My IBS Team Sheet – 7. Anxiety - General Anxiety Disorder G.A.D. (How I manage)

[MountainHare1]

I have been putting off writing this post for a while now, as for me, anxiety is the biggest subject area to discuss and also my biggest problem alongside stress that I have to manage on a daily basis.

With only having joined the IBS network recently I am not too sure how many other people experience anxiety but even if this Post helps just one other person, then that is all that matters. Apart from G.A.D. I also have problems with Social and Health anxiety which I will discuss in other Posts soon.

I have chosen G.A.D. to start with as I had experienced this form of anxiety only yesterday evening. It is very frustrating, as I had had a lovely with walk with some friends and then had some dinner at one of my friends homes. It all went pear shaped on the way home! I slightly digress that as I write this post, it is winter and its dark from about 4.30pm.

It is about 10.30pm, it is dark and it has been raining for a good few hours and there is a lot of surface water on the roads and my wife was driving – I had had a few glasses of wine. Nothing to do with my wife's driving as she is an excellent, safe and cautious driver but because I was not in control of driving and the speed we were going, I slowly started to panic and get very anxious especially when driving down Parbold Hill (very steep hill in West Lancashire). After a few minutes I started to feel nauseous and needed some fresh air, I couldn't open my window and I started to mess around with the air conditioning in the car which added stress into the equation.

Unfortunately I have experienced a few similar episodes of G.A.D. recently which is only compounding my anxiety which I could relate here but I hope you get the picture and will have your own stories! So how did I manage the situation?

How I manage (breathing techniques)

As with any form of anxiety that I experience, I have come to accept the situation as it is. I recognise that I cannot control or anticipate when I will experience an episode of anxiety but again I have accepted the situation as it is.

Back to last night…

After I managed to work the air-conditioning, I applied a slow breathing technique for at least five minutes and I no longer felt nauseous and became calm.

I would recommend that if you experience any form of anxiety that you focus on your breath for a few minutes until you feel calmer…

Research into breathing techniques that work for you

I am currently reading a book on breathing techniques and I am confident that it will transform my anxiety.

Mindfulness also helps when I experience an episode of anxiety and as I know that the nausea will subside and I will begin to feel a lot calmer in a short while.

Take care. x

[Breathless1943]

I can relate to Anxiety. I find because I’m no spring chicken,and I have quite a few health problems,I tend to stress towards the end of a day,teatime. I get a terrible feeling of fear. Part of it I think is to do with my stomach,because I now know when the pain starts to get unbearable,in the evening when I just want to put my feet up,and watch TV. My health issues are quite serious but I only get stomach PAIN. Everything else is under control. I’ve had this stomach problem now for over 10yrs,but as time goes by it’s getting more unbearable. Doctors just keep asking me to have another colonoscopy,but the last one was horrendous,and I do know it’s the only real way they can see what’s wrong. But back to the anxiety,I think that’s part of my problem. And I’m not a believer in being able to turn emotions on and off. I’ve had Hypnosis,no end of medication,I think I must have done the whole country for specialist,and meditation sends me to sleep,then when you wake up the pain and anxiety is still there.

Sorry it’s such a long post,I just got a bit carried away.

[MountainHare1 in reply to Breathless1943]

Please don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about, I am just so sorry to hear about your situation.

As I mentioned in my post, please take some time to research on the internet/books etc into how to breath properly. I think it will transform your life as all I know is that when I have invested some time each day on taking slow deliberate breaths, it helps me feel a lot calmer, my head is clearer and I feel more confident as I go about my day!

Always here if you need me!

Take care.

[Breathless1943 in reply to MountainHare1]

Thank You. Happy and Healthy New Year.

[Wonderfullifeandmore in reply to Breathless1943]

Dear Breathless1943 I suffer from anxiety I also have health anxiety, mine started 40years ago when I was 33years old. I have tried everythinge meditation, cognitive behaviour therapy. I have seen a Psychiatrist who has put me on Pregabalin and I am waiting to see a counsellor again. It doesn’t help that I do have health problems now so am finding life even harder. I will give the breathing excersises a go. Fingers crossed eh.

