IBS and Anxiety making school tough

Flor1dagator7
Tue, 03 Sep 2013 23:03:24 +0000

I had ulcerative colitis for 6 years. I had to take off 2 years of college. I know exactly what you’re going through. Sitting in class with anxiety building up wondering if you’ll make it through class without needing to go to the bathroom. When you’re out you always subconsciously find all the nearest restrooms. Awful way to live.

I don’t agree with some other posters about which is causing the other regarding anxiety and IBS. While I’m no expert, I don’t think anxiety is causing your IBS symptoms. Maybe it’s stress from classes, but I wouldn’t classify it as anxiety. Unless you have a generalized anxiety disorder, I think your anxiety is related to your IBS. Once the IBS symptoms start up, then I understand why the anxiety would come. It’s a vicious cycle. What most posters don’t understand is that this isn’t a problem that just trying a different medication will fix.

I assume your GI doctor already gave you a colonoscopy. If not, I think that one is needed to make sure it is IBS and not Crohns/UC like someone else said.

I don’t think ruling out a career in nursing like some have stated is necessary at this point. Depending on what your doctor says, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to take another semester(or 2) to figure things out and get healthy. I wish you luck and I hope you get treated better.