For quite some time now I have a very strange thing happen to me. And can be happily going about my business or working and suddenly I get like a surge in my body, like a really panicky feeling, my heart starts to beat faster, I go clammy and start sweating, start shaking sometimes my arms and legs go numb and I have trouble standing and then I realize I need a bowel movement, sometimes urgently. Then when I go everything just calms down, sometimes immediately, sometimes in a matter of minutes or even up to half an hour.
While it happens it really feels as if I"m going to die but then it all passes and I feel ok until I need a bowel movement again.
This used to happen to me occasionaly but it is now almost every time.
Anyone else have something similar? Any clues as to what it might be?
Thanks in advance
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Sasical
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Whenever I'm about to have an IBS attack I feel like this. I start to feel a bit cold with a nervous feeling (like a dry throat) and then I start feeling nauseous, clammy, tingly in my arms and hands and shaky. I then feel like I'm going to vomit but I just need to go to the loo ASAP to poop. I haven't vomited because of it yet (touch wood) but once the bowel movement has passed I feel really nauseous and shaky for like 20 minutes but then I feel better.
Glad to know it's not just me!
I have no idea why my body reacts this way. I just see if as my body wants the poison out of me ASAP and gives me a warning sign albeit a very short one. I came close to throwing up in my bf's car once because of it but luckily got to a field in time to sort myself out. That day scarred me and I'm always afraid of it happening again in public. I feel as if the warning signs are becoming shorter these days so I worry for my future. Now I know if I feel chilly and no one else does then something is probably about to happen!
I too have had similar experiences it’s the extra adrenaline kicking in like in panic attack. It’s to do with brain/ gut connection with vagus nerve. Try deep breathing from diaphragm when it starts. Music 2
That_mountain_girl strangely enough it did seem to improve a bit with the Vit B12 treatment but then my doc told me I had to stop it because she wanted to test IF and she needed me to stop it for 3 months before testing that. I recently started with B12 again but not noticing that much of an improvement this time so...who knows.
I don't experience quite what you describe but I do get odd things happening - including my heart rate rising sharply and often becoming very hot and flushed. It's truly horrible and can be very frightening.
In terms of what causes this, I suspect it is all to do with the autonomic nervous system (ANS). I know that mine is often 'off kilter' and was diagnosed by the person who I understand is the leading clinical professor in this area, Julia Newton in Newcastle, with neutrally mediated hypotension - which she thought was part of wider ANS dysfunction a few years back. I haven't been to see her again (I live in Scotland and was extremely lucky that my health board funded even one trip to see her) so I haven't been able to discuss this with her unfortunately. I have further health issues, including Lupus, and I believe this isn't as uncommon as you might think. I try not to worry about it but I think it is worth mentioning to your GP.
Ive had something similar to this a feeling like im going to faint then have to rush to the toilet not all the time just now and again but it very scary x
Hi Sasical, this also happens to me before hand. Every single time I have the same anxious worried feelings that something awful is about to happen. My heart races, I feel faint and get a gush of heat run up my body to my face. Afterwards, like you say, back to normal. I had a massive umbilical hernia op back in October. Before this op, I dont remember ever having those feelings. My stomach feels all knotted up and tight and I was thinking it was something to do with that. Maybe not... I get IBS flare ups with constipation and this feeling before a movement scares me too. Just glad to know I am not alone in this!
It's so scary and it just seems to be getting worse which I find has made me afraid to leave the house as I seem to be having about 3-4 bm a day and I never know when it will "hit"
Just to keep the thread open...anybody any suggestions of what might cause it or what might help, I'm almost at the point of giving up my job and just staying at home near the loo as I'm having some really nasty experiences.
Hi, bit late in answering but I have found that if I have 1 filter coffee at breakfeast time, it aggrevates my lining enough to just clear me out straight away within the next half hour. Weird I know but it works and leaves the rest of the day to do mostly as I wish and no sudden surprises. Not sure if anyone elae has something they can use as a trigger for emptying the bowel but this definately works for me. I hope you got some sort of help with yours Sasical.
Thank you very much Magic69 for your suggestion, unfortumately I don't tolerate coffee at all. But maybe I could find something else that makes me empty as you say.
If I don’t go naturally and I need to leave the house I either use a glycerin suppository or perform an enema. This gives me a few hours piece of mind. Con amore. Bx
What you describe happens to me if I have too much sugar, so I am very careful about what I eat. If I do overdo the sugar it causes violent osmotic diarrhoea, my skin turns grey all over, I am dripping with sweat and feel as though I might faint or die. Once it has cleared my system I soon feel better, but absolutely exhausted and this can last for a week. My body thinks sugar is toxic.
