Anxiety/IBS/Gallbladder Removal :( - Anxiety Support

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Anxiety/IBS/Gallbladder Removal :(

Aimeeb123 profile image
14 Replies

Hi there so.. I have been suffering with Anxiety and low mood for about 2/3 years now I am currently 24 and have a nearly 3 year old daughter, when people ask me why I suffer with this I never know what to say as I don't know why it comes on me the only thing I can think of is after having my little girl lots of things changed becoming a mum is hard (but the best thing ever) when my little girl was around 8 months old I was taken into hospital after waking up in the night with unbearable pain in my back radiating to my chest I couldn't breathe and I was being violently sick which for me is a big thing as I have always had a phobia of being sick I always feel sick but very rare I am sick anyway an ambulance came I was taken to hosp to be told I had a blood clot on my lung to which I walked out the room rang my mum an cried all you think about when something like that is happening is " am I going to die" I have a little girl? I cant die? anyway I was sent home with injections I had to give myself until they could fit me in for further tests 2 days later I went back in and went through many different tests I was there all afternoon they then sent me home and said they will be intouch with the results a few hours later I received a phone call saying all the tests were clear and the pain I was in must of been wind. I couldn't accept that I'm not that mard to cry be sick and have to ring an ambulance! I went back to the doctors and explained that I thought I have gallstones, the night the ambulance came the paramedic took one look at me and said she thinks I have gallstones that got left when they did tests on my lungs I was told from my doctor that I was "too young to have gallstones" and she sent me away! a few days later I started getting pains again an it made me start having anxiety " what if it happens again?" what if I have to leave my little girl etc. I went back and saw another doctor and she sent me for a scan a a few days later at the scan the sonographer (I think that's what there called haha ) said she couldn't see gallstones just slurge but she will send them off to be tested. a few days later I rang my doctors for the results to be told these were normal I was shocked... I thought I'm going to have to accept that it was infact just "trapped wind" a few nights later I was asleep in bed again and woke with horrendous pain in my chest back couldnt breathe being sick my partner was a bit fed up at this point and was a bit snappy with me I went downstairs and rang my mum she came an she rang an ambulance once she seen me! I was taken into hospital again leaving my baby :( doctors gave me morphine as this was the only thing to stop the pain I was sent for another ultrasound for them to then say my gallbladder was packed with stones! how could this be I had a scan the week before to be told everything was fine ?? I was told I would have to have my gallbladder removed they put me in a room an put me on a waiting list I was in there for 4 days waiting before the surgery! then another 2 after having the surgery so a week without my 8 month old baby she was passed round to so many family members I new she just needed her mummy when I came out of hospital I was in so much pain it was awful an my partner had to go to work so I was left with my baby an it was a struggle! anyway I'm now 2 years on from that OP and still suffer with pains here an ther in my back shoulders chest I also have really bad IBS so 80% of the time I'm not feeling well an this brings me down in myself as I'm only 24 with a daughter I want to be able to live a pain free life.... I now have been told I have anxiety/health anxiety but I get frustrated as I'm over that now so why am I getting anxiety is it down to that ? I do worry all the time which I know isn't good! but will wake up in the morning and think I hope I don't have anxiety today ! today I have had it a bit ive got the pain in my shoulders the funny heart beat the feeling you cant breathe the fuzziness in your head where you feel like your not real! I am of to my CBT soon this is a self help one and is all done on computters I cant say its helping yet as I think I would benefit from talking to someone not a computer screen! I was never like this before having my daughter now I panic about most things if my friends are planning to go out in 2 weeks for them 2 weeks ill worry about what if I don't feel well what if my anxiety is bad what if my stomach is flaring then I make myself do it I go an have a great time but then the next day I feel worse don't think alcohol mixes well with anxiety! I don't want to have to make myself do things I want to be able to just go an do these things an not worry about the what ifs? my low mood isn't as bad as my anxiety if I could choose one id choose to have the low mood as the physical symptoms of anxiety are just awful! my low mood is down to me always feeling poorly but is that because theres something wrong with me or because I have anxiety ? I really do feel now that this is going to be me forever an I don't want that I want to be the best mum I can be and partner to my boyfriend and stop the worrying the panic the stressing id love to be able to say "ive gone a whole week without feeling ill in anyway" but it seems to be all the time I'm feeling rubbish, I thought I would come on here as I think it makes you feel better when you no your not the only person who goes through this... hope to hear back from someone maybe people have similarities to me?

