hi. My daughter is 20 and on fluoxetine a year for severe health anxiety and general anxiety
A few weeks ago she complained of pain lower left side so I was treating as muscular as she said she’d no other symptoms. Week ago she announced her stools are loose first thing in morning only ( when she’d normally poo)
Got stool sample calprotectin and infection/parasite test done and all good so would anyone have any ideas. Can’t get her to doc with her anxiety. I gave her one immodium yesterday morning and morning before but I think as it’s 24 hours between each stool the gap is too long
Any suggestions 🙏
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Defong
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The very mention of the word doctor gives her palpatations. She would also tend to play down her symptoms to them and wouldn’t let me near the phone. I am going to try the immodium at night as I was giving her one in the morning after her loose stool but on research see it lasts in body for 11 hours so would be worn off by the next morning. Health anxiety is an awful condition. Thankyou for replying 🤗
Don't beat yourself up, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate at present. You can only do your best. My son, 30 later this year, has ADHD so I have some idea what you are having to cope with. You can only do your best, you're not superwoman, just a mum!
Hi, fibogel would help bind the stools so you could consider this. The Flurexitine will help with the anxiety, once it has taken effect. It is important to inform GP on progress to ensure correct dose is achieved.
She’s on fluoxetine over year now. This has just started the past couple months. She’s quite bland eater anyway but I feel guilty as I was giving her high vit d and cranberry supplements but she was taking slie Vera shot and super green powders mixed in cranberry juice so I think her bowel was overstimulated but now can’t settle it
Yes supergreens can be high fibre, so worth stopping. I too have IBS-D and for the diarrhoea take prescribed Lomotil only when required. Maybe worth talking to your GP about. Clinical Psychologist are useful to talk to in establishing root cause of anxiety issue. We are only treating the symptoms. My anxiety was so bad I'D have panic attacks so was prescribed peroxitine. This or amytryptoline are worth considering as alternatives to floroxitine. Always seek GPS advice.
Thankyou. Her anxiety stems from her eating as she has really limited selection of goods she likes so won’t go out in social settings as she feels insecure and embarrassed by this and that’s why she’s trying to compensate with supergreens powder and aloe Vero etc. I gave her an immodium last night and stool but better this morning but she’s back to pain in side which I think is gas buildup around the bend in her large colon and of course she’s now in anxious state over that. It’s never ending 😢
Aloe vera juice is good for constipation but I wonder if that could cause loose stool? I (IBS-d) have avoided it.
I also 100% understand about eating in social settings. I actually hate it. I have a friend I'm fond of, and she always likes to invite me to dinner parties. Part of me is so happy, and part of me dreads it. I am fine with my food here alone at home, eat fairly healthily. But eating out at all is so tricky and makes me appear so faddy or even rude. It can be embarrassing.
Eating affecting her so much and now this on top of it has left her recluse. She’s about to go into last year uni doing psychology but she travels as she can’t cope with the social anxiety
If you decide to try Prozac to manage your depression or anxiety, keep an eye out for these side effects.
1. GI Distress
“By far, the most common Prozac side effects are gastrointestinal, mostly nausea and diarrhea,” says Hermann. Fun fact: “There are actually more cells that have serotonin receptors on them in your gut than there are in the brain, and since Prozac works on the serotonin system, that area can be sensitive to having more serotonin around.” These side effects tend to occur early on in treatment, and can be minimized by starting with a low dose or taking the meds with food.
About 20 odd years ago, I was given Prozac (fluoxetine) for my IBS(D) and it made it far worse. I would think the culprit here is the fluoxetine. Perhaps if you and your daughter are happy to continue with the fluoxetine and the imodium is helping, she could try taking one imodium before bedtime each night. Just a thought.
Thank you. I will try the immodium at night. I think that was my mistake giving it in morning when she only has the loose stool in the morning. Hopefully the pain will settle after.
She could try a few days of a really bland diet to see if that helps? I have IBS D and I did find that helped me. I still have to keep away from some foods, many of them very healthy foods.
What helps me when my stools are too loose are ...white rice (I use easy-cook basmati with just a little salt added, nothing else) hard boiled eggs, plain steamed white fish, nothing too oily, spinach was ok for me, and green beans, and sometimes a couple of lettuce leaves, but that wouldn't be the same for everyone. White toast (ciabatta is the tastiest I think) peeled boiled mashed potatoes (not sweet potatoes as they have lots of fibre) Bananas, peeled grapes perhaps (if she can tolerate fruit at all) Plain cake perhaps, like sponge cake or madeira if she wants something sweet, or plain sweet biscuits
No seasonings except salt.
If she eats meat, plain cooked chicken would be good too. In tinfoil in the oven so it doesn't dry up? Or grilled? Stewed peeled and cored apple maybe with a little sugar while cooking.
Those foods were calming for me, it depends. We are all different and have different intolerances. I was OK with sugar but not artificial sweeteners. So people say don't eat plain cake that it's "not a healthy choice", but it suited me fine in a flare up and gave me some energy.
I can eat more than those foods now, but they are my go-to foods in a flare up.
If any foods don't agree, cut them back and go plainer , and see if it helps in a few days.
