Can anxiety disorder influence bowel movements?
August 22nd, 2010
Bill G asked:
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, ocd, and panic disorder. About that time my bowel movements began to change: Alternating constipation and diarrhea, softer, narrower stools, sometimes mucus. Can this be caused by anxiety? How does anxiety influence bowel movements. Can this by IBS? By the way, I am a 28 year old male. Can Anyone with anxiety problems give me examples of how anxiety, IBS has affected there bowel movements? Thanks
Kimberly
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, ocd, and panic disorder. About that time my bowel movements began to change: Alternating constipation and diarrhea, softer, narrower stools, sometimes mucus. Can this be caused by anxiety? How does anxiety influence bowel movements. Can this by IBS? By the way, I am a 28 year old male. Can Anyone with anxiety problems give me examples of how anxiety, IBS has affected there bowel movements? Thanks
Kimberly
Categories: Mental Health | Tags: Anxiety Panic, Constipation, Panic Disorder
Lady
Yes sometimes you have both. But i know that when I get strong bouts of anxiety I all of a sudden have to use the bathroom and it is always soft and has mucus.
Courtney
YES! I get the exact same thing! I haven’t been diagnosed with anxiety disorder, or IBS, but I think the two are connected…. When I get really nervous/anxious, I get a bowel movement, more than once…. I **** it…
Kimberly
Most of the illnesses that people get are caused by anxiety, stress etc. although there is not enough scientific evidence for to proove that stress is the ultimate cause of some diseases.
I started university and thus became extremely stressed, panic ridden and faced anxiety. I know that when you get anxiety, some people get gas or feel like they have to go to the washroom, or vomit.
I have now been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and even though no one knows why it is caused, it has been linked to stress, anxiety etc. You should go to a gastroenterologist. I went to see a psychologist and they said, oh it’s just because you have anxiety. Even when I stopped experiencing anxiety it was there. The problem did not go away and so i went to gastroenterologist. It could be nothing, it could be IBS or Inflammatory bowel disease or something else. But if you care about yourself, you should go to the doctor.Your symptoms indicate IBS or IBD but you should get checked out!
Good luck : )
CAROLANN
Yeah. Anxiety disorder and the “fight or flight response” in the human body such as panic etc. causes the digestive system to slow down as one of the many effects.
FRANCISCO
YES
Marina
Yes it can. My fiance lost his job right after we got engaged and became very depressed and stayed in bed all day. I was trying to plan a wedding by myself, deal with his depression and with him not having a job or even trying to get one bc he was so down. After about 6 months of this, I was so stressed out, and I have anxiety anyways, that it affected my bowels. Diarrhea, soft stools (like 6 a day), weird colored stools, and constipation were the symptoms. Gross I know, and it lasted for over a month. I thought I had some disease or cancer, but I was able to reduce my stress and it went away