Stress, Flare Ups and Anxiety Medication

Stress effects your immune system which could lead to flare ups. If you're continuously under more stress than you can handle you should talk to a doctor about it your options…yoga, therapy, medication…

I've been on Lexapro for about a month now and placebo affect or not, I definitely feel less anxious. It's too soon to see if it reduces the flare up frequency; however, just feeling less tense all the time is worth it. I also see a therapist once a month just to talk through what I'm struggling with at the moment - I think of it as routine maintenance.

Not just you hun, but me and many others. I seem to always fear the worst so much so that I can't enjoy the present. e.g. I was originally diagnosed with Hemmeroids after a full scope, I worried so much about the blood I ended up with inflammation. I am not saying there is a link but for me there seems to be. Every episode follows a time of anguish or anxiety.

I have an anxiety med, Xanax, on hand for use as needed for infrequent times of anxiety. I might take one before an airplane trip for example. If I had daily stress or anxiety I would not use a benzodiazepine derivative drug (Xanax, Valium, Ativan...) because you build up tolerance to them and they are addictive. Since having this flare I've been taking more of the valium and xanax I have on hand and find they don't work well after a day or two so I have to stop and let them get out of my system before taking them again to get the same relief. Increasing the amount would only work temporarily. A doctor can prescribe something to take daily for stress that's non-habit forming and you would not build tolerance to. My doctor suggested Prozac (or Zoloft) once but I didn't want to add another full time medication to my list. I'm considering it more now though. I use Valium if I feel I'm going to have a seizure (probably occurs 3 times per month at most). Another bad thing about benzodiazepines is you can only get short term prescription so you have to keep asking your doctor for refills.

I'm able to handle stress through sleep, eating, exercise, laughter and play when healthy. It's when in a flare I have problems. Not sure what the "livinglifetothefull.com" is but there are a lot of other things I've seen. You can check out a lot of self help books at the library or read about how to deal with stress online (free). The techniques people have work...meditation, relaxation, breathing, exercise, organization, volunteering, community service, yoga...medication is not the only answer for sure.

I suggest to anyone with U.C to go to therapy if you can afford it[i only have a 15.00 co-pay].I already was going to therapy when this flare started,the therapist recomended a psychiatrist this year and i started klonopin.I truly feel most of my colitis is triggered by stress- anxiety.Therapy has been a great outlet for me-hope it works for some of you-HAPPY HOLIDAYS

     My family physician and GI doctor are both very reluctant to prescribe anti-anxiety meds.  I suppose they don't want their patients getting addicted to them.

     I was not under stress when I first was diagnosed with UC.  As a matter of fact, I was on that Atkins diet.....no carbs, high fat.  I swear that is what triggered this but the doctor thinks it was just a coincidence but I don't think so.

     I am usually not under much stress.  Although my oldest daughter went through a bad divorce (not that any divorce is good) and that set me back.   That was back in 03.  Since then I have been flaring yearly.  Now on Remicade and seem to be doing much better.

Interesting. Let me say what I did. During a severe flare, I just have a short pant on so I can take it off. Current research supports that stress does not cause UC, but affect the severity in a flare. My experience is that stress is the result of UC, not the reason. Each UC patient may have its own desired/effective way to deal with the stress. What I do is to keep working, so as to not focus on stress/UC. I tried some other ways, e.g., "I am better than others, so God takes more out of me", "I am better than many cancer patients, since I can live longer", "Don't worry, my life path has been designed by God", "Dealing with UC is the way God loves me", and so on. However, none of these works for me. The only 'therapy' is to focus on my other work.

I am a big promoter of husk powder. I've taken 2 heaping teaspoons with Metamucial every day for more than 20 years. My GI originally suggested it to prevent straining, because I, too, would see more blood when straining. I find the psyllium bulks the stool and helps it slide through more easily. When I have to give it up for several days before my annual colonoscopy, I am in so much discomfort, smaller stools, less well-formed, and it feels as if the rectal muscles want to strain to move it through.
I've just ordered some of the psyllium seed powder, so... we'll see. But even just the husk is my friend, and when things get looser/more frequent, I add an additional dose of the Metamucil. It helps!

You mentioned doubling up on the VSL - I find that doubling up on probiotics has helped me avert a few flares.

Best luck to you!!

Burli i've been in a 12 step program for 21 years.I help people you have anxiety/depression problems,i know people who are over medicated.All some DRs know is fixing things with a prescription pad,that's how they were taught.I know many people who came into 12 step programs that were over medicated that are on 50% less meds now because of the power of the program.Also there are people who go to therapy who only tell the therepist what they want the therapist to hear,not good.I AM 100% honest with my life,i have no problem talking to a fellow 12 step member about my life or talking to a medical PRO  about my life and how to make it better with prayer,meditation,healing masses,meds etc etc etc.Also be careful diagnosing what's wrong with you,i used to play DR,i let trained people do that now.I hope the best for you and your friend-HAPPY HOLIDAYS 

I certainly think that stress affects my U.C. I think it takes me longer to recover from a flair when I am very stressed and that I tend to get worse flares at stressful times in my life.
I would second the recommendation to try therapy, particularly if it is covered by your insurance. In particular, cognitive behavior therapy is supposed to be very helpful for anxiety disorders (some say even more effective than medication). In CBT, you learn very practical ways to deal with stress and how to reduce the negative thought patterns that lead to anxiety. I think it has lasting effects because you end up treating the problem rather than just the symptoms (which medication alone does). It is "hard work" though but I think it is well worth it.

That being said, if you are prone to panic attacks or bouts of severe anxiety, it might be nice to have some anti-anxiety medication on hand as a sort of security blanket. I wouldn't take an anti-anxiety medication daily for an extended period of time, but they can help. I have used Klonopin when taking Prednisone b/c the pred makes my anxiety nearly unbearable.
You might try to find an office that has both a psychologist (for therapy) and a psychiatrist (for medication), so they can work in concert to best manage your problems.
Good luck with everything. I know anxiety can be overwhelming.
B

I'm a worrier in general, so anxiety and stress are always a part of my life, but when my current flare started up it was during a few months period of an extremely stressful situation related to my job. I've also noticed that sometimes my urges seem to relate to stressful moments - as in I'll be feeling fine, then something will get to me, and I'll suddenly have to go or at least start feeling bad. I also started noticing that if I "meditated" during long drives, etc. I could keep my gut better under control. After I started to notice these things I started to experiment a bit with anti-anxiety meds. Unfortunately neither one had much of an effect, on my head nor my UC and I didn't want to try anymore more "hardcore" so I stopped. I may revisit the option in the future.