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[deleted] t1_j2tesnu wrote

[removed]

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DizzyDeezler t1_j2tbmzg wrote

My gastroenterologist told me this 8 years ago after he found no physical problems with my intestinal tract.

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ILikeToThinkOutloud t1_j2thepu wrote

Yup. I got a full colonoscopy thst found nothing. Hilariously once I got out of college, my trigger foods dropped being triggers.

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No_Application_8698 t1_j2u1pcx wrote

This was also me, except mine turned out to be my job (low-level manager but lots of stress and responsibility).

I used to have at least one ‘attack’ a week, sometimes several, seriously affecting my social engagements (because - naturally - I was usually completely fine at work and it was only my personal life and relationships that suffered).

Once I was out of that environment it stopped pretty much straight away. Amazing and frustrating at the same time; I wish I’d realised sooner!

Edit: typo

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DigitalDeath12 t1_j2u3amr wrote

I got out of the military and suddenly had no trigger foods. Now that I’m older, I do have acid reflux trigger foods. It was good while it lasted I guess.

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snappedscissors t1_j2tluia wrote

What were your trigger foods, and are they just gone from your diet? Or did they actually stop triggering you?

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ILikeToThinkOutloud t1_j2tm7dn wrote

Most common ingredient I found was hydrolyzed soy protein. And milk. But now I can eat both with no issues.

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Brasticus t1_j2vdm9x wrote

Hydrolyzed soy protein is in so much stuff. If pops up where you least expect it, like, icing on cupcakes and dumb stuff like that.

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ILikeToThinkOutloud t1_j2x5jcg wrote

Yep. Gravy was a big one for me as it's used in those pot roasts in a box things. I think McDonalds in Canada also has it in their oil. Thankfully I was able to find alternatives for a while but oof. Rough couple years.

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Brasticus t1_j2xbo51 wrote

Campbell’s Soup here in the states has it as well. Weirdly most store brands don’t so I end up buying those. He’ll even Stove Top stuffing has it.

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Kaputnik1 t1_j32w1zm wrote

Yeah, they had me on the FODMAPS diet and it made no difference. Then, I started managing my OCD and anxiety better and whaddya know, my gut improved substantially.

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accidental_snot t1_j2uq1v9 wrote

Mine told me I'd become lactose intolerant. One day, I tried Costco probiotic out of desperation. It improved my condition by like 75%. I can leave the house again!! I don't want to, but now it's an option.

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Jaksmack t1_j2tzyoe wrote

My parents divorced when I was a kid and I had nothing but stomach issues for the whole school year, had a ton of tests including upper and lower GI that found nothing.

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neutralbystander11 t1_j2v5xpx wrote

Just got through this myself. Guessing it was caused by grief which is so fucked

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Kaputnik1 t1_j32vnru wrote

Same here. His first question after ruling out GI stuff was, "How are your anxiety levels?"

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Professional_Win1535 t1_j2uv5pq wrote

I actually am studying this and want to research stress and the gut for a living. Your mood (and stress levels) have a bidirectional relationship with your gut via many mechanisms. Even one stressful event can alter the makeup of your gut.

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eonaxon t1_j2vv5gf wrote

THANK YOU for studying this. I swear a lot of people’s social anxiety could improve if they could stop having stomach pain and diarrhea before they go out.

I’ve often wondered…

Do I not want to go to a social event because I’m truly anxious about talking to people, OR am I simply trying to avoid my body’s involuntary reaction of feeling sick when I’m the slightest bit stressed?

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gatsby712 t1_j2xrzrk wrote

It also goes together because the nervous system slows down the nervous system during stress. I often have to go before doing something stressful and I’ll feel anxious at the same time. I think it’s a trauma response or my body learning that I’m about to have a period of time my body is activated with stress, so it better clear out while it can. So do I feel anxious because I am afraid, or am I feeling anxious because I’m actually having a gut reaction ahead of a stressful event. Probably both.

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Kaputnik1 t1_j32v9k2 wrote

Sounds like a feedback loop to me! I can relate with OCD and anxiety.

