Intestinal disorder--stress related?

[garnet31]

I posted this in the gastroenterology forums, but since a colleague suggested this may be related to stress, I thought I'd see if anybody else is dealing with something similar. I'm a 40 year-old female, good health but have Hashimoto's thyroiditis--an autoimmune/hypothyroidism disorder---for four years. I'm on Synthroid and am euthyroid (normal thyroid) now, so all is well there. In mid-August, it seemed like my intestinal tract simply stopped working without any kind of problems. Really, it was like a switch was flipped and it just shut down. This doesn't appear to be just constipation. I have no nausea or vomiting, and no sharp or stabbing pains. My doc said I still have good bowel sounds and I can pass gas with no problem. An upper-abdomen ultrasound came back normal and so did my colonoscopy last week. My gastroenterologist has me on one dose of Miralax every other day now, but I don't want to stay on it forever. I tend to have a moderate bowel movement every other day now---nothing suspicious about them. Still, I have a constant stomach ache, which seems to cause other aches (back, etc.), and while it seems centered in the lower abdomen, it sometimes moves around the lower abdomen as well. The constant ache understandably makes me feel like my energy is just sapped out of me and let's face it, it’s simply a major annoyance. I found paralytic ileus on the Mayo Clinic website and it sounds similar to what I may have. A friend said I may want to look into acupuncture for something like this, but I'm still trying to find out what this could be. I found a study that links Hashimoto's patients to celiac disease, but I don't have any food allergies from what I can tell. So, I'm going to have my gyno check me out for any issues that may have an effect, but aside from that, I can't even think of any major stresses in my life. Sure, the usual work annoyances and all that, but my life is good and my friends/family a strong support system. I guess what I'm searching for is anybody who may have had identified stress-related gastro disorders, and if you know of anybody good in the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area who can handle them. Peace to all and thanks.

[Sam888]

Yes, stress can cause a lot of problems, especially GI issues.