Take a note of these digestive symptoms that might be due to anxiety!!
Posted on: 23/Nov/2023 9:31:30 AM
Our gut or GI tract and brain are interconnected with each other. As a result, any issues in the brain would show up in our digestion. It is worthy to note that gut microbes produce or help produce many of the chemical neurotransmitters that would convey messages between brain and gut. Not many of us would know that the vagus nerve is one of the biggest nerves connecting our gut with the brain. Point to be noted is that when we are anxious, then our body would respond by showing certain signs.
Five digestive symptoms that are linked with anxiety are
Diarrhoea:
Here, the motor function in the large intestine would get accelerated by stress hormones. This would result in bowel urgency or diarrhoea. Anxiety induced diarrhoea could be lowered by avoiding caffeine, by staying hydrated etc.
Indigestion and nausea:
It is noteworthy that the action of flight or flight mode could result in stomach slowing down. This could show up in the body as indigestion and nausea etc. Anxiety induced nausea could be overcome by drinking water or deep breathing etc.
Dry mouth:
When we are anxious, our sympathetic nervous system would get activated and the saliva production in the mouth would get slowed down. By this, we would get dry mouth issues. Anxiety induced dry mouth could be overcome by drinking water or by using a humidifier inside rooms etc.
Overactive bladder:
Stress hormones would get released when we feel anxious and this would lead to overactive urinary bladder. This would make us urinate frequently. It is possible to reduce the anxiety induced overactive bladder by doing meditation or by doing breathing exercises etc.
Abdominal cramping, bloating etc:
It must be noted that when we are anxious as a stress response there would be an increased flow in the big muscle groups, brain etc but less in the gut. Truth is that the gut cannot heal from wear and tear and it would lead to symptoms of bloating and abdominal cramping etc. Anxiety induced bloating could be overcome by walking or by doing abdominal massage etc. Sipping cool water or taking some antacids could help us from anxiety induced abdominal cramping.
