Since both the causes and symptoms are very similar, how does one know the difference, much less balance them? Now days, with all of the extra stress in daily life between your job, kids and family, gas prices and just day to day living, how can you tell if you are having an anxiety attack, symptoms of Irritable Bowel Symptom (IBS), or something even more serious and should seek medical advice?

Everyone experiences stress, anxiety and fear at some point in their lifetime, but at some point a professional opinion is not only warranted, but also wise. Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or better known as anxiety attacks or panic attacks, is an incredibly common disorder that affects more than 6,8 million people. The signs and symptoms can affect all aspects of your life and can be debilitating at times. Although there is strong research and evidence most things we experience both physically and mentally are the direct result in our own focus and thought. However, when the symptoms reach levels that are uncontrollable and unacceptable, an outside resource may be the answer.

Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by a group of symptoms in which abdominal pain or discomfort is associated with a change in bowel pattern, such as loose or more frequent bowel movements or diarrhea, and/or hard or less frequent bowel movements or constipation.

The main triggers of Irritable Bowel Symptom (IBS) include caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and mainly stress. These vary from individual, but the physical “attacks” can be very uncomfortable and frequent. Thus, the very thought of an impeding IBS attack causes even more stress and possible triggering an anxiety attack.

After three different doctors, granted with different specialties and backgrounds, I now had three completely different diagnosis and therefore different opinions and treatments to research. One simply told me to change my diet and sleeping patterns. This I was used to as a long time sufferer of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). I tried several variations on my diet and behaviors including caffeine, alcohol, sugar and smoking. As usually an abundance of anything in life is going to have a negative reaction there my symptoms did change but did not solve the problem as a whole.

The second opinion leaned towards severe depression and wanted to go the route of several medications. One may not be inclined to add any prescriptions to your daily regiment if there is a remote possibility that they are unnecessary, or the wrong type and dosage which results in an adverse reaction to that is worse than the original symptoms themselves.

The last physician suggested that a more holistic approach, which sounded like a much more solid and safe alternative. Over the past 5 months I have learned to love herbal tea again, have tried some traditional meditation, along with a couple of techniques I learned from Joe Barry who developed a program for controlling anxiety attacks. I have had quite a bit of success in controlling not only the number of anxiety attacks and episodes, but have managed to balance my IBS symptoms in the process.