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Anxiety and Ulcerative Colitis

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 7/6/2015 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
I recently watched the depression sessions. It was extremely informative, and I want to share some of the information they talked about in regards to Ulcerative Colitis, in particular they talked about the strong connection among anxiety, high cortisol levels, and IBS/IBD. One of the speakers had breast cancer at a young age when she was in medical school and then Chron's after getting in remission from breast cancer. She was able to get through medical school and gain her health back through natural means.

Stress is such a killer. Our bodies release cortisol when they are under stress. Prolonged high cortisol levels can be detrimental to our health and result in auto-immune diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis.

The following are some natural ways to reduce cortisol levels:

1) Eat protein at each meal, especially breakfast.
2) Avoid sugar and refined carbs.
3) Eat often.
4) Make sure you are consuming a nutrient-filled diet.
5) Drink plenty of water.
6) Exercise.
7) Avoid stimulants such as caffeine.
8) Get to bed early.
9) Meditate.
10) Take daily leisure walks.
11) Breathe fully.
Posted 7/6/2015 3:26 PM (GMT 0)
Stress isn't good for anyone, agreed. IBD patients have other biological processes going on that make it even harder to ward off anxiety and depression. Serotonin is made in our brain AND our guts, and when our guts are affected, the neurotransmitters are affected too. Lots of "us" need chemical interventions, like SSRI's to bridge the gaps. They are slowly learning how our messed up colons affect our other systems.
Posted 7/6/2015 4:38 PM (GMT 0)
I've read the book "When the Body Says No" as I mentioned a little while back and it's all about how stress, especially emotional stress as being the root cause to illness of all kinds, being even more negatively impacted from emotional stress...and honestly everyone has emotional stress, the book describes how it starts at birth and depending on our environments of emotional needs being properly fulfilled will depend on how your physical body will at some point in your life be affected.

It was a great read, the medical doctor interviews his own patients in regards to how they grew up/experiences they've had in their lives and how it effected cancer, IBD, MS and all kinds of chronic health diseases.

I highly recommended everyone here to check this book out, I know a few have said they did too.

Subdued, I ended up having to start seeing a therapist and dietitian since my CD finally got into remission with Humira thanks to developing an RV fistula but as my GI suspected years ago, I did in fact develop IBS coexisting with my crohn's colitis. It's definitely been a help, we've learned that my IBS is stress driven rather than food (which it can be either or both when it comes to IBS) so you are definitely reinforcing good info that I've recently been learning about.
Posted 7/6/2015 7:45 PM (GMT 0)
The depression sessions talked about SSRI's and serotonin too. People who have UC are probably deficient in some of the B vitamins, which are needed to make serotonin. Add on to that, some people may have trouble converting folic acid into folate (which is needed to make serotonin) due to a common genetic defeat with one of the enzymes needed in the conversion process. Thus, getting enough folate is very important in combating depression, and getting enough folate from eating green leafy vegetables (such as spinach) is especially important.

This is what they had to say about SSRI's:

Short-term: SSRI's work by keeping serotonin outside the nerve cells, in others words, they inhibit the re-uptake of serotonin. The more serotonin floating around outside the cells, the happier and less anxious your mood will be. That's the short-term effect (although there is also the placebo effect, which is supposed to be very high with SSRI's).

Long-term: Serotonin that is not in the cells gets broken down by enzymes. As a result, the level of serotonin outside the cells gradually declines over months and years, causing the effects of SSRI's to gradually diminish. Doctors will often recommend increasing your dosage or adding another anti-depressant when this happens.

Getting Off SSRI's: When you taper off SSRI's, it takes only two to three weeks for the SSRI's to get out of your body. However, it takes a long time for your body to start increasing its production of serotonin to raise the level of serotonin back to normal levels. Plus, the inhibited receptors have trouble working again. The result is that you become increasingly depressed and anxious. Depending on how long you've been on SSRI's and the dosage you were on, it could take anywhere from four months to four years for your body's production of serotonin and uptake of serotonin to be back to normal levels. For some people, they never get back to normal. This is why many have trouble getting off SSRI's.
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