[beach]

Ok, if the only cause of IBS is STRESS than how come certain foods trigger it for me??? I'm not getting that......

 

[Nat]

I think it's a combination of both (at least for me!). Nat

 

[Nat]

I think it's a combination of both (at least for me!). Nat

 

[HipJan]

I personally don't think that "stress" - or at least emotional stress or anxiety - is the only trigger of IBS. I think several factors may trigger it, especially if they are working in combination. I think for many people, anxiety may be the primary factor (and maybe it alone can be enough), but I also think that the bowels - and other parts of the body, for that matter - can begin to function improperly for a myriad of reasons. Look at some of our American/Western diets, for starters. Eating poorly on a long-term basis, I'm convinced, can eventually do us bad.

 

[HipJan]

I personally don't think that "stress" - or at least emotional stress or anxiety - is the only trigger of IBS. I think several factors may trigger it, especially if they are working in combination. I think for many people, anxiety may be the primary factor (and maybe it alone can be enough), but I also think that the bowels - and other parts of the body, for that matter - can begin to function improperly for a myriad of reasons. Look at some of our American/Western diets, for starters. Eating poorly on a long-term basis, I'm convinced, can eventually do us bad.

 

[Kathleen M.]

I don't know where you got that information but the generally held consensus is thatSTRESS DOES NOT CAUSE IBS.However there are MANY triggers for IBS symptoms.These vary between people.For some people stress IS the main and perhaps the only trigger for symptoms.For other people it is certain foods.For other people it is over-responsiveness to internal physiological cues (like if you a have problems after most meals or most every morning...that's a physiological trigger).Weather and other external environmental factors may trigger some people.Some people may respond more to certain triggers when they are in combination with other triggers so that may be why some triggers are hit and miss. Once again.IBS IS NOT JUST A PROBLEM WITH STRESS!!STRESS IS A MAJOR TRIGGER FOR SOME PEOPLE.Many people seem to assume that becuase X triggers my IBS that X explains EVERYBODY's IBS.This is VERY untrue, but a popular misconception. It's why you see alot of "If you would just do it my way your IBS would be cured" kinda things on various websites and on bulliten boards. K.

 

[Kathleen M.]

I don't know where you got that information but the generally held consensus is thatSTRESS DOES NOT CAUSE IBS.However there are MANY triggers for IBS symptoms.These vary between people.For some people stress IS the main and perhaps the only trigger for symptoms.For other people it is certain foods.For other people it is over-responsiveness to internal physiological cues (like if you a have problems after most meals or most every morning...that's a physiological trigger).Weather and other external environmental factors may trigger some people.Some people may respond more to certain triggers when they are in combination with other triggers so that may be why some triggers are hit and miss. Once again.IBS IS NOT JUST A PROBLEM WITH STRESS!!STRESS IS A MAJOR TRIGGER FOR SOME PEOPLE.Many people seem to assume that becuase X triggers my IBS that X explains EVERYBODY's IBS.This is VERY untrue, but a popular misconception. It's why you see alot of "If you would just do it my way your IBS would be cured" kinda things on various websites and on bulliten boards. K.

 

[anita-ariel]

hi,*for me*, stress or anxiety is what causes my IBS (once it goes away, symptoms fade). HOWEVER, certain foods do indeed make my symptoms worse (dairy products, greasy/carby fast food, beans, etc). For example for the past two weeks I wasn't able to eat out at restaurants because the ibs was really bad (it was finals season). basically all i could eat was tofu, soup, veggie burgers, fruit and sugar-free jell-o. it was okay at first, but after a while i was feeling ready to retch from the lack of variety.

So i definitely share your frustration with this thing, I KNOW how ANNOYING it is not being able to eat stuff you like, especially if you've *never* had problems w/ that food before. I know it doesn't make ANY sense, and what's worse is that because of that, other people just assume i have psycho eating habits, when i turn down offers to go out for sundaes or cake. You don't know how many friends always kept insisting that i was probably just "lactose intolerant" and i should try Lactaid.

