Why do I have diarrhea when I am nervous? If this happens, it may be due to illness...

Has this ever happened to you? Classmates went to the toilet repeatedly during the college entrance examination, performers kept going to the bathroom when they were about to go on stage... In short, they wanted to go to the bathroom when they were nervous. Medically, this condition is called irritable bowel syndrome, which means that the intestines are too easily excited and sensitive.

01What is diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome?

Diarrhea caused by stress is usually associated with high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental states. If it does not occur frequently, it is not considered a disease in medicine, but is called "stress diarrhea."

This is because the activities of the human digestive tract are controlled by the autonomic nervous system. When people are nervous, the sympathetic nervous system will be overexcited, causing the gastrointestinal tract to contract and move faster, which will cause the excrement in the intestine to be excreted before it has time to stay in the body, resulting in...diarrhea.

In addition, our intestines also have a magical and independent enteric nervous system, which can also form a "brain-gut axis" with the brain. The regulation of gastrointestinal motility mainly depends on the coordination between the brain, the autonomic nervous system, and the enteric nervous system.

Mental stress, especially long-term high stress, can cause abnormal visceral sensitivity through the brain-gut axis, leading to abdominal pain and further aggravating intestinal dysfunction. To make matters worse, you have to keep running to the toilet while you have a stomachache.

Although occasional nervous diarrhea is not strictly speaking a disease, if this type of abdominal pain and diarrhea occurs frequently for more than half a year, it may develop into a true functional gastrointestinal disease - irritable bowel syndrome (diarrhea type), and may require medication.

0 2 See if your intestines are also excited

The more of the following descriptions you match, the more likely you are to have IBS.

1. Irregular bowel habits, sometimes diarrhea, sometimes constipation.

2. Abdominal pain that goes away after going to the toilet. Defecation usually occurs after meals or after stimulation by cold food.

3. Abdominal bloating, stomach gurgling sometimes, and frequent farting.

4. Symptoms are more obvious when you are busy with work or studies or are under great mental stress.

5. Female, aged 20-30 years old.

6. Prone to anxiety and tension.

0 3 How to prevent diarrhea caused by stress

If it is just a symptom of irritable bowel, you can try to relieve it by adjusting your lifestyle habits:

1. Avoid foods that trigger symptoms:

Different people may have different foods that are likely to trigger symptoms. Everyone should pay more attention and avoid eating these foods.

2. Eat less gas-producing foods:

3. Maintain regular living habits:

Paying attention to drinking plenty of water, exercising regularly, ensuring adequate sleep, and relieving stress appropriately will help relieve symptoms.

Pro Tip:

If adjustments in your lifestyle cannot alleviate your symptoms, and attacks are frequent and have a significant impact on your life, it is recommended that you go to the hospital for treatment.

Common therapeutic drugs include antidiarrheal drugs, antispasmodics, antidepressants, probiotics, etc., which must be used under the guidance of a doctor.

If symptoms occur frequently, especially in middle-aged and elderly people, you should pay attention to the characteristics of your symptoms. It is best to go to the hospital for examination to rule out other diseases with similar symptoms to avoid delaying diagnosis and treatment.

04How to treat irritable bowel syndrome?

Treatment should be individualized according to the patient's specific situation. The cause should be actively sought and eliminated, symptoms should be alleviated, and treatment should be limited to symptomatic treatment.

1. Adjust your diet

Learn more about the patient's eating habits and their relationship with symptoms, avoid sensitive foods, reduce gas-producing foods (dairy products, soybeans, lentils, etc.), high-fat foods inhibit gastric emptying, increase gastroesophageal reflux, and strengthen post-meal colonic motility. High-fiber foods (such as bran) can stimulate colonic motility and have a significant effect on improving constipation.

2. Psychological and behavioral therapy

Patiently explain the work to the patients, including psychotherapy, biofeedback therapy, etc. For those with symptoms such as insomnia and anxiety, sedatives can be given appropriately.

3. Medication

(1) Gastrointestinal antispasmodics. Anticholinergic drugs are the most commonly used, and they can partially antagonize the gastrocolic reflex and reduce intestinal gas production, thus relieving postprandial abdominal pain. Calcium channel blockers include nifedipine (nifedipine) and pinaverium bromide.

(2) Gastrointestinal motility-related drugs such as loperamide, domperidone (Metoclopramide), cisapride, etc.

(3) Laxatives. They are usually avoided, but can be used for a short period of time for those with severe constipation. Hemicellulose or osmotic laxatives are preferred. Taking 15 to 30 ml of lactulose before bedtime is also effective, especially for the elderly.

(4) Psychotropic drugs. For patients with obvious psychiatric symptoms, appropriate administration of sedatives, antidepressants, and antianxiety drugs can be helpful.

(5) Intestinal probiotics. Some patients with diarrhea may have intestinal flora disorders, and the use of intestinal probiotic preparations can help.

In addition, exercise may also be helpful. Studies have shown that exercising 3 to 5 times a week (running, cycling, yoga, walking, etc.) can also significantly reduce the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

People can't escape the five words "eat, drink, poop, urinate and sleep" in their lives. If you feel uncomfortable in any of them, don't bear to torture yourself~

I hope everyone can sleep well, eat well, drink well and poop well.

Source: Chongqing Tianji Network Co., Ltd.

This article is compiled from: Dingxiang Doctor, Jingyitong, Zhejiang Hospital, Renwei Health, Tencent Medical Dictionary

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