# I feel Like I am trapped.. IBS and ANXIETY HAVE TAKEN OVER MY LIFE! Anyone else having these problems?



## lms7119 (Jun 25, 2013)

Hi Everyone,

My name is Lisa and I am 29 years old. I was diagnosed close to 10 years ago with IBS. For many years it came and went. It sucked but life went on. I must say that I always was mad about not being able to live and do the things all my other friends were doing. I could not tell you the last time I woke up and thought boy I feel good today.... I am not constantly sick with the IBS but I never feel right.. I always feel nauseous and also have acid reflux. ( this may sound crazy but it I always feel worse in the car) I then became pregnant in 2009. I must say this was the most normal I have ever felt. Pregnancy made me feel pretty normal. After my son was born in Jan. 2010 we became pregnant again almost right away. Once again felt great pretty much whole pregnancy. After wards the IBS came back! It hasn't been awful but it now seems I am suffering more from the anxiety of when its going to happen next. its became pretty bad. I pretty much wont go out to eat at all unless its a few miles from home. When we go to parties I do NOT eat. I have a phobia of being sick anywhere but home. I am always in a rush to do what I gotta do and get home. I feel like I cant slow down to enjoy life and my family. I truly feel bad for my family. I don't want to do or go anywhere cause I have such anxiety. I feel like a terrible person and I honestly don't want to drive everyone away from me. I feel like I am a prisoner in my own body and just wish I could wake up from this bad dream because I truly cannot live like this. my family doctor gave me a RX for Citalopram a couple weeks ago and it did nothing. I have some calls into therapist because I know I need help. Is anyone else having these same problems or have any advice?


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## ocdibs (May 31, 2013)

I know how you feel. I live with constant anxiety and of course anxiety just makes IBS much worse. I, too, felt "normal" during pregnancy and that has been really the only time. Anxiety is so draining and so debilitating. Some things that have helped me are doing yoga poses (I did the AM PM Yoga to start with) and drinking herbal teas like chamomile or any stress ease tea sold in stores. I also make sure I have a little time everyday for my hobbies. I used to think I couldn't make the time, but now even if it is just 15 minutes, it gives me time to relax, which means I have more time of being "normal" for my family. I have OCD and my obsessions mainly center around illnesses, and the one thing I have learned through YEARS of this, is not to avoid the thing you fear. Avoidance (such as not going places or doing things that make you anxious) only increases your anxiety and makes the thing you fear have more power over you. This works for irrational fears and I know with the IBS your fear is rational, but I think the same theory works here. If you are going to go to therapy, I would suggest you go for CBT ( cognitive-behavioral therapy) or exposure response therapy. That way you can be gradually exposed to what you fear until it has little power over you. I'm sorry you are going through this. When my anxiety was over the top it was really hard to calm down to practice CBT and do therapy and I took antidepressants. I am not suggesting that you do this .I hate taking medicine unless absolutely necessary. I am just saying sometimes we need a way for our bodies to calm down so that we can work on our minds. You might want to talk to your doctor about that.


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## xErikax (Jul 7, 2013)

I feel as if I'm a prisoner trapped in my own body to because of my terrible health.I currently have no friends outside of the internet and I cannot bring myself to think about relationships because of how bad things are for me plus it's really difficult to explain to someone who doesn't have the same syndrome.I wish that I could give you some really good advice on how to cope but I'm completely clueless myself and nothing that I've tried has really helped me.


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## Bet Sobon (Jul 2, 2013)

IMS, what comes first, the IBS or the anxiety, who knows. I've been dealing with this my whole life.

You can help yourself by changing your diet. Eliminate grains/Gluten and FODMAPS (there is a lot of into on the site about them). I found out that eliminatinting those foods resolve about 95% of IBS symptoms. I also take Zoloft and Trazedone for anxiety. It helps.


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## balma (Jul 5, 2013)

lms7119 said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> My name is Lisa and I am 29 years old. I was diagnosed close to 10 years ago with IBS. For many years it came and went. It sucked but life went on. I must say that I always was mad about not being able to live and do the things all my other friends were doing. I could not tell you the last time I woke up and thought boy I feel good today.... I am not constantly sick with the IBS but I never feel right.. I always feel nauseous and also have acid reflux. ( this may sound crazy but it I always feel worse in the car) I then became pregnant in 2009. I must say this was the most normal I have ever felt. Pregnancy made me feel pretty normal. After my son was born in Jan. 2010 we became pregnant again almost right away. Once again felt great pretty much whole pregnancy. After wards the IBS came back! It hasn't been awful but it now seems I am suffering more from the anxiety of when its going to happen next. its became pretty bad. I pretty much wont go out to eat at all unless its a few miles from home. When we go to parties I do NOT eat. I have a phobia of being sick anywhere but home. I am always in a rush to do what I gotta do and get home. I feel like I cant slow down to enjoy life and my family. I truly feel bad for my family. I don't want to do or go anywhere cause I have such anxiety. I feel like a terrible person and I honestly don't want to drive everyone away from me. I feel like I am a prisoner in my own body and just wish I could wake up from this bad dream because I truly cannot live like this. my family doctor gave me a RX for Citalopram a couple weeks ago and it did nothing. I have some calls into therapist because I know I need help. Is anyone else having these same problems or have any advice?


Hi IMS, I have very similar issues to yours. I have also had IBS since I turned 19 i.e. became an adult.... Anyways, I also have two children and I am a couple of years older than you.

I also am anxious when I need to go out of the house fearing that I would have an urge to go to the bathroom and not have a bathroom available. Pretty much my outings are limited to late mornings after I feel I have had enough bowel movements that I can out a bit. If there is an outing in the evening, then I don't eat until we get home. Which isn't good because this way my weight isn't ideal. My husband doesn't understand me and he thinks that I am disabled. It is really frustrating when I am trying to manage my situation the best I can. I take florastor or Imodium when I have a stressful situation ahead of me. But I do still feel anxious because I am worried about having to go and I can't eat when we are out thinking I will have a bowel movement. I know bowel movements are normal and good to have but not when there is no restroom and with IBS things move faster. Maybe I am telling myself a lie, maybe I need to challenge this thinking!?!?!

This isn't really a way to live, I know. I wasn't like this before. I was really carefree up to when IBS hit me. And it seems my focus is on it much more since I have my kids because when I am out them I fear that I can't control the situation that much and can't run to the bathroom that fast if I need to. I wish I had a portable toilet in my car just in case, that might calm me down but then I can't really travel with non-family members.

Anyways, I hope someone has some creative ideas how to deal with this "syndrome". I really do appreciate people writing about this issue in this group. Makes me feel I am not alone.


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