topic Ooooh My gutt!!!! in Anxiety

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

M1ssjess89 — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 05:13:46 GMT

I feel like I've been on a rollercoaster. The start of March my anxiety shot though the roof to the point I had pins and needles. It's only been in the last couple of weeks I've finally calmed down to normal stress for me. I've had gutt problems in the past, but this time it's been lasting for about 6 weeks.
I have
Upper abdomen pain and sometimes feels tender to touch
Lower abdomen pain
Random sharp pain sometimes
A dull ache on my lower right hand side of my ribs
I'm not regular AT ALL and when I go it's not healthy
I have the worst gas
Cramps. Cramps all the time.

Does anybody else have these issues? I've been to the doctor and had blood tests and everything came back clear. I eat well, exercise, drink water, have upped my fibre. It's frustrating. And it is making me more anxious thinking I have cancer or something like that. So it's all I focus on 😣

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

P0L0 — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 05:56:57 GMT

Hello M1ssjess89,

I'm sorry to hear your pain is so debilitating, however, you should try not to worry as what you have mentioned are all possible physical symptoms of anxiety. Try not to worry about what you cannot control.

Just know that other people like myself have gone through similar symptoms. I had painful pins and needles in my hands; not being regular; as well as dull aches in the abdomen. What I found was helpful was to take my mind off the stressful tasks in my life and try to detach myself from it. This helped me put the situation into perspective for me. A good way to do this I found was through meditation.

Meditation doesn't only involve breathing, but more specifically, to solely focus on breathing and try to forget about the physical pains that you may be experiencing.

Hope this helps!

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

Emmen — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 06:53:18 GMT

Hello M1ssjess89,

Health problems resulting from anxiety can themselves contribute to your anxiety and make these symptoms worse. I've experienced something similar to you, with different symptoms. Long story cut short, I had symptoms, saw a doctor who told me I was perfectly fine but that my symptoms likely resulted from anxiety. I went home and started getting worrying about whether I had a terrible disease that the doctor didn't know about.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that we don't pull ourselves out of that anxiety cycle. Rather, we just give ourselves more things to worry about which just worsens and prolongs our symptoms. Meditation, like P0L0 suggested, is one thing you can try to relax yourself. Along with it, I'd also suggest downloading a mindfulness app like Smiling Mind and doing these exercises daily. At my worst, I did it three times a day. Another thing that helped me was to question my beliefs - that is, to question myself on why I thought I had a serious disease. Our bodies go through good times and bad times. Our digestive tracks are incredibly sensitive - honestly, it takes just one bad meal for us to suffer the next few days. Unless you have a concrete reason to believe this is really something worse (e.g. a family history, irregular blood tests etc.), the most likely explanation is anxiety.

Do the mindfulness and meditation exercises for a week or two. Try to consciously relax your body and clear your mind. Tell yourself there is nothing physically wrong with you. If it helps, participate in activities that distract your mind (e.g. exercise, painting etc.).

I hope you feel better soon.

Take care,
M

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

M1ssjess89 — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 11:39:11 GMT

Thanks to both of you for the advice!! I know that's one think I find difficult is relaxing or meditating. Since becoming a mum and feel like I am non stop on the go. I'll download that app.

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

Mumofnah — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:54:23 GMT

Hello M1ssjess89,

I can mostly relate to your symptoms, I have been suffering from strange stomach issues it first started about 4 months ago when I had out of the blue a panick attack with the racing heart, shakes, horrible dry mouth, unable to focus and on edge. The next week or so found myself not wanting to eat as I just didn’t feel great from the anxious feelings that followed the panick attack.

I then had the runs and like a burning feeling in my upper stomach and just not knowing what to eat but having to force myself to.

It is really strange as I still get the burning feeling and sudden onset of being starving so I eat then about an hour or two later I’m hungry again. It like my digestive system is over active guessing another symptom of the anxiety.

May I ask have you lost any weight from this?

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

InhaleExhale — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 00:57:46 GMT

Hi M1ssjess89,

I've been through similar physical symptoms of anxiety as well and it was scary. It's not commonly known that anxiety can have such huge physical effects on your body, especially your digestive system. I think that is what makes it even more terrifying when we start to feel these horrible physical symptoms.

I hope it helps you to know that these symptoms do happen due to anxiety and as Emmen said, if you doctor has ruled out other reasons, then anxiety is the likely culprit. You mentioned that you have been experiencing this since March. I wonder if maybe it was covid that has triggered it or whether it was something else? You might like to say a bit more about how you're feeling emotionally. As you said you've calmed down in recent weeks, I hope you’re feeling better.

