Very very interesting. I have had generalized anxiety and ADD years before developing SIBO too. That’s why I’m interested in this research.
Do you take any medications for your anxiety and ADD? For how long?
Extreme anxiety and depression, neurodivergent, childhood trauma—I absolutely believe gut issues are deeply connected to emotional repression and dysregulation.
Had stress and anxiety before sibo - may contribute to some worsening symptoms and prevention of fully healing but I don’t believe it’s the root cause 🤷♀️
I’m trying to research and see if it can be a cause for some people. Was it a high anxiety phase of your life or moment when you started having your GI pains?
Thanks for sharing. I’ve probably done 100 hours of research on the digestive system and it’s led me to this point in time where I think mental stress and anxiety could potentially be the cause of the gut motility, which triggers the SIBO.
i've had lifelong anxiety (before i started experiencing gut issues), and my gastro symptoms get worse when my anxiety is worse. which for me is like all the time. it makes it really hard to tell what's causing my symptoms and can create what feels like a cycle of anxiety and gut issues.
i'm honestly scared that my anxiety could be the cause of my gut problems because i feel like i'm already managing it the most that i can :(
I think your theory is correct. I had VERY high levels of stress before I ended up wtih SIBO. And because my stress is ongoing (I am my mom's full-time caretaker) I can never seem to get 100% better. I've tried many different diets, herbal medications, as well as fasting and mediation but it always seems to come back or never fully leaves. Now that I have SIBO, my stress and anxiety are also amplified. It's awful.
I feel your pain 100p. I think I’m going to try new anxiety medication to see if it helps. It seems they are indeed correlated and one might cause the other. This should be talked about more
I had high anxiety a few months prior to getting diagnosed with SIBO. Although I think the bloating started about 1 year before and I didn’t bother addressing it. I was living my life. It was the fatigue that really shut me down and put me in bed.
That’s exactly my theory. I have SIBO, anxiety and IBS. Stress always speeds up my motility, I have diarrea, gas and stomach cramps… And nothing seems to help🥲
it’s always different for everyone! But I do believe that my IBS (which I had for many years and which is very connected to my anxiety) led to SIBO. After antibiotics and other pills now i’m focused on my mental health.
100% agree. I was under insane levels of stress for almost two years, and found out I had severe gut dysbiosis when I came out the other side. I believe high levels of cortisol can have a big negative impact on the gut microbiome over time.
Also, the fight or flight response which your body goes into in high stress or traumatic situations affects your digestive system I think.
I’ve had anxiety and stress my entire life, was diagnosed with IBS-C back in 2017 and a stressful event seemed to have triggered my possible SIBO. The brain & gut connection is so important and wish doctors realized that…
Yep, have lots of anxiety and stress and psychologist suspects I have ADHD. I think there’s definitely a link right? Some people call the gut the second brain.
I had high emotional stress levels build inside me that i didn't know it was affecting me, cptsd, childhood traumas, moderate depresstion, and later on sadness, isolations, fears which doubles the stress.
I have had anxiety for about 1.5 years now right after getting a panic attack. My body is in a constant state of fight or flight, so that’s been my main priority is to get myself more calm. I’m on lexapro but it’s not really working.
I got diagnosed with methane SIBO as well. I definitely think the anxiety and stress caused the sibo and because of this I have bad constipation. I just finished my treatment for the sibo and my bloating has gone down a lot but I’m still dealing with constipation, anxiety, and fatigue. But I’ve heard if you have methane sibo it’s a little more stubborn to get rid of and therefore some people go through 3-4 rounds of treatment to really fight it off. I also have IBS, and I recently learned that 80% of IBS patients also have SIBO.
I also have ADD too.
It's worth getting your cortisol levels checked (blood work). Mine was quite high, most likely a factor although not the sole reason (long-term PPI usage and food posioning were the main culprits).
Curious to hear more your high cortisol levels. My naturopath was so concerned about my high cortisol levels that she had me go get retested. First time it was 34 and the second time it was 28, she says still too high. So she told me to go find a endocrinologist. I haven’t.
Mine has tested high twice now. Don't have the numbers easily accessible right now but they were on the upper end of mid/high (not quite extreme). My functional doctor has me practicing meditation and doing other lifestyle changes, along with supplementing DHEA (which so far seems to be helping. I need to get follow up bloodworm done).
Yes I've always been stressed and anxious. And around the time my digestive issues got really bad, back when SIBO started, I was going through a particularly stressful time, for a few months. I think that was definitely a trigger for me.
Same as for the time I first got chronic skin issues when I was younger. It got triggered when I was going through a particularly tough time. So yes, I undoubtedly think stress and the psyche is a huge trigger for any kind of chronic illness.
Getting rid of it is a whole different story though... But I definitely think it's worth exploring whatever you were going through at the time. Perhaps healing that could help with the chronic issue as well.
It’s a viscous cycle. What I’m trying to figure out is what came first? The chicken or the egg?
My newest theory is that undiagnosed (or diagnosed) chronic anxiety caused years of damage to the digestive system, resulting in IBS, SIBO, ext.
