Stress And Microscopic Colitis

[tex]

Hi All,

I have a theory that stress plays a much larger role in the development and persistence of this disease than the medical community realizes. Let's see what we can learn from this poll.

Tex

[mbeezie]

I attended a seminar last week on The Immune System: Mind Body Connection. Our emotions defintely can influence our immune function.

The day I had my flu shot (that started all of my problems) was the day before I was opening my new business, so I was stressed about that (short term) but also I had just fiished a very intense 18 month internship, moved to a new city and was mom to an active 7 year old (long term stress).

Mary Beth

[barbaranoela]

with all the years watching Kait go thru her surgeries--daughter Lynn--devasted --Kristyn angry cus Lynn had to be at the hospitals most of the times and then run into work---
this worked on me and still does cus Kait will never be able to function on her own--I know it now---

thats why I have my ups and downs--cus when that phone rings my body stiffens up--
and do we go to Lynns for a *happy* day--no--we go very often cus Louie has to repair things etc. that Lynn just cant do

Barbara

[Robbie]

I'm still thinking on this. I have had GI problems since almost day one. I had my first upper GI when I was about 15 because I had been having what I called "stomach attacks" since the age of ten. And this was separate from my BM problems then, which amounted to being constipated most of the time. Well, it probably was related, but it was different from a "poop attack". I finally quit having the stomach attacks in my early twenties and to this day I don't know what it was (the doctor said "muscle spasms in the esophagus"). So, it's hard to answer. My childhood was stressful......

[tex]

Robbie,

Dairy products are notorious for causing constipation in kids. There is a good chance that you may have been sensitive to dairy products and/or gluten all your life. Doctors usually don't recognize the connection.

Tex

[harma]

the is one of things I have been wondering from the beginning too, was is the relation between stress/emotions and MC. Just before my MC started I had a very emotional experience that really hit my on a deep level. Two weeks later the MC started. But I am still not sure if this was a coincidence or not, because when I look back a little bit earlier, a couple of weeks before that the typical MC gurgling had already started.

My bowel problems in general started in 2001, from one to the other day, together with my sleeping I still believe my sleeping problems (and all the other mental problems like concentration problems, emotional issues) are connected to my bowel problems. I always thought that my bowel problems (IBS like) were caused by stress, my work wasn't going very well, I wasn't happy in what I was doing etc. But more and more I start to believe that the bowel problems caused the emotional problems, sleeping problems and all the mental problems. My believe know is, that this all was caused by a gluten sensitivity that started in 2001.

What the influence of stress and emotion is on MC once you have it. Still my experience is that food is a bigger influence than emotions or stress. If I eat something that (still) irritates the gut, I can't sleep very well and don't feel okay.

This said, that doesn't mean I don't believe in a strong relationship between emotions/stress and the effects on it on are body and the immune system.

[Robbie]

My sister called right as I finished posting and we chatted about our childhood stress (she and I are 14 months apart - I am the oldest of three girls). She suffered from constipation worse than I did. We both switched around the same time. My switch over to constant D was when I had the first colonoscopy ten years ago, and she switched from being constipated all of her life to being practically normal, with some random episodes of unexplained D, about ten years ago when she started drinking morning coffee for the first time in her life (before that she never touched it - I was shocked when I learned she drinks coffee). She now considers herself cured (as long as she has her coffee) and wishes she'd have discovered this miracle drink years earlier, since she was so bad she ended up with an anal fistula that caused her much grief. Anyway, dairy (etc.) very well might have made things worse, but we were two stressed out little girls so I'm leaning toward the "my life has always seemed to be very stressful". However, we have a sister ten years younger than me who did not have the stressful childhood we had (my parents had matured by then and it was as though she was raised by different people) and she, to this day, has problems with constipation, as do both of her daughters. But, lately, the D is starting to be a problem for her, too. Also, my grandmother and her sister (and maybe other siblings) had the same problems with constipation early on and then D later in life, so it certainly seems to be a family thing.

[tex]

Robbie,

I assume that you are aware that coffee has a laxative effect on many people. I don't drink it for that reason, but many people drink it because it "makes them regular". IOW, right after they drink it, they make their daily trip to the "throne". Your sister may still have constipation, but the coffee temporarily overcomes it.

It certainly does appear that the problem runs in your family. Many of us have discovered family patterns with GI issues, unfortunately.

Tex

[Robbie]

Tex,

Oh, yeah, she and I both know what's going on. She is constipated without the coffee. I was the same way with smoking. It was my main treatment for constipation for years. One cigarette was usually all it took, sometimes two. It was the only reason I smoked, too. Otherwise I could take it or leave it. Except when I was going through divorce (twice). I smoked more often because it helped with the stress, but that was short-lived.

[gowest]

My first GI symptoms started in high school, when I would get so dang nervous before track meets. My parents found some medical records the other day that showed I was having parasite stool tests even back then! College, working 80 hours a week at Apple Inc headquarters, and then grad school, were all pretty stressful, too. Plus I've always had the tendency to take on lots of outside activities and sports because I get bored and blue if I have nothing to do. I'm a "calendar filler," you could say.

These days (age 27), I realize how much my mental state is connected with my digestion, so I'm trying to slow down a bit and not stress as much!

[tex]

working 80 hours a week at Apple Inc headquarters

So that's how Apple is able to introduce new models of iPhones so quickly.

Tex

[gowest]

Exactly! Although everyone that works there is an Apple geek and they don't generally mind the long hours.

[Tessa]

Hi my dear friends.

Interesting poll.

I have voted for the 2nd option. I agree with you, Tex.
Stress seems to be "very" important.

I am sure that the results will go for that option above all.

Love,
Tessa

[Joefnh]

I've always viewed stress as the great multiplier when it comes to health issues. It's well documented what the effect on the body in relation to both short term and long term exposures to stress. We know for instance that the cortisol levels increase during stressful situations and one can imagine what negative effects on the adrenal systems during long term stress.

I know for me leading up to the MC diagnosis that I had been under both work and personal related stress for over 2.5 years. I am sure that was a contributing factor in bringing MC and Crohns into an active state .

--Joe

[angy]

interesting posts...but i have to say that i have never been a stresssful person...i have always been pretty laid back about most things in life...i was fine until i got sick with d and lost loads of weight,,,then dx with cc...
I seem more stressed now living with mc than i did before i got it. orrying about needing the bathroom when in public.....I reckon it was 20 yrs of co-codomal painkillers that gave me mc...

I havent had d since oi went gf