IBS and Anxiety

Anxiety. A sad affliction that haunts the lives of many, myself included.

In October 2019, I discovered that i had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). For those of you who don’t know, it is caused by stress, anxiety and worry,it is a long term condition and cannot be cured. It’s symptoms range from feeling constantly bloated to feeling nauseous at random times in the day. Till now, I can safely say that having IBS is literally one hell of a ride. 2019 was the year of my national examinations and I was, I recall, super stressed. I worried constantly about whether I could achieve my goals, whether I would make my parents proud, and more. I remember clearly, before every examination i would feel nauseous and usually had to vomit before the examination started in a nearby toilet. To make matters worse, some of my “friends” thought that i was faking my IBS.

At that point of time, i felt really alone. Doctors, parents and friends told me ” It’s all in your brain, you will be fine”. Truthfully? It is not that easy to believe that everything is okay, my mental health affected my physical health and within a month, I lost nearly 4 kilograms. (Just so you know, i was already nearing underweight before losing weight). I wanted to give up. I felt that no one understood me. Who else had this same syndrome as me? Who else was going through the same pain? At that point of time,”No one” I thought,

My biggest support along this journey were my close friends and family. My church friends and leaders were constantly keeping me in prayer, before and through the examination. My schoolmates would check in on me when i was in the toilet, vomiting my guts out. My parents kept me in prayer throughout, talked my worries out and made sure I reached school safely every single day. Now thinking back about it, I realise that although my friends or family may not understand what I’m going through, they definitely love and care for me. Yes i learnt a lot in 2019, it was definitely a faith journey for me and i learnt to trust God a lot more, that He will take care of whatever problems come my way.

My reason for writing all this is to show you that you’re not alone in whatever circumstances you’re in. Problems are inevitable but worries are optional. It is normal to overthink, to stress and fret over small things, but remember that there are people watching and caring for you. Confide in them, if they love you, they will not judge you. I’m sorry to have bored you with my long essay but then again, you could hv chosen not to have read it at all.