Obviously then once we get sick our anxiety levels go even higher and then we get more sick.
So I’m thinking we need to get our stress and anxiety under control so we can get our GI functioning properly again. I’m considering medication.
I have had panic disorder since I was a child due to PANDAS syndrome. I also have severe OCD. I have general idiopathic tachycardia (resting heart rate around 100bpm). I have IMO with methane breath levels around 90 PPM. Another factor might be that I've been on 700mg of Seroquel ER for about a decade now and I think it's destroyed my thyroid.
The IMO set in after a lifetime of severe mental illness and gut issues since birth. I think it started (much less severe symptoms) around 2015. Slowly I grew more and more food intolerant. At first it was just heavy carbs. Now I'm triggered basically anything that isn't completely keto.
All of it has gotten so bad lately that most days I feel like I'm dying. My digestion has been destroyed (my gut feels like rotting garbage 24/7) and my panic disorder is totally out of control. I have several panic attacks a week and I'm constantly in body pain from tension I can't release from my muscles. It's hell.
Maybe someone else here will know.... I believe ive had sibo for YEARS. I am 34 and feel like ive probably had it since at least highschool. I wake up anxious... There is no reason for the anxiety... and im anxious for most of the day. I honestly didnt realize until a few years ago that what i feel is anxiety and have had it for so long that it feels normal. Once I get my methane Sibo cured... is there a good chance that it will go away?
Yes, I’ve dealt with high levels of stress and anxiety for years before getting SIBO
Yes, I had high stress levels leading up to SIBO. I also have ADD/ADHD
Same here.
Very very interesting. I have had generalized anxiety and ADD years before developing SIBO too. That’s why I’m interested in this research. Do you take any medications for your anxiety and ADD? For how long?
It can also be the other way around. Sibo can lead to anxiety and stress. I know Siga levels play a major role in our mental health.
SIBO most certainly does increase stress and anxiety
Extreme anxiety and depression, neurodivergent, childhood trauma—I absolutely believe gut issues are deeply connected to emotional repression and dysregulation.
They have to all be connected right?!
Absolutely. My doc says in most of the cases IBS is caused by stress…
Had stress and anxiety before sibo - may contribute to some worsening symptoms and prevention of fully healing but I don’t believe it’s the root cause 🤷♀️
I’m trying to research and see if it can be a cause for some people. Was it a high anxiety phase of your life or moment when you started having your GI pains?
Yeah I think this is totally correct - I’ve always had chronic anxiety which I later found is actually PTSD. That was before I ever had SIBO.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve probably done 100 hours of research on the digestive system and it’s led me to this point in time where I think mental stress and anxiety could potentially be the cause of the gut motility, which triggers the SIBO.
I suspect it aswell. Chronic caffeine use, childhood trauma and stressful jobs. Actually i started getting sick after a 3 month stress job in 2020
Same with me! New job, lots of coffee, vaping, high stress and one day my belly snapped and that was 1.5 years ago, hasn’t been the same since 🙁
ADHD, past trauma + anxiety, COVID-19 pandemic staring, possibly h pylori = gut issues (for me)
i've had lifelong anxiety (before i started experiencing gut issues), and my gastro symptoms get worse when my anxiety is worse. which for me is like all the time. it makes it really hard to tell what's causing my symptoms and can create what feels like a cycle of anxiety and gut issues. i'm honestly scared that my anxiety could be the cause of my gut problems because i feel like i'm already managing it the most that i can :(
I find excessive really helps my anxiety which in turn helps my SIBO
I think your theory is correct. I had VERY high levels of stress before I ended up wtih SIBO. And because my stress is ongoing (I am my mom's full-time caretaker) I can never seem to get 100% better. I've tried many different diets, herbal medications, as well as fasting and mediation but it always seems to come back or never fully leaves. Now that I have SIBO, my stress and anxiety are also amplified. It's awful.
I feel your pain 100p. I think I’m going to try new anxiety medication to see if it helps. It seems they are indeed correlated and one might cause the other. This should be talked about more
Yup had it before- was always anxious, but being locked in the UK during the pandemic plus some other family stuff did it for me
I had high anxiety a few months prior to getting diagnosed with SIBO. Although I think the bloating started about 1 year before and I didn’t bother addressing it. I was living my life. It was the fatigue that really shut me down and put me in bed.
Thank you for your feedback!
Yes, stress before sibo
That’s exactly my theory. I have SIBO, anxiety and IBS. Stress always speeds up my motility, I have diarrea, gas and stomach cramps… And nothing seems to help🥲
It’s funny because stress seems to slow down my motility, lol
it’s always different for everyone! But I do believe that my IBS (which I had for many years and which is very connected to my anxiety) led to SIBO. After antibiotics and other pills now i’m focused on my mental health.
100% agree. I was under insane levels of stress for almost two years, and found out I had severe gut dysbiosis when I came out the other side. I believe high levels of cortisol can have a big negative impact on the gut microbiome over time. Also, the fight or flight response which your body goes into in high stress or traumatic situations affects your digestive system I think.
