Have you or someone you know ever experienced ongoing chronic nausea for
days, weeks, months, or even years? Have you been to one doctor after another, with
every test coming back negative and no clear answer as to why you're feeling so
awful all the time? Well I know exactly how you feel. So today I'm going to share
what I've learned the cause of my condition is in hopes of potentially
helping others figure out their condition as well; stick around to learn more
An idea
Can escape.
Ideas are bulletproof!
*chimes*
Hello, my name is Becca and this is A Life Learned. Today I want to
expand on a past video I've made about chronic nausea. as I've learned quite a
bit about my condition since making that video. Though I do recommend checking it
out, for anyone who hasn't seen it, as despite the older scripting and editing,
it does still have a lot of really helpful tips for just generally dealing
with nausea. But the important difference with this video is that I'm going to be
discussing the cause of my nausea, not so much how to deal with the nausea itself.
Unfortunately, like many of us, after countless tests doctors just weren't
able to tell me what the real cause of my nausea was so they simply diagnosed
me with irritable bowel syndrome and left it at that. I wasn't satisfied
though; this didn't feel like a clear answer for the cause of my suffering. So
I started doing some research and began to suspect that my anxiety might be the
real issue. I then later learned about the brain-gut axis in school, which
helped me definitively conclude that the nausea symptoms I've been experiencing
are definitely caused by my anxiety and mental state. When I first experienced
these symptoms I was dealing with subconscious generalized chronic anxiety
and so by that I mean it was ongoing, indefinitely but I didn't really know it
was anxiety. The initial symptoms I had was an unsettling feeling in my stomach,
which I've now come to learn is a sign of low-level anxiety, but back then I was
really unfamiliar with it so I just assumed it was some kind of weird,
unfamiliar hunger pang. Though shortly after coming to this conclusion I was
prescribed an antibiotic for a separate condition which seemed to cause an
imbalance in my gut flora leading to my nausea symptoms becoming significantly
worse. This is why I had mistakenly concluded that the solution to my nausea
was natural yogurt in my last video; because the natural yogurt had fixed my
gut flora imbalance and I didn't realize that I was also
experiencing a decrease in stress at the same time. But before that time, being
unaware of the actual cause, I had a lot of spiraling nausea fits where I would
start to feel sick and then I would get fearful of a nausea fit, which would
eventually bring on the nausea fit and then I would start to spiral where I
couldn't eat anything, I couldn't drink anything, all I could do is throw up
until I was brought to the hospital to be rehydrated. I've since come to learn
that these were prime examples of anxiety attacks, where I would start to
feel a little bit of anxiety in my stomach and then I would start to get
worried about a nausea fit and/or an anxiety attack, which would cause me to
get more worried, cause more anxiety and then I'd start to spiral out of control,
(because I wouldn't know the actual cause of my symptoms), until I was ultimately
dealing with uncontrollable nausea symptoms. It's well known among many
medical professionals that anxiety conditions are associated with various
gastrointestinal conditions that otherwise have no apparent cause. For
example, a 2007 study found associations between high anxiety levels and the
development of IBS following bowel infections. I realized this study is a
bit old but all the more reason for me to be frustrated that I had to figure
this out on my own and I wasn't able to find a doctor who could explain to me
that my anxiety could be causing my symptoms. But since learning that my
anxiety is at the root of my nausea I've gained exponentially more control over
any nausea or anxiety attacks that I've had in recent years. Further support for
my theory can be found in newer studies which have shown that bacteria in the
gastrointestinal tract activate neural pathways and central nervous system
signaling systems. It's believed that ongoing studies in this area could
provide novel approaches to treatment and prevention of mental illness,
including depression and anxiety. Now I understand the desire to want your
stomach illness to be a simple fix, and I further empathize with the fear of
learning that you might have a mental health issue that's been causing the
physical symptoms you've been dealing with, (especially considering the stigma
that still exists around mental illness), but statistics suggests that about 30
percent of people with anxiety conditions go through their entire life
untreated, suffering and attempting to treat their ailments but never really
doing much more than subduing their symptoms because the root cause is never
addressed. Thus, I want to emphasize that there is no
shame in learning that you might have a mental illness; most people these days do
considering how toxic our society can be. There's only room for shame if someone
sees a possible solution but refuses to consider it out of fear; and when you
think about it, if you don't consider it then that's one less leaf unturned in
your search for the cause of your suffering. So I encourage you, if you or
someone you know has experienced irritable bowel syndrome,
gastrointestinal issues such as chronic nausea, or any other unexplained physical
symptoms but haven't been evaluated for anxiety, consider discussing it with your
doctor. Keep in mind that all symptoms are real and treatable, regardless of
whether they originate in the body or the brain. And if you can relate to
anything that I've discussed in this video, if you want to share some tips or
your story of chronic nausea, please do share in the comments and then join me
again next week, or sometime soon where, I try again to share a little something
I've learned or experienced in life