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14 Replies
Icanbeathis2016 profile image
Icanbeathis2016

Hi. First I'd like to say I understand all you are feeling and going through. Like you, I am the type that I was and still do worry about every single thing. Like you, I wasn't that bad about it until I had my youngest daughter who is five now. But yes after having her my worries became bad. And just like you, I'd find myslef in the emergency room or calling an ambulance at the drop of a dime if I didn't feel right. And your story about your gall bladder I'm sorry that you had this trauma and for it to come at you and the doctors all want to send people away saying your ok, your too young for this, oh it just this, and my absolute worst is waiting for results or waiting to hear back from them. I'll worry myslef into a true panic. But your story proves my point even more about these stupid doctors and why I think if you know in your heart you don't feel right or something seems different from how you know your body, go get checked and keep going. I was struck again by anxiety stress and depression in july after finding out that my kidneys function were slightly low and even though they claim it's not failing as of now it still traumatized me because this was the first I'd ever hear about my health. Then later in to discover after getting more blood work and ultrasound on my kidneys that I have a kidney disease. Now I'm awaiting to see a specialist. But my point is that I went to a doc because I knew my body was doing different things inside. But my anxiety is at its worse now. I'm 34 by the way. But I know all how you feel. And now that my anxiety is through the roof I get panic attacks and symptoms too much and I hate it because I can't say if it's the anxiety that makes me feel these things or something else that these docs haven't discovered yet.

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123 in reply to Icanbeathis2016

Hi thank you for replying.... yes I think kids make you worry constantly anyway don't they as we now live for them so we don't want anything to be wrong for us now we have little ones that depend on us my little one is 3 in December an people keep asking when I'm going to have another and ive always wanted 2 maybeeeee 3 haha but I feel like I'm too poorly all the time to have another its like now I feel as sick as a dog fluttery heart stomach ache but just fed my daughter now making tea for me an my partner for when he gets home from work you cant just give up when people rely on you. so sorry to hear about your health doctors just palm you off these days they take one look at me an think I'm too young to have anything seriously wrong with me for example the gallstones situation ive also been struggling recently with dizziness to be told its anxiety after 2 weeks they found out I had vertigo Iv had breathing difficulties again told its my anxiety seen the nurse she tested me for asthma an yes my reading was low so I am now on an inhaler but my breathing isn't better so do think it is anxiety related.. do you just have the one child? how are you now?

Icanbeathis2016 profile image
Icanbeathis2016 in reply to Aimeeb123

It's hard to say what can come from high anxiety. But several people who have post in this forum who have been dealing with this for some time now have said this anxiety can bring on all kinds of symptoms such as difficulty breathing, shallow breath, shortness of breath. I've definitely had moments of feeling like I had to take deep breaths cuz I felt a shortness. I've had momenta a was woken out of my sleep feeling like my breath was short and I had to gasp for air. And i always question is this anxiety or something else. I have another daughter 16 yrs old. I'm ok for the most part I just still have mild headaches often head pressure quite often tense muscles and body aches that I also question if it's anxiety which plenty have responded on here on my post saying stress and high anxiety can definitely bring on all these things. Which I hope that's all it is because I constantly battle within myself saying this can't just be anxiety that makes me feel this way. And even worse yhe stomach issues. One minute I'm constipated next it's loose next it regular. Stomach makes all tons of upset sounds. During the night if I wake out of my sleep I feel light abdominal cramps, stomach feels upset at times, some times feel heartbroken, some times nausea, it's just too much and I don't know what's going on. Which makes me worry and think I have some other major issue with my body, ie. Cancer, bacterial infection, major health issues. My mind never stops. Then someone scared me up again yesterday and commented on my post saying it could be lupus and that's what they have and it took the doc years yo find it and she knew something was wrong but the doc didn't find it til couple years later and that lupus has some of the same symptoms as anxiety. So now you can imagine how it has me worried thinking what if I have lupus. Went on Google, worse thing to do, and has me even more worried. Never ending cycle. I takes meds do you?

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123 in reply to Icanbeathis2016

Oh god that's the worse thing to hear what someone else has cos then your bound to question it even I am now haha !! I've been on citalopram but they turned me into a loon so I came off them I was prescribed propanalol (80mg a day) but they sent my blood pressure low an I was getting poorly from them so but I've now been re prescribed propanolol of 10mg an told to take them as an when needed I've had one today. What meds are you on? ,

Icanbeathis2016 profile image
Icanbeathis2016 in reply to Aimeeb123

Buspar. They had me on a gradual dose where I would end up taking 30mg a day but when I moved up to 20mg I felt it was making me worse and even if it wasn't the meds that was making me worse I just felt worse so I took it upon myself to lower my dose gradual back down so I only take 5mg a day. And I'm more comfortable with that. I still can't really say it's a big help but I will say it does bring a calmness to me like my thoughts don't make me as on edge it's like my nerves calm down and it does make me feel drowsy. That's really only good thing about it. I never wanted to take meds to begin with but I had a fee weeks of terrible anxiety and no sleep and my back was against the wall so I took it. But after I finish this prescription I may stop all together after this. I was told buspar is non addictive and doesn't cause withdrawal and it has the least side effects but I can't say I agree about the side effects because I feel like my headaches got worse and brought on my upset stomach and nausea even more ever since taking it. And I can't afford to have an upset stomach because already lost alot of weight from this anxiety and stress. The last thing I need to to still have appetite issues. I don't want to lose any more weight.