ARGH Or people assummed i was on a low-fat diet and I was trying to starve myself. ARGGHH! They don't know that about a year and a half ago, i lived off of whole-milk yogurt, cottage cheese, mozzarella string cheese, steaks, macadamia nuts, and chicken salads w/ guacamole and extra sour cream. i poured heavy cream into my hot chocolate. on occasion i would eat 1/2 pints of ice cream, and no gas, pain, no D or C! But then when exam time comes, or when i have other stressful issues to deal with (new job, moving to the other coast, starting graduate school, etc) my digestive system GIVES UP on me and so i have to watch what i eat VERY CAREFULLY. Sometimes i get really bad gas/pain from eating ANYTHING, and so i have to fast for half a day or something.i think the worst part about this whole IBS thing is that it doesn't make ANY physical sense! (to me, at least). i don't get how on Monday i can eat one thing and get major gas, pain, D, etc, but on Friday i can eat the EXACTLY THE SAME THING and have no issues.

I tell you, my digestive system has a mind of its own

-Izzy

 

[anita-ariel]

hi,*for me*, stress or anxiety is what causes my IBS (once it goes away, symptoms fade). HOWEVER, certain foods do indeed make my symptoms worse (dairy products, greasy/carby fast food, beans, etc). For example for the past two weeks I wasn't able to eat out at restaurants because the ibs was really bad (it was finals season). basically all i could eat was tofu, soup, veggie burgers, fruit and sugar-free jell-o. it was okay at first, but after a while i was feeling ready to retch from the lack of variety.

So i definitely share your frustration with this thing, I KNOW how ANNOYING it is not being able to eat stuff you like, especially if you've *never* had problems w/ that food before. I know it doesn't make ANY sense, and what's worse is that because of that, other people just assume i have psycho eating habits, when i turn down offers to go out for sundaes or cake. You don't know how many friends always kept insisting that i was probably just "lactose intolerant" and i should try Lactaid.

ARGH Or people assummed i was on a low-fat diet and I was trying to starve myself. ARGGHH! They don't know that about a year and a half ago, i lived off of whole-milk yogurt, cottage cheese, mozzarella string cheese, steaks, macadamia nuts, and chicken salads w/ guacamole and extra sour cream. i poured heavy cream into my hot chocolate. on occasion i would eat 1/2 pints of ice cream, and no gas, pain, no D or C! But then when exam time comes, or when i have other stressful issues to deal with (new job, moving to the other coast, starting graduate school, etc) my digestive system GIVES UP on me and so i have to watch what i eat VERY CAREFULLY. Sometimes i get really bad gas/pain from eating ANYTHING, and so i have to fast for half a day or something.i think the worst part about this whole IBS thing is that it doesn't make ANY physical sense! (to me, at least). i don't get how on Monday i can eat one thing and get major gas, pain, D, etc, but on Friday i can eat the EXACTLY THE SAME THING and have no issues.

I tell you, my digestive system has a mind of its own

-Izzy

 

[bernard]

