# How to stop the paranoia...



## Want a fix! (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi,I have been taking the calcium tablets mixed with anti depressants for a few days now and this seems to be helping with my IBS-D. The only issue i now need to fight really is the constant worry of needing to go. I'll talk myself into thinking i need to go and i will sit and try for about 10 minutes before thinking im ok. This normally happens everytime im about to go out (twice or three times each time too) as id rather go at home than out and about. How do i stop doing this, as i want to realise im getting better and that i dont need to go as often as i used to.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2011)

Try an antianxeiety med as well. It will help along with the antidepresant. I take both and it has been working great for the past 3 weeks.


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

I'm a dog walker. I found it useful to have my morning movements and then take the dog out in the direction of parks with washrooms. Knowing that I only needed to walk a few blocks, if necessary, made all of the difference. Eventually I knew I could make the full hour without a catastrophe. That doesn't mean I never had to go, only that I only had to hold it for a short period of time. It's a learned behaviour.Mark


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## degrassi (Jun 10, 2003)

Learn some relaxation breathing techniques or self hypnosis. Its really helped me with having anxiety before leaving the house. When I start to feel "butterflies" in my stomach and worrying about my IBS I stop and take a few minutes to calm down and relax. I've also found it useful for when I am out of the house and starting to feel sick. Before I'd usually i'd have a panic attack and it would develop into a full blown IBS attack. But if I relax and breath then it doens't make it worse.


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Many people, including myself, have used the IBS Audio Program to help with the mind-gut aspect of IBS - it is very helpful for the very thing you mention - worry of having an attack when you leave the house, and many times, this very worry or anxiety of travel, etc. can bring on an attack... I was nearly housebound for YEARS with this aspect of IBS - read my story below for encouragement ... there is hope! And this is very cost effective and comes with free support if you need it... feel free to ask any questions. We are all here to help. All the best in finding your way to feeling better.


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## mini13 (Jan 7, 2008)

Want a fix! said:


> Hi,I have been taking the calcium tablets mixed with anti depressants for a few days now and this seems to be helping with my IBS-D. The only issue i now need to fight really is the constant worry of needing to go. I'll talk myself into thinking i need to go and i will sit and try for about 10 minutes before thinking im ok. This normally happens everytime im about to go out (twice or three times each time too) as id rather go at home than out and about. How do i stop doing this, as i want to realise im getting better and that i dont need to go as often as i used to.


I am doing exactly the same as you right now. I'm taking calcium and 20mg of celexa which is an antidepressant as well. Which has been helping but like you its like I can't trust it yet. So I have to go try using the bathroom usually a couple times before leaving anywhere just to calm down. I agree with everyone that relaxation can help but I have not mastered this completely myself yet. But I am trying!I find a lot of it is just time to begin to trust how the meds work for you


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## breezy67 (Jan 27, 2011)

Want a fix! said:


> Hi,I have been taking the calcium tablets mixed with anti depressants for a few days now and this seems to be helping with my IBS-D. The only issue i now need to fight really is the constant worry of needing to go. I'll talk myself into thinking i need to go and i will sit and try for about 10 minutes before thinking im ok. This normally happens everytime im about to go out (twice or three times each time too) as id rather go at home than out and about. How do i stop doing this, as i want to realise im getting better and that i dont need to go as often as i used to.


Hi AllReading through this site has opened my eyes. As I have been suffering with what sounds like IBS-D for 30 years. It has become a family joke, every-time I went out I was like you. Sitting on the loo making sure there was no hidden attack waiting to hit me as soon as we ventured out. It got so bad that when ever we went out the first thing I did was note all the loo's positions and try and work out my quickest route to each. It even stopped me going to some big events for fear of not making it. (It also stopped me going into the career I wanted)As I feel that having an accident in front of hundreds would leave me devastated. I had one incident when I was at school, I think I carry that event at the back of my mind still. I went to my local GP once about it and to be honest thought he couldnt be bothered to listen or even to treat me. I felt he thought I was making it up or that it was just a phase I was going through (going through a divorce at the time). I have never sought further help, but my kids are getting older and are ridiculing me, and even copying me in some instances. That's what I don't want to happen, my kids going through the same sort of life as me. So any guidance would be appreciated, should I try a new GP or try something of my own back like so many others have tried on here. Where to start is the big question.Thanks


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi breezy and welcome...In the introduction of the program I mention, there is mention of the IBS sufferer needing to know where toilets are located in all the shops, or wherever they are going for the day. Believe me, I have been on every medication and supplement, and the mind-body worry of not being near a bathroom was very real for me. One day after doing this program, I was out running errands, and pulled into a store parking lot. I was just about to go in to do my errands, and the big D urge hit- the cramping, etc. And in a fraction of a second, a thought entered into my mind - I dont need this or want this now, and it went away! This is what the IBS Audio Program can do - it helps with the symptoms and also with the anxiety and worry over an attack - it comes from England as well. Do check out the info http://www.ibscds.com and I would be happy to help. I know I raised my children through the bathroom door - I have had IBS since 1983 - they hardly remember me any other way - canceling trips with them, missing out on so much of their lives growing up because I was stuck in the bathroom... so I know what it is like and there is real hope.The NHS NICE health guidelines in the UK now suggest this type of treatment if after a year nothing else has helped. It seems that if this is the treatment that helps when all else does not, it should be considered earlier in the diagnosis!All the best in finding what works for you.