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123 in reply to Icanbeathis2016

I think all these groups of meds cause side effects ! I couldn't handle how I felt on mine I powered through hoping it would get better but it didn't so it puts me of taking anything I take propanolol just when I'm having a bad day! Oh god tiredness is always always tired it takes me a while to nod of at bedtime then I always wake around 2am and again at 5 then up for the day around 7 with my little one I always feel like a zombie I also take 10mg of amitriptlyne for my stomach so I know that makes you drowsy too they have upped me to 25mg but I still haven't took the higher dose I'm too scared to feel more tired esp looking after my daughter full time !

dizzychar profile image
dizzychar

I can relate also, some people never really no where there anxiety came from and I always think that's what makes it more frustrating. I've had anxiety for around 8 years now, while I was pregnant with my second child, been up and down for years. I've had cbt therapy and it did help some. I can say I'm lots better than I used to be, but I do have days that flare up and I always think it's straight back to square one. I got admitted by ambulance 7 years ago ish because I had pains, couldn't breathe properly, and I was sick, after examining me at a&e all they said was it could be gallstones go to your gp and they will refer you for a scan, but me being silly kept putting it off because I sometimes would go months without any pain. I finally asked my gp last year for a referral, they sent me and I have loads 😢 Since then I have been advised to lose weight before I get put on the list for gallbladder removal, I'm 27 now so at the time when I first started with pain I would have been 20, people seem to be getting them at a very young age now.

I no myself anxiety can cause all kinds of aches, pains and thoughts. And the more you worry, the more they come, the worse they get.

The combination of the meds and therapy might help you back on your feet 😊 X x

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123 in reply to dizzychar

Had you had your baby before you got gallstones they told me pregnancy can cause them as too many hormones that's how I got mine so I blame my nearly 3 year old haha some people live with gallstones an don't even know but mine needed coming out I had 3 attacks in the space of 10days that's why they didn't send me home they said it needs to come out cos I'll just keep getting the attacks people say it's worse than labour I agree as it's a different type of pain it stops you being able to breathe and the pain in your chest an back feel like there's 100s of bricks on it ! I've always been a worrier but I'm 10tines worse now every now again today being one of them I get the niggilig shoulder pain an pain where my gallbladder was they told me that's normal I now can eat lots of different food an if I have a week where I've ate rubbish for example I've had a curry for tea chips crisp chocolate all in one week I'm poorly with my stomach for a few days it's awful

dizzychar profile image
dizzychar in reply to Aimeeb123

My daughter was Nearly 1 and my 3rd child, id had the pain along time before having her though but it was flare ups.oh yeah the pain is unbearable, and no break, just constant and nothing seems to help it. I no a few people that's had them removed and still get pain sometimes, you still have to watch what you eat I think. A friend of mine had to stay in like you, Had it done as an emergency.

Do you manage to get out and about with your anxiety? X

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123 in reply to dizzychar

Hi there yes I manage to get out an about I have too really with having my daughter we have just been shopping she's now napping whilst I cleaned, tomorrow night I'm at a family party so Saturday my anxiety will probably be worse always seems to when I've had an alcoholic drink, do you manage to get out ?

dizzychar profile image
dizzychar

That's good then. I used to struggle with just going to the shops, and I would avoid if I could, I would basically do the school run and rush back home. But over the past 6 months I've pushed myself to visit my friends, go to shops, I even went to bingo with my friend, which for me is great progress. I haven't drank for about 2 and a half years, I think it makes my anxiety worse. I feel loads better than I used to but at the minute I've got this virus which has knocked me back and made me anxious, especially last night I was really on edge and not feeling right, I haven't felt like that for a while. It's good that you are still able to get out and about 😊 X

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123 in reply to dizzychar

Yeh I make myself Hun some days I feel fine an go an do what I have to do but some days I make myself don't get me wrong a couple of week ago I didn't go out for about 4 days even cancelled my CBT cos I wasn't feeling good anxious an on edge so I do get like that what virus have you got ?? I get bad when I'm poorly esp sick bug I have the biggest phobia of being sick have since being a child an now cos I have no gallbladder after being sick a lot I get bad pains ended up in hosp a few months ago I had food poising an has what felt like a gallstone attack an the doc said it's cos I had been sick so much so now I'm so scared to get sick again ! An I feel sick most days!

dizzychar profile image
dizzychar

Yeah it's good that you push yourself to do things. Oh god that sounds awful! I hate being sick too and there is a sick bug going round at the moment 😩

Virus I've got is cold/cough, throats hurting, aching and just generally feeling shit lol, normal for this time of year but it's really knocked me.

Sorry that you had to cancel your cbt, I used to do that a lot. I do think if you keep going every week you probably will see some improvements, when I had breaks in between I didn't feel it was working as well as it should x x

Aimeeb123 profile image
Aimeeb123

Good morning, not sure if it's morning for you don't know where you are, I slept rubbish last night an have now eokebwith a headache stiffy nose aches sore throat 😩 Boooo and I have things to do today an I'm at a family party tonight I just want to sleep so this will be another day of me forcing myself to do things 😩

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