# IBS is making me stay in my college apartment



## nadiap (Apr 7, 2017)

Hi, my name is Nadia and i'm and 18 year old college freshman. I started having IBS-D my junior year of high school. I was finally driving to school but my IBS made me sick to the point where sometimes pulling off to the nearest gas station to find a bathroom was the best idea. I had abdominal pain (aching feeling), urgency to use the bathroom, and diarrhea. Made high school hard as hell. Took laxatives, anti-spasmotic, literally any prescription medication by my gastroenterologist. I finally found a medication that helped me feel 20x's better and more confident. It was 25 MG of Amitryptlyine which is an antidepressant. After a couple months and a way healthier and more conscious diet I was 90% my old self. Graduating high school seemed like a reality. And I did graduate. I am now a freshman in college. I live off-campus so my diet hasn't changed to fried food or fast food places, but that doesn't mean the freshman 15 wasn't real. Valentines Day comes around and I order a steak and mashed potatoes, (nothing crazy) and I got pretty sick at the restaurant. I got home fine, but after that I couldn't attend any of my classes, or even go buy my groceries (which my amazing boyfriend buys for me) because the abdominal pain and the urgency was back. My new GI tried raising my dosage to 30MG a day of Amitryptlyine (no change), tried taking another anti-spasmotic (made me more constipated, so I take it maybe once every 4 days), take Xifaxan (which I finish tonight, that made me extremely sick 1 week in). We ultimately decided to have a colonoscopy (was 2 weeks ago) and they found a Sessile Serated Polyp which came back benign but it had potential to become cancerous and recommended to come back in five years. I don't know what will come out of this post..maybe advice or some miracle idea, but I wanted to share what has been going on with me.


----------



## AlisonfromSickofIBS (Dec 21, 2016)

Hi Nadia,

The antidepressant may have been working because stress is behind your IBS, and maybe even the polyp (but do ask your doctor...)

I have just posted an article on this. You may find it useful: https://sickofibs.com/ibs-triggers/stress-and-ibs/

Hope this moves you forward.

Alison


----------

