On not being crazy

[adrianem]

A couple of weeks ago I saw an internist at the campus health center. I've been having abdominal isues ranging from mildly uncomfortable to incapacitating, and I finally reached the point of needing to do something about about it. Right off the top, he discounted celiac's disease; my symptoms do not present in a classic manner for that ailment though he did acknowledge that abnormal presentations do occur. He pretty much shoved me into the IBS box: female, stressed => IBS and then had me do all the basic metabolic screens to rule out something more dire. The good news is my screens came back all normal. I am very healthy for my age and overall condition. Yay.

But IBS doesn't have a cure. You can only treat the symptoms and do things to alleviate the initial causes. Like go see a psychiatrist to get treated for depression or generalized anxiety. Which I did this morning. And we agreed that I am not experiencing either. The symptoms I *am* exhibiting seem well within the realm of real life stress, given my particular circumstances. So I earned my IBS the hard way? The good news in the psychological sphere is that she is a very down-to-earth, reasonable doctor and was able to hear me telling her I don't respond well to most classes of anti-depressants. And she agreed to let me try a course of diazepam (Valium, mother's little helper) to take the edge of the stress.

The yay! gets a bit more emphatic here. Arguing with doctors over my own health is one of my least favorite things to do. And my choices here are very limited; I don't have the luxury of firing the idiot giving me grief until I find one who actually listens. Even if the internist is a bit quick to make off-the-cuff diagnoses, at least the psychiatrist isn't going to put me through the torture of trying meds that won't work and will make me miserable in one way or another, because the one that I know does work for me worries everyone with its dependency issues. I will deal.

Now maybe I can take the edge off without a bunch of icky side effects, get my stress levels to a point where I can effectively manage them and make changes to lower the stress without drugs, and y'know, get on with life. Which, for those who are curious, is pretty much nothing more than school this quarter. Then next quarter I get to appeal the denial of financial aid I know is coming. And hope I win. In the meantime, try to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors, hope nothing breaks that has to have fixing, do my best at the school thing and just survive. I even had to take a hiatus from the D&D game I've been in for five years. As I told my awesome GM, the payoff at the end of all this better be worth it!

So, not crazy. Yay?

Comments

[random-girl.livejournal.com]

IBS also has some physical triggers; specifically, caffeine can make things a LOT worse. It also has some helpers--taking acidopholus (in yogurt form or popping pills) can reduce symptoms even if your stress levels are still pretty high. Increasing your overall fiber intake can also really help with IBS, as well as increasing your overall liquid intake.

Next, a lot of IBS can be caused by you clenching your own muscles. The same way you get a neck spasm from clenching your shoulders, you can have spasms in your bowel area by clenching due to stress. If you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, breathe deep and stretch all your muscles, then try to relax them. Do not wait until things REALLY hurt, because by then the internal chemical balance is off and it takes longer to get back to normal.

There are prescription meds that can help relax the bowel walls if this is the actual problem (ie: you try this a few times and it relieves your symptoms). Also, overall stretching and relaxing are helpful to your anxiety, too.

Finally, regular exercise (even just ten minutes every other day), can seriously take the edge off anxiety of any sort, and thus improve IBS.

I'm sorry that I'm an encyclopedia, but also glad you have a diagnosis and something to do. Good luck.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Try also omitting any milk, cheese, cream, or lactic product from your diet. It has helped me. I stopped them all and then added a little yoghurt and cheese (but always with an acidophilus tablet along side) from time to time.

Give it a try.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who *is* crazy, and also suffers from the occasional stress-related pain, I recommend doing some sort of exercise that is also relaxing. Tai chi, walking, yoga, something like that. The endorphins will help, and the relaxing practice will also help.

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

I recommend yoga because it generally includes meditation which is good for when you are being crazy or in pain. Bonus!

(A, drop me an email? elsa_bard at yahoo.com)