InhaleExhale

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

M1ssjess89 — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 01:20:40 GMT

No I haven't lost any weight 😊

I just had multiple things happen back in March that set my anxiety right off. I think because I've calmed down now my gutt is just reacting as it's probably been so tense the whole time I was anxious. I now think it's just all the stress.

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

Lillipilli80 — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 01:35:03 GMT

Hi M1ssjess89,

I can absolutely relate to your gut issues with anxiety. As others have suggested I would agree that meditation has worked for me, its only when I sit quietly and really try to still my mind do the physical symptoms like gut pain start to subside. Its the mind-body connection and its so powerful. I know its not always easy when you are a mum to find the time to sit still. Is there any time in your day where you might have a moment to focus on yourself? After they go to bed perhaps.

Your health is really important for you to be able to keep being the mum you want to be. It would be great to hear back from you on your journey or if you want to share any more about the events that have cause you the stress.

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

InhaleExhale — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 01:44:01 GMT

Hi M1ssjess89,

That could definitely be it. As you're relaxing now your body is trying to adjust and odd things are happening. It sounds like you take good care of your body so I hope these symptoms pass soon. Have you expereinced bouts of anxiety before in your life?

As you were saying earlier, being a mum, it's hard to find time for yourself. If you're not into 'smiling mind', there is another app called 'calm' which I've used regularly for years.

InhaleExhale.

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

M1ssjess89 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 11:25:41 GMT

Yep I've had anxiety on and off my whole life and I stress easy. I just haven't had gutt issues this bad before. . but also the anxiety I had recently for a few months was the worst I've ever had.

I'm trying my hardest to meditate and breath. My tummy still hurts but trying not to focus on it. I just downloaded smiling mind yesterday so will try that. Nights are best for me I just have to try and remember to take some time out.

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

constantoverthinker — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 10:26:14 GMT

i 100% am in your situation right now. i am paranoid something is wrong, but its all in my head.
my farts smell, i get paranoid,
i do more than 3 poo's a day, i get paranoid.
get random cramps, do a fart and it goes away and i get paranoid.

i never used to be like this, but has gotten worse last few months 😞

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

M1ssjess89 — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 12:29:42 GMT

Yeah I'm pretty much the same at the moment. But I'm very sure it's anxiety and yours is probably also. Even without realising my body goes into panic mode so I'm still getting highly anxious

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

Emmen — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 01:48:55 GMT

Hello constantoverthinker,

You've chosen a very apt username! I overthink too, and it's important that we recognise how damaging that tendency is to our wellbeing. Farts and poos are a normal part of life - there are no rules as to how they should smell or how many times is normal. It really depends on what you have eaten! In all honestly, you're experiencing things a normal, healthy individual experiences but anxiety unfortunately, has a way of blowing these things out of proportion. I hope you remind yourself that these are all part of a normal digestive functioning if you get paranoid in the future.

In the meantime, have you tried addressing the anxiety by doing breathing exercises/mindfulness exercises? You also mentioned the anxiety has gotten worse the past few months. Do you know what happened to trigger that?

Take care,
M

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

Emmen — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 01:59:58 GMT

Hello M1ssjess89,

That's the scary part. We go into panic mode without realising it. I recall a GP once telling me that I was so used to having my body in a state of tension (and along with it, feeling all the other symptoms of anxiety) that I didn't seem to understand what being in a relaxed state felt like. The hardest part was actually teaching myself to recognise when I was feeling anxious, and that took some time because I first had to learn what being calm felt like. I actually started noting down on an excel spreadsheet how my body felt when I was tensed/calm etc. until I could start differentiating these when I was feeling it. So these days, if I become aware of a tension in my body, I'd take a few minutes to do some breathing exercises and consciously release the tension before continuing with whatever I was doing. It does take some time to get there, though. And I don't always succeed - sometimes the panic is a little overwhelming. But it is far more manageable now.

Keep with it and I hope it gets better for you too 🙂

- M

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

M1ssjess89 — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 08:06:40 GMT

You've hit the nail on the head. I am always in a state of tension!! It's insane. And it's my normal. I know I need to work on calming it down.

Ooooh My gutt!!!!

InhaleExhale — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 02:05:25 GMT

Hi M1ssjess89,

It’s great to hear you are trying the meditation app, I hope you find it useful. As nights are best for you, maybe you can put a 10min meditation into your routine before bed. I find if I don’t add it into a routine, I forget to spend some time to myself.

There are a few forums on BeyondBlue about meditation and mindfulness which you might find interesting. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/mindfulness-what-is-it-(even-if-you-dont-know-please-post-so-we-can-help-grow-the-forums-accordingly)/page/33#qwy-A3HzvGGEbv8AAOnT_A

I hope you find something that works for you.

InhaleExhale.