[Editor’s Note: “Tummy Talk” is a bimonthly column in which Rebecca Gross discusses her experiences with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and explores different ways students can approach living with stomach disorders. It is not meant to be taken as medical advice.]
I had a chat with my grandma the other day, and I could have almost predicted the direction the conversation would take. I’d tell my grandma how my Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms have been going, and she would tell me not to kid myself: These symptoms are a figment of my imagination, a product of my anxieties, and a build up of the stress and pressure I put on myself as a student and a working woman.
These conversations always leave me defeated. I want to tell her that yes, she’s right in many ways. My IBS flares up when I am under extreme levels of stress and anxiety; tensions bypass my mind and go straight to my stomach. However, I also want to tell her that knowing my IBS flares up in these difficult times doesn’t change the fact it actually does.
Regardless of which external factors may be contributing to my IBS, my stomach is unpredictable. I could go to yoga every day for a week before finals in attempts to treat my symptoms preemptively, and my IBS might still flare up. I could practice meditation and make a mindful effort to eat well, but my bowels might still decide they don’t feel like cooperating this time around.
There’s no cut and dry solution, even if I know anxiety and stress could be factors contributing to my IBS. Even if I cut the stressful parts of my life out, such as going to class and keeping up with my job, I would be a vegetable lying on the couch watching mindless television and probably feeling anxious about not doing anything.
So it’s incredibly frustrating to hear somebody tell me that this very real, very material, very painful, and very uncomfortable bodily challenge is actually a product of my largely untouchable mental inconsistencies.
I’m the first to admit that I’m stubborn. You might actually say that I’m stubborn about being stubborn. However, I’m usually stubborn about things I feel are right in the core of my heart — or my gut in this case.
I know that, in many ways, my gut has a mind of its own. As I alluded to above, my gut tends to act up before my mind is even aware that it is under stress. This happens the week I have an interview for a job I really want, it happens after I’ve found out a family member or friend is upset with me, and as trivial as it sounds, this happens the week before finals.
And the question remains: What can I do to curb the gurgling gut, the bloated belly, the choleric colon?
The simple answer is to listen to my body and wait to feel healthy again. We all have different triggers for stress and we all experience stress in different ways, and we therefore have different ways of handling stress. While some of us tear our hair out or get the common cold when stressed, I tend to feel like there’s something dying in my abdomen.
And this is what I really wanted to tell my grandma — although I didn’t for fear of being rude. I wanted to express that the fact is, we as students can’t change which finals we have and when finals are. We have to go into finals with a clear mind and an open heart, and we have to understand that our body may feel aches and pains during the next couple of weeks. Part of that is understanding that we can’t always play the role of god in knowing when our bodies will act up.
So yes, of course I promote learning your stress triggers and taking action before you know they are coming on. But, if you’re anything like me and you can’t always control your body, make sure your comfiest clothes are clean, and double check that your pantry is stocked with your favorite foods. You will get through this finals week, and many more trying times in your life, even if it seems like your tummy (or any other seemingly autonomous part of your body) is fighting against you every step of the way.
Reach Opinion Editor Rebecca Gross at wellness@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
