Anxiety and Stress causing diarrhea???

Hi Stressgirl,   First off, Welcome to the Healing Well Family - you have come to a great place to gain advice, insight, friends, and most importanly, support.   Simply put, yes, anxiety/stress can and do cause diarrhea.  I have gone through a similar situation as yours regarding a relationship breaking apart and I had the worst diarrhea ever.  I could barely get through a meal without having to run to the bathroom and this went on for what seemed like an eternity.    I am not a medical professional in any way at all, but I think this is what I would do - buy Pepto-Bismol, Immodium AD, or Kaopectate.  Use it for a day or two, see what happens.  See if it will help either slow things down or stop it all together.  In the meantime, make sure to drink plenty of liquids (but  stay away from milk , that will make it worse/continue) so that you don't become dehydrated.  That's the last thing you need to deal with. Just within the last month I had diarrhea pretty bad for about two weeks before I called my doc.  When I called my doc, she told me to start drinking Gatorade or Powerade.  This will help to put the electrolytes back into your system that you are currently losing.  I'm not a fan of the stuff, but it works.  My diarrhea ended up being from one of the meds that I was recently taken off of.   You can also try what's called the B.R.A.T. diet - pediatricians use this quite a lot for kids with nausea, vomiting and even diarrhea.  It's Bananas, Rice, Applesauce (unsweetened) and Toast (dry).  It's not the most appealing diet to eat, but you aren't putting fiber or anything too heavy into your system.  Here's a page from Wikipedia about it with more information for you - it also contains some other versions of this diet, as well as some contrary advice.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAT_diet     If these things don't start working within a couple of days (I wouldn't let it go on much longer, considering how long it's been already) call your doctor to either schedule an appointment or to have her call you back when she has a moment free.  Give her a brief version of what happened with your b/f and tell her what's been going on since then.  Make sure you tell her that you have no other symptoms (like the ones you described) and you honestly think it's psychosomatic.  Also make sure to tell her if you have done any of the things I have suggested above.  She may just tell you what else to do over the phone instead of having an office visit.   Please remember that I am not a healthcare professional and these are only suggestions for you.  You may decide you want to skip it and see your doc right away, which is also a good choice.   I hope I have helped.  Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing.   Lots of gentle (((((Hugs))))) so as not to upset the tummy too much.   Wen

Well, if you haven't so much as heard from him in two weeks, I'd say that it's probably over. I don't know if that's what you want to hear or not. I'm a guy and know how other guys TEND to operate...it may or may not be the case that he's ended it without telling you but more than likely he has.

So, in light of that, I'd accept his decision and begin considering him a jerk for basically running off like a coward. Then you can start putting it behind you.

Stress and anxiety can indeed cause many "digestive issues". Stress and anxiety can also weaken the immune system. If this has persisted for more than a few days I'd definitely consider seeing a doctor about it. He may very well tell you that it is just stress, but he can rule out other things definitively whereas we cannot. Also, if you tend to be a nervous type to begin with, it's possible that you have an anxiety disorder. Your family doctor should be able to tell whether you need a psych referral or not. A/P is a progressive disorder, so if you do have it then you should undergo some treatment before it gets worse. All of these are medical questions and can only be answered by physicians.

Good luck to you.