[MountainHare1 in reply to Wonderfullifeandmore]

Dear Wonderfullifeandmore , thank you for sharing your story and I am sorry that have had problems with health anxiety and have tried to manage the best you can for 40 years. You are not alone and although I have had to manage mine for 6, it seems at though it has been longer but I haven't always been aware of health anxiety. Certainly I have been anxious since when I was a kid over 40 years ago with being mentally and physically abused by my father and peers at school!

That said, I have started to looking into how I breath and already it is starting to transform my life. There are lots of breathing exercises you can do and I have tried to do some at home. I am also reading a book on the matter! It recommends that you breath 'in' and 'out' through your nose as much as possible! Apparently and I am not wishing to sound 'sexist', but men breath through their noses more than women.

With all of the bad weather recently I haven't really had chance to do any breathing exercises outside! I think psychologically if I did, then I would be breathing in 'cleaner' air and so would feel more positive, calmer and relaxed! It also gives me an excuse to spend more time in nature which I love. I confident that breathing will help alongside, eating healthy, exercising and meditation!

Take care.

[Boxroad]

hi hare

You sure live in a pretty part of the country that’s for sure, I am coming up to 61 in April and had to retire from work at 56 due to stress. I was the manager of a busy woodworking factory and had been at the same company since leaving school in 1979, I found myself in a situation where I was stuck in between the directors of the company who would constantly push for for targets and staff who were under paid that I had to get the best work from them as possible, as you can imagine it was a very lonely position I found myself in. Anyhow I spoke with the director whom i had trained when he come out of college as his father wanted him to start from the bottom and work his way up, over the next 25 years we went from 3 in the workshop to upto 20 and 4 drivers. When I spoke to the director telling him I was struggling I was told I pay you to manage so manage and he walked out my office. From that point my anxiety got worse over the years until one day I day in my office looking at computer screen with pains in my chest and a feeling of total dread, someone went and got the office secretary whom was the directors sister and an ex nurse but I had worked along side her for about 37 years, she saw what was going on and told me to go home as she said I was having a panic attack, I went home and never went back. In the past 7 years I have had a lot of health issues old and new, when Covid started I ended up in hospital with suspected heart attack, they said it was angina, and I still disagree with them, they said an angina attack is like a bear hugging my chest and it’s very painful, they said walking up hills would affect me, neither of those things happen, my IBS that I have had for 34 years has been the worse it ever has been.

Yesterday my wife shot me a text that her firm was making redundancies, within seconds my chest was hurting, I got very hot, and felt generally unwell, we rely on her wage to live on, she is younger than I by 6 years,we have been together 36 years she is my rock my star. Any how I sat myself down taking deep slow breaths in through the nose out through the mouth and I could feel myself calming down, not long after my wife phoned to say her job was safe and to say sorry for texting me about it, after she sent the text she realised it could affect me.

I recommend you get out walking or cycling as much as possible as Mother Nature has a way of helping us, leave the alcohol alone as it just exacerbates anxiety attacks, it also is not good for ibs, we got ourselves e-bikes last march and have done over 1300 miles on them, and yes you have to pedal them or else the power don’t come on, just being out in the fresh air and getting the blood pumping helps a lot. You do what you need to do to make your life better, look at drinking look at diet look at exercise.

[MountainHare1 in reply to Boxroad]

Hi  Boxroad Thank you so much for sharing your story. By the sounds of things we are on a similar path ways to retiring in our fifties, as I will be retiring this year aged 57. I too have a rock and a star who is working still. Fortunately I don't have to rely on her for money and I won't bore you with my story…

I couldn't agree more about exercise as I love going on plenty of walks and also swim on a regular basis. I think this year I am going to look into cycling more and see how I get on. I know what you mean about alchohol. I have certainly cut back on what I used to drink but I think I could do with cutting it out altogether. I also conscious of eating healthier too.

Take care.

[OldTimer74]

Anxiety is the major thing that makes IBS etc worse than it would be.