The perils of stress

People talk about stress allot, its all over the news. Its making us grumpy, sad, depressed and most horribly its killing us. For those select few of us with IBS stress holds an especially horrible reality, it either blocks us up or makes us go like nothing else.

My partner also has IBS, not anywhere as troublesome as me but it comes and goes. An especially tense argument has lead to a colon cleanse like no other. When these bouts hit they leaves him physically ill, he is dizzy and disorientated. He tells me that afterwards he needs to sleep. His body forces him to rest, he recons so that he doesnt have to endure it, that he can just sleep through it and wake up better.

Needless to say we avoid these kinds of arguments now... its just not worth it.

I too have encountered this problem... but very rarely. There is something about the effects of an argument that release all sorts of things... and inevitably tense up others.

Generally stress tightens everything. My shoulders are tight, my stomach muscles are drawn in until they start to ache and my body starts to block up, not entirely, but enough to make me feel like a bloated cow. Nothing seems to help, psyllium a fed more pebbles in the bowl, coffee/caffeine cramps reminiscent of period pain, water... sounds like a good idea but when you start really hammering it you just retain it all... until one night, when the stress is just beginning to ease and you think you are going to get that good nights sleep finally... then it comes... every few hours!!!!

I should tell you that for me guilt is a big contributor to stress, I feel it in my stomach first... and then my neck. My shoulders ache and the sides of my stomach hurt from the tension. Its pretty exhausting I must say.

The only advice I can give is Meditate, find a solution or if you cant do anything trust in the reality of  your limitations (as well as eating healthy and perhaps taking some psyllium at night along with a big glass of water... and again the peeing i know) will finally set it right... but in essence what you are doing is de-stressing. If you cant find a way out of that hole... you may have to find more persuasive means of getting your body back to functioning.

All I can say is goodluck!-