Is there a link between anxiety and bowel movements?

Yes there is a link between anxiety and stomach/bowel problems. Also the move may have altered your eating habits and that could also cause problems. Even so, it would be worth going to see your Dr about this and getting checked out. A colonoscopy may sound unpleasent but it only takes about 30 mins and could help to put your mind at ease.

you have to go under for that though don’t you?

My mum has been diagnosed with UC recently, just before her diagnosis she quit smoking, turns out smoking calmed down and reduced the severity of her condition as she was less anxious… so yeah definite link.

@tan235 Not necessarily. In the UK you ussually get light sedation but increasingly no sedation.

@tan235 “You have to go under for [colonoscopy]?”

It’s usually done under so-called conscious sedation. They put in an IV and give you drugs to help you relax & get drowsy. You might doze off intermittently for a short while, but it’s not the same as full general anesthesia for surgery. Recovery is generally quick & uncomplicated.

You can discuss the desired level of sedation with the provider(s) doing the procedure to make your wishes known.

ah that’s good, i really hope it’s just anxiety… i guess i should go get it checked properly though, it’s been like this for 2 weeks but i also keep thinking and freaking out about it.
so scared.

Did you move from the UK to the US? (I took a peek at your profile.) A change in diet can definitely make a difference. Anxiety/stress can also play a big role. I’d be willing to bet that these are the causes, but I am not a medical expert. If it helps to ease your mind, it would be best to set up an appointment with a doctor.

By the way, I spent a month with my SO and his parents in England this year. The food was fantastic, but it did a real number on my digestive system.

The differences in the ambient bacteria in the UK and the US might be responsible for your problems – when I first moved to Japan I had the shits for a month.

Do you drink enough water? Watery stools is often a sign of dehydration. Fiber is crucial to good bowels and since it sounds like your innards are in duress, maybe some pro-biotocs may help out too. Regular good meals and exercise will also help. Good luck!

There is a definite link. I have anxiety (GAD and social anxiety) and I notice a huge correlation to my stress levels and my digestive system. I’ve been to the doctor about it and was told I’m a ‘stomach responder’, which means when I get anxious/stressed, it strongly affects me in the gut, including digestion and elimination. For example, from about June to October of 2008, I was in a horrible place, stressors from every direction, more stuff piling on every day, so bad that I just wanted to lie down and die to make it all stop. I learned then that I have IBS in reaction to stress, because I had diarrhea pretty much every day during that time. The doc recommended fiber tablets to help stimulate the inside of the intestines, and she gave me some prescription, which I now have forgotten the name.

If I were you, I wouldn’t jump straight to cancer! It could be IBS, a change in diet, exposure to different environmental flora, who knows! But don’t flip out and make yourself more anxious by worrying about cancer, that’s counter-productive. You won’t know until you talk to a doctor and there’s no sense in worrying about stuff until you know for certain what’s going on. (coming from an anxious person, I know that’s hard, but it’s one of my personal mantras)

I second the IBS notion. I have it, and stress always kicks it into overdrive.

If it is IBS, the doctor can really prescribe pills to help stop your muscles from having spasms (thus causing the diarrhea).

Regular, moderate exercise, good fiber intake, and recognizing when you are about to have an attack can greatly reduce how much it will control your life.

Whenever I feel an attack coming, I take a couple of deep breaths and try immediately to relax. Sometimes it helps.

Of course, definitely talk to your doctor. A gastrointestinal specialist can help you pinpoint what’s going on.

In my life there is, alas.

hey thanks guys you have no idea how much this helps, i’ve just been at work and had two panic attacks thinking about it…. it’s so horrible.
I’m scared now to go to hte toilet- far out what a whimp.
but you’re right i can’t just jump to conclusions and i moved from aussie so an even bigger change is diet… it’s just scary as everything that is happening to me is a sign of bowel cancer as well…. it’s good to hear stories though from people with anxiety helps so much.

I gonna be honest here, I’ve been through the same damn thing before. There was a time when I was having diareha like everyday for almost six months, and I was scared shitless, sometimes literally ha. I was scared to talk about it with anyone, and I was way more scared to go to the doctor about it, in fear that he was gonna tell me I had like colon cancer or some shit. But I finally grew a pair and went to the doc to check it out, and I was really glad I did cause like MissAnthrope, I was going through a horrible time with everything, and the doc told me that I too had IBS and that it was treatable, and that it was most definitly not cancer. But for a time there, I was so scared it was cancer.

What I’m saying is that I agree with all these peeps here in saying that I think you’re right as rain, except that maybe you got some anxiety issues going on because of things and changes that are happening in your life right now. You’ll be all good. Just try to keep a peaceful, calm, and positive mind goin on. Best wishes.

Do note also that loose bowels can be a side effect of some prescription meds.

Anxiety can cause thin/flat stools. It has something to do with stress forcing the intestinal muscles to contract.

hey guys thanks so much, i’m now wondering if maybe I just have a bad tummy bug, my tummy doesn’t feel right at all but this morning thanks to Pysillium husks i did a normal one!
which i’m gathering if it were something bad wouldn’t happen, as it would just stay the same no matter what i ate?
I do live in a big warehouse that is kinda dirty, the floors are terrible so maybe it’s that as well… anyway thanks to you guys i’m trying not to stress about it…. thanks so much, i really like fluther.

As a chronic IBS sufferer..just wanted to send some love out to everyone else that suffers with this horrible horrible ‘syndrome’ xx

Try eating lots of rice and potatoes. Helps me

OH!!...I don’t know the full information about it and I’m not a doctor but I do know that there is a sympathetic (which inhibits peristalsis – bowel movements) and a parasympathetic (which stimulates peristalsis). As anxiety is a nervous disorder it follows that anxiety does have an effect on the bowel movements…This is an interesting page for information about activating the PNS. However it seems that you are probably suffering with the opposite…too much stimulation. Perhaps someone else (a doctor) could shed some light on this matter as it seems quite pertinent.

@nebule thank you so much, will try this!