Exam stress

[DippyDoo98]

My DD is due to sit her GCSE’s in a few weeks time.
She is really academic and predicted 8/9s and she is also a really hard worker and is revising well.
For the past few months she’s been experiencing IBS type symptoms and she’s seen a specialist (husband has private health care through work) who gave her a clean bill of health. They tested for gluten issues and none were found. She doesn’t tend the have the same issues at weekends or holidays so it’s clearly stress/exam/school related.
she says she doesn’t feel stressed but we agreed that her body is finding things difficult.
other than that all is good- no friendship dramas (she has a small/none dramatic friendship group), has hobbies and interests to give her time away from her studies. She is eating and sleeping well. Home is good and stable.
live bought her some rescue remedy and encouraging her to walk the dog to get plenty of fresh air and exercise.
I think she’s really aware of the sound her stomach makes and she’s worried about needing the loo whilst at school.
anything else we could try? Just need to get through the next weeks and months!

It does sound like she is experiencing some anxiety that is manifesting itself in her gut. I wonder if it might be worth starting her in some probiotics? It very may well help with the IBS symptoms but also potentially have a placebo effect on your DD which may also help to ease the anxiety?

I think Rollergirl has a good suggestion.

I'd see if she wanted to walk the DDog together so she can chat. Woukd she do something like C25K with you? Has she got some things to look forward to during her revision time and afterwards, when the exams are over?

I really recommend that she tries some guided meditation too. Insight Timer is a free app.

thanks For the suggestions.
Have got some probiotics and my friend suggested peppermint capsules as well.
she loves to walk the dog by herself but not worried about communication with her- she’s very open and chatty about her problems. Sometimes I think that’s the difference in how teens are to when I was young- she tells me things I’d have kept hidden.
Lots of things to look forwards to over the summer and she can’t wait to move to the local college as it’s sparkling new and has lots of extra curricular activities she wants to try.
Someone also recommended hypnotherapy so I’m going all out and got her booked for a couple of sessions starting next week. Speaking to the therapist she said this is the peak week for exam anxiety to kick in.
fingers crossed for a smooth, calm exam period

Have you tried cutting out gluten. This sounds exactly like my dd earlier this year. She tested negative for coeliac and allergy but is definitely gluten intolerant - presumably it’s been triggered by stress. We were told for months it was anxiety then gluten was suggested and it had an immediate impact and she’s transformed. Worth a shot if you haven’t already tried a cut?

Also before we realised it was gluten acupuncture helped a lot with the symptoms and got her through her mocks.

not worried about communication with her- she’s very open and chatty about her problems. Sometimes I think that’s the difference in how teens are to when I was young- she tells me things I’d have kept hidden.

I'm with you on that. I talk to DD about things I would never have discussed with my DM also.

Yes - def worth a try! Thank you

Will have a look at acupuncture as well.

She’s not too bad today so back to school she’s gone- fingers crossed for a great day.

Just a small thing, but it might help a bit - could she ask her Student Services team for a toilet pass/time out card (whatever is in place at her school) so that if she needs to go to the toilet she can leave the lesson with no questions asked. It might help to lessen her anxiety over this a bit.

My DD sounds very similar to yours. She has IBS which is almost definitely brought on by anxiety. It has been sky high recently because she’s had the most awful friendship problems (thankfully on the mend now as she has found new friends).

I don’t wish to alarm you, but just so that you’re prepared, if she’s like my DD, the exams were a major trigger. She was well prepared and looking forward to getting them underway, but on the morning of the first exam she had the most horrendous anxiety related symptoms - throwing up, stomach cramps, feeling dizzy, headaches etc. It took us both completely by surprise, and it continued for every single exam (approximately one million of them, or so it felt).

I’m telling you this so that you can be prepared now. The exams team at my DD’s school were absolutely brilliant. They moved her to a smaller room, helped to calm her before each exam and sat with her when she had to leave and coaxed her back in. I would speak to your Exams Officer and let them know that she’s having these symptoms and that you’re concerned how she’ll be during the exams. Then they can be prepared and look out for her. They have seen it all!

My DD was also offered propranolol by our GP, but this was halfway through the exams and she didn’t want try something new at that point. It works by blunting the adrenaline response, and she felt that she needed the adrenaline to get her through the exams but I’ve heard of others who have found it helpful. It would be a low dose. It might also be worth making an appointment with your GP just so you have something in place if you need it - my DD was prescribed anti nausea medication which she did take, and helped a bit. They might not prescribe anything yet, but you’ll have had the first appointment so it would be easier then to have a follow up if the symptoms do manifest.

I hope I haven’t scared you, and hopefully your DD will be absolutely fine, I just wanted to share my experience as there are things that you can put in place now.

Also, despite her horrendous experience my DD did really well in her exams so don’t panic if she is unwell in the mornings, she will get through it. You sound like a lovely, supportive mum. Good luck!

We've been having similar issues with our son, visited specialists, got tests, all clear. His IBS symptoms also show when we go on holidays so it's pretty clear that they are caused by stress. We tried with probiotics and vitamines and they helped a bit. But he was worried about not finding a toilet or needing a toilet during tests or car drives, etc... and this worry made his belly worse.

IBS runs in my family, my sister and mother have a severe kind of IBS and both use medication in stressing situations. I have a light form and what helps me the most is to go out from home. It's when I'm alone with my thoughts or working remotely when the symptoms hit me. I work in the office 4 days a week and those days I feel much better as I am distracted, talking to other people and more focused on doing my tasks. It's all in our mind.

It's a difficult period in their lives, it will be fine. We all have health issues and we learn to live with them, it's a matter of time.