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ReachingHigher85 t1_j2wilwt wrote

Don’t forget hormones. Hormonal gut can cause a sensation of bloating even if no gas comes out, decrease a person’s capacity to eat meaningful portions, and leads to dramatic weigh loss. Labs will be normal.

Source: I got it from August to around April this past year. Went from 166 to 137 before I stabilized (weight loss was sudden and dramatic, 30lbs in less than 3 months.) I felt so bloated that it pushed up into my diaphragm and made me short of breath, and I could only eat small 2-3oz portions of anything, felt starving all the time. All my labs came back completely normal. The problem went away on its own but even now, 8 months later, I haven’t gained any weight. My coworkers joke that I left my ass somewhere cuz it’s just a flat plane now.

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Coolman_Rosso t1_j34389c wrote

This is interesting. Back in July I had a bout of gastroenteritis that lasted five days, followed by a week of constipation. However afterwards my appetite was out of whack, I would have some mornings with extreme bowel urgency that made driving to work a huge pain, and I would get full pretty easily when eating. I thought I had developed IBS or gastroparesis, but the symptoms weren't severe enough nor fit with the diagnosing criteria (I have had no bowel-related abdominal pain since my initial illness, and my bowel movements have been largely consistent). I had two instances of heartburn, but that went away months ago. I eventually saw a Gastroenterologist and my lab results all came back negative. He suggested it was merely the illness combined with it being the most stressful period in my life (I was in the process of buying a new house and moving, going back to graduate school, and having the busiest time at my job I've ever had).

However the elephant in the room was that after my initial illness I had basically stopped eating. First it was the worry over the diarrhea, then it was the constipation, then finally it was concerns over IBS or food intolerances. The end result was that in about a month and a half I lost roughly 21 pounds. The problem now is that I only feel sensations of hunger maybe once or twice a day and even then it's most commonly after 9 PM. Furthermore when eating I'll get a faint feeling in my lower left stomach that ranges from pinching to twitching to just vague discomfort, which usually subsides in 5-15 seconds.

I've since gained back 3-4 pounds, but I can't seem to get any further than that and it's been 6 months since I was sick. My doctors don't seem concerned, but it's been a real pain since I've had to buy new belts to fit into some clothes I bought two days before I was sick.

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Hatecookie t1_j2vxdrg wrote

I have CPTSD, palmar-plantar hyperhidrosis, stress-related nausea which can be daily for long stretches, and a bunch of other symptoms of having a mildly damaged sympathetic nervous system. I had an extremely turbulent childhood full of emergency trips to the bathroom when something stressed me out. I am also lactose intolerant which nobody knew when I was a kid, so they would give me dairy and I would be sick, again.

There’s something else going on - ever since I was a toddler, I have not liked eating candy and sweets because they make my stomach hurt. My parents were proud that I would turn down cupcakes in favor of fruit but they never seemed interested in the reason. I think there’s something off about my gut biome. Idk if it’s a sensitivity to some kind of preservative used in sugary foods or what. Wish I could figure it out.

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LeatherDude t1_j2xibku wrote

When I was in college, I read a book on the topic called The Second Brain, that coveted in depth how serotonin levels in the nerve complex in the abdomen had major effects on overall mental health because of the imbalance on neurotransmitters there. Blew both my minds.

As a sufferer of anxiety and depression I can anecdotally confirm that it heavily affects my bowel health when I'm stressed.

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thepigfish82 t1_j2wam7k wrote

Im 40 and have been dealing with cyclical vomiting syndrome for 10 years. Turns out it was stress and anxiety

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[deleted] t1_j2xe4ya wrote

It’s crazy to me how connected the two are. When my symptoms are non existent, I will tell my wife I feel serene. Like nothing in the world can bother me.

So thank you for your continued work!

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bb70red t1_j2xoqvu wrote

The gut microbiome is one part. The relation between stress, the diaphragm, lower back and pelvic muscles, back pain and injury, obstipation, irritation of the bowels, chronic hyperventilation, gas, incontinence is another part. The combination of these can lead to serious but rather vague symptoms with a high impact on quality of life.

