Food or stress?

[Uncle7]

Hi.

I wonder if anyone knows the answer regarding what causes or triggers stomach problems/IBS, is it mainly food the reason? or is it mainly stress? or is it combination of food and stress?

For as long as I can remember, in certain situations, i first think of negative thoughts and I always have a plan A, a plan B or a plan C in case plan A doesn’t work, I like the feeling of reassurance. Over Christmas whilst having food, my first thought which was negative was “I hope this doesn’t upset my stomach” and not thinking “this food looks and tastes so nice”.

Later, I had diarrhoea, I then thought to myself, was this brought on because I had negative thoughts and stress could be blamed?

[FRreedman]

I always look for a plan b/c/d, but I never thought why, I just always have. I think on reflection, you are probably correct, in that IBS/IBD are affected by stress (perceived or real), as well as by food and drink, and therefore if we were able to have more positive thoughts or, indeed, less negative ones, we would be a lot better off.

[Billsfriend in reply to FRreedman]

That's definitely true for me!

[IBSNetwork Partner IBS Network]

Hi

Food and mood can trigger IBS. More information here theibsnetwork.org/stress/

[asbayford]

I would say (in my case anyway) 80% is food and 20% stress. CBT helps with the stress and low fodmap diet sorted the food x

[Carlettejaque]

In my experience it's mostly down to what you are eating. You could be intolerant to dairy, yeast, wheat or practically anything. It's down to discovering what the culprits are. Try cutting out one food at a time starting with the most common intolerances. Keep a reaction diary. Careful though what you replace with dairy. Things like coconut milk or oat milk can upset the stomach. I would recommend rice milk and cashew milk which is lovely. You also have to check all ingredient lists on food that they dont contain what you are trying to avoid. Then there are foods that will irritate an already reactive or sore bowel, foods that are highly spiced like curry or fatty foods.

IBS in itself causes stress because it causes pain and inconvenience. I stress about traveling even just short distances because I worry about not being near s toilet. Stress does make it worse but you have to try to relax as best you can and avoid difficult situations if you can. Good luck with your food diary.