IBS and Anxiety: Is There a Connection?

If you think “anxiety and IBS are ruining my life,” then you’ve got problems. Is there a link between IBS and anxiety? While, it’s not clear how stress, anxiety, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are related or which one comes first. But studies show they can happen together. Although, there are several theories about the connection between IBS, stress, and anxiety:

Although psychological problems like anxiety don’t cause the digestive disorder, people with IBS may be more sensitive to emotional troubles.
As a result, strong emotions like stress, anxiety, and depression trigger chemicals in the brain that turn on pain signals in your gut that may cause your colon to react. Therefore, stress and anxiety may make the mind more aware of spasms in the colon. IBS may be triggered by the immune system, which is affected by stress.

“If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten.” —George Carlin

IBS Anxiety Causes

Another key point, strong emotions like stress, anxiety, and depression trigger chemicals in the brain that turn on pain signals in your gut that may cause your colon to react. Hence, stress and anxiety may make the mind more aware of spasms in the colon. IBS may be triggered by the immune system, which is affected by stress.

According to a 2021 review, intestinal bacteria in your gut communicate with both your brain and your digestive system. When the signals between bacteria, brain, and gut fall out of balance, your emotions, sensations, and digestive functions can all be affected.

All in all, your body’s goal is to maintain homeostasis, or a steady state of being. After a stress response, fluctuating hormones are meant to return to balanced levels. However, when people experience long-term stress, their bodies can’t achieve homeostasis. The body’s altered state of activation can contribute to conditions such as IBS.

A heightened stress response could change how your gut and brain communicate with each other, according to a 2021 review. Above all, with IBS, changes in the gut-brain axis may be linked to increased pain, diarrhea, constipation, and other symptoms.

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”—Oscar Wilde

Anxiety and IBS Symptoms

When you live with IBS, you’re constantly on guard, never knowing when an attack will occur. This heightened stress leads to generalized anxiety disorder in about 60% of IBS sufferers. Altogether, the more you worry about your health and the potential embarrassment of an episode while dining at your favorite restaurant or meeting friends for coffee, the more susceptible you are to anxiety. Additionally, in turn, anxiety leads to stomach aches, muscle pain, dizziness, and an acute awareness of the spasms related to IBS.

Accordingly, IBS and anxiety can impact everyone differently. While this can lead to different treatment options and interventions, these are the most common symptoms.

IBS symptoms:

bloating
gas
abdominal pain
constipation
diarrhea
changes in your stool
feeling an urge to move your bowels but are unable to do so
incomplete bowel movements
lastly, feeling an urgent need to move your bowels.

“Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.” —Jeff Valdez

Anxiety and IBS Treatment

 Best Anxiety Medication for IBS

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

At length, SSRIs have been found to be better for treating constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C). SSRIs help to reduce rectal hypersensitivity symptoms (burning sensations, pain and pressure). Hence, some commonly prescribed SSRIs are:

Celexa (citalopram)
Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate)
Prozac (fluoxetine)
Paxil (paroxetine)
Zoloft (sertraline)

Generally, SSRIs have fewer side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, anxiety, headaches, and loss of sex drive. However, SSRIs are known to cause weight gain.

Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)

SNRIs are better for diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D). In addition, SNRIs have a lower impact on sex drive. However, these drugs can increase blood pressure, blurred vision and have a higher risk of glaucoma. Some commonly prescribed SNRIs are:

Cymbalta (duloxetine)
Effexor (venlafaxine)
Pristiq (desvenlafaxine)

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)

TCAs are better for diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D). Specificly, these drugs slow down gut motility, which helps reduce diarrhea and alleviate pain. Some commonly prescribed TCAs are:

Elavil (amitriptyline)
Tofranil (imipramine)
Norpramin (desipramine)
Aventyl (nortriptyline)
Unfortunately, TCAs can have side effects such as drowsiness, dry mouth, blurred vision, sexual problems, dizziness, tremors, headache, and weight gain.

 Silicol Gel Anxiety

Before heading back into the workplace, soothe the gut with a product such as Silicol®gel. Therefore, as our mind and gut interact, getting stomach irritation under control before stressful times can help control severe symptoms. Being that, Silicol®gel contains silicic acid which coats the lining of the stomach and intestines by physically attracting and adsorbing most irritants, toxins and pathogens without removing nutrients or ‘good’ bacteria.

 Probiotics for IBS and Anxiety

In addition, probiotics, including psychobiotics, are hard-working, beneficial microorganisms that help you digest while also guarding your gut from destructive microbiota. Therefore, as Dr. Emeran Mayer points out, a robust microbiome is vital, since it helps your mind and digestive system communicate via neurotransmitters in an arrangement that’s called the gut-brain axis.

What you eat influences your mind, including your mood and mental health through the gut-brain axis, so it’s a good place to start. Particularly, low-inflammation eating full of healthy, low-FODMAP fruits and veggies is an excellent start. Add psychobiotics to give your gut-brain axis an extra boost by supporting the kind of gastrointestinal microbes that help your brain and body perform at their best.

In brief, studies show that certain probiotics decrease IBS symptoms while also strengthening the overall immune system and mood.

“I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” —Jerome K. Jerome

Managing Your Psychological Response to IBS

In any case, understanding the link between your IBS and your emotional response can help you identify the signs of distress, depression, anxiety, and anger and take steps to manage them. For one thing, the first line of defense is managing your physical symptoms, like constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

Also, you can also reduce your stress by preparing for the situations that worry you. When you go out to dinner or on a road trip, consider these tips:

Use an app to locate the nearest restroom
Eat on schedule
Pack supplies to handle an accident
Monitor your fiber and water intake
Sleep well
Finally, avoid caffeine and alcohol (and other IBS triggers)

“When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.” —Rodney Dangerfield

Conclusion

Therefore, can anxiety be induced by IBS? There’s proof that keeping your stress under control can help you prevent or ease IBS symptoms. Here’s why. Subsequently, your gut has what you can call a brain of its own. It’s the enteric nervous system. And it’s the reason you get butterflies in your stomach when you’re nervous. Nonetheless, this “second brain” controls how you digest food. It also constantly talks with your actual brain. This connection may help you manage your IBS.

In a ddition, a good way to tell whether stress is triggering your IBS is to keep track of when you have symptoms. Keep a journal of times and dates you have IBS. Given that, this can help you learn whether IBS happens when you deal with stressful situations. On the other hand, chronic stress is stress that lasts a long time, such as several weeks or months. Overall, you may be suffering from chronic stress if your IBS symptoms occur all the time without any noticeable patterns or triggers.