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Food intollerance... a bug or just anxiety?

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Posted 9/18/2012 2:22 PM (GMT 0)
Had a better few days in work last week and was feeling more positive. Then I had a bad couple of days Sunday and Monday. I planned to go clothes shopping today to relax and escape work but woke up at 3am with a really bad stomache. Managed to get back to sleep but it was still bad when I woke up. I'm inclined to think it's due to a build up of prolonged anxiety for two days. I forced myself to practice relaxation techniques and then went out anyway in order to prove to myself that it's just the anxiety playing up. I didn't eat anything though just in case this agrevated things.

While I was out I felt somewhat better so I thought this confirmed my belief that it's the anxiety so tried to go about my day as normal and ignore it best I can. As i felt better I ate lunch when i got home.... and then things got worse again. I guess i'm trying to figure out if this is me causing it by letting the anxiety get the better of me or if it's a food intollerance or illness. Can anyone else share their experiences in this area? Is it common to have stomache troubles as a result of a sort of 'anxiety overload' and if so does it normally go away once you acknowledge the anxiety and relax or does it take a while to settle again even after the anxiety has passed? Wondering if I should treat it as an IBS sort of thing and start looking at food intollerances... though I havn't eaten anything different to my usual diet in the last couple of days. Also suffer from fibro so could it be linked to this?

Thanks for reading. Any advice very much appreciated.

Posted 9/18/2012 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi BT,

I've always had a "nervous stomach." It acts up whenever I'm going through periods of prolonged stress. But even us anxiety people get your common, garden variety upstet stomach or headache from time to time. If it hasn't been a chronic problem for you, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's anxiety or IBS, but rather just a bug or something you ate isn't sitting right. Stick to small, bland meals for a day, and see if it goes away.

Have you become more comfortable with your therapy? I've been following your posts, and it sounds like you're getting good at identifying and handling your anxiety triggers.
Posted 9/18/2012 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hi BT,

Stomach issues can certainly be attributed to anxiety. Stress can cause acid levels to rise, causing symptoms from acid reflux, pain to nausea. Like you mentioned IBS issues can also be exacerbated by anxiety...

I often feel nauseous when stressed, which then leads to more anxiety, since that is the worst feeling IMO! I also have a deep dread of the stomach flu/food poisoning, which makes the whole cycle that much worse. However, I have learned to immediately go to my coping mechanisms for anxiety when these feelings come on, and that breaks the cycle for me.:)

If you continue to have stomach pain/issues, I would recommend consulting your doctor, just to rule out anything physical that could be treated easily. (things such as GERD can have a physical/mental crossover connection. They should be addressed and treated together for best recovery.)

I hope that you start to feel better really soon. I know how awful it is to have stomach trouble. Try some relaxation techniques and an easy/bland diet for the next couple of days and see how it goes.

Be well,

S.C.
Posted 9/18/2012 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
Little lady -  thanks for following the posts, I'm finding posting on here very helpful for me to organise my thoughts and get some good advice from others who understand. It's good to make connections with other people who know what your going through as I've been feeling like I have no-one to talk to about it who understands (other than therapist).  

I'm finding that I've come to understand anxiety a little more and how much it has affected my life which means I'm beginning to move forward with things with therapy. We havn't yet gone back and tried the visualisation as we've had other specific things to deal with recently. I want to get back to trying it again though as I don't really know why I resisted it the first time... it just felt strange I guess. I think we're going to try it again tomorrow.  

I'm getting better at recognising the anxiety but not really doing so well at finding the courage to overcome the things that I'm anxious about yet. I've been a lot worse in recent months for various reasons so it feels a little like I have to get better in myself a bit first to get rid of some of the symptoms before I can face some of the longer standing anxieties. Little steps I guess...as long as they're going forward! (sound fairly positive on here but that's a rare thing for me! Fingers crossed for a more positive future.)

SC - Thanks for the advice. I'll do that and see how things go. Stomach issues are uncommon for me untill recently. I noticed it started around when I was having a lot of trouble in work and I now realise the anxiety got quite bad. When the anxiety lessened so did the stomach problems. This time it's different though...it's more constant.IBS is in my family so have been wondering if I have have a touch of this also so wondering if I should try exclusion diet test to see if any particular foods are triggering it. I've been diagnosed with Fibro, anxiety and depression recently which means that I now have trouble knowing what symptoms/problems are linked to what and therefore what to do about them. I'll keep an eye on how I feel over the next few days and if there's no improvement I'll see a doc.    

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