# Anxiety and IBS



## tiredofbeingill (Aug 23, 2012)

Hi everyone,I've had IBS for the past 7 years, it's been bad for about 5 but recently i've started to improve. I've tried so many different things that its a bit difficult to tell which one is the cause of the improvement, but I'm pretty sure it's taking loperamide capsules daily and using a fibre such as golden linseed (which i am trying at the moment) to make sure that the loperamide doesn't make your bowels go the other way and have C. Although my D is much better, i'm still getting incredibly bloated all the time and just generally feel very uncomfortable. I'm not sure how to make that go away? Another massive problem is that although my stomach has improved so much, I now have extreme anxiety which obviously makes it worse again. I don't like going anywhere further than around 10 minutes from my house, won't stay at friends or go on day trips because it's too embarrassing to use someone elses toilet, I will only use my own, but obviously to make sure that's possible on many days I can't even leave the house. I think if I got my anxiety under control then my life would improve so much because at the moment my stomach is CONSTANTLY on my mind. It's the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing at night, literally. It's horrible. Has anyone else had any similar experiences and got any advice?


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Imodium can cause bloating and cramps. I would urge you to take a simethicone (anti-gas) product WITH it all the time.It takes discipline, practice and time to change your thoughts. If you need help with that.. see a therapist that does CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).See this for more info:http://ibs.about.com/od/treatmentofibs/p/cbtrx.htm


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## tiredofbeingill (Aug 23, 2012)

Okay, I will try that. Thank you!


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## Colt (May 5, 2011)

There is also Immodium Multi Symptom which is designed to control most symptoms, all in one pill.


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## cc-tx (Jun 22, 2012)

I have had IBS-D for the past 30 years and have tried everything, the last was Lotronex. I am back to just Imodium and GasX. Works the best for the D. I had severe anxiety until dr put me on Gabapentin and it worked wonders. Couldn't get past the side effects of regular anti-depressants. Keep trying I still haven't given up even after this long.


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## tiredofbeingill (Aug 23, 2012)

Okay, thank you, I will look into the imodium multi symptom pillsI'm sorry to hear that you've had it for that long But glad that you found something helpful for the anxiety, maybe I should ask my dr about it. Thank you!


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Take a look at the links below which may be helpful - if you have any questions, let me know - IBS has a strong brain-gut connection, and I was nearly housebound for years with very severe IBS - and nothing else was helping me until I found the IBS Audio Program which sorted my symptoms and the related anxiety. So there is hope - all the best to you in your journey to feeling better. Take care.


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## Getting Me Down! (Oct 29, 2012)

I can really relate to this. & im only 17 and suffered like this for 2-3 years.
I left college early due to taking too much time off and id say about 4 days out of the week im housebound because i won't go anywhere if i think a toilet isn't within close reach. So i just don't go out at all. But anxiety is also ruining my life because i get nervous about absolutely ridiculous little things which only brings about my IBS-D. I too am currently only finding Loperamide to be of any help to me, but im back at the docs tomorrow, so we'll see what they can suggest, even though i've been back and forth numerous times and had different tests and meds :-( Losing all hope these days, never cried so much in my life. :-(


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## gefrazier49 (Sep 26, 2012)

Tireofbeingill, and also to all that has replied to this post,

First of all, I am a 57 year old male and have dealt with IBS on and off for 31 years, diagnosed at 26. I can certinaly identify with all of the above post on this topic. For several years after being diagnosed and going through all the tests and everything pointing to IBS, I too developed the severe anixiety that would magnify my IBS symptoms. For many years, I would not take any form of ant-anxiety meds. However, after about 15 years of dealing with this and continuing to hold down a fairly stressful job, my wife realized the agony and diffculty I was linving in and knew that this was controling my life. With that said, she made me an appointment with a fine doctor and she went with me to see the doctor and told him of this vicious cyle I was living in. The doc assured me if I would take the meds as he prescribed, I would get better, I agreed and must admit that after about three months of being on the meds, my life did improve drastically. I can assure each of you, when you get the anxiety under control, the IBS will improve, not vanish, but will help you to be able to get out and enjoy life much better.


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