Anxiety and Stomach issues!

[sweetlittlepanda]

Hi, I'm Casey. I am 28 and in Portland, OR. I have had depression from the age of 8 and anxiety/panic from the age of 16 after an experience with LSD. I have been on and off of medication for a long time. I feel like I have tried every medicine available. I have been off of medication for about 2 years now. I usually do okay, but I have relapses of panic attacks every couple of years.

Recently, I started having a lot of stomach issues. Diarrhea, cramping, pain, nausea, etc... I am known to be a bit of a hypochondriac and a self diagnoser. I went in and had an ultra sound, upper endoscopy, and a CT Scan. They were all normal as far as stomach issues go. However, my stomach issues have been going on for almost a month now. I barely eat anything (cereal, yogurt, soup) and still get diarrhea daily. I seem to get a panic attack right after it happens. I'm sure my getting upset doesn't help it, but I'm hungry and tired of feeling ill. I have also lost a bit of weight.

Presently I am taking Protonix, Xanex, Claratin, and Nasonex. My Doctor recently tried me on Lexapro and Celexa. It made me jittery and now I feel really depressed. I have been crying a lot at least once a day.... I feel like I fail in some way when I have a relapse.

I feel like I am trying to be proactive, I got a panic/anxiety work book, I have been doing breathing excercises, and muscle relaxation. I have also decided to go to group meditation and to see a therapist again after many years.

I just need to know that it will be okay again and that I can get on with my life. I need to keep beliving that my stomach will get better as my anxiety does.

[Lulu]

Hi Casey. The stomach issues you get seem to be anxiety related. I know when I feel anxious I get diarrhoea, bloatedness and cramps. In the past I've been so anxious I can't even eat and I lost a hell of a lot of weight. I bet once you're anxiety starts getting better so will your stomach.

I suffer with anxiety and panic attacks also, and like you they seem to flare up every so often. Right now i'm in a flare up. I'm not taking any meds as this time round I'm really trying to sort this and cope with it myself. And it's not easy but I still wake up every morning to do it all again. This week I'm off work looking after my kids and I'm really scared. I'm scared I'll take them somewhere and have a panic and have no escape.

When you say you feel like yo've failed when you have a relapse I sooo understand. Everytime I have a panic attack I really get depressed and cry for hours. I feel like I've let myself down so much and that I'm inadequate as a human being. But that's the wrong way to look at it. I've been trying to say to myself ok,so I panicked but I dealt with it, it's over so move on and get through it. I know it's hard but try it.

You're not on your own, there's a lot of us out there Casey, and we can't all be freaks! :D

[Punk Rock Steve]

Thank you both for your posts. I've had anxiety/panic for many years (I'm 54 now) and used to mask it by drinking. Haven't had a drink in almost 8 years now, but as a result, my anxiety has run rampant. A few weeks ago I had an extremely stressed out week at work and then a few days later, the crap hit the fan...my digestive system from my esophagus to my large intestine just fell apart. Couldn't swallow well for a few days, which had me convinced I had cancer of the esophagus, had tons of belching, bloating, and then the horrible diarrhea Took about 2 weeks to get pretty normal. This week my symptom to get a panic attack about is palpitations. Today, I barely ate anything and by night time I was getting palpitations so bad I was convinced that I was going down for the count. Finally realized that besides my anxiety, my blood sugar level must be drastically low and ate a sandwich. Still had them, but now they're a bit better, but I'm afraid to go to sleep (fear of not waking up) and have come on here for a while. Just felt like responding...it does help us all to know that we're not alone...hang in there :)