I need your help...can anxiety/stress cause chronic diarrhea?

Hi there how are you ...I have Crohns so I dont know what to really tell ya here I have D all the time everyday of my life is D but mine is in the morning s and I am in severe pain from it ......I know that sometimes it can take more than 1 colonoscopy and Endoscopy to find anything.....I also suffer from severe weoght loss and A/P which I contribute to Chronic illness I have .........Stick around this could be the place for you if you are having anxiety and it needs to be dealt with........BTW A/P can and will do just about anything to your body

YES you can get it from anxiety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big time!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was going constantly for years! Could not go out of the house for fear of having to go. I had to go every store I go in I had to use their rest room (YUCK!). I am so sorry your doctor has put you through so much testing! Mine gave me anxiety medication and I have only been on it for 4 weeks now, but suddenly I have normal bowel function again. So YES you are finally in the right place. My mother is a mental health nurse, and said she had never heard of the diarhhea with any of her patients. But I told her she just probably never asked. And besides, it is not especially a pleasant topic. You need to get back to the doctor and get medication for anxiety. Mine gave me klonopin and it helps! Don't wait, you can get rid of this and get your life back. :)

Hi Shelly,

Sorry you are going through this, anxiety is a rotten thing! When I was younger if I was nervous about anything - that could be excitement for a happy event or negative nervousness for a visit to the dentist that I might have been worried about - end result diarrhea!!! For many years I did not have the pain which is typical of IBS but eventually I was diagnosed with IBS many years later.

It sounds like the docs have been quite thorough in checking you out, which is very good, but in my experience anxiety can make you run to the loo!! I think you have worked it out for yourself with regard to when you wake up in the morning! Do you have an alarm that wakes you? Maybe you could try distraction like when you wake up like putting the radio on as soon as you wake, and maybe put it a little on the loud side so as it will take your attention and try and busy yourself quite quickly with the morning's routine. You could try a news channel as there is a lot of talking to try and concentrate on to distract your thoughts from heading off to your tummy!

I usually get this sort of anxiety a few months after a traumatic event - unfortunately I have had a number of those!! Most of all try not to worry, I know it is easy for me to say, but I do know how it feels and as you begin to relax about it the diarrhea will gradually slow down! Hang in there, and let us know how you get on.

take care

Ann

Try KLONOPIN. I am back to normal after not even being able to work for 5 yr=ears because of the same problem.

Well the whole pooping topic isn't a pleasant one, but the short answer to your question is "HECK YES!"

Anxiety is a brutal... brutal disease. Its basically a battle with yourself and other who don't understand it because its a battle that feels like it never goes away.

I've been having issues with my stomach for the past couple of days because of a dang interview I have scheduled today. I ask myself, how oh HOW am I going to be a strong business woman when an easy interview has me all in a fluster. I got a haircut yesterday and my stylist said that my hair was falling out in clumps. I told him it was stress. The OTHER thing that anxiety has caused is for my gallbladder to stop working. It part of the adrenal system and its just... not working. So I have *surgery* coming up.

I haven't been following my own advice lately but all I can tell you is to possibly learn some breathing techniques, try out some yoga, and try some meds. I'm on them right now, but very small dosage which I'm wishing I had access to some benzos right now. Or tequila.

You are a strong person - don't let yourself beat yourself up. Identify it as ANXIETY. Nothing else. The mind is a powerful thing and we are all shackled by its power of thinking the worse. You are a strong, beautiful, dynamic, bada## woman who has strength within herself to do wonders in this world that NO ONE else can.

With your husbands situation, sit down talk to him, tell him you are trying your best to wrk this out but you NEED his support. You two are in a partnership together, sometimes one of you two will need more of the others help and companionship, and sometimes the roles will reverse. Tell him you understand his frustration and confusion for that's where you are at too. But above all, pray for you health and well being.

You can get through this, we are all in this battle. I wish the best for you.

Hi, My Name is Monica, I'm from Mexico City, and I have 27 years old, and I have the exactly same problem, well actually "I was", funny but like you my mom and dad got divorce, and I got married last year, and my problem began some months before the wedding, like you I had diarrhea, well in that time, It was June from last year in the nights, I went to a doctor, and she told me that I had a bug, she prescribe me some antibiothics and some pills and I was "fine" for some months, I tried homeopathy and I was ok....

For a background when I was a kid I had two bugs escherichia coli and another one that I don´t remember and I had a looong recovery, after that I was fine, but like you I always had been nervous, I suffer anxiety, if my birthday was coming, my stomach was a mess, and things like that, but I ate of everything and I was fine, until I was in high school, my problems came back, but I was fine until last year.