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## mydogjessie (Jan 29, 2011)

I totally agree with Marks dog walking method. I dooooooo NOOOOT believe that an antidepressant is a good idea. We as the sufferers of this thing do not know the root cause to this. The chemicals we put in our bodys could be a lot of the problem. U need to build up confidence, mark is right. Hell if i could stop going to the bathroom 10 times a day i would love to get to the point of facing the anxiety. I never have the problem of not going, and when i feel like i didn't get it all i am all ways right.


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## TVgirl (Sep 16, 2009)

I know exactly what your feeling. I constantly for years have been paranoid about my bowels. Afraid to make appointments, afraid to go to work, afraid to go to parent teach conferances for my kids...to being afraid to even go visit my own parents over the holidays. I realized though that whenever I felt anxious the symptoms would get worse. I am a nurse and sometimes at work I get the horrible stomach feeling like I got to run and run fast to the bathroom but then something will happen, a situation I have to deal with and it takes my mind off of it and it goes away...like a wave. So I discovered that distraction helped and it is because I was anxious. It has to be a really good distraction though or it won't work. So now I am taking an antidepressant and it so far has been helping me. I feel calmer and more relaxed..I don't feel like I am worrying so much. IN fact feeling this way now, makes me realize how anxious I felt before and when I was anxious I was in denial that I was in fact anxious. if that makes any sense. I think an antidepressant is worth trying.


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## nonentity (Dec 31, 2010)

cookies4marilyn said:


> This is what the IBS Audio Program can do - it helps with the symptoms and also with the anxiety and worry over an attack - it comes from England as well. Do check out the info http://www.ibscds.com and I would be happy to help. I know I raised my children through the bathroom door - I have had IBS since 1983 - they hardly remember me any other way - canceling trips with them, missing out on so much of their lives growing up because I was stuck in the bathroom... so I know what it is like and there is real hope.The NHS NICE health guidelines in the UK now suggest this type of treatment if after a year nothing else has helped. It seems that if this is the treatment that helps when all else does not, it should be considered earlier in the diagnosis!


Hi,I live in the UK and have had IBS-D for many years and have been reading here for a few weeks. This website is an excellent resource but on this point I think you're being slightly misleading. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines actually state:_Referral for psychological interventions (cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT], hypnotherapy and/or psychological therapy) should be considered for people with IBS who do not respond to pharmacological treatments after 12 months and who develop a continuing symptom profile (described as refractory IBS)._There is a significant difference in suggesting that hypnosis therapy be considered as one form of treatment for symptoms lasting over 12 months and on the other hand saying in isolation that this is what NICE suggest if after a year nothing else has helped. Equally NICE do not suggest that you purchase expensive self-help tapes which is also what your post could be interpreted as advocating. In the UK the majority of these kinds of interventions can be provided free by the NHS and indeed every health authority has lots of support groups for this kind of thing, also encompassing relaxation techniques without having to wait for CBT in its entirety. Just my thoughts and I hope this makes what happens in the UK a bit clearer.Hope the OP gets the help they need.non


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Thank you non for your insights - I really appreciate you taking the time to make your first post here so informative! Welcome to the BB! No, the NICE guidelines do NOT suggest buying the program - but they do suggest this type of treatment method - However, if my comments seem misleading, I do apologize, as I never ever want to mislead. I have the files of the entire 500 pages of the IBS NICE guidelines and have read the entire section dealing with psychological interventions. In the quote I say that this type of treatment is suggested - I don't say the actual program is. But if you feel it is misleading, I do apologize. That being said, many people have been helped with this program in the UK and the author actually trains other therapists and he himself is an NHS, non-NHS, and BUPA provider, as well as the founder of the IBS Register. In fact, Michael has been recognized by the Guild of Health Writers Awards - Foundation of Integrated Medicine Awards for Orthodox - Complementary Medicine working together. Work in IBS treatment recognised as one of “80 excellent examples of integrated, orthodox and complementary medicine, working together in the United Kingdom: cited in evidence given to the House of Lord Scientific Review. Informal personal introduction to HRH Prince Charles at Guild of Health Writers Awards – London. 1999The reason the program was developed back in 1998 was because so many people could not get into the in-person therapists - there is over a year waiting list in some of the UK hospitals that provide this therapy - and also - many patients were too sick with their IBS to travel, so initially, they were given the sessions by mail - the first few were treated for free.For those IBS patients in the US and not in the UK, these sessions have been a god-send for many. So again, if I have mislead - I apolgize - but this does not take away the fact that this program has and does address IBS symptoms very well for those who are interested in having a program for the privacy of their own home and would rather not wait for the NHS services.Again, many thanks for pointing that out for me - and again, welcome to the BB! All the best to you!


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