What you are describing is dumping syndrome. It isn’t your body thinking sugar is toxic. It’s too complex to explain but please google it. My gastroenterologist diagnosed me- I do have IBS-D also.
The dumping is absolutely awful so I sympathise with you xxxx
Thank you Gogreensue, it may be dumping syndrome, I have looked at this before and the symptoms are very similar. It only occurs with me if I have too much sugar, nothing else triggers me in quite the same way. Sugar is one of the easier things to avoid really, and I don't have a sweet tooth. Label reading comes as standard with me. I am seemingly allergic to wheat, but the symptoms are not the same, although they do include some bloating and D. I have never had gastric surgery either, but my DIL has and she gets DS too. I wonder how common it is?
Everything triggers mine but sugar and caffeine are biggies. They are catacholamine surges. If you have no tumors they can come from dumping or vagal nerve damage.
Interesting. I have had a seperate dx of vaso vagal syncope after I fell (collapsed?) unexpectedly and got a head injury. A colonoscopy in 2018 found no tumours, but did come up with a dx of microscopic colitis. Don't think I quite fit the pattern for catacholemine surges though, but something to bear in mind. In general it is well controlled because it is easy to avoid coffee and sugar which are known triggers and fits the profile for dumping syndrome. I hope you get some answers about possible neuroendocrine tumours. The symptoms are very unpleasant.
Gogreensue because of your answer I looked up dumping syndrome and it seems to describe exactly what happens to me! The only thing is I've never had any surgery and everything I read seems to suggest that this only happens after surgery.
I’m glad you discovered this. Sugar can be lethal but I think sugar substitutes are even worse. Dark chocolate helps but milk chocolate is not recommended. Con amore Bx
So glad but sad that I am not the only one who feels like this ... it’s horrid but we all cope this site is amazing talking to those that understand, dies anyone else have to get up in the night to have a BNB ?, I have just started gluten free diet and do feel better just poop needs to settle then , perhaps my body dies not like the change , but having read what grain can and has done to me thought I would give it a try xx
I get this and I don’t have IBD, I have a brain injury which caused seizures so I’m on anti seizure meds which work, but just before I need a BM I feel very weak and feel a bit floaty and I get so scared that it’s a seizure but never is, when I realise I need a BM it’s a relief that it’s not a seizure. But it’s horrible. I also wondered if it was an anxiety attack and that it was anxiety that brought on a BM, like when you get scared or nervous you need the loo.
Yes, only that I know 100% for sure that the BM causes the anxiety and not the other way around. I
I think that I'm noticing a pattern (after 2 years haha), TMI ahead, harder stools don't make me feel so bad, whereas softer stickier ones do, so maybe it's the difficulty exiting the body? Anyone notice this?
Yes! I'm in the process of trying o get diagnosed. Currently taking anti spasm pills for my tummy. Same feelings before every attack I've always explained it like I get hot flashes before hand and really weak. But I havent had a normal Bowel movement in the last 3 to 4 years now with my tummy issues. Not like a completely normal one. It's always a tummy attack or partial tummy attack. I seriously though I was the only one who felt this way. The soft the more sick I feel as if my stomach is trying to kill me from the inside out. It's the absolute worst
I agree with you that it’s the bm causing the trouble which results in panic. I was told repeatedly that I was bringing it on myself because of my anxiety. Some things are somatopsychotic not psychosomatic. Con amore. Bx
Sorry you're all going through this. I had a really terrible time with this a few hours ago. It's getting more and more often. It's happening practically daily now. The gastro doc is now sending me for pheo testing, other than that still no ideas. My tachy got so bad during these episodes that I have has to give in and take betablockers.
Maybe you need to set a schedule in the morning that allows you to sit and relax on the toilet. You might have a bowel movement.If you can train your body to sit still a few minutes FIRST thing in am on toilet, you may prevent the rush.
Your body will adapt.
With me, now I just need to start the coffee machine. And its time to go.
I get the exact same thing. Sometimes now I get surges even when I dont have to poop. You do feel like you are going to die, its scary as heck and then when its over youre just fine. Its happened to me 3 years now since my gallbladder was removed. It has greatly affected my life and well being. During a surge my bp spikes dangerously high and afterwards my tingly limbs burn. Ugh!
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