So the problem became bad, when like you I ate teriyaki chicken, and after one hour, my diarrhea came back, but I thought that the dish was to greasy, but after that, every day, or almost, I got diarrhea after breakfast, I went like 3 times, and some days I had constipation, but what really worried me was the diarrhea, so first of all I went again with my Homeopath Doctor, she is really good, but the problem was that she didn´t ask me for any tests, so finally in my desperation, I went to a gastro, and like you he ask me for a colonoscopy and many tests, (for my simptoms and my background, I thought I had a bug again), but I thought that a colonoscopy was very aggressive for a bug, so finally I went to another gastro, I only made the blood tests and stool tests, and everything was fine, except that I had some anemia, (since the last year from now I lost like 5kg, I've been always skiny so imagine!, I look like an anorexic model, lol) well, this doctor, or my heroe, asked me for all my background, and he checked all my tests, and he checked my tummy, and he told me that my colon was inflamated (that was about 3 months ago), and he put me into a diet to control this, and some medication, and you know what??, from the first day I felt great!!!, He's checking me every 15 days, and I feel better and better, the diet is very restrictive, but works just fine along with the medicines.


I still have phobia for the diarrhea or to catch a bug, I clean all the food, but I feel just fine.


I totally understand you, and let me give you the name of the medicine.


I don´t know if you can get it with the brand name but also I will give you the sustance.

Espacil TABLETS
Bromuro de butilhioscina

Espavén Alcalino TABLETS
Hidróxido de Magnesio
Dimeticona

The medicines has no secondary reactions, there are "light" and you will see the improvment from the first day.

I found something similar to the espavén in this link, it's the first drug MagalD.

For the Espacil I did't find anything, but I will keep looking, but check this with your doctor, works just fine.

And my doctor that he also is a nutriologyst strictly prohibited me this kind of food, I suggest to do this too while you find a doctor who really takes you seriously:

Soda drinks
Spicy food
heavy fat
Coffe
Dairy (you can only drink skim milk, skim cheesse like cottage)


And that's it, if you want to contact me, send me an email to
And don´t worry, you can beat this, you will be just fine!!!

HI there and Welcome thanks for your input I had to edit your post ....could you please insert your email in your profile at the side this way only members will have access to it and it is for your personal safety okay ...any questions you can email me about it .........Thanks for your understanding

I've taken generic prozac for 6 weeks and one klonopin each morning, and now have not used the loo in 2 days! LOL My doctor explained the central nervous system is tied directly into the bowels and the bowels can be severely affected by anxiety. He said he had the D himself during medical exams before he became a doctor. So he knew firsthand what I was saying. Lyn is right, get a second opinion. You do not deserve to suffer anymore!
Good luck, please post follow ups soon.

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has some advice for me.  I have just recently gone overseas to live in the UK and I have been getting D most mornings for about three weeks now.  It's normally only in the morning and occurs about 10 minutes after I wake up.  Normally I have to go twice in the morning and then I'm ok the rest of the day.  I know that this can be caused by anxiety but I don't feel overly anxious.  Do you think maybe because I've recently moved, physically I could feel anxious and my body is responding to this while mentally I feel fine?  Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I have only just joined this forum and and also only just realised that this thread is kind of old, but its worth a try. I am 18 years old, have a great mum and sister, and have also had a great boyfriend. I started having serious bouts of D about 6 months ago, and did the usual going to the doctors and getting tests, nothing came back. I was working on the checkout of my local hipermarket at the time, which is the biggest for miles around and always tends to be rather full of stressy people (it's not famed for its customer service) and obviously it's not too easy to leg it to the bathroom when you have a line of 6 people all waiting in annoyance for you to check through and for them to pay for their shopping and get the hell out of there. This led to me stressing about what would happen if bla bla bla. I took a few days off, still didn't feel any better at home, was starting to wonder if it was my job that was causing me stress or if it was a serious illness that the doctors didn't realise. This then made me anxious and i was tying myself up in knots thinking through the what ifs. Then i found a new job in a pet store (i love animals) working with 3 other people, all of whom i get on great with, and at the same time had results back on some major tests that showed nothing. My bouts of D slowed down but never fully went away, even though i was on all sorts of anti- D pills, antibiotics, anti this and anti thats. It is now back with a vengence, for no aparrent reason. My doctor has suggested that it may be anxiety, and to tell the truth i have always been one of those people who worries excessively about the what ifs. I get on well with my mum and sister, and also with my boyfriend, who luckily has been very supportive of me. But this is beginning to stress everyone out, especially my mum, who keeps asking me why i am anxious or stressed, if it is her fault, then she has other days when she tells me to snap out of it for the good of everyone, but i cant if i dont know how, or even what i have to snap out of. i am getting to a wits end, and she is too, because she has never spoken to me like this before. I don't know what to do, what to say, and i'm not sure why i'm writing this, apart from the faint hope of some help with dealing with whatever this may be. Do you have things that trigger you off?
I would be grateful of all help. sooner rather than later just in case i drive my family mad in the next few weeks.
ps: my mother divorced my stepfather 2 years ago, he had been like a dad to me but then he just ignored me, could that be part of the cause of this, 2 years after the separation? also, my mum and boyfriend get on great but there are times when i dont know what to do, my mum wants me to do this and my boyfriend wants me to do the other, both not meaning any harm, but their ideas are contrary and if i do what one of them wants then i make the other mad, im driving myself crazy!!! how can i deal with this??

