Loose poo in mornings and fed up. What will help, any ideas?

[gettingfedupofthis]

Really getting fed up of this. Since just before Christmas have had this problem on and off. So I can be ok for a couple of weeks, then I might have loose poo every am for the next week. I wake up most mornings feeling nauseous whether my tummy is going to be funny or not. I have also recently recognised that I have some kind of anxiety/ panic disorder although I am going to be getting CBT soon and am doing well atm anyway as I've read up about it and am making changes :). However, I beginning to think maybe my tummy symptoms aren't related. It's not a particularly stressful week yet my tummy is not good.

I will go back to the GP next week but I wondered if anything might help- peppermint tea, yakult stuff? Never tried any of it. I have always been on the constipated end of the scale before (since childhood). Much more preferable as I just controlled it with eating lots of fruit/veg.

The really weird thing is that I'm not passing wind in the day much at all . Tmi I know but this is the opposite to the normal me too!!! Just feel so out of sorts

developed hayfever @ 32 yrs, worsened over next 4 years (tree pollen) and then multiple food problems where the symptoms started like that... which turned out to be oral allergy syndrome. see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome
But it took a long time to work out - forgotten lunch with just raw pepper sticks was diagnosis trigger - also seems to involve lots of foods that are thought of as healthy.

Thanks so much for your reply. It's a possibility but I think now that this is all anxiety related. Very frustrating.

The panic symptoms and morning loose poos could be food intolerances or allergies. Would be worth keeping a food diary and seeing if you can see any connections.
I'm celiac and before I was diagnosed I used to have irritable bowel type symptoms, with loose stools, but only in the morning. Also had episodes of feeling really weird with racing heartbeat/palpitations, GP said they were panic attacks.

I ended up in A & E a couple of times and needed IV injections to slow heart down and was eventually diagnosed with celiac disease. As long as I don't eat gluten I'm fine.

It doesn't seem to matter what I eat. I do steer clear of too much rich and fatty food as I know that has upset my tummy in the past. I tested negatively for coeliac disease in April so I guess it's not that. I am going to try and cut out all coffee and chocolate but I really feel chNging my diet won't help. If it's all to do with anxiety, I don't quite know how to stop it. I can see a route to improving the panic etc but this bowel stuff just seems so random. Never know where I am with it and today feel really low:(. Eg what's the point in booking a holiday if I'm going to feel poorly every morning and not be able to stomach food until 10am!! Sorry for rambling. I have just started taking mebeverine and peppermint tea so maybe they will help...

It's classic IBS and that definitely is exacerbated by anxiety.

If you think about it, people who have had a big fright often do literally "shit themselves" because all of that adreneline can make the bowel go into overdrive.

When you have anxiety, you are running on a low level of fear pretty much all the time and that can cause loose poo for the same reason. It's horrible, but harmless.

Have you tried something like Immodium? I believe there are also anti-spasmodic meds that the GP can prescribe for IBS. They might help.

You say this varies week to week. Is it tied into your cycle at all? I have horrible IBS- the 2am kind that keeps me up til 5am (and then the toddler is up at 7) so I massively sympathise. I have found that its worse at some points in my cycle- perhaps because my stress levels go up.

Just as an aside, for some people, if they have diarrhoea, they get bio-feedback that makes them feel panicked, its kind of a chicken and egg thing. You feel panicked if you are about to have the runs, and then you get the runs more because you're panicking. Not helpful in interrupting the cycle if you get it of course though .... :-(

My IBS was greatly improved by taking Multibionta. It didn't work overnight but after about 6 weeks I noticed an improvement.

It doesn't seem to be tied into my cycle. It kicked off on day 4 of cycle this time and still going 6 days later. The month before it started just before AF started. I wish I could just find a pattern and avoid triggers. In the past I would get an IBS diarrhoea attack about twice a year, always due to over eating or eating too much fatty stuff. This would be over in one visit to the loo though. This is totally different. Feel right as rain in the evenings then wake up in the night with rumblings and the be 'loose' in the mornings!

crikey I've never ever taken immodium but have recently started carrying some around with me. Because at the moment it's only once every morning, I don't feel justified in taking it though.

god that's exactly the type of cycle I'm in I guess. Though it doesn't seem to matter if I'm calm for the rest of the day, same thing happens in the morning. In the past I have passed out after proper diarrhoea (low blood pressure) so I do feel panic if I feel unwell in that way in public. I don't get cramps or urgency with this current ibs though.

Multibionta, thanks I'll definitely look into that.

I hope you find something that helps getting. It's bloody miserable and you have to have experienced it to fully understand.

Another thought - could you be lactose intolerant?

I think I am - but only very mildly. Recently, I've had some episodes when I couldn't bring myself to eat properly (anxiety related), so I started drinking Complan made with full fat milk. It's seriously delicious - but I paid the price a few hours later....grumbling & clenching in my tummy, awful wind & then loose stools.

I get this every time I up my milk intake, so it's probably to do with lactose. Do you drink a lot of milk, or eat a lot of dairy products?

I've thought of that too but I don't think I am. I haven't got so far as doing a food diary but I don't think milk affects me.

From thinking things over, I'm sure it's all anxiety now. My tummy can be unsettled when I'm nervous about something. Can be ridiculous like when a new friend is coming over or if waiting for a medical appointment. I get churny feelings and then some wind :(. It all goes away when the person turns up or after I'm called by the dr etc. but if I get like this then my tummy is obviously very sensitive to being stressed.

