I was diagnosed with irritable bowel months ago. Lately I have been getting major anxiety attacks at night that usually go away after diarrhea. Does this go with irritable bowel or is this a sign of something else? Also since these bowel problems started I've been majorly listless, I've had lack of enthusiasm for anything, I'm always tired and weak, feel lack of motivation, and always feel clowdy-eyed and like things aren't really real. It's the most horrible and insensitive feeling I've ever had and it's really hurt some of my friendships and my schoolwork. It's not really anything I can control. Sometimes I find that if I drink a lot of water this feeling seems to subside impressively. Is this from dehydration from all of the diarrhea, is it chroic fatigue, or may it not have anything to do with irritable bowel? Has anyone else had these problems?
The only symptom that i have my doubts about is the anxiety attacks - I have heard others who have anxiety problems who have IBS as well, but I am not sure if the two are related. Apart from that the symptoms you describe seems to fit the picture for IBS. I experience the same problems.
If you need help, i suggest you use this bulletin board, but also check other posts here, which contain a lot of information about different people's ways of handling IBS.
Yes, anxiety has a lot to do with IBS symptoms due to the mind, gut link, which produces chemicals such as serotonnin and gastrin that makes symptoms worse.
Diarrhea can also make you feel very weak, as you do become dehydrated and also lose electrolytes, such as sodium, calcium and magnesium.
Do make sure that you drink plenty of fluid and try to eat a good diet with plenty of fruit and veg. You may benefit from taking some Metamucil which is a water soluble fiber supplement. This can help to bulk you up and thus stop the diarrhea.
Have you seen your doc at all for investigations? If not, then I would consider going along so that he can take bloods and examine your belly to ascertain what is going on. If nothing is found, then I would suggest that you try doing some deep breathing exercises such as Qi Gong breathing exercises to reduce your anxiety levels. I would also suggest that you have some acupuncture treatment, as this is very good for helping stomach problems and anxiety problems. If you don't like needles, then there is always Japanese style which is very gentle, but very effective. The needles don't hurt though.
