Anxiety - induced constipation?

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Constipation has been an issue for almost my whole life. I would get constipated at times when I was about 4 or 5 (I ate very few foods when I was that age - peanut butter, white bread, vanilla yogurt, white milk, tortillas and tortilla chips at Mexican Restaurants were my staples) and when it would happen, I would avoid telling anyone because my mom would get mad at me for it for some reason and the way in which they made it go away really, really, really hurt....that's all I'd like to say about that particular aspect of it.

I also got really bad constipation two different times after my parents divorced when I was 5 and my mom was starting to move in with the man who would soon become my stepfather. The first really awful case of it actually had me vomiting, and my mom stopped being mad at me for being constipated when she saw that....afterward, I was sort of upset at her for not realizing how miserable I'd been and for treating it like something I was doing for excrement and giggles (please excuse the godawful pun). My mom and stepdad tried raisins, prunes, some weird kind of root - beer flavored medicinal syrup and enemas (the things that really, really, really hurt) to make the constipation go away. The second occasion occurred right before their wedding, and they were mad at me AGAIN because I'd just had an enema and they thought I was just "holding it" and they also said that they were going to take me to a hospital, which was probably going to hurt even MORE than the enemas and scared me all the more. Thankfully, the enema started to work right after my stepfather came into the bathroom to yell at me, and the wedding went fine.

I still get small bouts of constipation now and then (though I eat many more foods and a more balanced diet than I did as a kid) but now I keep Ex - lax chocolates or Metamucil cookies on hand, and these episodes are nowhere near as bad as when I was a kid. My mom now treats constipation in my sisters with Metamucil cookies too. I'm sorry, but I don't recall signing up to be the guinea pig for constipation remedies.

If I remember right, I think when I was a kid, I got at least one or two bad cases of constipation a year - ones that required enemas, that is. I can't stand the sight of enemas these days...whenever I see one in a medicine cabinet or something, I just want to take the top off, squirt it in the sink or down the toilet, and throw the plastic thingy away. It also get my hackles up when I hear about them being used on young children. They work quickly, sure, but so do Metamucil cookies and Ex- lax chocolates, and enemas add to the pain and are humiliating for the patient being administered them.

*Breath* Okay....my question is, was the constipation related to my somewhat limited diet that I had as a child (see above) or the stressful environment I was in (embarrassment of having the problem, anxiety over telling and what painful things would happen if I did, my parents getting mad and thinking I was just doing it for attention, my parent's divorce, having to split my life b/tw two different houses, my mom moving in w/ my stepdad and marrying him, having to be "good" and not raise any issues so the grownups would stay happy, having no friends I could talk to except for my stuffed animals, having a possible anxiety or obsessive - compulsive disorder)? Is it possible for constipation to be brought on by anxiety?

I gotta say, at first I wasn't sure whether I should put this in the "Health" forum or the "Psychological Conditions" forum.

Oftentimes, gastrointestinal issues are brought on by emotional stresses. Me, I have quite the opposite, I get diarrhea when having anxiety. I don't see any reason why the opposite could not be true. I suffer from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), which was triggered by a very stressful time of my life.

Of course, having a limited diet doesn't help the matter. Also, some people have a genetic predisposition towards GI tract issues (they run in my family across three generations and you say that your sisters suffer from constipation too).

Maybe it was a combination of emotional factors, limited diet and genetic predisposition in your case.

Constipation is caused by malfunctioning of the bowels. Normally, the stool is pushed along by bowel spasms. These spasms are regulated by the enteric nervous system (ENS - a division of the autonomic nervous system), which is connected to the central nervous system (CNS). Sometimes, when this connection is awry, normal bowel motility is altered. The bowels may slow down and their spasms might be erratical - that causes constipation. Conversely, fast and erratic spasms produce diarrhea. Given that there is a strong connection between the ENS and the CNS (where emotions are experienced), there's no wonder that GI activity is often perturbed by emotions and stress...

I'm really sorry that you had to go through all of this. You definitely experienced a huge amount of stress and maybe even depression and anxiety. Parental divorce is always tough on children. I do hope you are better now.

_________________
Probably 75% Aspie, 25% NT... and 100% ADHD

Aspie-quiz results:
Aspie score: 138 of 200 / NT score: 78 of 200 => Very likely an Aspie.

hi LtPinkCoupe. I think I had the exact same problem as you when I was a kid. (with all the accompanying pain and humiliation) It's called encopresis. It's usually caused by a developmental delay (yay autism!) and becomes a psychological problem when parents have fits over it. I still suffer from constipation if I'm stressed out. I changed my diet when I was a teenager, and eat lots of veggies and fruits and cereals. Tons and tons of fibre, basically. And I haven't eaten red meat in....practically my lifetime. I find it takes about a week to digest and I'm in agony the whole time, so it was pretty easy to give it up. O, and stool softeners are a big help if I do find myself um...stressed out. Hope that helps.

Ah, yes, I remember childhood dates with enema, or should that be enemy? Constipation can be caused by one or more of several things--diet, stress, bad combo of stomach farm germs, and internal problems. We do have a lot of different germs in our GI tract. Some are good, and help digest food, others are bad, and still others are neutral. A bad combo can cause problems. A bad diet can obviosly cause problems, and can affect the types of bacteria living in your gut. Same with stress. You can also have something wrong with your gut, or you can be allergic or sensitive to certain foods, like foods with gluten in them.

In my case I have several problems. I don't have the best diet but I have made improvements over the years that have helped. Several years ago I was also able to reduce a lot of stress by finally living alone. I also have a kink in my bowel that I have always had. I suspected it for decades, and several years ago it was confirmed by a colonoscopy. I also suspect that I may be sensitive, but not allergic to gluten. I am better able to handle whole grain wheat than the processed stuff, though. That's good, as I like the whole grain foods better. They taste better to me. I even get whole grain pastas when I can. All the problems I have, have probably also affected the bacteria farm in my gut, too.

Although I do have the kink in my bowel, it's not a total block, and I am able to go every day, but it does cause things to back up some. Fortunately, I do eat more fiber than I did as a kid, so that helps some.

I did have a habit as a very young kid of not wanting to use public rest rooms, so that added to my problems. When I was an older kid, I gave myself a bad case of constipation once on a camping trip with my father and brother. The camp ground had an outhouse that was infested with all kinds of bugs, including spiders, so I would only stay in long enough to tinkle. I held it in for about three days, until we went home. By that time I was constipated. I think I needed the enema again then.

My worst case of constipation came several years ago after cancer surgery. The pain meds cause constipation. In my case it went on for several months, even though I stopped taking the home pain meds after about a week and a half. For several months I was on stool softeners, I ate things that normally give me diarhea, and ate stuff with lots of fiber in it, but it still took months before my system went back to my own normal. On the plus side though, the surgery cured my cancer! They caught it early, before it could spread. It was uterine cancer and often that isn't caught until it's too late, but in my case it caused a female bleeding problem. When I had that checked out and treated, they found the cancer. So bad as the constipation was that time, at least it was the aftermath of a cancer cure.

I think if you have such problems, try reducing stress, and improving diet--including more fiber. If that doesn't work well enough, then get checked by a doc, for gluten intolerance, and for a mechanical problem, like a kink in the bowel.

One thing, since I've been hanging out here at WP, and since I've been researching Autism spectrum disorders in general, the info I've come across includes GI problems of all different types as being common on the spectrum. Unfortunately, that includes me, but at least reducing stress and making some improvements in my diet have helped some.

I do agree that enemas should be a last resort in treating kids at home. There are other, safer, and less unpleasant methods to try first, that are also effective.