[Guest]

So I had been having trouble off and on for a few months. I've had intense stress in life, as I was a police officer fired for refusing to cover up illegal activities for my employer. Even though the firing was overturned, it still left me without a job, and with a questionable mark on my record. (Like I said, a lot of stress) So I began having gas after I eat. The gas would be a cross between burps and hiccups almost, hard to explain. I would also have bloating, and even my heart would skip a few beats. After research, I found that the heart thing could be also because gas gets trapped and creates pressure/pain in my chest. (This was scary though because even though I'm young, my family has heart conditions in the blood) In addition, I have been battling constipation. After an unrelated foot injury, I went to my doctor and told him about these symptoms. He told me he thinks I have IBS, and also hemorroids (Blood in stool for about two weeks) He prescribed Bentyl to me. Well, I read that Bentyl has some odd side effects, to I didn't want to take it. I did take it ONCE, and felt a bit dizzy and I haven't taken it again. I have been combatting the gas with OTC Gas X with mixed results, though mainly pretty good. I should also mention that to be frank, my diet SUCKS, and consists of frozen pizzas almost daily. Unluckily, though my wife i a vegatarian, I hate veggies, and I'm yet to warm my taste buds up to them. I guess my main question is, how do you guys deal with it? My doc thinks that once I'm on the job again my stress might go away and get rid of the symptoms a bit, but I'm not sure? Also, what should I do with my diet, I heard that dairy and cheese can worsen IBS, so maybe I should go to sandwhiches or something besides the cheesy freezer junk? Presently the Bentyl is collecting dust, while I use gas X, and a fiber supplement to fight the symptoms with mixed results. I guess I'm just new to this, and I'm looking for any advice, tips, and the like. When I feel the symptoms coming on, it's like a down hill thing, because it adds to my nervousness and stress, and therefore makes everything worse. More than once I have had to leave the dinner table to walk around some outside just to calm myself down. Any help is appreciated, Thank you all very much in advance.

 

[Jackmat]

Good on you. You're obviously a man of integrity, Acey.You already know that your stomach is reacting to the stress. What you probably don't konw is that your subconscious mind is doing it. In stressfull situations your subconscious mind tries to create a distraction by bringing about pain.There is nothing wrong with your stomach. You were ok before the stress and it will be ok again. You have to deal with the CAUSES (the stress - and how your subconscious mind is dealing with it) rather than the SYMPTOMS - ie IBS.A technique that I used when I suffered emotional stress and subsequent IBS was to "tell off" my subconscious mind (give it a name - I call mine ESTHER). I would tell ESTHER that I KNOW my stomach pain is not real and that it was a trick by ESTHER to distract me from my stress.Whenever I ate something that bothered me, I would immediately get angry with Esther and tell it to go away and that I was not falling for its tricks. I found laughing to be VERY effective. Laughing would confuse Esther, because Esther thinks its creating pain (and why would somebody laugh at pain?). Simply by laughing for a couple of minutes when I felt a stomach reaction would make the symptoms diminish or vanish.You have to believe you will get better and you will. You can read up on the psychology of my rant by googling TMS and Sarno.In the meantime eat innocent foods and slowly re-introduce the slightly risky foods one by one.Jackmat

 

[TummyDepressed]

Hello Jackmat - What evidence is there that the body uses the stomach as a distraction. Just interested as I have some nasty IBS symptoms and am under a bit of stress, but not sure how these are linked....

 

[Jackmat]

The best evidence is your own experience, Tummydep. I doubt that the strategy suggested could ever be tested.I was very ill and preparing myself for the worst when the answer arrived.It made sense and it gave me back my life within just a few days. It cost nothing, it was harmless, and it was effective.The subconscious mind (in my case ESTHER) is extremely powerful. We walk without thinking, we stop at red traffic lights without thinking, we breathe without thinking - all of these are controlled by Esther. However, as powerful as Esther is, it is a slave to the conscious mind, so if I tell Esther something, it will listen.Esther was trying to protect me when I was stressed. It created stomach pain as a distraction. I told Esther to eff off (seriously) because I didnt need THAT type of distraction. Then I began laughing when Esther was making my stomach react to certain foods. It all worked. I am in my late 50's and this decade has been one of the most challenging and most rewarding of my life. I'm sure it cannot work for everybody, but I'm positive it can work for some.Jackmat

 

[Guest]

I am truly thankful for the advice thus far. The most frustrating part is knowing that my mind was making it worse, but still not being able to fix it. I will give anything a shot at this point. Thanks again!

 

[puzzel]

interesting idea, Jackmat. that does sound like a pretty pain free thing to try.Just a wild guess, but maybe it has something to do with serotonin levels. Because that has been known (i.e. kathleen, lol) to affect the gut as well as mood.Maybe ill try that whenever I start to feel gas building up. It might be a slight challenge though, to convince my family and friends that I haven't lost my sanity quite yet and there is actually a really good reason why im yelling at my head and laughing to myself...!Now all I need is a name for my subconscious, (life can be real simple sometimes

)ideas anyone?ps. acey612, let me know if it works for you

 

[Jackmat]

A couple of things guys.Esther is always listening. The more negative I become, the more powerful Esther becomes. Be positive and say things like "My stomach is fine and I can eat anything I want"If you try the strategy, document your progress and be prepared for a backlash on day 3 or 4. Esther will not give in without a fight. But its only temporary and it means that recovery is on its way.Jackmat