# Can very tight stomach muscles and stress be causing my nausea?



## Guest (Aug 29, 2000)

Since I know that I am a very uptight and anxious person, and I have had IBS for many years, I was wondering if that combined with a constant feeling of having tight stomach muscles is contributing to my abundant nausea that I have been having lately...Like I said, I have had IBS for many years, but mostly just pain, gas, bloating and some diarrhea and constipation, but in the last 6 months or so my MAIN symptom is nausea, and it's BAD! I can't wait for my G.I . series on Sept. 8th...I am SO SCARED ! The nausea hardly allows me to eat, and I now weigh 89 lbs. (I am just 5 feet tall), but my gastro dr. says I should be at least 95 lbs...I want to be that weight, but it's impossible to gain weight when you are nauseous 75% of the day, almost every day....


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2000)

Hi Alicia,I'm like you (uptight and anxious). I had nausea for about 3 straight weeks and it didn't go away until my doctor said, "I really don't think anything is seriously wrong with you other than irritable bowel syndrome. You're not dying!"







The next day the nausea was 50% better, and the next day it was almost gone. I haven't really felt it at all since then.I don't know if it's because of the "good news" (well, good compared to what I thought might be wrong). The first week of the nausea I was in Las Vegas and I was taking the Pepto Bismol caplets (swallowable ones) because they said they helped nausea, C and D without making you drowsy. They really helped a lot.







Fiona


----------



## diamondgirl (Aug 5, 2000)

Hi Alicia,I'm sorry to hear you're still having that nausea, but I'm glad you're going for that GI series. You will probably feel so much better after that. Every time I read one of your posts, I get deja vu! I also am a very anxious person, and when I was going through my worst period of anxiety a couple years ago, my stomach was always nauseous, and I could never eat a full meal. I ended up losing weight, which in turn caused me more anxiety! Yes, I think you can feel nausea from those tight stomach muscles and tension, because I ewould feel the exact same way. Don't be scared, Alicia, and goog luck with the tests. You'll feel better and be able to eat and gain that weight back like I did!


----------



## badfoot (Oct 5, 1999)

Hi AliciaI don't suffer from nausea, but I have had severe weight loss problems from IBS-C over a long period of time. Of course you need to make sure there isn't some kind of disease issue. But you also need to get your anxiety under control. I've used antidepressants (and other anxiety meds) off and on numerous times and I highly recommend them for helping you to cope with this problem. They aren't a cure and should probably be used in conjunction with therapy aimed at building anxiety coping skills. Again, make sure you rule out any kind of disease possiblity, but then you've got to gain weight (I had serious bone loss), and medication might be a way to help. best of luck.


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2000)

Alicia,I can totally relate to the nausea problem you are experiencing. I too was diagnosed with IBS about 5 years ago with the main symptoms being lower abdominal pain, bloating, gas, constipatioin & loose stools. In the past year I have also been experiencing nausea that sometimes lasts for several weeks or comes and goes. I have had a BE, UGI, lower bowel scope, complete sonogram of my organs, and plenty more. I also suffer from a irritable bladder and now have some shoulder pain. They are hinting at Fibromialgia but I am somewhat sceptical. I am a very, very anxious person who has been in therapy for years and take Xanax for the panic attacks which have been under control for many years now. I recently had a bout of nausea that lasted for more than 3 weeks. My doc is sending me to a gastro doc for more tests. One thing that did seem to help was that he tested me (twice in the last year) for the H Pylori bacteria which is supposed to cause ulcers. I took the regimen of meds for 2 weeks and have not had the nausea, it also worked the last time for about 6 months. It may all be in my head and I just "think" it helps, who knows. I really can relate to your problem though and let me know if you find something that helps. I have also recently tried rubbing peppermint oil on my abdomen with some relief of the nausea. Good Luck to all of us!!!


----------



## peaceatsunrise (Aug 25, 2000)

Hi Alicia, I have IBS-C very bad but am overcoming it with olive oil therapy and a low-fat diet. Whenever I have one of my attacks it makes me nausaus for 12 hours and I start throwing up... a very hot bathtub usually calms the IBS down as well as the nausaua. hope this helps.


----------

