irritable bowel syndrome causing rough anxiety!!help please - Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Message Board

tummyproblems · 09-04-2007, 12:10 PM

I'm a 16 year old female, and i have Ibs. I got my first symptom 2 years ago in the end of 9th grade.. which i had thought was a virus so i just let it pass. When 10th grade came along the first week of school i was sitting in my 8th period class and my ibs kicked in (when i had no idea it was ibs) and i got some really really loud noises.. and when i meen loud i meen you could hear it through closed doors. Along with the noises i got uncomfortable feelings in my stomach...
That day was the worst day for my because i had no idea hwat this was i wasnt hungry and i was annoyed i couldnt control it. I was embaressed although who actually knows if anyone heard it.. but i didnt care I heard it and I didnt like it. Ever since that day i got these problems every day in 8th period class. I would walk in the class really nervous sit down couldnt focus couldnt sit still waiting and waiting for the ibs symptoms to come again and they never let me down they alwaysssss happened.. Now this whole cycle started in another class and another class and whenever this happened once in a location i feared that location forever more. Of course when i found out it was ibs i tried googling it and talking to people asking for cures.. yet no cure and tomorrow is my first day of 11th grade. I've tried metamucil and changing my food diet.. nothing helped and i tried them for a while. I also have asked for testing privaleges such as taking tests in a seperate room. that was great until they couldnt do it much longer the seperate rooms started getting filled with others who wanted a seperate room as well. I know a lot of people suffer this and my dad has given me multiple deep talks telling me that i can overcome this anxiety fear caused by something so simple that if someone else heard of it they wouldnt understnad why i get so worked up about it. I think its a little comforting that other people go throught this my age... but its not going to make this problem go away for me. I have a problem thinking positively and clearing my mind so that also never helped..

Anyway my main purpose for posting this is because as i said before tomorrow is my first day of 11th grade.. and i really dont want to have to go through another full year of suffering like i did last year.. i would cut class no go to school avoid any fearful situations possible.. sometimes althoguh i would force myself to sit in class someitmes there was also no way out and it would be horrible i couldnt focus at all it was so bad. These past 2 weeks as ive reached closer and closer to a new school year ive been shaking and crying uncontrollably and i dont know what to do..

ive heard recently on other forums that drinking a half a cup or 1 cup of aloe vera juice a day will completely make those embaressing noises go away .. is that true??

Can someone help me???

bellyblues · 09-04-2007, 11:07 PM

Sweetie pie, do not drink aloe. Not only will that not help your tummy tumbles, but it will likely give you very bad diahhrea. I am sure you don't want to deal with that in the classroom!

If you have a doctor that has diagnosed you, ask him for a note that you can bring with you to school. If your teachers are aware that you are dealing with this problem, they will likely allow you more freedom to run out of the classroom when you must or have some privacy when taking tests.

Your dad is echoing the general attitude (even of some doctors) of people who have never experienced IBS. God bless their good intentions, but unless one has lived with this "syndrome", they can't possibly understand how debilitating it is physically, mentally, and emotionally. I have friends that I've known for decades who still don't "get it" about my gut trouble. But you better believe that whenever any of them gets the runs or suddenly ends up constipated, I am the first one they call. Suddenly, they "understand"!

On the practical side, try to avoid fast foods, especially anything mexican. Even though most of us here LOVE KFC, we avoid it like poison. Soda, gum, fresh fruit, certain high fiber cereals, etc., can all cause gas and tummy rumbles. You might want to try some of the GasX products or charcoal tablets although you should be careful that you don't end up constipated from using them.

The most important thing is to relax. Believe me when I say I know how hard that is to do!

I have a problem with my car. Since it seems like everytime I get into my car I have an attack, I've now developed somethig of a phobia about driving any further than a five mile radius!

I also want to point our that sitting for long periods of time can also get your gut churning. I think that is part of my problem with the car. I work on my feet all day and while I still have some pain, it's not nearly as bad as when I get home and sit down on my rump for a few hours. I know there is nothing you can do about sitting since you must be in class, but perhaps if you had a doctor's note to give your teachers, you might be able to relax a bit, or even take little breaks during class where you could get up and walk around the halls.

I hope this helps! Let us know how you do!

Hexl · 09-05-2007, 01:53 AM

Hey!

I'm in a quite simular position, I am still unable to do a full day at school, which in itself is bad(I'm quite close to being kicked out) and it's really depressing me. And yes, people do not seem to understand how bad it is until they experience it, and your father is the same as my mother, and I'm trying so hard to deal with the anxiety of it all(Which in my case, is as big of a problem as the D itself) yet cannot manage alone, and i'm pretty lost on what to do. :/

JesseA · 09-05-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellyblues

I also want to point our that sitting for long periods of time can also get your gut churning. I think that is part of my problem with the car. I work on my feet all day and while I still have some pain, it's not nearly as bad as when I get home and sit down on my rump for a few hours.

Wow no kidding? Now it all makes sense, I noticed when Im working (on my computer sitting down) for hours my stomach begins to hurt, but if I go out for a day and walking around im fine.

conniepepper38 · 09-05-2007, 11:02 AM

I have lived with IBS for 17 years now. I did not have it in HIgh school thank God but I am taking Colestid. It is used for High colestrol which I have now but I have been taking Lomotil for years but it has a barbituate in it and it can make you sleepy or hyper. Talk to your doctor about Colestid. And look on some of these message boards there are other people taking it and it works. I couldn't take the recommended doses because it was to much but it will change you life and make your junior, senior years great.

Connie Pepper