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SWulfe760 t1_j2xpgdl wrote

Thank you for studying this! I'm 23 and I've lived with IBS, eczema, and acne for the longest time and I've often felt that all three are linked to each other, as well as linked to stress as a general trigger. With recent studies linking a correlation between IBS and Eczema, then IBS and Eczema independently to stress, it's reassuring to think that we may soon find better ways to manage these chronic issues by addressing underlying mechanisms; which appear to be hormones and gut health.

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tough_succulent t1_j2xvyfn wrote

I see this in the kids I teach. When they are stressed their tummy hurts more. My kid's stomach hurt during lockdown all the time, and after being in school for a year, it magically went away

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_trouble_every_day_ t1_j2zdngm wrote

I was having diarrhea a lot during a particularly stressful couple weeks so naturally I assumed it was pancreatic cancer. I went to urgent care(because I was obviously dying) and my lab results said everything was fine. That was enough convince me I that it must be colon cancer so I scheduled a colonoscopy which I’m currently waiting on. Anyway this has all been great for my stress level.

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KidnextD00r t1_j36mtjd wrote

Yep! The spiritual folks (herbs, crystals, meditation, etc.) have been saying there is a correlation for a while!

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TioSVQ t1_j2u8k58 wrote

It makes so much sense now! I've never had a consistent bowl mouvement, and sometimes even the coffee with a cigi wouldn't work in the morning, but I thought it was just my abnormal system. I was under a lot of stress.

Few months ago I changed jobs, and the new one is more relaxed and paid more money, so I was in a better mood and with less stress, and my bowl movement during those months was consistent and daily.

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aldiyo t1_j2tq8xp wrote

My wife cured her irritable bowel syndrome using psychedelics. She suffered it for 30 years then we both tried ayahuasca, lsd and mushrooms and now she is cured.

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Bankzzz t1_j2tyr4d wrote

I’m going to look into this, thanks. I need to make some life changes to limit my stress a bit but damn is it hard when jobs don’t give raises and prices keep going up and just.. people. I’m willing to try anything at this point though.

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DTFH_ t1_j2xbdky wrote

You could look into EMDR as well!

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Lemonio t1_j2uff9h wrote

How and where did she do this and was it legal?

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aldiyo t1_j2uwkso wrote

We live in México, I extensively studied psychedelics before trying them and when I did (I tried ayahuasca before her) I instantly knew that she would benefit from them and I was right. Now she is a different person, more spiritual and her anxiety and colitis vanished. Now she lives a normal and happy life, we still do psychedelics from time to time to keep growing our counsciousness.

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aldiyo t1_j2vg4y9 wrote

Lsd and shrooms are illegal, also dmt but not the ayahuasca.

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Roughbone t1_j2w4864 wrote

You can get the stuff aya is made of legally, it's the act of making it that is illegal. However, you can consume the things it is made of and experience it without ever making it

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Brainsonastick t1_j2ux908 wrote

It’s worth noting that the IBS-like symptoms are specifically diarrhea and this is just in a mouse model.

So it may extend to constipation as well in humans or not but if you’re experiencing constipation, this may be unrelated.

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millahhhh t1_j2wf4ww wrote

I'd strongly suspect it would hold. For several years now, the treatment guidelines (specifically Rome IV) call for talk therapy and antidepressants as first-line treatment for IBS. I think this paper is just fleshing out the edges of what we already know.

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Brainsonastick t1_j2xbp0v wrote

I absolutely expect it to as well. It’s the diarrhea-only part that I find so interesting.

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General_Mars t1_j2uqcel wrote

I was diagnosed with IBS but mine improved after I had surgery to fix an abdominal hernia with mesh. My GI symptoms improved to point of not needing any further follow up. I still have the occasional issue that’s worse than a normal person, but nothing close to like it was. I have a lot of family with IBD (Chrons and UC), so I was glad I’ve seemingly dodged that bullet. Doctor said it was first time he had encountered where hernia surgery basically fixed my IBS.

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climb-high t1_j2v0lhk wrote

Oh wow, that is amazing. Where was the hernia? Was it instant relief?

