# IBS and Stress in College



## ibsengineer (Oct 20, 2015)

I am a (female) junior engineering major at a small private college...and trying to function with IBS. I know I am not alone, but it often feels that way. Long story short, after my freshman year of college IBS hit me hard, I lost a quarter of my body weight and struggled with searing abdominal pain on a regular basis. During this time, most of my friends sort of just slipped away, finding it hard to understand what I was going through. After 6 months or so I started the Low FODMAP diet, which has somewhat lessened my symptoms.

I guess what I am really trying to ask is if anyone has any tips for coping in college? I have a very challenging course-load, which often feels impossible with IBS. My teachers don't understand...after all, I don't look sick, maybe just a bit skinny in their eyes. I have one or two friends who sort of know what I am going through, but they are often way too busy for me to burden them with my troubles. How do you tell people that you feel so lost and confused? How do you deal with the uncertainty of not knowing how you will feel on a day to day basis at home and in classes?


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## dlqc (May 17, 2018)

Hi Miss engineer, fully understand your situation. I have IBS-C and I am a PhD student. Your problems and suffering are largely the same as mine. One important obstacle that is not fully recognized by ordinary people is the patient's loss of control over their life. This will lead to chronic stress and, through a series of biological processes, gradually deprive us of good health and our value on future. If we do not put much value on future, or as you said, always not knowing how you will feel on a day to day basis at home and in classes, then gradually you either become depressed or addicted to something. I used to stay in dorm watching movies, playing computer games, do not want to talk to people, etc.

My first solution is to tell my PhD supervisor and all my friends and classmates about my problem. However, to be frank, none of them truly understand my difficulty. It should not be their fault, because they have never experienced it, and when I told them that I just could not concentrate, they will attribute it to my weak will, bad study habit, anti-social personality, etc. and I just have to adjust myself back to normal, which is not that hard in their eyes.

However, my supervisor does not push me to study anymore. I have suspended my study for a few months and focused on receiving medical treatment as well as doing more exercises.

In your case, my suggestion is that you may have to lower your self-expectation on your course performance. Try to follow your interest and discover something that truly pleases your mind. For me, I found that reading philosophy is really happy, and the book 'the Republic' saved my academic passion. I do not want to do well to live up to my teacher's expectation any more. After all, you are not that important to them, we just live our own lives. To do something that fit your natural interest also gives you a higher sense of fulfillment, which might help you to put more value on yourself, and give you more control over your life.

Finally, about the day to day uncertainty, I really have no solution, or the only solution is to find a way to cure your disease. Never give up, try to search more on this forum and you might find some treatment worth trying.

In a word, my lesson is that we should live a life that is meaningful to ourselves.


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## Robert117 (Feb 5, 2015)

As people say: one person cannot understand how the other person feels until they're in their shoes (or something like that), teachers, friends, probably couldn't understand what people with ibs feels like; just talk with your teachers and tell them what you have (in my case I had to talk with some of them due to leaving the classroom), if they don't believe you show them the Dr diagnose or something like that.

Just keep going (if you can, don't force it), I left uni for around 2 years, 1 year was because of leaving classroom, missing classes due to the ibs , the other year had to repeat. After that I learnt that there's nothing I could have done to prevent those lost years (weren't lost at all, I used to learn better, meet new people, schedule was even better)

How do you deal with the uncertainty of not knowing how you will feel on a day to day basis at home and in classes? Used to ask that question many times, and sometimes I still do, but there's no good worrying about the future, just living in the present thinking If is another day like these, okay no problem I've had them many times before, can do it, but there are also good days


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