Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group

Crohn's disease is a systemic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of unknown cause, that results in chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract. It can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, and can also cause complications outside of the gastrointestinal tract. There is no known medical or surgical cure for Crohn's disease, but there are many medical...

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Gastrointestinal System
/ Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group

anxiety/stress/depression and ulcerative colitis/c

jonge
jonge
hey guys,

i suffer from anxiety and depression and two months ago i was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at exam time.

im 23 and have suffered from anxiety since the age of 11. my main symptom is a churning stomach, which i have constantly.

during the time i fell sick i was under a lot of emotional stress and my stomch was churning a lot. the stomach is the most sensitive organ of the body to our moods and hence stress.

i think that the fact i was sufferring from a churning stomach for so long and particularly at exam time along with the fact that i hadnt eaten any fruit and veg for at least 3 months prior to the onset of my illness is the reason why i developed the illness.

the doctors dont have a clue what starts the illness, but i think that it is psychosomatic, as well as due to eating a bad diet and not chewing food properly(after all the colon is only an inch wide in diameter, so if food isnt chewed properly it can irritate the lining of the colon during the squeezing action of peristalsis).

does anybody else suffer from anxiety and think that this may have caused them to have developed the illness.

regards,

Jon
rmb
rmb
Hi, I mostly ate a lot of chicken when I was growing up and living at home. As an adult, it's been chicken and fish and occassionally pork. I eat a lot of sushi. Otherwise, I do beans, ie black beans, garbonzo beans, etc.

I have always eaten a ton of veggies. I have several servings of veg a day. I'm also an apple freak.

I try to stay away from a lot of processed food and sugar.
Larry083
Larry083
UC cannot be brought on by your behavior or eating habits. I too suffer from anxiety attacks and depressions and sometimes that sets off the flare up. I am a police officer and have a very stressful job. When things go bad there my flare ups are worse. The mind and the gut work together like that. At least for myself and a few other people blessed with this disease. My doc gave me wellbutrin and it seems to help a bit. talk to your doc.
jonge
jonge
hey guys,

once again thanks for all the replies.

reedm you say that eating cashews may have triggered it for you. im currently readng a book about healing crohns and colitis it says in the book that eating nuts especially if not chewed properly can rupture the tissue of the intestine. the intestine is only 1 inch thick and peristalsis can squeeze the tissue against the nuts as they pass. did you used to chew your food adequately?

marcie,
i also believe that stress caused the illness for me or triggerred it off. if stress can make your stomach churn, then it muast have some effect on your digestion and inflammation etc.

i have been sufferring from anxiety since the age of 11 and am now 23. for those of you sufferring from anxiety and depression i recommend this website www.healing-anxiety.com i am seeking the help of this man and am overcoming the anxiety. he is a claire weekes counsillor in new zealand called david johnson.

i am going to try and research the effect of anxiety and digestion/crohns/ulcerative colitis. would anybody like to help me research.

regards,

Jon
deleted_user
deleted_user
My doc said to me that my flare ups really comes from the stress & worries I have,but also for unknown reason does the intestin gets attack by bad viruses &that causes UC. Also the food &invirorment we live in can cause it .He wants told me when one of his patient went home to Indiana he was well but when he came back to Texas within 3 weeks all the symptoms came back.Also the pulution where u live has an big impact,or the water ectr.Well I'll be moving soon to illenois wait &see what happens lol
Larry083
Larry083
I had a terrible flare up last Oct that lasted 3 months. Thr remicade stopped working for me and I am on Humira now. I was home all 3 months and did a ton of research. I figured that 3 main inflammatory foods are wheat, sugar and dairy. I eliminated them totally, which was hard at first, and drank a ton of chamomile tea with honey. It definitely helped ease the bowel movements and I lost 30 lbs in 3 months.and kept it off. Not to mention I was about 40 lbs overweight and I usually put on weight during flare ups from eating out of depression. I notice when I eat like this I feel best.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I just read an article (on webmd, I think)that scientists have isolated specific genes that are common in CD and UC. It definetly runs in my family. I was Dx at 47 but had symptoms for at least 3 yrs prior. What set mine off was a heavy duty dose of antibiotics that gave me diarrhea that never went away and then the bleeding started.

The stress and anxiety and depression I have comes from my disease.
Larry083
Larry083
The stress and anxiety definitely comes from the disease. I hate antibiotics.
jonge
jonge
hey,

maybe the help im getting from this site could help you guys with the anxiety and depression www.healing-anxiety.com

its run by a guy called david johnson. i recommend you give him an email or if you want a call, his number is on the site.

Jon
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