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General_Mars t1_j2v4up7 wrote

Like I had a follow up with the surgeon first probably 3-4 weeks later and around that time I saw my GI doc and was like it’s been sooo much better since surgery - no incidents. So kinda instant I guess? But the hernia is on my lower left abdominal area. Only fatty infiltrate. Likely a surgical hernia from getting my appendix out - it was one of the original laparoscopic site areas.

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Coolman_Rosso t1_j344cq8 wrote

Did you have a bulge and everything? I've been having odd faint pains in my lower left shortly after eating sometimes, but I don't think I've strained enough to develop a hernia. Just not sure what the deal is.

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General_Mars t1_j3454vw wrote

Yes it was visually evident that something was awry. Like with anything health related, you should consult your doctor. There’s multiple different options to tell if something’s going on. Like I noted, it having an effect on my IBS was potentially coincidental/very “lucky” and not typical. As I also noted I still have issues from time to time but it’s controlled fine with OTC medicines (when needed). But yeah if I bent different ways it was quite evident that I had something wrong. You can get a hernia from sneezing, it’s not necessarily just straining. Good luck!

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mdotca t1_j2v1lx0 wrote

In my experience this has always been a chicken/egg issue.

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BadAtBloodBowl2 t1_j2vywoi wrote

I was in the hospital 6x during my abusive marriage. Got gastroscopies, colonoscopy, several regiments of treatment....

A divorce and a few months later everything went away. Living without stomach pains has been incredible. Sleeping without cramps, eating without diarhea, actually eating dairy products and being fine after....

Emotional health is very important. It just took me 10 years of marriage to figure out.

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Alarmed_Scientist_15 t1_j2ucc6h wrote

Anyone who read. Did they give advice on how to reverse the issue or just “less stress”.

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Jeebz88 t1_j2vr713 wrote

Not going to lie, I chose a medical specialty that deals only with the critically ill because most of the common complaints of people who don’t need acute hospitalization are only curable by changing our society to be less stressful (or improving diet and exercising enough).

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ShrimplyPibblesDr t1_j2v24ak wrote

As a sufferer; yes. There is a direct mental health to digestive health connection…is my hypothesis

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hatesbiology84 t1_j2v8erm wrote

I suffered from this as a child, and I knew exactly what it was from. Thanks, parents.

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Call-me-Maverick t1_j2vk0f1 wrote

My mother in law is a gastroenterologist and she says two things that have stuck with me: (1) the micro biome in the gut affects health across a lot of different body systems, and (2) mentally healthy people don’t get IBS or similar conditions.

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BrightBlueBauble t1_j2vxu6t wrote

Hormonal changes (menstruation, pregnancy, perimenopause, etc.) can also cause IBS symptoms, as can connective tissue disorders, allergies, and migraine. So those symptoms are not always mental health related.

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NovaFlares t1_j2wb4wo wrote

>(2) mentally healthy people don’t get IBS or similar conditions.

I don't see how this can be true because i've got bad ibs but i live quite a stress free life. I'm starting to think i could have developed lactose intolerance though because dairy is the only thing i know that sets me off

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Call-me-Maverick t1_j2x0tcb wrote

I’m sure she meant it as a generalization and not a hard rule. Of course there are other causes

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Lady_MoMer t1_j2tvxlz wrote

Does that include abdominal cramps so severe that ER visits are required with the only remedies being Fentanyl and Dilaudid? Which is finally administered after they are absolutely sure you aren't there just to fake it to get the good meds no matter they've never seen you before but thanks to previous jackholes now we're all suspect. Plus they've got to try other stuff such as that awful GI cocktail which numbs your throat and mouth but does nothing to stop those super painful abdominal cramps which btw could not be diagnosed? Word of warning - it would be advantageous to have a supply of adult diapers should this ever happen to you or someone you know has a similar experience. Screw the stigma of having to wear one of those because I can assure you that even when you think you can't produce any more liquids because you've either puked them out or expelled it another way cuz you may have been sitting on the toilet due to the intense cramping pushing down on your bladder causing uncontrollable leakage, I'm speaking from a womans POV mind you, having that protection spares you from embarrassing yourself while sitting in the ER. I can attest to what severe stress can do to a stomach. Seeing this validates more than I even thought. I hope none of you reading this ever has to go through those cramps.

