Need reassurance please!

I just really need some reassurance right now.  I've been having stomach issues for about 6 months now and since I've never experienced this type of problem in 17 years of dealing with panic/anxiety, it's really throwing me.  There are days that I can look at it realistically and be okay and then others that I get so scared of how I feel.  I'm hoping that if I get some feedback on this it will help me to get over the obsession. 

Usually, my stomach feels kind of upset, like the churning feeling that others have described, but what really gets to me is the bloated feeling, it goes from my stomach, right below my ribs all the way down and feels like this tremendous pressure...I look 9 months pregnant and the skin can sometimes feel tight.  Other times it feels like there is a steel band around my stomach and back, I wonder if this is muscle tension as it kind of feels like that. 

I really don't understand why this symptom in particular is making me so upset, but it is.  I understand that this is not life threatening and that it is most likely not serious since it comes and goes and has not gotten worse over time, just stayed the same.   I would really appreciate hearing from anyone else who has these symptoms as well and how you deal with it.  I'm dealing with agoraphobia too, so going to the doctor right now is not possible, though I did go to urgent care a couple of months ago, was poked and prodded and had blood tests done...all seemed fine, so why can't I just let this go!!!!! 

HI hun have you seen a Gastro doc or had a colonoscopy done there are tests out there
Sometimes the A/P will cause you to have the Irritable Bowel and problems with bloating I get the bloating and look preggars as well but I know it is my crohns
I ma sure it has to do with a/p but I would be talking more to doc about it just to make sure k
Luvs
Lyn

alfalfa tablets are worth trying they can make the digestive system work properly, due to having lots of enzymes

anxiety can cause a slow down with food rotting in the intestines, producing large amounts of gas

Stomache problems are a BIG part of anxiety. I also change symptoms with my anxiety so maybe thats the case with you too. I hope you feel better soon and if it help to calm you down to go to the Dr. to hear it is nothing then make yourself an appt.

If in doubt speak to a doctor, but I have (briefly) experienced stomach problems based on anxiety and I've seen it mentioned many times on websites, such as this one http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/mental_health/disorders_anxiety.shtml

Hope this helps.

Stomach probs are very common in a person that suffers from anxious. Our guts work over time when we are anxious causing peristalsis (when the colon contracts) to be faster which can cause colic/griping pain and sometimes diahhorea. I take anti-spasmodic drugs to help with the pain I get with my bowel and anti - depressants have helped to reduce my anxiety. A lot of people who suffer with anxiety also suffer with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). This can cause a lot of bloating, constipation/diahhorea, nausea, pain etc. If you are still worried , go back and see your doctor for a second opinion. Take care

I had mentioned the Irritable Bowel it is very common with A/P peeps
Please do get checked and I would see a gastro btflnvy
Good luck to all
I have the crohns happening so I do know what this Bloating is all about I get it when in a flare or I have eaten something I know I should not have
Lyn
** If bloating is arounrd top or ribcage and goes hard do get checked sometimes it could be a hernai or gallballder problems**
Just a thought

Hi, i just started taking Lexapro 5 mg a day for GAD, i've had a few sise effects , will they subside asfter awhile as i keep taking the Lexapro. and will Lexapro eventidently help my GAD.

Just to follow up, about a week ago I wrote, "Junebug, I know exactly how you feel, and it's not very good. I've had all the tests and there seems to be no explanation for it. Perhaps mine is caused by anxiety, but I don't think so. I think this stomach problem has lasted so long it has resulted in an anxiety problem."

Sometime my symptoms throw me off. That is, I'll be feeling calm in the head (or so I think) and then, quite suddenly, my stomach issues appear. In the heat of the moment it can be difficult to make the connection between anxiety and the stomach trouble if there was nothing obvious going on in my head first, but at the same time I know that panic attacks can present themselves in odd ways. My GI called them "modified panic attacks", but I went to my PCP last week and he called them "atypical panic attacks." Looking up the latter term on the internet was quite useful. Read this paper: http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/1999/05_01_99/vanin.htm

I'll post some relevant quotes:

"But some, possibly because of dysfunction in various biologic systems, get caught in a vicious circle of increasing anxiety that ends in terrifying physical and cognitive symptoms." For me, I was really sick a couple of years ago, twice. Once I had food poisoning WHILE moving 300 miles on short notice to start a new job. Several months later, a small but benign tumor in my gallbladder blocked my bile duct, making me sick for several months as the doctors struggled to make a diagnosis. I eventually had surgery to correct that, but it took more than six months to get there. And I still present similar symptoms, I suppose because of the health anxiety I developed during that time.

"Patients often have a sense of impending doom or imminent danger and feel an urge to flee."..."Panic attacks usually last from a few minutes to an hour." 'Doom' and 'imminent danger' are perhaps a little strong in my case, but I live in constant fear of impending illness, and wherever I go I usually feel a strange compulsion to get back home. This is probably a mild case of agoraphobia, I suppose. I do not fear leaving, exactly, but I do tend to stay at home when I shouldn't and when I do get out it seems like I'm thinking about going home. Many, many times it will become an 'urge' to do so.

"Panic disorder is present when unexpected panic attacks recur and at least one of them is followed by the presence of any of the following features for 1 month or more (3):

* Persistent concern about having another attack (ie, anticipatory anxiety)
* Worry about implications or consequences of the attack
* Significant related changes in behavior "

And there's more interesting things to read in there, as well, so I highly recommend checking it out. Basically, with me, I think I really was sick and then just got freaked out to the point that it caused what I'm going through now. I wonder how many of us started out this way? I already had something of a depression problem before any of this began. It was diagnosed a couple of times in the past but ultimately left untreated. That's probably a pretty big factor, too.

Wow! It's been really good to read all of your posts. I have crohn's disease and over the last year have also started suffering with panic and anxiety. I hate it. I hate how it can take over and how I often live in fear of having another panic attack. I see a kinesiologist who has helped me SO much!
I too suffer with severe bloating which really gets me down - I know what you mean about the viscious cycle. I wonder if my bloating has something to do with my anxiety, aswell as my crohn's. I have a narrowing in my small intestine and will be having another colonoscopy in a few weeks to determine wheter I need to have surgery to rectify it.