hope you feel better soon....