# On the brink of a nervous breakdown



## RnbwConnection78 (Nov 8, 2001)

I am going to lose my mind. As a result of my horrible stomach pains wednesday, I went to the DR's. My Dr wasn't there so I had to see someone else. I never actually underwent any of the tests for IBS. I was just diagnosed using the criteria because of my age. Well this new DR is making me do the whole thing. I am so scared that my stomach is a complete wreck. I DO NOT want a SCOPE. I don't care how many people say it is no big deal. My dr told me to grow up and get over it. If one more person tells me not to worry I am going to strangle them. No one gets that I am completely petrified. Ever since I went to that stupid doctor my stomach has been a complete disaster. And all of these people that say don't worry and it's not a big deal are NOT up with me at 2 in the morning when I am sick as a dog. They DON'T spend 10 hours babysitting after getting about 2 hours sleep. I am desperately trying to do my hypno but I CAN'T concentrate and can't relax. I am barely eating. I am not even seeing the gastrologist until 9/4..so I get to suffer for 3 weeks. And on top of all this I start school a week from Monday and I CAN'T miss a day. So no matter how sick I am, it doesn't matter. Last night I had to fast after 10 and that sent me into a complete tailspin because I knew no matter how sick I got I couldn't take anything for it. I get to make an appointment with a shrink on Monday, maybe just MAYBE THEY will listen to me. I am completely freaking out. The worst part is that people think I can just STOP worrying. Of course it's not their body that is falling apart at the seams, it's mine. It seems like no matter what I do I can't stop. I just feel so alone right now and it's making me crazy.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Whoa Rainbow, Hold on thar a minit. This is your body, you make the decisions. If you don't want to do the scope right now, wait til you can talk to your own Doc. Tell him of your fears and go over the frequency and duration of your symptoms. See what he says. Perhaps he doesn't agree with the same course of action. If he does, ask him what he is hoping to rule out by doing the diagnostics. Ask him about alternatives etc. Let him know your school situation. Perhaps you could schedule it or any other diagnostics he might think are appropriate, for a school holiday so you are doing any fasts or prep at home etc. The prep is the worst part and one is usually in lala land for the procedure itself. If he is adamant that you hav a scope, remember, so many have had this and we all felt like you feel. Anytime we go through something new, we all have a portion of fear within us. Keep in mind we will all be here to help you too. Also, whatever you are feeling right now, this scope isn't happening today or tomorrow. And my theory is, if it ain't happening today, I can't worry about it. I can plan for it, by educating myself and getting answers to some of my questions, which may in turn end up alleviating some of the fears.Empower yourself by educating yourself. Just decide you are not going to get on the fear freight train. Educate yourself instead.Second, just listen to the tapes. Don't worry about doing them right or wrong. Just listen to them. Don't "try" to do _anything_ but listen to the sound of Mike's voice. Get a pair of earphones so you can listen whenever you want without disturbing anyone else. Do nothing but listen to the sound of his voice. Honey, in the beginning when I first started listening, I sat there twitching! It took me and my body a bit to relax. LOL I was told not to worry about it, so I trusted and didn't. Go easy on yourself hon. You will be ok. Ya gotta do something nice and relaxing for you today. I don't care if it is a bath with bubbles up to your nose, or a manicure, or a film rental of a movie you love, or get into a book you have been meaning to read (especially since 'fun' reading will soon be replaced by 'have to' reading for you) whatever. Do something just for you and try to distract yourself from thinking about all of this once you have maybe looked into some info to answer some of your fears. Distraction has helped me many, many times. It also helps with the pain. Of course you know that the worrying about the scopes or whatever may exacerbate your symptoms, so quell some fears and then distract.The pain you had the other night, was it something you had never felt before? Because sometimes a new symptom may warrant investigation. And are you on any anti-spasmodic meds like Bentyl, Levsin or Librax? They might help a bit, you could ask the Doc about them.Also, I know you may not want to hear this, but the scope isn't the worst thing in the world. Truly it wasn't. It wasn't pleasant, but I can certainly think of worse things. We WILL be here for you if that becomes something you choose to do. We will walk you through it by sharing our experiences and info we may have. Here is a site that helped me understand loads. http://www.gicare.com Education is empowering. Hang in there and keep us posted on how you are doing.(((((((Rnbw))))))BQ


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## norbert46 (Feb 20, 2001)

Rainbow, sounds to me like classic anxiety/panic IBS. I suffered for 35 years and know it's not fun.You give the tapes a chance to help but they are not a quick thing, I agree with BQ that the scope is not all that bad but at times in my life I would have felt just like you do right now. My suggestion would be to delay the scope and work more on the anxiety so you can live day to day and stop worrying yourself about the future! It can be done and I feel the tapes will eventually accomplish that but right now you probably would benefit from visit with a good Psychiatrist as you suggested. There are many medicines that can help bring your anxiety down to a tolerable level that will allow the tapes to be more effective but please be careful with the "benzo" tranquilizers. They can work so good that you may become addicted and eventually getting off them is a nightmare and has to be done very slowly. Best wishes, Norb


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## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

I think you should consider yourself lucky that you managed to get a referral for the tests so quick! I had to wait for 6 months. Yes, i worried for every single day of it.I can understand your doc saying he want to do the tests. If you had unexplained new pain then he probably just want to rule out something more serious, and as you never had it done before this is probably a good thing. Even though they suck- i would want to know.Which scope are they doing? I had a sigmoidoscopy a few years ago and it really isn't so bad. I didn't have to do any prep or anything. Actually, it was just sprung on me (which didn't impress me). Thats what they do in England. They send you to a GI, who springs things on you. Kind of good though because if i had known i wouldn't have gone.Remember, you can always reschedule the tests. Wait to talk to your normal doctor.With the tapes don't worry about not concentrating. You don't need to. All you have to do is listen, oyu will relax eventually. Just listen to Mike.Good luck with school, you'll be great.


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Rainbow, I sent you a private message so you know. Sorry your not doing well.


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