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Too much thinking has have to have something to do with this!

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Posted 10/21/2009 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
 

Okay, so I've always been too much of a thinker. I admit it. I find that since I was diagnosed with Pancolitis, I tend to feel like I have to go to the washroom more when I'm not at home. When I am home, I think that the comfort of knowing the washroom is close by and that I'm at home has a calming effect on me. Therefore, I do think that mind over matter is valid in some ways for those of us who have U.C. It's definitely not all in the mind by any means, but it does play a part. Any thoughts?

Posted 10/21/2009 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
All the bodies systems are connected. Can google sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system for a good read.
Posted 10/21/2009 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
Most definitely, there is a mind-gut connection involved, this disease can drive you crazy (I think alot about it too, so you're not alone there), unfortunately it's the nature of the beast, this disease affects more than our intestines, many suffer of have had bouts of anxiety/depression as a result of having IBD..it's torture but there are ways to combat it some so it doesn't totally take over.

For me I found altering my diet and regular exercise really helps me deal with it mentally/emotionally, healthy food is so important for the mind/body and same with regular exercise.

You have to take this disease one day at a time cuz you never know what it will bring day to day.

:)
Posted 10/21/2009 11:36 PM (GMT 0)
Pb4 you said it all i agree with you . I'm not doing so good on my diet i was but with my husband being laidoff not having insurance well i fell off of my diet and i can tell . Im so worried and upset all the time i stay in a mess . I believe thats why im in the flare im in now.
Posted 10/21/2009 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I def. agree with this and I'm an overthinker...big time. It's like I can't turn it off. Little details, schedules, timing...I think about things all day...not just about UC, everything.

I wonder if it's our personality types that get this disease more...lol

But I will say that I've mellowed as I've gotten older.

But I'm all about the mind/body/emotional connection. Just don't quite know what to do about it though!
Posted 10/22/2009 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
That happens to a lot of people, never happened to me though.
Posted 10/22/2009 1:38 AM (GMT 0)

Pancolitisandfightingit said...
 

Okay, so I've always been too much of a thinker. I admit it. I find that since I was diagnosed with Pancolitis, I tend to feel like I have to go to the washroom more when I'm not at home. When I am home, I think that the comfort of knowing the washroom is close by and that I'm at home has a calming effect on me. Therefore, I do think that mind over matter is valid in some ways for those of us who have U.C. It's definitely not all in the mind by any means, but it does play a part. Any thoughts?

i tend to feel safer when i have ready access to a washroom without a potential waiting line.
Posted 10/22/2009 2:31 AM (GMT 0)
I agree big time with the mind connection.

I wouldn't have to go to the bathroom all day long while I was at work because I was so busy doing other things. I used to teach scuba diving so I was in wetsuit, washroom always far away, and well, diving all put the urgency to go on hold. But once I was in my car and approaching home, I would start cramping. And once I got home, I barely made it to the bathroom sometimes as if my brain knew it was time to let it all go. Happened all the time...

I am such a thinker also. My brain goes in over drive from the time I show even the most remote sign of waking up to the time I finally fall asleep at night. I've had to really work on shutting my mind up. Things like yoga has helped. But I've studied umpteens of hours about the Chinese Medicine aspect of this and found that people with UC have what they call Spleen Qi (Chi) deficiencies. Each organ is responsible for certain emotions and the spleen is responsible for thought, worry, and dwelling on things. So overuse of those emotions depletes that organ hence bringing an imbalance to that organ hence UC symptoms come about. One of the ways you can help build the spleen qi is to stop thinking and worrying and dwelling. It's a vicious cycle for us UCers. The Chinese knew of the brain/body connection for thousands of years.
Posted 10/22/2009 8:04 AM (GMT 0)
my flare trigger is stress... so yes, mind has tons to do with it in my opinion.

i also noticed that when i was confined to bed for 3 months during my really really severe flare, i tended to dwell on my condition.
and i was on forums here a lot too talking about it all the time. seemed to occupy my thoughts and conversations.
and AS YOU THINK, SO YOU ARE...
i believe this.
and i think when i went to this one seminar i came to a realisation that i was holding on to it and confirming it constantly in my life at the same time as resisting the whole thing (if that makes any sense at all).

once i realised this and made the choice to have UC cuz i just have it and thats the way it is... i let it go and it actually went away. i was in complete remission for over 6 months. overnight. it was amazing. wish i could get that moment back everytime i have a flare LOL.

but yes.... when you worry and dwell on something, you keep it with you.
its like when people always say they are broke.... they will always be broke.

ive had lack of sleep, so i apologise if this makes no sense :)
Posted 10/22/2009 8:41 AM (GMT 0)
I definitely believe in the mind/body connection...I don't think it can cause or prevent diseases, but I do think a positive outlook always helps. I found, oddly enough, that my colon tended to behave when I was out and about, even when flaring. Not once when driving to and from work did I have to make an emergency stop. But when I was at home, I'd often have to sprint to the bathroom, and didn't make it a couple of times.
Posted 10/22/2009 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
I think having UC makes all of us more analytical. I found that everytime I went in a bookstore (I'm an avid reader) I would have to use the bathroom. I finally chalked it up to my mind and body being totally relaxed in a bookstore which allowed my digestive system to unwind. Funny thing is that this only happened when I had UC. Since surgery I don't have the bookstore/bathroom issue any longer. I am convinced that UC always had me obssessing about UC; all those thoughts about where, when, and how did I get so ill? I also spent hundreds of hours delving into dietary and alternative treatments knowing that there was a magic cure out there and I could find it and get better. For 2 years I lived in a constant state of UC controlling my life, my thoughts, and my actions. In hindsight it was a very sad time in my life.

Sue
Posted 10/22/2009 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
I always knew I was flaring when my gut wouldn't even relax at home with my own bathroom down the hall.
Posted 10/22/2009 6:21 PM (GMT 0)
I know that before getting sick, the only time I thought about the can was when my gut told my mind that I had an urge, but I could totally control that urge and put it off until I was near a bathroom..now because of the disease it has taken over so there's no more holding off on the urge (when I gotta go, I gotta go)..with having some pretty severe flares over the 18 yrs I've been dealing with this DD my lines are totally crossed now, but I know that it's the disease (and of course the IBS doesn't help now either), it's amazing the anxiety this disease brings about (as well as IBS)...far as I'm concerned from my experiances this disease has alot more control over us than we do over it...you just never know when it's really gonna turn against you no matter how careful you are, it's why I always say "it's the nature of the beast".

:)
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