So has anyone ever felt like anxiety was causing their pouch to flare up? I feel like lately I have been so nervous about everything...things I was never nervous about before. And I feel like my I'm holding all my anxiety in my pouch. What have you done to help this? anyone taken anxiety meds that have helped?
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This seems to be a common theme lately... maybe we should consider starting a separate forum for anxiety/depression (I'm being serious, not sarcastic).
That being said, anxiety can cause any physical issue to become much worse or be perceived as much worse, so it's very possible that your current pouch issues are being aggravated by the fact that you are nervous. I've currently had a couple of recent health scares myself (still unresolved) and of course my anxiety levels are right back up where they were 6 or 7 years ago when I was dealing with the aftermath of my illness and emergency surgery. I'm not happy about it. I have been on meds short term in the past, but I don't like them as a long term solution. However, if you are very anxious and find you are worrying constantly and it is affecting your general health and wellbeing, you may want to take something like ativan to get you over the hump. Either way, it doesn't hurt to speak to your primary care physician; sometimes just getting it out in the open helps, and your doctor can suggest some other strategies for coping with anxiety that might be useful to you. Alternatively, a referral to a counselor can be considered, but I stress the importance of finding one who has at least some experience with chronic illness/health related anxiety issues, and with whom you can fairly quickly establish a good rapport. I've had past experience with a generally useless therapist and in retrospect I should have quit and looked elsewhere.
That being said, anxiety can cause any physical issue to become much worse or be perceived as much worse, so it's very possible that your current pouch issues are being aggravated by the fact that you are nervous. I've currently had a couple of recent health scares myself (still unresolved) and of course my anxiety levels are right back up where they were 6 or 7 years ago when I was dealing with the aftermath of my illness and emergency surgery. I'm not happy about it. I have been on meds short term in the past, but I don't like them as a long term solution. However, if you are very anxious and find you are worrying constantly and it is affecting your general health and wellbeing, you may want to take something like ativan to get you over the hump. Either way, it doesn't hurt to speak to your primary care physician; sometimes just getting it out in the open helps, and your doctor can suggest some other strategies for coping with anxiety that might be useful to you. Alternatively, a referral to a counselor can be considered, but I stress the importance of finding one who has at least some experience with chronic illness/health related anxiety issues, and with whom you can fairly quickly establish a good rapport. I've had past experience with a generally useless therapist and in retrospect I should have quit and looked elsewhere.
Spooky, are you really as cute in person as you are in your picture? lol
Well she is a cute cat, isn't she? 
REALLY? Talking about you sweetheart..lol
quote:Well she is a cute cat, isn't she?
Very much so, actually she looks like a kitten to me in that picture.
My pouch misbehaves when I am anxious. When I had a colon pre- UC days I reacted to stress 'with my bowel' ( too much information?) as well.