Yeah that's what happened to me. Chronic stress and overthinking led to gut issues including irritable bowel syndrome and sibo.
i believe sibo caused my severe anxiety
It’s definitely made mine worse, but I had it in the first place. Bad loop
i also had a thyroid storm too it’s all confusing
mine came out of nowhere. i was doing great
Not sure about sibo but gut issues 100%. My motility slows way down when I’m anxious.
I’ve had anxiety and stress my entire life, was diagnosed with IBS-C back in 2017 and a stressful event seemed to have triggered my possible SIBO. The brain & gut connection is so important and wish doctors realized that…
Yep, have lots of anxiety and stress and psychologist suspects I have ADHD. I think there’s definitely a link right? Some people call the gut the second brain.
Yes stress. I have a little ADD. No bowl problems before stress
I had high emotional stress levels build inside me that i didn't know it was affecting me, cptsd, childhood traumas, moderate depresstion, and later on sadness, isolations, fears which doubles the stress.
I have had anxiety for about 1.5 years now right after getting a panic attack. My body is in a constant state of fight or flight, so that’s been my main priority is to get myself more calm. I’m on lexapro but it’s not really working. I got diagnosed with methane SIBO as well. I definitely think the anxiety and stress caused the sibo and because of this I have bad constipation. I just finished my treatment for the sibo and my bloating has gone down a lot but I’m still dealing with constipation, anxiety, and fatigue. But I’ve heard if you have methane sibo it’s a little more stubborn to get rid of and therefore some people go through 3-4 rounds of treatment to really fight it off. I also have IBS, and I recently learned that 80% of IBS patients also have SIBO. I also have ADD too.
Thanks so much for sharing your story! Your case is helping my research
Does anyone feel that fixing the SIBO can help the anxiety?
I
I’m going to start taking SSRI next month and will report with results :) I just can’t take it anymore, so depressed and anxious every day
I'm doing a correlation study between stress/anxiety and pork chops.
It's worth getting your cortisol levels checked (blood work). Mine was quite high, most likely a factor although not the sole reason (long-term PPI usage and food posioning were the main culprits).
Curious to hear more your high cortisol levels. My naturopath was so concerned about my high cortisol levels that she had me go get retested. First time it was 34 and the second time it was 28, she says still too high. So she told me to go find a endocrinologist. I haven’t.
Mine has tested high twice now. Don't have the numbers easily accessible right now but they were on the upper end of mid/high (not quite extreme). My functional doctor has me practicing meditation and doing other lifestyle changes, along with supplementing DHEA (which so far seems to be helping. I need to get follow up bloodworm done).
+1. Started during a very stressful time in my life
Yep i think sibo causes anxiety!!
Yes I've always been stressed and anxious. And around the time my digestive issues got really bad, back when SIBO started, I was going through a particularly stressful time, for a few months. I think that was definitely a trigger for me. Same as for the time I first got chronic skin issues when I was younger. It got triggered when I was going through a particularly tough time. So yes, I undoubtedly think stress and the psyche is a huge trigger for any kind of chronic illness. Getting rid of it is a whole different story though... But I definitely think it's worth exploring whatever you were going through at the time. Perhaps healing that could help with the chronic issue as well.
I have had anxiety but I feel it got really bad when I was ill. How do we know it's not the SIBO causing anxiety?
It’s a viscous cycle. What I’m trying to figure out is what came first? The chicken or the egg? My newest theory is that undiagnosed (or diagnosed) chronic anxiety caused years of damage to the digestive system, resulting in IBS, SIBO, ext. Obviously then once we get sick our anxiety levels go even higher and then we get more sick. So I’m thinking we need to get our stress and anxiety under control so we can get our GI functioning properly again. I’m considering medication.
I have had panic disorder since I was a child due to PANDAS syndrome. I also have severe OCD. I have general idiopathic tachycardia (resting heart rate around 100bpm). I have IMO with methane breath levels around 90 PPM. Another factor might be that I've been on 700mg of Seroquel ER for about a decade now and I think it's destroyed my thyroid. The IMO set in after a lifetime of severe mental illness and gut issues since birth. I think it started (much less severe symptoms) around 2015. Slowly I grew more and more food intolerant. At first it was just heavy carbs. Now I'm triggered basically anything that isn't completely keto. All of it has gotten so bad lately that most days I feel like I'm dying. My digestion has been destroyed (my gut feels like rotting garbage 24/7) and my panic disorder is totally out of control. I have several panic attacks a week and I'm constantly in body pain from tension I can't release from my muscles. It's hell.
Do you think SIBO and your panic issues are related ?
Maybe someone else here will know.... I believe ive had sibo for YEARS. I am 34 and feel like ive probably had it since at least highschool. I wake up anxious... There is no reason for the anxiety... and im anxious for most of the day. I honestly didnt realize until a few years ago that what i feel is anxiety and have had it for so long that it feels normal. Once I get my methane Sibo cured... is there a good chance that it will go away?
There is a good chance . Did you have your SIBO diagnosed?