Joany,You said it - we IBSers can handle stress but not anticipation of it! This really hit home when I was taking a computer science class awhile back, and I ended up virtually teaching the class one evening when the instructor called in sick and class was "cancelled". This may seem a bit off topic, but I think the same ideas I am about to discuss can apply to IBS and the anxiety it causes us. Let me back up just a bit - I've had a MAJOR phobia about speaking in public since I was about 17 years old. I mean, it was PHYSICALLY something I just couldn't do. I don't mean that I just got butterflies and found it uncomfortable - I mean, I COULD NOT DO IT!!! My voice would literally die out - my lungs would become paralyzed and I couldn't push the air past my vocal cords, so no sound would come out. Then the lighting in the room would start to go dim and I would have to sit down before I passed out. Okay? Now, let's move up to a time that is a little closer to the present time, and here I am sitting in my computer science class, waiting for the instructor to show up, along with the rest of the class. Then someone comes along and lets us know she isn't coming and class is cancelled for the evening. But instead of leaving, people start asking me questions about the material we've been covering in class and the current assignment, since I had a very good understanding of it. The next thing I know, someone is asking me if I would draw some examples of flowcharts on the board - so I did, and thought little of it. While I was up there, people started asking me questions, and I explained it as I went along. At some point, I came to the realization that I was actually teaching the class - and I was really okay with it! Later on I called my mother and told her what had transpired that evening, and she couldn't believe it. She knew how literally paralyzed I became whenever I had to give a public speech of any sort and couldn't imagine me ever doing such a thing. She made a remark that really made me see what I had been doing to myself all these years - she said that all my problems with anxiety and panic attacks were caused by "living in the future". I knew it was true. If someone had told me that I would be teaching class that night, I would have been so sick that I couldn't have shown up for class, or I would have dulled my mind with whatever tranquilizers I could get my hands on in order to get through it. Since I didn't know that I would be teaching class that evening, I didn't spend the entire day "living in the future" - and I was fine!I think the same thing happens with IBS. We might be absolutely fine sitting at home until we know we have to go somewhere - at which time we immediately start "living in the future", and start planning the route that will have the most bathrooms on the way, and we won't go anywhere that doesn't have bathrooms. If we do find ourselves somewhere that doesn't have a bathroom - we immediately feel that urge to go!The question is - how do we keep ourselves from "living in the future"? Unfortunately, I haven't discovered the answer to that one yet, but I do think that the realization of it is half the battle.Debbie
itto. I've said the same thing many times to my doctor(s). I truly believe that anxiety is much worse than stress. In other words, worrying about a vacation is much harder than being in there actually dealing with whatever happens.I just went on my first "real" vacation in the last ten years. I had a major IBS attack before leaving the house for the airport. And three more episodes before boarding the plane. Then IBS-FREE for 10 days.Perhaps, we IBSers CAN handle stress but not anticipation of it.