Hi beachForget about stress!!!! please!!!! don't let anyone go over your tmind about IBS. Don't do that mistake i did. Don't say (like a said 10 years ago) "may be, it's the truth, it's stress even if i don't feel it...."My story: Thinking as above i did(1) Went to a psychotherapist -> No effect after spending money and time. Obviously he found some bad point in my life. But i don't know anyone with only good points.(2) Went to a psychanalyste -> He said i had no trouble in my head (just one appointment, he didn't wanted to see me again. He was having peoples with trouble lot more than the "supposed" problem i was having)(3) Took 6 months away without any work, wife, stress -> No effect.(4) Anti-anxiety tablets, anti-depressant tablets -> No effect after medication end. During medication, i was so dizziness that i don't remember what was my state (i wanted to sleep ALL the time ... i even sleep one time ON THE FLOOR because of the drug)etc....Stresses ONLY add to the disease. Making things worst.I have some other diseases, some of them have been cleared (for example my pain in my leg because of a sciatica) by itself. When the disease was present, every time i was in bad mood, stressed and more the diseases was WORST.When the disease went away, then when i was stresses, bad mood or whatever was my BAD thinking I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO RETURN OF THAT STUPID PAIN IN MY LEG!!!!!The real problem is that when IBS hit you, you pass the first week without really thinking about it since it's new and you don't think it will stay. Then after some time "what's going on?" thinking emerge since it STAY! Then the loop begin: Med, Exam, still the trouble, Med again, exam again, ...no response???? then this THINGS stresses you. Then this add to the trouble. Things are worst ....then you become depressed, then this thing IS DRIVING YOU (don't want to go out, don't want to stay far from a toilet,..) ...... etc etc etc.My other thinking about such a disease is that if that disease was caused by stress then the cave man living 10000 years ago would have been hit by the disease (think about living in a country with wild dangerous animal, no automatic heating in winter, need to found food,..etc) and would have been eliminated as a natural things. Suppose such a guy in front of the big giant mammouth and a sudden spasm in the colon. Can't help others. The whole community, during hunting, could be killed because of that!....------------------------

 

[bernard]

Hi beachForget about stress!!!! please!!!! don't let anyone go over your tmind about IBS. Don't do that mistake i did. Don't say (like a said 10 years ago) "may be, it's the truth, it's stress even if i don't feel it...."My story: Thinking as above i did(1) Went to a psychotherapist -> No effect after spending money and time. Obviously he found some bad point in my life. But i don't know anyone with only good points.(2) Went to a psychanalyste -> He said i had no trouble in my head (just one appointment, he didn't wanted to see me again. He was having peoples with trouble lot more than the "supposed" problem i was having)(3) Took 6 months away without any work, wife, stress -> No effect.(4) Anti-anxiety tablets, anti-depressant tablets -> No effect after medication end. During medication, i was so dizziness that i don't remember what was my state (i wanted to sleep ALL the time ... i even sleep one time ON THE FLOOR because of the drug)etc....Stresses ONLY add to the disease. Making things worst.I have some other diseases, some of them have been cleared (for example my pain in my leg because of a sciatica) by itself. When the disease was present, every time i was in bad mood, stressed and more the diseases was WORST.When the disease went away, then when i was stresses, bad mood or whatever was my BAD thinking I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO RETURN OF THAT STUPID PAIN IN MY LEG!!!!!The real problem is that when IBS hit you, you pass the first week without really thinking about it since it's new and you don't think it will stay. Then after some time "what's going on?" thinking emerge since it STAY! Then the loop begin: Med, Exam, still the trouble, Med again, exam again, ...no response???? then this THINGS stresses you. Then this add to the trouble. Things are worst ....then you become depressed, then this thing IS DRIVING YOU (don't want to go out, don't want to stay far from a toilet,..) ...... etc etc etc.My other thinking about such a disease is that if that disease was caused by stress then the cave man living 10000 years ago would have been hit by the disease (think about living in a country with wild dangerous animal, no automatic heating in winter, need to found food,..etc) and would have been eliminated as a natural things. Suppose such a guy in front of the big giant mammouth and a sudden spasm in the colon. Can't help others. The whole community, during hunting, could be killed because of that!....------------------------

 

[eric]

Beach, this is the worlds recognized leader in IBS research.Read this. http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/clinicalIssues.html Stress can come in many forms both physical and mental. It also has to do with tought and emotions in IBS.

 

[eric]

Beach, this is the worlds recognized leader in IBS research.Read this. http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/clinicalIssues.html Stress can come in many forms both physical and mental. It also has to do with tought and emotions in IBS.

