Has anyone experienced ongoing digestion problems (nausea, bloating, light headedness) particularly after eating & it ended up being related to anxiety? For weeks or months at a time & then disappears.
Digestion problems: Has anyone experienced... - My OCD Community
Digestion problems
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Hello - yes, my family member with ocd experienced some of this and IBS symptoms. After taking probiotics, Dr visits, ND visits with prescribed powders (to improve gut bacteria, etc) & visit with specialists it became clear that the cause of these issues was anxiety. The symptoms have stopped after the source of anxiety (school) wasn’t a factor (graduated) but I’m pretty sure could reappear should a new stressful/anxiety- provoking situation present itself.
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Thank you for your reply! I don’t have a clear answer yet from my doctor on whether or not it is due to anxiety but I think since I still am not sure what’s causing it is making my OCD out of control since I’m constantly seeking for an answer that I can’t find. It’s mentally exhausting, but also the physical symptoms do seem to be worse when I’m anxious - just a vicious cycle.
Yeah, my OCD is mostly gone now (somewhat amazingly - for like half a year), but I get like tense and stiffened muscles, mostly in the abdomen, but it can and does spread into a whole host of other stuff - pain in the abdomen, back, chest, etc, dizziness, slight changes in hearing that feels a little like I might pass out, random numbness tingling, some other stuff.
My OCD in the past has been rather severe. Uhh... I remember, lol, after everything settled (there was a period, some months ago), and then my physical pains came back, I think.... I wondered, "did I miss something". That coupled with some kind of desire I guess I still had at the time to "figure it out" (and I think there was some type of need to get a certainty involved here) led to my OCD resurging, and I very quickly became aware of what happened.
I think I remember being caught in those "loops" that we all have I think. It took me a couple of times of starting and then breaking those loops before I said that "I wouldn't try and figure it out myself", and I think I said, "I will try and wait for someone else to help me and figure that out for me instead".
I don't actually know if the OCD is the reason that I have these physical symptoms - indeed, I don't even exactly have confirmation that it's all due to mental health - but I do strongly suspect that it is all mental, and my doctor does seem to agree with me - thus far. Whether or not the mental component, is OCD, something else, or both OCD and something else, dunno.
I have significant GI upsets related to anxiety. I personally will try to practice embracing the uncertainty of the anxious situation, and if the symptoms are so interfering that I cannot do my valued activities, I will take one of my PRN anxiety medications and see if they subside. If not I can take TUMS or a Gas-X, something like that. It is SO uncomfortable though, and embarrassing. I hope you find you are able to tolerate the distress of physical symptoms.
Yes, all my life really. My anxiety has always affected my digestive health. Heightened anxiety equals worse stomach.
Yes, I do also. Sometimes it’s immediately after having an anxious thought or experience. Other times it’s chronic and I don’t realize it’s related to anxiety but it usually ends up being related. Treating the symptoms helps while also reducing general stressors.