Does anyone else find they go dizzy or feel panicky sometimes when they need to go to the loo? I have IBS-D and sometimes when things are moving around in my guts I can feel quite dizzy. Sometimes I also wake up feeling generally physically panicky (fast heart rate, feeling a bit shaky, etc), even though I have nothing to worry about and am not emotionally panicky (hope that makes sense!) Just wondering whether anyone else finds this and whether going to the loo helps. The other day I felt like this and just having a wee seemed to stop it (this was after I'd already spent my normal half an hour or so on the loo with the IBS-D!)
Thanks,
Jane
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Jane_T1D_IBS-D
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Yes, I can relate. I had the same feelings a lot. Now my IBS isn't as bad, so it only happens now if I do get a flare up, even a mild one. But when my gut is okay and not flaring up, I don't usually get those feelings so can tell it's definitely gut-related, not an anxiety condition.
I think the feelings are in fact perfectly natural even though they're horrible. To have an upset stomach or diarrhoea isn't a "normal healthy" thing to happen to a body. It sends an alert signal via the Vagus nerve to the brain that "all is not well"! And that something has gone wrong.
It mobilises the "fight-flight" mechanism and everything is set for high alert.
For normal people it would be something like food poisoning or an infection.
For us with IBS it's something which happens frequently, thus hard to bear.
The only way around it I think is to find any method which can help to calm the gut; either diet, medications, or breathing/meditation techniques, or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy etc. Or even recognising stress responses in life, or any problems with sleep.
I used to get this every single day. I have improved over time, and rarely do now. There is hope.
What a lovely message! Thank you Luisa for taking the time to reply and share your thoughts and experiences. What you've said makes me feel so much better. I'm going through a difficult time with my IBS at the moment, which is why I think I've felt like this several times recently. Fingers crossed I can find a way or ways of calming things down which will work for me.
Thank you again for your full reply - it really has made me feel better.
I'm glad to be of some comfort Jane. I have definitely had these feelings you mention. I am not dead yet! haha.
But of course, use common sense, and if you feel it might be something worrying, or even something else entirely apart from IBS, get checked out with the doc. OK?
Yes, I recognise what you're describing. I have IBS C and often evacuation is accompanied by acute momentary anxiety. I believe now that IBS is possibly an anxiety condition that is, for me, an early childhood response to external factors that's still lives on in my gut.
Hello oh gosh the symptoms of IBS are many and varied aren't they !! last night I woke about 2 hours after falling asleep feeling queasy shaky faint here we go I thought !! breathed through it and then trotted off to the loo feeling better after that i went back to sleep knowing that today will feel blah after that, This happens to me as the colon cramping affects the vagus nerve which in turn affects the blood supply momentarily making me feel sick and faint. I also get severe anxiety with it often out of the blue and then i know that a flare might follow, sometimes the flare up comes fist followed by the anxiety, one thing feeds the other, it's a case of revolving doors as the brain and gut are so strongly connected you are not alone in this !
I do sometimes get slight dizziness with IBS, that's not related to any anxiety as well. It doesn't happen often and I have been unable to work out what causes it but it happens when my gut is a bit upset. I wasn't sure, but it's possible it could be connected with the general weakness which can come with a flare up, and also possible low blood glucose, as an upset tum can take the appetite away.
I've usually got a decent appetite for dinner time though even if I had a flare up earlier, and I did notice the woozy feelings passed during the evening which could have been linked to a lack of food during the day!
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