 

[eric]

It will help everyone who has IBS or gut problems to seriouly understand this. http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/mindbodygut

 

[eric]

It will help everyone who has IBS or gut problems to seriouly understand this. http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/mindbodygut

 

[linr]

I agree with Kmottus. The one thing that really stresses me out is when people assume because the Drs. have yet to find a physical thing (tumor,obstruction etc)that it must be stress and that I bring the whole thing on myself. If that were the case then I should be locked up. I have been dealing with this for 30 years and I tend to believe that it drives me nuts not the other way around.Sure stress can make a bad situation worse but in my case I really believe that there is a virus lurking or that it is a chemical thing going on in the gut when certain foods are introduced.I'm not saying stress can't make someone sick, I know someone who get's himself so worked up about things that you would think he was going to drop over right in front of you.We all deal with things differently. Just don't let anyone tell you that stress is the only reason someone has IBS.

 

[linr]

I agree with Kmottus. The one thing that really stresses me out is when people assume because the Drs. have yet to find a physical thing (tumor,obstruction etc)that it must be stress and that I bring the whole thing on myself. If that were the case then I should be locked up. I have been dealing with this for 30 years and I tend to believe that it drives me nuts not the other way around.Sure stress can make a bad situation worse but in my case I really believe that there is a virus lurking or that it is a chemical thing going on in the gut when certain foods are introduced.I'm not saying stress can't make someone sick, I know someone who get's himself so worked up about things that you would think he was going to drop over right in front of you.We all deal with things differently. Just don't let anyone tell you that stress is the only reason someone has IBS.

 

[eric]

Stress, does not cause IBS!!!!!!!! It does however influence it greatly. Not overt stress even and there is a difference between stress/ anxiety and how emotions themselves effect IBS, right down to words themselves as triggers.How much your gut responds to things is individual for sure conciously or subconciously. http://www.ibsgroup.org/other/usnews000403.htm " Are you a gut responder" http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/gutResponder.html If your like me with thirty years of IBS pain and symptoms or if you have had this for a while then I would think personally its highly unlikely that it hasn't generated some major anxiety in your life. Part of this is actually a loop generating symptoms.IBS is actually activating/turning up a part of the brain dealing with emotions and pain."Neuroimaging has provided evidence of physiological differences between normal individuals and those suffering from IBS in the way a visceral stimulus (ie, rectal distention) is processed in the brain.[14,15] Initial data from positron emission tomography (PET) scans demonstrated increased activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) among normal individuals, comparedto IBS patients. The ACC is a cerebral cortical area that is rich in opiate receptors and is thought to be a major component of cognitive circuits relating to perception as well as descending spinal pathways involving pain. More recently, fMRI was used to demonstrate increased activity in the ACC, prefrontal (PF), and insular cortex areas, and in the thalamus of IBS patients compared to normal individuals."

 

[moldie]

Right on linr! (and others regarding this stress issue). K. explained it beautifully!

 

[eric]

Stress, does not cause IBS!!!!!!!! It does however influence it greatly. Not overt stress even and there is a difference between stress/ anxiety and how emotions themselves effect IBS, right down to words themselves as triggers.How much your gut responds to things is individual for sure conciously or subconciously. http://www.ibsgroup.org/other/usnews000403.htm " Are you a gut responder" http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/gutResponder.html If your like me with thirty years of IBS pain and symptoms or if you have had this for a while then I would think personally its highly unlikely that it hasn't generated some major anxiety in your life. Part of this is actually a loop generating symptoms.IBS is actually activating/turning up a part of the brain dealing with emotions and pain."Neuroimaging has provided evidence of physiological differences between normal individuals and those suffering from IBS in the way a visceral stimulus (ie, rectal distention) is processed in the brain.[14,15] Initial data from positron emission tomography (PET) scans demonstrated increased activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) among normal individuals, comparedto IBS patients. The ACC is a cerebral cortical area that is rich in opiate receptors and is thought to be a major component of cognitive circuits relating to perception as well as descending spinal pathways involving pain. More recently, fMRI was used to demonstrate increased activity in the ACC, prefrontal (PF), and insular cortex areas, and in the thalamus of IBS patients compared to normal individuals."