IBS Self Help and Support Group Forums - IBSgroup.org: Where's Your Stress? - IBS Self Help and Support Group Forums - IBSgroup.org

So, where do you keep your stress? For me, it depends on what kind of stress we're talking about. I have both IBD (colitis) and IBS and while I don't think stress contributes too much to my colitis it does affect my IBS especially when I'm feeling nervous. Other stress, like from being physically cold (which I always am), or a hard work day, or an argument with a friend or family member I always seem to carry that type of stress in my neck, my shoulders, and my lower back. I can feel my muscles in those areas tightening and getting more and more painful. Sometimes I don't really realize that it's 'stress' making my shoulders hurt until the stressor is gone and my muscles losen and the pain goes away.

But, my IBS stress, that stress that comes from my nerves, goes straight to my gut - other people only get butterflies in their stomach, well I get those flutters, but I also get that urge to go usually preceded by a nauseous feeling and clammy hands. There's no getting around it when I feel this way, I'm stressed and my gut knows it.

Thankfully, though, I've learned that the whole concept of the mind/body connection isn't just a bunch of woo-woo stuff. I am now able to control a certain amount of my stress and/or the gut reaction I have associated with stress by using breathing techniques, and mind techniques to reprogam my thinking.

Here's an example: Every year I have a brain MRI to follow-up on a tumor I had treated 4 years ago. I found out early on when the tumor was initially detected that MRI machines make me feel claustrophic, so I typically take a Valium before having an MRI done. Last week was my yearly scan and I just couldn't afford feeling wigged out and tired from a Valium for a whole day so I took the chance of doing the MRI without sedation. I felt a bit nervous, but nothing that made me feel fearful, until they moved me into the MRI tube - they got me in, I freaked out - my gut jumped, my body temperature sky-rocketed, my hands got clammy - and they got me back out within seconds. The tech was pretty convinced we'd have to reschedule for a time when I could take the Valium. "No," I said, "I have to get this done today. Give me two minutes and I'll be ready to go." She looked at me a little oddly but left me alone for a few minutes. I sat there, not looking at the machine but out the window at the Rocky Mountains towering the foreground (I live in Colorado), and I took a few deep, rhythmic breaths, repeated silently to myself that I was in control, I could do, and I had to do this. When the tech came back in I laid down, closed my eyes (they remained closed for the next 35 minutes of the scan), and gave her the a-okay to put me back in. I kept my eyes closed and focused on my breathing - In, Out, In, Out, In, Out - then came the tech's voice over the earphones she put on my head. She asked how I was doing, and I told her fine. The first scan would take 2 1/2 minutes she said. As the machine began to whir and pulse around me I kept breathing -In, Out, In, Out, In, Out - and I counted down the seconds in my head - 1 minute, kept counting, 2 minutes, kept counting and breathing, and at 2 1/2 minutes the machine stopped. I kept this pattern up through the rest of the scans - 45 minutes all told. When we were done the tech said she was amazed I got control and was able to do it. She said usually about 98% of people who initially freak out have to reschedule and come back sedated.

These techniques don't ALWAYS work perfectly, but they usually do and even when they dont' they usually take away some of my stress/nervousness/anxiousness. But the first part for me is to discern what kind of stress am I experiencing and where am I putting it. I have to know what it is and where it is before I can get some control over it.

So, where do you put your stress? And, how do you work through it?

Cheers,
Elizabeth
Author, Living with IBD & IBS
www.ibdandibs.com