Panic symptoms before bowel movement
Posted , 117 users are following.
Hi there
For a couple of years now I have been having a very strange happen to me, it used to happen occasionally but now it is every time I go for a bowel movement.
I will be happily going about my business or working or whatever when suddenly out of the blue I get this horrible feeling which is hard to describe, like a sinking feeling or impending doom. My fingers go tingly, I have difficulty breathing, shaky, fast heart rate...and then I need a bowel movement immediately. If I go I start to feel better after while, if for whatever reason I can't go right away it feels as if I will die.
anybody else with anything similar?
12 likes, 302 replies
rana94994 sasical72
Edited
hey there...this is going to be long so bear with me. I think i know what is happening with you.
I had an episode maybe 10 years ago where I needed to go for a bowel movement and I was stuck in traffic and didn't make it to a toilet. I was fine after and thought oh well it happens. Well around 8 years ago I was going through a horrible time in my life and I developed full blown anxiety depression and panic attacks. My marriage broke down and I left because it was a bad relationship and that is when the panic attacks escalated. I started being afraid to leave home due to having random panic attacks. I would stay at home for weeks on end and eventually realised the anxiety was around that one bowel movement incident from 3 years prior. I was terrified of going out and pooing myself in public. I had a good doctor at the time who prescribed my with antidepressants. Within 6 months most of my anxiety panic and depression had disappeared. I still had an issue with needing to have a bowel movement in public but I didn't panic or worry about it anymore. I just dealt with it as it happened. around 1 year and a half ago I went through another huge stressful period in my life and the meds seemed to stop working. By then I was seeing a psychiatrist regularly. she trialed me on different meds but they didn't work and I started isolating at home again. I went back to my old meds but they didn't work as well as the first time so recently she prescribed me with an antidepressant called endep. I am not sure if this medicine will work or not but at the moment I am going through the following things. I don't leave the house much for fear of having a bowel movement in public and not being able to get to a toilet in time. I have been having random panic attacks at home. when I need to have a bowel movement even though I am at home and have 3 toilets I still get the panic symptoms. tingling hands and sometimes feet. heart racing. difficulty breathing and of course due to these symptoms the need to go is stronger than usual. I get jelly legs and feel like I'm going to die. there is nothing more horrible than having a bowel movement and panic attack at the same time. that one episode 10 years ago and my abusive marriage coupled with life stresses has made me less resilient. i was also convinced something was physically wrong with me and underwent hundreds of tests and saw so many doctors. turned out it was my brain doing it to me. it's obvious that for some reason you are panicking when you need to go to the toilet while you are at work. something probably triggered it but maybe something so small you may not even remember what it is that made you feel this way but in the recess of your brain it has been identified by your brain as a need to worry. the things that have helped me are talking myself down from the panic. identify what is worrying you and rationalise it. what is the worst case scenario ? what is the worst that can happen?? our mind tricks us into thinking something major will happen but you need to be able to redirect your thought process. explain to yourself in your head that your fears are irrational and that chances are nothing will eventuate from the panic. I also found vocalising helps me. so if I feel fearful or if I am in situation where my brain tells me I can't leave to go to the toilet I speak up. instead of getting worked up I will excuse myself from whoever I am with and tell them I need to go to the bathroom. I'm not so embarrassed to say it anymore because nothing is worth having a panic attack over. maybe you have been in a situation where you needed to go but felt stuck and unable.to leave. you can always leave. take care of you before you worry about what everyone else is thinking or saying. many many people go through this and too many are scared of speaking up so everyone feels they are alone. talk to your doctor about specifically what is happening with you. I have learnt some coping methods. sometimes they work other times they don't. but it helps to have them box breathing is one. you breathe in for 3 seconds hold for 3 seconds breathe our for 3 seconds hold for 3 seconds and repeat until you feel better. another method is counting back from.100 while visualising writing the numbers. this method distracts your brain from thinking about the anxiety. it's all about distracting your brain. sometimes it's hard to do but keep trying. I see a psychologist and a psychiatrist and they listen so that helps sometimes. I am sure you will work out what's best for you and you will be okay. instead of focusing on needing to go and getting yourself into that state think of a distraction until your bowel movement is over. just distract your brain. problem with brains are they retain memories. so you may have had panic around a bowel movement once and your brain has remembered that and just associated you needing to go with that one unfortunate incident.
one more thing. you say you feel better after while.with panic attacks you do feel better after a while. once the attack is done you slowly start to return to normal.
if you find the right panic and anxiety meds they can be a miracle in this kind of situation. other options are psychologists, cbt which didn't work for me hypnotherapy and just basically training your brain to stop. sometimes even telling your Brain to stop works.
sasical72 rana94994
Posted
Wow! thank you so much for such a detailed explanation.