i know this is kind of a long post, so if you got to here, thank you for reading and if you have any helpful comments they would be much appreciated.

Hello Shelley

Of course stress can cause diarrhea.  Its overdose of anxiety!  In my 20's I had a close friend who suddenly had alternating diarrhea and constipation and within a month she died of bowel cancer.  I was in post natal depression and it really scared me - I suddenly had the syptoms - felt sick, couldn't eat was so worried - I ended up with colitis.  On the way to the hospital I suddenly needed the loo desperately and ended up knocking on someones door to use their loo.  What embarrassment!  And for years after I 'd get nervous going anywhere in case I needed the loo suddenly.  

I am still the same.  I try to relax and meditate and am fine at home. As soon as I need to go somewhere new (especially a city) I put myself in panic mode!   I have learnt to manage it with immodium and valium.   Also the only way to get rid of the anxiety and excess adrenaline is for me to get up the minute I wake (dont lay there worrying) and go for a run.  I run about 1 mile and half every day when its bad and it works.  It nearly killed me to start with, but I feel fitter and can manage. 

I took up golf cos I thought it would be so thought absorbing it would take my mind off the stomach.  It does to a great extent, but being on an open golf course does give me the collywobbles, and if my stomach starts gurgling I get in a bit of a sweat.  The immodium is brilliant and slows down the gut, so it makes me feel safer.

St Johns Wort is good for anxiety/depression, and also Ginseng.  A good diet goes a long way to. Yacult to replace lost good bacteria in the gut too.

I hope this helps you, its done me good to tell someone, having suffered for so many years.  I dont have a normal life, am unable to go in anyones car, but my own under my control. Unable to go to shows in Lond0n and lots of other things, I miss going out with my Grankids and so many things.  Anyone else have any ideas?  

Ive tried TFT, hypnosis, and many other things......

I wanted to tell all welcome and I don't have any "Great" advice, but wanted to say I can sympathize. I was recently diagnosed with a condition called lymphocytic colitis and most of the time it is worse when I have go anywhere or I just think about going anywhere. I can't take the common meds because it is steroid based and that would cause a flare with my Lyme disease. I am pretty much homebound. I know that my anxiety makes the condition much worse and I can relate to all the feelings you are having! I do find comfort in knowing I am not alone. I pray that we all find the answers and peace that we need.

Blessings to all,
Leah

Hi Shelly.

Aside from experiences in life, my symptoms are exactly as yours are, even as far as tests done.

I just hate not knowing what to eat, what to avoid. Cutting any number of things doesn't help and it doesn't matter what I eat: it's going to be watery stool. That "Do I need a toilet?" sensation never really leaves me. Never. Like another poster here, I am getting terrified to leave my house. It just always feels "ick" down there. No stomach cramping or anything, just an overall uneasy "ugly" sensation. That urge. And I haven't FWC (farted with confidence) in so many months, now. Pardon the FWC thing: I know several with bowel disorders, and that's a common question among them, and now me.

Is it stress? I know, from all I've read, it's a definite possibility, even a strong, compelling one.

Is it food related for me? I keep watching myself. Doesn't seem to matter what I eat, or don't: It's still watery. Doctors are baffled. And that, like you, just concerns the heck out of me so I troll 100's of forums (signing up here), looking for clues, answers. Anything.

Maybe we can chat sometime as we seem to have startling similarities in our symptoms/issues here. :)