Thanku. I will certainly try anything at this stage. I just don’t understand why it’s only one loose stool in mornings. Body is very strange vessel sometimes
Well, many times with my IBS I'd go only once in the morning. Going in the morning was always my usual habit even before IBS when everything was completely natural, So even with IBS I would go once, but find I had loose stool to one degree or another. That went in phases. Sometimes it was just normal, and sometimes in a bad flare I would go more often than that in the course of the day. My record was 9 times in a day and a night!! Yuck...
Indeed Defong our GI has a mind of its own. Reading your post for the 2nd time something springs to mind your daughters health anxiety may be at its highest when she wakes up in the morning because she is facing a new day of unknown anxieties so the gut reacts. This is only an opinion based on many years of confirmed IBS d. Please try to look after yourself too you are doing a fab job, but we all need to ask for help sometime in our life. Good Luck🍀
Thankyou. I’m floundering here myself and if I’m not on top of things I’m no good to her. It certainly makes sense about the anxiety particularly as it’s only once and in the morning she goes. Weight appetite and sleep as normal
Oh some other things that helped me (I meant to mention this) were some herbs. Those may or may not work for some people, but they are non toxic, natural, and fairly pleasant-tasting. I tried Tormentil herbal tincture, which did help me to some extent. It is an astringent herb with tannins and has a gentle 'binding' effect on the gut. I got mine online from A.Vogel who are aa very good reputable company. I think the bottle cost about £10 -ish (?) but it does last a while. I don't take it every day, only when my gut starts misbehaving.
Another is free. That's Blackberry leaves which I wild-gather where I live. I make them into a tea and drink 3 times a day when my gut misbehaves.
Eating nettles cooked like spinach also helped my tummy. Of all vegetables, they were the kindest to my gut. I pick mine in a field which is never sprayed or grazed.
Hi I had massive IBS symptoms after withdrawal from SSRI citlopram had no symptoms before taking these. And I am still paying the price for taking the ADs. The doctors want me to go back on them to see if it improves the symptoms but very reluctant. Imoddium is just masking the issue but is very good. There is a lot out there on the internet about the link between SSRIs and serotonin for IBS diarrhea. Hope your daughter starts to feel better it is a double edged sword this situation. You could try psyllium husks supplements as these can also bulk out stools increase in fibre but depends on diet.
Hi Defong, I think you mentioned Aloe Vera shots , and wondered if this was the culprit as I had to stop having even a small amount of that as it made me loose!Seems likely…. Very best wishes 👍
I would think the Aloe Vera shots, etc., probably caused the problem as on the Internet it says that this can cause cramps and diarrhoea, and probably along with the cranberry juice it has, as you say, overstimulated the bowel, as cranberry juice itself can cause diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is also a side effect of Fluoxetine. Would try a bland diet for a few days, rice, banana, toast, and chicken, etc., to try and calm things down, and maybe keep off milk until her symptoms hopefully settle. I find that good, old fashioned porridge is soothing for the bowel. At least the diarrhoea is only first thing in the morning and I find my anxiety is always worse first thing in the morning, which could contribute to bowel symptoms at that time. Do not think it is a good idea giving supplements without medical advice whilst on this sort of medication. I would be inclined to contact the GP again if things do not settle. You said your daughter had pain in her left side, so maybe an antispasmodic could be prescribed.
I used to have IBSd every day, finally took2 Imodium every day and after 3 months I feel normal! It has transformed my life, the anxiety is less than ever, but not completely gone. However I feel better than I ever have
Was that under doctor orders or something you did yourself. After 2nd day of taking one at night and one in morning she’s 50:50 consistency’s but back to saying side sore which I’m assuming is gas or irritation. Seems to be just at bend of large colon on left side
Doctors recommended 4 a day but I found 2 ok for me. I take Citalopram for anxiety but find that has almost disappeared as well as I’m not anxious about always finding a loo. Yes wind can be an issue and sometimes quite painful but compared to how my life was it’s worth it 100%
Would she be able to cope with doing stool samples, or do you think that might freak her out? It would maybe be a good idea to do a couple, just to make sure there isn't some inflammation going on, or any blood. Negative tests are pretty definitive. At least my doctor thought so, and I was diagnosed with IBS as a result of them finding nothing wrong (but I also had a blood test.)
Negative results can often rule out a need for any further tests or investigations.
They can be done in a sort of remote-ish way. I did mine in the middle of lockdown. I got to speak with my doc. on the phone. He left two sample packs for me to pick up at reception, and which I took back completed the next day. I could either phone for results or they would send in an encrypted email attachment. I chose to phone (my brain and laptop hate those encrypted things!) It took about 10 days I think for results to come from the Lab.
It would be better to know if this is IBS or possibly something else.
Yes thankfully I got her test samples sent off for calprotectin and infection and both normal , in fact calprotectin was 5 which is great. I’m trying to get bowel settled with immodium and praying that it will settle. I’m assuming pain on left side is gas etcAs for bloods I honestly think she’d pass out, you can literally see and hear her heart when you mention doctor. Thanku for taking time to reply. It’s great to have some outside advice as it’s exhausting trying to cope on your own and a severely autistic son as well
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