I have now gone from pooping up to 6-7 times a day to none for 3-4 days.
I will certainly use some of your suggestions. Thank you and take care! 🙌
lydia02618 sasical72
Edited
Hello! i know this forum is super old, but i can relate! and i spent so long trying to create a pssword that i had to reply haha. i have been getting this feeling for about a year now after some GI related medical trauma. its not all the time, and it usually seems to happen when its an out of the norm time for me to have a bm or when im super relaxed/distracted. its almost like my mind disconnect from my body, and when it reconnects im automatically in fight or flight mode, im drenched in sweat, and just consumed with doom - and have to calm myself down enough to go have the bm and then i feel better. ive had every GI test known to man and theyre all negative. im imagining this is an anxiety related issue. have some appointments this week and ill follow up!
JimMc sasical72
Edited
Thought I was getting better. Episodes less frequent. Then around a month ago, I've suffered with them almost every single day. No changes in my diet or lifestyle. Thought it might be bread, stopped eating it and felt great for about 48 hours, then massive episode on day 3.
I'm back on Lansoprazole 30mg daily now. Latest theory from a doctor is that I am producing excess stomach acid, and its leaking back into my intestines and causing irritation. Even with the PPIs I am suffering but the symptoms have lessened and I'm hopeful that given a few weeks things will settle down again. I've just had another ultrasound which found nothing. They want to send me for another CT, this time concentrating on my small intestine, I'll drink a fluid which will distend the intestine and let them look for any growths or blockages. I am told that if they don't find anything, they will not conduct further testing and I will be treat for my symptoms only, which will mean being on PPIs permanently going forwards.
sasical72 JimMc
Posted
Sorry to hear that 😦
please let come back and let us know how you get on with the small intestine test
jason82 sasical72
Edited
After months without symptoms it's unfortunately back in full force. But it's worse this time. It wakes me up at night, immediately starting with the tingles and high heart rate. After that usually shivering and I can only ignore it for so long before full panic sets in and I start to feel light headed and my body tells me I really need to get up and use the bathroom. Anyone experiencing this at night or right after waking up?
Also I seem to be suffering from some kind of nervous cough that gets worse as the gut symptoms increase.
sasical72 jason82
Edited
Yes, this happened to me for a long time, it rarely woke me up, maybe 4 or 5 times, but I often had it first thing in the morning.
Also yes to the cough.
I am by no means completely recovered, but I am "less bad". And the only thing I can think of that had helped me improve is my visits to the osteopath to treatvmy vagus nerve.
Do you have any clue as to why it might be back in full force? anything you suspect?
jason82 sasical72
Edited
When I previously had it, I can't remember it waking me up or having it at night. I've been under a lot of stress the last couple of months, that could be it but like you said it's way worse than just a panic attack. I find it hard to believe we are all in denial and should just breath through it. It's impossible, like telling somebody who is about to vomit that that it's just a panic attack. My body clearly wants to get rid of something.
I do seem to get startled easily by unexpected sounds, and get a panic like sensation often right before falling a sleep. Those are classic anxiety/stress symptoms but I feel those happen because of the bowel movement panic and not the other way around.
The vagus nerve is worth looking at. I get light headed when needing to draw blood for tests, been that way all my life, never passed out though. The vagus nerve is involved in setting a reaction like that in motion which i also can't turn off no matter how hard I try. Do you also suffer from that?
sasical72 jason82
Edited
Yes, I also startle easily and I never used to get light headed regarding blood but now just by someone mentioning it I go all tingly and weird. I think my nervous system is shatered
jason82 sasical72
Edited
Interesting. Were or are you currently on any kind of anti anxiety meds? if so does it affect our "condition"? I've never been and also never had any problems of that kind until all this started. I am considering asking for some meds just to see if it improves anything. I am not convinced its all in our heads but then again severe chronic stress and anxiety can really promote low grade inflammation because the body is holding off on repairing itself because its so occupied with fight and flight, it has been documented dozens of times.
sasical72 jason82
Edited
I took anti anxiety meds when I was younger but have not taken any for about 15-20 years.
I'm fairly certain it's physical, not psychological, because nowadays I am not even nervous most of the time, that being said, years of anxiety can cause physical problems in the end.
No idea, but just happened to me a while ago, it's horrible.
Have you looked into the possibility of it being related to a hiatal hernia?
jason82 sasical72
Edited
Perhaps it feels that way but your nervous systems could still be on full throttle without you realizing it. That's why I asked if you get startled easily by sounds for example. That's usually a sign you're on high alert.
