# anxiety causing muscle spasms?



## CathyW (Nov 17, 2004)

can this happen because of stress or anxiety? for the last month I have been having episodes of sometimes severe pain across my stomach and back. muscles feel very sore and tense all the time.x-rays and bloodwork all o.k. I have not been sleeping at all either.Doctor never mentioned that this could be stressed related but I read in my chart(when she left the room)she had written 'patient appears stressed' Is this possible that stress can cause such severe pain? any comments or suggestions would be very much appreciated.


----------



## Melke23 (Dec 23, 2004)

It is a load of ####. That is what they say when they have no clue of the symptoms. I was on the top of the world, graduated , gat a job , i was happy happy. I start having these intense bruised like abdominal pain and i went to the Gi doc, And he said you are stressed and eat fiber. I wanted to smack him on the face that day. My advice is change the doctor you have. I am still suffering from the pain.


----------



## Anthem (Dec 27, 2004)

I have had IBS like symptoms since childhood. I am 51. There is a very obvious almost immediate tie-in between the brain-gut when I am nervous about some social event. Yesterday evening I attended a class at my church. You'd think that would not bother me, but my subconscious sure was nervous about it, because I started having bowel movements early in the day. Since childhood, if something scared me or worried me (like gym class with a real brutal ape of a gym teacher) I'd get the classic flight/flight response and have to take a dump or 2 or 3. Now I am 51 and it still happens. In that sense, stress is very much a part of IBS, at least for me. I can a direct relationship. I have been at work and have my boss (another ape!) slam a new project on my desk and say "Do this and do it fast!" and IMMEDIATELY my gut is in turmoil with the desire to evacuate! Now, I am reading IBS and the MINDBODYSPIRIT CONNECTION by Dr. Salt and Neimark and it describes how our bodies try to stay in a homeostatis state, but any PERCEIVED threat brings on a state of hypersensitivity in some IBS patients. The CONSCIOUS MIND does not even need to be aware of it, since the fears or tensions that prompt the attack may be triggered in the unconscious. With time, you can start to unravel the mystery of what that stupid unconscious is doing, since it's "tape" is usually based on illogical thoughts, beliefs and attitudes from childhood. I, by the way, came from a very abusive home with very little love, and where showing emotion or fear was a good trigger for being abused! So I "swallowed" it. Since then, I Have been simply witnessing myself, and seeing how my unconscious seems to control the body at times. I have NO conscious fear about taking a spiritual class at my church, but my inner-self still is nervous around lots of people, and it was triggering an IBS flare-up. Generally, for me such flare-ups are relatively mild in that I simply go to the bathroom a few times and I am OK. I suggest the book. If nothing else, it is very interesting reading about how the body works and the maladaptive way many IBS people's gut-brain connections work, sending our neurotransmitter chemicals at times when the "average" person would not do so, leading to gut problems. No, the book is not saying it is all stress in the typical manner. It is much deeper then that, unfortunately.


----------

