Health Anxiety - IBS or cancer - catastrophising HELP

[Daisee]

Hi Everyone,

I'm back again after 5 years. 😞 I have (I hope) IBS again, BIG TIME. Loss of appetite, acid reflux, stomach cramps, diarrhea and with that a whole lot of anxiety. I'm convinced, as many others who suffer health anxiety, I have cancer. This has been going on for 2 months now and I'm so tired of myself!

It was probably brought on by being a touch overweight (started at 69kg - now 65kg) 155cm, drinking too much wine, and eating too much good food (big meals, ending with red wine & chocolate!). I have been on heartburn medication for 2 weeks, fixed the acid reflux and am taking a probiotic, BUT the stomach cramps and diarrhea are still continuing. Dr Google says anything from cancer to IBS. Which one do I choose... yep cancer. That spins me into a full blown panic and anxiety situation. Hot sweats and flashes (I have enough of those at 56 years due to Meno) and the shakes...

I was having one or two glasses of wine and smaller meals, but as of today (more bouts of severe diarrhea I think from taking Mylanta) I'm cutting out all alcohol and acidic food, limiting to just chicken, fish, rice, potato, avocado, herbal tea and the odd cup of tea with manuka honey. I'll let you know how I go... No drugs, except for my probiotic in the morning.

I have been in touch with my Doctor who has done all the tests. The Bowel screening test results yet to come back and am seeing a Gastro Specialist in 10 days. Those 10 days are going to be interesting to say the least.

My question to the forum is how do you cope with catastrophising? Does anyone else have this problem with IBS.

I know no-one except a Specialist can tell me what it is, but I hate this feeling and I hate me for feeling like this. I just want to sleep for the next 10 days so I don't have to think about what if or what is to come...
 

[White_Rose]

Hello Daisee

Welcome back though sorry for the reason. It sounds as though you are already taking steps to get well again so many congratulations. Dr Google has many good points but can be very misleading. May I suggest that when you find yourself catastrophising you do not go to Dr Google for advice. In those circumstances you are definitely likely to seize on the worst case scenario.

I do not have IBS I am pleased to say. It sounds very difficult to manage and painful. As you say, your specialist will tell you what is wrong and help you manage it. But how do you manage not worry about other potential illnesses. As I said, stop consulting Dr Google. I think this is the single most common trigger for many people trying to find out what is wrong with them.

OK you have ten days of worry in front of you. Have you ever found a way to manage this kind of panic? I think it is panic and needs to be managed as though you are having a panic attack. Have you had a panic attack before? If so what did you do to help yourself?

I used to get panic attacks quite frequently and learned how to manage. After a while they stopped and I carried on with my life. That is until recently when I had another panic. The funny thing was I did not recognise what it was. All I knew was I felt dreadful. Eventually the penny dropped but not until I had decided what was wrong and planned my funeral. Well maybe that's an exaggeration but you get the idea.

Sleeping until you see the doctor sounds good but again probably not possible. What do you normally do in the day time? Do you go out to work, look after children, etc? What helps me is doing something I can get totally involved in. When I was at work it was quite a good way to keep the panic at bay. Not always 100% successful but helped a great deal.

I really did find involving myself in something helped. I used to get so impatient with myself and would tell myself off. Not a good solution as it added to the stress. I would get into the garden if I was at home. Pulling out weeds was therapeutic and gave me lots of satisfaction. Gardening of any sort does make me feel good because I feel I am creating something however small.

It also stopped me eating instead. After I lost a great deal of weight I found I was fitter and more likely to get into some physical activity which was good for my mental health.

Mary

[IceWizard9000]

I went through a very similar experience this year. My circumstances were a bit different in that I had to be on a strong course of antibiotics for six weeks devastating my gut, but my thinking about IBS was exactly the same. I automatically assumed that I actually had colon cancer, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, all the really bad stuff. The anxiety was just awful. When I eventually did get to see a gastroenterologist, his impression was that I actually had a very typical case of IBS and that I should not be as worried about it as I was. That's one of the problems with IBS. Anxiety is probably one of your primary triggers for IBS. It starts a cyclical chain reaction that is very hard to break out of. Based on my experiences, I feel like once you eventually get to see a professional, you will find out that it's really not quite so bad.

[Daisee]

Thank you Mary ~ most excellent advice! I will be reading and re-reading over the next few days. Very much appreciate your rapid response. I'll have to think about what I like doing around the house as I cannot and do not want to work with the current COVID crisis. Exercise and power walking is my go to, but it tends to stir things up. Maybe a bit of reading and slow walks with my dogs 🙂

[Daisee]

Great to read your reply IceWizard. It's always comforting to know that there are other people that have and do go through what I'm going through now. Yes, it is a vicious circle and it seems to get worse at night time for me. As an anxious person, my relaxation time in the evening was a glass or 2 of wine... So now I have to figure out another go to place. I've been heavily relying on it for years to get me through the stressful times and I do think it is now my nemesis.

Yes, the Specialist will no doubt book me in for a scope both ends, which is awful and yet another wait, but I just want to put this behind and get on with my life.

Thank you for your support and good to see you're helping others here. 😄

[Emmen]

Hello Daisee,

I don't have IBS, but I do unfortunately rely a lot on Dr Google. So I have ended up self-diagnosing myself with all kinds of illnesses too.

As IceWizard9000 has said, anxiety can trigger IBS too. I find that by at least getting that anxiety under control can reduce symptoms a lot, which can help convince you that you're not as ill as you think you are. Think of it as a reverse spiral - we tend to consider the symptoms, get anxious, find that the symptoms get worse, get convinced we're terribly ill. But by controlling the anxiety, the symptoms may lessen, we're in a better headspace. We start realising our symptoms are not as bad as to warrant that kind of self-diagnosis.

As White Rose suggests, distracting yourself from the symptoms and anxieties can help. I would also try to do some mindfulness meditation every day - Smiling Mind and Stop, Breathe & Think are apps that have worked for me. It would be a useful tool in getting through these 10 days. After that, the specialist's assurances should help lessen your anxieties (as long as you keep reminding yourself of it).

Take care,
Emmen

[Daisee]

Hey thanks Emmen ~ some good advice there. I do have Smiling Mind and will investigate other apps. I'm already in a bit better headspace from getting back into reading some posts on here.
Kind regards
Daisee