I had a gastroscopy done years ago when similar symptoms/burning stomach plagued me and they found nothing. also did an ultrasound of upper stomach area and came up clean.
I never had an endoscopy even though the symptoms seem largely related to bowel movements. But that's understandable since i don't really have much pain or pass bloody stool and inflammation markers (calprotectine) were in the normal range. Also blood work comes back normal all the time.
I like to keep the option open (for my own sanity) of it being a combination of damage done by stress and anxiety. It could be a vicious circle: Once an episode starts, our minds are racing and feelings of doom come up. It is then very easy to convince yourself there's no way this is just in your head and there has to be something wrong that medical science just doesn't know about yet. Going through this experience obviously makes your body release stress hormones which will affect bowel movements and generally destroy your body by putting it in the flight/fight state all the time while it should be relaxed and repairing itself.
sasical72 jason82
Posted
I agree with everything you say and I'm open to the possibility that it's a strange anxiety symptom but I'm fairly sure it isn't, just because it is so mechanical in nature.
I can be happy, relaxed, concentrated at work and this feeling comes on in my bowels and bla, bla, bla...once I get all the symptoms then I do get scared and anxious, but even while scared if the thing in my stomach settles all my physical symptoms dissapear, even while still anxious.
Who knows...
jason82 sasical72
Edited
Hi sasical how's it going, any news on your side? It's been a while now since my symptoms came back in full force. I try to basically do nothing every day except for a short walk/bike ride and treat it as if it were caused by chronic stress/burnout, which may very well be the case. I also had a stool test done to rule out parasites and crohns etc. Came back negative.
The frequency of the symptoms seem to have lessened somewhat and I don't get as shaky afterwards but the severity hasn't decreased at all. It's frustrating it doesn't happen all the time i need a bowel movement. In fact one night i woke up and got that feeling of doom and as if I was going to explode but there was no bowel movement for relief! It was the worst attack so far because normally I know I can get some relief by going to the bathroom.
I noticed you replied somewhere you got tested for a neuroendocrine tumor. I read about those a while ago and the thought of it keeps popping up since its associated with a sudden release of hormones but apparently they are very rare but now that you mentioned it again i was curious what kind (blood/scan etc) of testing did you do to rule that out?
sasical72 jason82
Edited
Hi Jason,
Sorry to hear your symptoms are back in full force, what a bummer! (sorry no pun intended but...). Not too much news on my side.
For the neuroendocrine tumor I had a blood test and a 24hr urine test, that measures certain hormones in the body. They also wanted to do an MRI with contrast, but since I had 2 of the 24hr urine test and they came back negative I have decided not to go for the MRI for now (fear of contrast and claustrophobia).
I'm weighing up wether to have a pill camera endoscopy/colonoscopy because even though I am not as bad as before I am certainly not well and yesterday, for example was an awful day.
Have you done anything differently, that you can identify, for the frequency of your symptoms to have decreased?
jason82 sasical72
Edited
I decreased sources of mental stress as much as possible. Basically stopped working for the time being, I know this isn't possible for everyone but this should give you an idea of how serious I'm taking it. It was a rough couple of weeks at first but the frequency slightly decreased and I feel a little bit more relaxed. At first it thought I was relaxed, i don't feel particularly tired during the day but it seems that's just my body being used to be in a high alert state all the time because when i force myself to lay down during the day after about 15 minutes i start feeling tired and can easily sleep for an hour..
Like I said unfortunately it's just the frequency that has decreased though. The severity is just the same, as if a switch is being flipped and doom starts and my body is letting me know things are about to go horribly wrong. Only thing I can think of is that my nervous system/gi tract is so stressed out still from all the years of chronic stress.
I'm not sure you should go through the stress of getting a (camera)colonoscopy. From what i've read you've been thoroughly checked out through the years. Perhaps you are having a higher (base) level of stress than you are willing to admit? I know i have. Remember that recovery isn't linear and feeling "fine" today or yesterday doesn't mean you won't have an "attack" tomorrow because you stressed yourself out mentally/physically last week!
sasical72 jason82
Edited
You are right in that, even though my job isn't particularly stressful, I do always have anxiety to some degree.
elizabeth94112 jason82
Edited
Hi Jason,
OMG... I have been in that position where i felt the symptoms coming on but couldn't expel anything. So NO RELIEF!!! I went and bought some Fleet Enimas. If my body wasn't ready to get it out, I was gonna do it myself!! They've come in very handy!!
Elizabeth