This just really scares me long term. I can cope with a bit of a nervous tummy as described above but this loose poo every morning is horrible. Feel powerless to do anything, maybe I need to try some AD's. Really don't want to as tried citalopram and sertraline earlier this year and couldn't tolerate either. :(

www.amazon.co.uk/Irritable-Bowel-Solutions-essential-treatments/dp/0091917069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347360289&sr=8-1

I found the book above helped me manage similar symptoms - it has questionnaires so you can identify what might be causing the problem. It has not provided a cure but things are much better - I elimnated dairy (which I knew was a problem for me) and saw great improvement by cutting down on fibre and raw veg (I'm a vegetarian and tried to eat very healthily). Repressed stress and anxiety do have a part to play too.

www.amazon.co.uk/Irritable-Bowel-Solutions-essential-treatments/dp/0091917069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347360289&sr=8-1

Thanks Jane I will take a look. However, I'm 99.9% sure this isn't food related. I REALLY wish it was as I could just eliminate stuff. Nope this is all anxiety related I reckon which is depressing as I can't see a way out :( :(. I was having a really successful time conquering my anxiety before the diarrhoea started this time so I just feel hopeless. Um I'm really anti but AD's here I come I think. I can't believe my life has got into this state. I have been through so many stressful things in the last 10 years, yet never been affected by anxiety like this.

H! I know this is a very old thread. I am wondering if you got your situation worked out and what helped you? I am in your situation now and trying to figure it out. Thank you! Michelle

Hi Michelle,
I have been looking on here too as I have the same problem.
Tummy ache and wind wake me early and then have to go to loo and suffer loose stools, I also feel slightly nauseous too, but that might just be the fear of it as I do suffer with anxiety as well, been like this over a week now.
It all started after a weekend of drinking white wine with a friend for two days, not my normal drink and I feel its upset a balance or something. I have tried yakhult to no avail, and yesterday tried a probiotic, but that made me feel worse.
I'm eating, but not normally, just bland, but I'm also fearing going to bed now as I know I will be woken around 5am with tummy ache/rumblings...
I have suffered something like this before about three years ago, and when I stopped being scared of it, it went away. Unfortunately scared of it again now, but something must have kicked it off, I have been very stressed of late, hence the wine drinking!
Let me know how you are? I do hope things are easing for you because it's horrible.
Best Wishes Jennyfwr

It’s weird how reading this and other threads, I recognised some of my various symptoms! If you had everything investigated I guess it would end up being labelled health anxiety. Yet the symptoms are real enough! Not sure now whether it’s all anxiety/stress related or an actual intolerance/allergy of sort.

Hi I think white (and red!) wine is a trigger for me. I might try an organic one but it might be because we are drinking more than usual at the mo. I have found Polish buttermilk (maslanka) about £1.20 a little can get from most supermarkets helps settle my stomach. Just have a small glass every morning, cheaper than Yakult!

When I had these symptoms for two months in 2017.I had a,colonoscopy and endoscopy , all fine.So I belive this is all down to my high anxiety worry and frar of it.I have in the past 6 weeks been under a lot of stress too.I have now had it for 2 weeks again.I will speak to the doctor , but dont know what she can do? I feel I need something to calm my stomach down and me.
Isn't it a well known fact that your stomach is the first to react when stressed?

I have IBS and that describes me, OP. There are few things you can do.
I take a really small dose of amitripyline, which got rid of my anxiety and made IBS a lot better now. It can make you tired at first but you soon adjust and I wouldn't be without it.
Try a pro biotic for a month and see if there's any change.
Then there's also a natural product that can help called Enterosgel which is amazing at stopping upset stomachs, whether it's caused by IBS, food tolerances, whatever.

I am also finding that I am woken up by my stomach going and then have loose stools several times each morning. I too am wondering if this is down to anxiety as I have become very anxious since around May onwards.

@Funkyfaerie can I ask back in 2017 how did you manage to stop your symptoms? I have been having this for around 3 months now.

Realitea,
Thank you for your tips, very much appreciated.

Holidayseeker,
I literally stopped fearing it.
In the evenings I would start to think, oh its nearly bed time and I'm going to be woken up with a windy tummy ache and a dash to the loo again. It was just before Christmas the end of the 2 months and I was getting upset as I thought I was going to spoil Christmas and we were supposed to be staying overnight with relatives, the panic!
I was hardly eating either, just bland food.
I suppose I just got cross with myself, and thought I'm just going to get on with it, it had been proven to me it was anxiety by my test results, so I tried to stop fearing it, it took a while. A little thing I did too was to eat porridge every morning and that it would bind me up a bit, cand I drank a Yakult too.
I know it's not easy saying try to stop fearing it, but I believe my fear of waking up with it kept it going. To be honest this time I have been really highly stressed for the past six weeks and I think that is what started it off again.... I'm starting to eat properly again gradually. Anxiety is a sneaky thing, it has so many effects and I think the stomach is the first to suffer... I wish you well. And please keep on here and let people know how you are doing.

Thank you so much for the advice.

Mine seemed to start with anxiety causing me to lose my appetite and it went from there. I am also not eating much for fear of the next day. I also make sure I have nothing planned for the morning in case I need to use the toilet.

I am angry with myself for how I have let this take over me. I too need to start eating more food as I am finding I am no better even when I eat less.

Good luck hope you start feeling better soon.

I am currently experiencing this every morning. Started with looser stools now liquid stools every morning as soon as wake. I am taking fluoxetine for anxiety and ocd but this started before that. Now convinced I have bowel cancer xx