[IBSD88]

Just trying to float this out there to see if this is correct but we all have times when we are gettin ready to go out, we have been looking forward to it and then all of a sudden we get a bout of IBS issues, or what happened to me a while ago, I was out on one of the most fun nights of my life and IBS came and screwed it all up.Today I was looking at donating to a new charity, I have seen lots of the water aid adverts and thought thats a good charity, I came on a website which helps suggest charities and was looking for an IBS one.Eventually I came upon website called bladder and bowel foundation and was reading reading up on IBS to see if they did anything worth donating to. I came across this:"Serotonin: Serotonin is released from specific cells in the gut wall, such as mast cells and enterochromaffin cells, in response to any aspect that can irritate or aggravate the gut. Serotonin can play a large part in making the gut very sensitive and reactive." I thought hang on a min serotonin is meant to make you happy not misserable with D problems. Now after I done some more research it seems to be the case that as well as making you happy increased serotonin levels especially those which cluster together cause stool to loosen and give you D, more than that t also leads to a few other symptoms which are very familiar.I'd love to know if any of you who are more biologically minded can explain to me how this is the case, Now obviously its not the only trigger but it would explain the cycles, we get happy, we get D, so we get misserable as we have D and thus things firm back up and we feel better but as we feel better we get happier and the D comes back. . . . . . . Now just to be silly people who are dying in movies often have a happy moment before they die, ie they heal a broken relationship or theyre loved ones do something special. so maybe the secret to a healthy and long life is to be misserable every moment of it.

 

[cookies4marilyn]

Interesting connection - over the years, I know for a fact that IBS has ruined happy times for me - I have missed or have had to leave early from many wonderful and important events, functions and gatherings. It is basically a functioning of the brain-gut connection - whether the event is something happy or something to dread or not so happy (dentist, surgery) - or even neutral, like having to go to the store, hair cut, etc. a subconsious connection is made in the "brain in the gut" that kicks in the IBS symptoms. I have been on many different SSRIs - and all have messed me up more than helped, though I suppose some have had good results with them. Creating new pathways in the brain via clinical hypnotherapy has been helpful to me - there is a measurable difference in brain scans between IBS patients and non-sufferers - and the effects of gut-specific or gut-directed hypnotherapeutic protocols that have been shown to rewire the gut through the subconscious mind.I used to have this all the time - just thinking about going out, or in the middle of an enjoyable event - and the IBS would kick in - I always wondered about that too, because I could sort of 'understand' getting IBS before surgery, or doing something scary or not wanted - but I really got angry with myself when I would be at a happy event and get an attack. Though I must say, those times were less than the scary events. There is a definite cycle to IBS - I dont believe it is so much hinging on the happy event vs a dreaded or routine event, but rather, the brain-gut connection and cycle. Any given event becomes linked with IBS symptoms - the brain "learns" incorrectly, that, for example, being somewhere is connected with bringing on the symptoms - it becomes a worn groove for event + thoughts = reaction. But for me, I could be just sitting reading or doing some very neutral thing at home, with no real apparent "stressor" and the IBS would kick in at random... so it just escalated from there for me, to almost daily for several hours a day - and almost becoming housebound.It almost became where being awake was the "event"!But I am better now. Read my journey if you want to know more.Interesting thoughts - Thanks for sharing...

 

[IBSD88]

It almost became where being awake was the "event"!

well that made me smile, I guess that might test the theory

 

[crstar]

here's something that i understand..............serotonin is the happy hormone & it's is true that too much of a good thing can cause trouble, but if u research about all of the main hormones that control so many things in the gut & elsewhere, u'll c that the healthy gut is suppose to produce about 70-80% of the serotonin 4 the whole body…………take note, i said healthy gut………..with ibs, that's not healthy………look at the adrenal hormones or lack there of, of stress hormones……….healthy adrenals produce cortisol, which alot have heard about, but there is another 1, called aldosterone, that when it's production is low, causes D………..when u have adrenal fatigue, this happens so very much………& it's much more common than people think………..aldosterone control electrolyte balance…………..when there isn't enough, it causes u to lose a great deal of sodium (Na), which by the way, helps the adrenals produce it's hormones……….u lose sodium & run's consuming enough, u get D, big time……….then because the body is trying to balance things, it pulls the potassium (K) from the cells…………it will help to control the loss of Na, but once it starts, u need to take in some Na & K………..this is 1of the reasons that D makes u feel so tired……………..& it all starts w/stress & anything that makes u happy, excited, sad, depressed & everything in-between, is stress, even the good stuff………..w/o the extra stress hormones, u r screwed……….fix ur adrenals people & the D will b a thing of the past…………i have stopped a bout of D w/ just taking in sea salt…….table salt will make u sick in the long run………….& if u'r thinking well i'll eat some bananas & put seasalt on my food, with food there is no guarantee that there is what is professed to b of nutrients in foods u buy……..get the K in a capsule from a vitamin store & use seasalt………….i have, upon waking, put seasalt & baking soda in hot water, like tea & sipped it slowly on an empty stomach, along with some K……….here's another thing about K……….it helps ur stomach produce hydrochloric acid (HCl)…………when there isn't enough of that produced, then u get too much of all the other digestive acids & alkaline things that help digest ur food thru all the stages of it…………FYI: if u have just too much of gastrin, it will make u so sick, nauseous & can eventually make u throw up…………..there r about 40 different hormones made from gastrin alone & like i said, too much of a good or necessary thing & u r gonna pay…………..no 2 ways about it…………another of those digestive things is histamine, which causes allergic reactions………..what do u think gluten intolerance is……….it's an allergic reaction to something the body can't handle…………it's the immune system running amok…………histamine is necessary, but too much & u will suffer………….there is a great deal to this………back to the serotonin thing……..if u gut is not producing enough serotonin, for whatever reason, this will case the D, too…………i have found that by taking the precursors, tryptophan & 5HTP, it helps a great deal………..there r many things that can o haywire with all hormones usage & production……………

 

[Kathleen M.]

One thing to remember.Just because chemical signal one in location X does action Y, doesn't mean the same chemical doesn't do something completely different in a different location and being at a high concentration in one small localized area for a specific thing does not mean it is at the same high concentration everywhere in the body.Our bodies use a lot of things redundantly, and many things are used for very different things in different locations.Histamine (for example) in your nose makes you sneeze, in your skin makes it itch, in your brain tells you to stay awake and in your stomach that it is time to release acid for your food. This is one reason some antihistamines make you sleepy. You want it in your nose or skin to block the allergic reaction but it gets in your brain and turns off the wakey wakey eggs and bakey signal. There are many serotonin receptors. #3 and #4 are speed up/slow down signals in the colon and the target of drugs for IBS. #1 and #2 (I think) are the main targets for the serotonin signals in the brain that have to do with mood.Now there are some overlaps and drugs for one thing may work for another (why some IBSers get better on antidepressants), but you can't say that high serotonin between a couple of nerves in a specific place in the brain says anything about serotonin levels in other parts of the body.

 

[IBSD88]

crstar are you a biologist or have you just been very researching either way I want you to become a doctor and be mine, mine still things how you get D is an unknown mytery.