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relaxguy2 t1_j2um6gy wrote

I had this and it was diagnosed as gastritis. Not sure what the differences are exactly but they are different.

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Vzdubz t1_j2unmal wrote

I’ve never heard of anyone dealing w what I do. Literally high dose of pain meds. Only thing that stops it - IV meds

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knowitstime t1_j2v2k4f wrote

could be abdominal migraine. hardly understood and generally treated with old fashioned antihistamines that just knock you unconscious till it passes

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Vzdubz t1_j2v2xjq wrote

I have been diagnosed with chrons disease so that’s where this comes from but when I have an attack. Straight to hospital. Pain that causes blacking out it’s so bad, they usually give me pain meds but for whatever reason my body takes lots. I always end up having to get more to dull it

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Lady_MoMer t1_j30wdsw wrote

That's what the drs finally told us when my daughter went through something similar a few years before my stress induced visits. Hers was as well but they didn't give her the good meds like I got and she didn't need a diaper. I don't recall if they gave her antihistamines. At one point in time, one lone dr thought maybe it was marijuana sickness but to stop that one just had to shower with hot water. There's no way my issue was going to get better with a simple shower. Hers finally stopped when she got away from the stressors.

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8amflex t1_j2w5gtg wrote

As someone who suffers from this terribly I'm really happy to see this concept being studied and I am hopeful there will be methods to combat it in the future.

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LuDdErS68 t1_j2vdjo6 wrote

Next: The sun is hot, water wets stuff.

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sagarassk t1_j2vq0a6 wrote

Thank you for posting this. The stress of COVID, my work and my relationship has been especially painful the past 3 years. And coincidently I can no longer drink anything with caffine or milk in it without severe stomach pains. I've always found the timing odd and have always suspected the stress i'm going through had something to do with it.

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sister_of_a_foxx t1_j2vrrj4 wrote

I started taking an anti-anxiety med for GAD and one day, it occurred to me that my GI problems were mostly gone! It was great until the side effects of the meds became too much for me to deal with and now I’m back to being SOL. Hoping to get one different meds here soonish but I was stunned with how much of a difference it made to remove at least some of the unnecessary stress.

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tvrdy3 t1_j2w65go wrote

Stress is cause of sickness.

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Lateandontime t1_j2v3dk3 wrote

Hey! These are my top two on the medical marijuana prescription.

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FroyoPlenty1177 t1_j2v9h93 wrote

Lived in Oklahoma for awhile had this crap that i called sulfer burps. Started in high school and got worse after I started working full time. The hear I left it was a monthly thing. Get the burps that just tasted sulfiric then ibs like syptoms for 3-5 days. Moved back to Oregon and it stopped. Mostly, had it a few times at one job took it as a sign to quit.

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Prineak t1_j2vh7bq wrote

That’s nice, but can they explain what causes crohns?

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Ok-Heat1513 t1_j2vs6yo wrote

H pylori takes advantage of a weak stomach lining caused from extreme stress.

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MrCartmenes t1_j2w0jqw wrote

Yeap. Turns out I wasn’t gluten intolerant. I was with a toxic partner

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Open_Buy2303 t1_j2w8qbc wrote

Every person I ever met with IBS (including myself) was in an unhappy marriage. Mine went away after we split up.

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33yearsachump t1_j2wcbvx wrote

This explains why divorcing cheater x cured my IBS. He was a literal pain in the ass.

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stickmannfires t1_j2wj4vc wrote

This happened to me from hating my job so much

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luxmoa t1_j2wp0s9 wrote

The trick is to have anxiety about getting these ibs attacks in public and then you get a vicious cycle! Woo!

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AugustusMarius t1_j2y4kbr wrote

I can't help but wonder if this helps explain why autistic people experience high rate of comorbid GI issues. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-3995

They are constantly under stress of dealing with intense sensory stimuli and navigating communicating with people without understanding verbal and nonverbal social cues. Stress is a beast, it can take such a massive toll on physical health.

Thanks for posting this OP.

