Stress Center Peer Support

I used to have a real bad eating disorder. I lived off of stuff like soup, milk, and liquids for a very long time in my life.

Now I am actually eating ok but have gained some lbs.

Sometimes though my stomach issues cause me go into panic attacks.

Has anyone else dealt with this.

My eating issue came from anxiety issues to begin with. I was alot like the woman on cd 2 I think.

She said she up and couldn't swallow. Well I had that problem too. I went from dr to dr and they kept telling me not to eat until they did certain tests.

Then one dr would send me to another dr. they too would ask me to fast.

This went on for a few months. I was losing lbs then and the dr's said it was healthy. But they didn't know I was not eating right at all a long time because none of the drs were communicating.

Finally when I was allowed to eat I couldn't. It would hurt to eat. If I ate I would get the worst stomach cramps and I would throw up. ( Not on purpose)

That lead to fear of dying and more panic.

I didn't eat right at that point for at least a year. Evenetually i would add more and more foods. Stuff like baked potatos ( soft) Cambell's soups, milk, pudding, ice cream.

Now I am able to eat thank god. But have gained some lbs in the process.

However sometimes I still have stomach problems after eating.

Is that IBS?

I have had stomach x-ray, and other tests on my tummy and they find nothing serious. Again thank God.

Can a panic attack actually bring on stomach problems that are in actuality IBS?

Panic attacks give me wicked acid reflux. IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)is a problem with your intestine and will give you symptoms like diarrhea or constipation and intestinal pain and cramping. The diarrhea and constipation can alternate and yes, stress (or panic attacks) could cause that too. My stress hits me right in the stomach--always has since I was a little kid. I eat mostly bland foods. Every morning I have a yogurt smoothie with berries and oatmeal. I try to stay away from milk products because they can increase your stomach acid. My gastroenterologist gave me a list of foods that can aggravate an already upset stomach: alcohol, soda, coffee (decaff is OK), chocolate, citrus, anything oily,spicy, greasy or fried, aspirin, NSAID's like Motrin or Advil. He said 20% of the population cannot tolerate this very popular type of anti-inflammatory painkiller and it will tear up their stomachs.

Hope this is of some help. I can relate to your stomach problems. It took me months to get to a good gastroenterologist. Once I followed his instructions, I improved.

There is a thread on here about acid reflux--you might want to read it. I am not a doctor, so don't think you have any kind of professional diagnosis here. It is just that your problems sound so similar to mine, I think it sounds more like your stomach than your bowels. Your espohagus can actually go into a spasm and it hurts like the devil. My specialist said I had a "functional" problem versus something physical like inflammation, an ulcer,etc. But he said the pain was not in my head, that it was real.

I will go have all this checked out. Thanks.