Heartburn Indigestion Symptom

GERD and IBS triggered by stress?

I am a 28 y/o male Soldier in the U.S. Army, and have an unusually high level of daily stress. Last year, I was diagnosed with IBS, and for the last six months I have been showing symptoms of GERD (though I have not seen a Dr. about it, I went on Zantac instead) Recently, I have upped my dose of Zantac to 225 mg daily (3×75 mg, 1 every 8 hours). Tums and Rolaids do not help with either my indigestion or heartburn. Recently my stool has been softer and occasionally very dark, but never “tarry”. I have noticed, however, that while I was on leave, and visiting family, my GERD and IBS symptoms lessened considerably and flared up again after a couple of very stressful days at work. I do not smoke or drink, I am 6’2″ at 190 lbs, in decent shape. To lessen my heartburn symptoms, I have given up grapefruit juice, any food with a tomato based sauce, and quartered my caffeine intake. does anyone know of a link between irritable bowel syndrome, Gastro Esophegal Reflux Disease and stress?

Most definitely! As an IBS sufferer of over 20 years, I know there is a link. My trouble started after a bout of ecoli poisoning, which has left me with food intolerances, food sensitivity, chemical sensitivity and low fibre IBS-D.

Stress definitely makes it worse; it concentrates all the acids and makes the body bloat; it tenses muscles that your intestines need to process the foods and then traps wind too. It’s not fun, is it?!

I try to stick to natural, unprocessed foods as much as possible. I avoid as much dairy as possible (take calcium supplements instead) and take a daily B complex vitamin to aid digestion.

I think your best bet is to keep a food diary for a few weeks, then see a doctor. It’s the best way to remember what you ate that triggered a spasm, and also allows your doctor to see any underlying links in trigger factors.

A lot of trigger factors in both GERD and IBS are down to distinct intolerances: dairy, wheat, gluten, processed food, saturated fats.

(If you’re not sure how to keep a food diary, pm me)

Best site on the internet for GERD and IBS is this one – it is literally a fountain of knowledge –

http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums

it is free to join, and although not posting, I’ve been gathering (harvesting!) information from there for a long time now.

I would also recommend some type of stress relief – whether it is meditation, yoga or something like playing computer games or cards. Twenty minutes of this after work, and before getting on with your home life, can prevent a spasm, or sufficiently relieve one to let you get through it with less pain.

If you’ve any specific questions you need to ask but don’t want to put them on the answer board, just pm me. I’ll help if I can!

Good luck – let me know how you get on.

Symptoms of Heartburn and Indigestion

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