Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Ibs Causes

Question:
How does one know if their I.B.S. is caused by having a  generalized anxiety disorder, or if their general anxiety causes them to have I.B.S.? I never have any abdominal discomfort while sleeping. It seems to come when I am awake, and especially after eating.

Answer:
Anxiety on its own doesn't seem to be causative for IBS, but traumatic events/unusually prolonged stressful episodes may play some role. It is normal for the gut to react to severe stress (the old soldier losing control of themselves in the foxhole thing)  In some people the stress/trauma is so great and lasts for so long that something happens and the digestive upset continues even after the stressful situation is over, Anxiety may not on its own cause IBS, nor IBS cause anxiety, but each can play a role in making the other worse.  The old worrying about finding a bathroom sets of the anxiety which sets of the gut so now you really need to find a bathroom. Of cause anxiety and IBS are both very common disorders so it isn't surprising that there is a fair number of people with both. IBS rarely bothers anyone when they are asleep.  Abdominal distress that wakes you up at night is often a clue that the problem isn't IBS.  It occurs in some people with IBS, but is much more commonly seen in Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. There is a normal reaction to the gut from eating. When the stomach fills there are signals to the rest of the gut to prepare for incoming food.  This reactions is most easily seen in puppies and babies that have no conscious control over the body.  They eat; an hour later (or less) they poop. They eat again, they poop again.  In some people with IBS this normal stimuli causes an abnormal response and people's guts spasm and cause pain (this is the predominate trigger that I had before finding relief). Some people can control this reaction by eating smaller more frequent meals.  I did a few months of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for my IBS (it is also an excellent treatment for anxiety).  I did this as part of a clinical trial and the results should be out in a year or two. (they are still recruiting). Hopefully the results will show that it is effective for lots of people. Also over on www.ibsgroup.org there is a fellow who put together some self-hypnosis tapes that seem to be helping a number of people, so that would be another thing to look at. Additionally some of the drugs for anxiety can also help with IBS.  This is the drug Buspar. It isn't a sedative, it affects serotonin receptors.  Paxil is also used for anxiety and can make IBS symptoms better.  I take Buspar for the IBS and find it to be pretty effective.  I don't suffer from anxiety, so its ability to help with IBS is not just the reduction of anxiety symptoms.   Speaking in scientific terms because I've been reading psych journals for two weeks straight, just because gen. anxiety and IBS are correlated (appear to happen together) doesn't necessarily mean that one causes the other.  Seeing as no one knows for sure the causes of either IBS or anxiety, I doubt you're going to find a factual answer to your question.     However, in my experiences I've found that my IBS and depression seem to feed off each other.  Tummy problems make me depressed and depression makes my IBS worse.  I've heard the same about IBS with anxiety and panic attacks.