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jnelsoni t1_j2z2he3 wrote

The gut is the primitive brain in a lot of ways. A lot of neurons, more than in the brain of a dog, are making serotonin and other neurotransmitters down there. The brain probably evolved as a way of feeding the gut. It makes total sense that anything that stresses the brain will impact the gut, and vice versa.

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kwcakes t1_j2vicht wrote

Didn’t this happen to Adriana in the Sopranos when she was forced to be an FBI informant?

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caffeinehell t1_j2vrmgj wrote

SIBO can cause IBS too and stress can cause SIBO

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_DeanRiding t1_j2w9hv9 wrote

Seems like most of us have some anecdotal experience with this... Is this a newly researched phenomenon? Any other interesting findings in the study or suggestions as to how you can improve this without just "being less stressed" ?

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Edwunclerthe3rd t1_j2wdoxx wrote

I can pretty much remember my stomach issues started presenting the same year standardized testing started in school. I've always thought that was it

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skeeter04 t1_j2wduo3 wrote

...well that explains a lot.

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whatisitmooncake t1_j2wfaq5 wrote

ah so that's why all my actor friends have tummy problems

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52planet t1_j2wfwdr wrote

I developed Crohn's disease after a very stressful point of life. My personal bro science is that in some cases Crohn's and ibd is actually caused be damage to the nervous system in some way sue to stress or anxiety.

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Kinginthasouth904 t1_j2wxk5g wrote

Ive seen a ton of dif “causes” for ibs and none are consistent.

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WestcoastBestcoastYo t1_j2wxu29 wrote

Interesting article! Also I had fun sounding out this word: keishikashakuyakuto. Woo!

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[deleted] t1_j2xdz0l wrote

We think, after YEARS of struggling with severe bloating/distention, we’ve pinpointed my symptoms down to weightlifting.

I’ve been an avid powerlifter for years, and been taking some breaks since my son was born. During my time off I can eat just about anything and experience no symptoms. Start lifting and they start again.

So the stress can be physical as well. It’s like my body can’t repair muscle and digest food correctly at the same time.

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milkshakakhan t1_j2xk0m0 wrote

So that’s why I had diarrhea the entire time I was studying for the bar exam!

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Aonswitch t1_j2xqjs3 wrote

This is part of the reason i decided to quit my job because the stress was making me poop every twenty minutes. The next day I was completely normal again

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xtwitch t1_j2yisq2 wrote

Cptsd due to being with a cluster b for almost ten years. Never had ibs before the relationship..

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stillth3sameg t1_j2yun1p wrote

Isn't this common knowledge? The gut-brain axis and whatnot?

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Showenup t1_j30s828 wrote

Is this a new finding? I thought that stress, anxiety and GI issues were a well understood relationship.

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1g0atm1lk t1_j37fd90 wrote

Personal ancedote:

My parents are highly toxic people. Living in the house with them was a constant battleground, and screaming matches with Somebody would happen on a day to day basis. Or physical fights. Suffice to say it was a very high stress household.

About 8-9 months ago I began to experience bad digestive/stomach issues. Another symptom was these loud ass grumbles that were so embarrassing. I thought I developed an intolerance, and was restricting/testing with so many foods to figure out what. It was hell.

Around 2 months ago I moved in with my boyfriend. His house is very calm and peaceful in comparison. Unsettlingly so it sometimes feels. Still not quite used to it.

Last week I was thinking "oh huh the stomach grumbles haven't happened yet today.... wait... they haven't happened in weeks"

I think living with my parents was causing the digestive/stomach issues, and now that I'm out of that situation it's seemingly gone away.

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Exotic_Crazy3503 t1_j37yfai wrote

I’ve been diagnosed with IBS-C totally can relate the two

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Exotic_Crazy3503 t1_j37ztzl wrote

I have IBS-C an cannot for the life of me figure out how to not be in pain 24/7 from extreme swelling. I look nine months pregnant half the time. I have bentyl for the pain but no answers how to get it under control. They said here’s the pills for when it hurts an nothing else.

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SymphonyinSilence t1_j2vuedc wrote

Why are we wasting money studying something that is a commonly known thing?

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