# Scared of accidents



## sunandmoon (Jul 30, 2014)

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site. I have had IBS-D for the last 4 years in varying severity. I have had several really scary experiences where I've been traveling or I've been somewhere where I am not close to a bathroom and I've been incredibly worried that I won't make it to a bathroom in time and I will have an accident. It hasn't happened to me yet (and I hope it doesn't), but it is something I worry about frequently. I love traveling, but I get anxious about long car rides especially with people who I haven't talked to about my IBS. Also I love being on the water and boating, but I'm so nervous that I'll be on a boat and have to go and be totally stuck in what to do. Right now if I know that I'll be going on a trip in the morning I won't drink the night before (since alcohol usually gives me really bad symptoms the next day) and I sometimes won't eat breakfast. At this point, I'm so anxious about my stomach bothering me before certain situations that I think that anxiety makes my stomach hurt. I might be feeling okay and then thirty minutes before I know I have to leave I suddenly can't stop going to the bathroom and have a really bad stomachache. Does anyone have any advice, or does anyone face this problem too? I really want to overcome my fears and not have to be thinking about how my stomach feels before I go somewhere where I'm not 100% sure there is a bathroom or before I travel.

Thanks so much!


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## barbz (Jul 24, 2014)

I had this too me and my partner travel to England from Scotland twice a year and it used to terrify me. Thankfully my partner knows about my ibsd and we make jokes which helps, also carrying toilet roll incase I have to go outdoors. The biggest difference I found was taking an Imodium or buscapan before travelling, this helped me to relax knowing I'd done something preventive. Also routine I know everyones food triggers are different but I try to spend a week before travelling only eating safe foods, and I always have three meals because I know skipping a meal is a likely trigger for sore stomachs which make me anxious. And again distraction, silly little things, in the car it's my job to change the music and watch the mph it sounds daft but anything you can focuson , on a boat why not ask if theres a job you can do to help out. Hope this helps


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## amf22 (Aug 1, 2014)

I too have the same problem, at first i tried to stop it by taking immodium every day but found it made going to the toilet even worse when i got back home. i have a fear of going out with friends and needing to go or being in someones house at the time as I need to go urgently. I'm also worried about returning to school, nobody knows except my family and I wouldn't be able to do it in a school toilet (always a cue and its silence) plus the toilets during class are limited and I could not escape embarrassment


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