Aftermath Of Anxiety

[Mit]

I went to my son's parents evening at his school last night. It's the first time I've been on my own in years.

My fear was seeing or being seen by former friends, who think the very worst about me.

I spent the two hours walking through crowds of other parents and stood in queues waiting to see teachers, feeling totally petrified and on a constant look out for people I feared would be hostile to me. I knew that was very unlikely to happen but logic doesn't always penetrate. I got through the evening, but I felt ill and drained by the time I got home.

This morning I have stomach problems and am off work. It's not an unusual reaction for me. I also suffer from levator ani syndrome (severe rectal cramps) which I read might be more common in people who suffer from anxiety or depression. I've had LAS all my life, but the more generalised tummy problems have only occurred in the last few years. Anyone else suffer like this following anxiety? Any tips for managing it better? Thanks.

 

[AngelPaws14]

I was really healthy till late summer or 2008, when I started having issues keeping food down, and long story short I lost all my body weight and was not even keeping water down by Christmas and ended up in ER about two days after Christmas and spent New Years in hospital and found out it was my Gall Bladder. Had it removed in Feb. 2009 and went back two days later with a bile leak and since then have had stomach and digestive issues and got diagnosed with IBS and been on meds for it since, then was getting back on track with eating and found out about my benign brain tumor after an MRI in May and results June 5th. Well since the brain surgery I have had nonstop GI problems and my IBS is now IBS-C and my GI doctor said my gut has PTSD as well as me so stomach issues and digestive problems are very common when you have PTSD. The stress kinda takes itself out on our bodies and then we get to deal with the mess and fun stuff. My only times are eat slower and make sure your food is chewed to mushed before letting it leave your mouth as I learned that will help with digestion and also drink lots of water throughout the day to help your kidneys and stuff. I am still figuring out my particular stomach problems as it's been chaos since my surgery but if I learn any other tips that work well for me I will try to remember to share, trying being the key word as I know that with PTSD and a few other reason memory issues are common too. Hope I helped a bit and wish you luck as pain is not fun anywhere in our bodies.

 

[Anarchy]

Hi Mit,
Kudos for facing your fears head on.

I think irritable bowel and other stomach problems are pretty common ammongst people with early trauma. So much so, that Laurence Heller lists persistant tummy problems as one of the clues that someone has early traumas.

I'm roughly in your age group, and used to have problems with stomach ulcers. If I'm stressed or triggered now, I can find it almost impossible to eat for a day or two.

hope you are feeling better soon.
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