Hi, I'm John Scott. Caregiver to my son, Brandon..

[JohnScott]

My son, Brandon is 49 years old. He has been suffering from Gastrointestinal issues for over a year. This coincides with him becoming unemployed from a job he had held for nearly 15 years. The business unexpectedly closed its doors.

Brandon has seen many, many doctors for his painful Gastro symptoms. None of the Gastrointeroligists has found a cause for what ails him. He receives temporary relief from symptoms, but no explanation for what causes them.

None of those doctors has suggested the possibility that the cause could be unaddressed Anxiety. And when I bring it up, Brandon dismisses the idea that all this physical pain he's been enduring, could have, at its root, an easily treated, mental health issue.

I know there are others out there who've gone through what my son is now experiencing.

I'm hoping he can benefit from their council.

Thank you,
John Scott Adams

 

[MATD]

Since he has seen many doc’s who ruled out any causes, anxiety can indeed be the culprit. If you read posts on here, you’ll find quite a number of anxiety folks suffer from gastro issues. However, it’s really up to your son to come to the conclusion that his issues are stress related or anxiety if that fits. Take into account the sudden blow he received. Sometimes we can’t bounce back as quickly as we are expected to. You can’t force him to accept this, but you can make gentle suggestions without forcing the idea on him.

 

[Jonathan123]

My son, Brandon is 49 years old. He has been suffering from Gastrointestinal issues for over a year. This coincides with him becoming unemployed from a job he had held for nearly 15 years. The business unexpectedly closed its doors.

Brandon has seen many, many doctors for his painful Gastro symptoms. None of the Gastrointeroligists has found a cause for what ails him. He receives temporary relief from symptoms, but no explanation for what causes them.

None of those doctors has suggested the possibility that the cause could be unaddressed Anxiety. And when I bring it up, Brandon dismisses the idea that all this physical pain he's been enduring, could have, at its root, an easily treated, mental health issue.

I know there are others out there who've gone through what my son is now experiencing.

I'm hoping he can benefit from their council.

Thank you,
John Scott Adams

Welcome. I would suggest there can be no doubt that his problem is caused by anxiety. It is quite a blow losing his job after so many years. Someone with health anxiety can go into denial and not accept the cause is HA. This may be down to the feeling that it's a weakness in character, especially so with men. It is far from that, but an illness like any other. By not accepting it is caused by anxiety your son may be denying himself any possible aid. Can you get him to look on this website, he may see what is troubling him? There is a strong connection between the brain and the gut, and in any form of anxiety it is so often the gut that gets affected. All other things having been ruled out it must be anxiety. Now I do know how difficult it can be to persuade a person that anxiety is the cause of the problem. Denial is so common, but the only way is to accept that is what it is, face it and accept it then begin to correct it by various methods like acceptance. Good luck.

 

[PieFan]

None of those doctors has suggested the possibility that the cause could be unaddressed Anxiety. And when I bring it up, Brandon dismisses the idea that all this physical pain he's been enduring, could have, at its root, an easily treated, mental health issue.

Mental health issues are often not 'easily treated' or even easily identified or acknowledged (eg the drs not considering them important, your son's resistance) Personally I believe all physical illness has a 'mental' component, since our brains control our bodies and react to our bodies, everything is part of a system.

One thing which is often overlooked is the vagus nerve. This is the pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system which helps control heart rate, breathing, immune system and GI tract. In response to stress hormones these are the things which often get out of balance first and Anxiety Disorder is basically a heart rate and breathing disturbance which at its worst can lead to panic attacks which feel like heart attacks to some people, and can initially present as heart attacks in the emergency room. For about 2 years before I developed Anxiety Disorder panic attacks I had diarrhea and it was referred to medically as 'irritable bowel syndrome'. Eating a plain diet helped some and when the panic attacks started it had just gone away, which I think was my body's stress symptoms changing.

Welcome here. You identify as 'caregiver', does your son call you that? He would need to seek his own path forward, all you can do is gently introduce ideas which might help and be supportive and open minded as he tries different things.

Care is what is needed most simply for many of us, self-care and a holistic regime of lifestyle practices to manage stress hormones and calm down (repair) our over-stimulated bodies and minds. Holistic means balancing the whole of life, our intellectual, social, emotional, physical (diet, exercise, sleep) and spiritual selves, mental health can mean a balanced life, but includes disorders which respond best to medication.

The labels are just for guidance really, to identify a careplan and way forward. Everyone would have a happier and healthier life using self-care daily and in my opinion having therapy or other support to set and fulfill goals and deal with unresolved emotions or trauma. Maybe one day we will all view this as 'medical' as much as diseases and treatments or cures.

It's quite a trauma losing your 15 year job, takes a while to adapt.

 

[shay1988]

I agree it could very well be anxiety! I myself have many stomach issues from anxiety. At times I can be doubled over in pain sweating and shaking and throwing up the pain is so bad. I thought I was dying the first time it happened. It's so painful. But Dr said anxiety and also acid reflux can cause this. So I'm pretty sure it was my anxiety