hi everyone, second time on here i was wondering if anyone has this fear of being sick (stomach aches and having to run to the bathroom all of a sudden) and being nervous and scared that u cant' find a bathroom or one on time. i mean i obsess about this sooo much, i base my world around it and most of my anxiety is from this. if i feel sick i get nervous, if i get nervous i get sick lol it's a cycle that goes around and around. well if anyone has these fears or anything like this please let me know, so at least i have someone to talk to and know that i'm not the only one. and maybe can even talk about how we all deal with it. thank you everyone for listening

I do in a way when I am out in public, like at a restaurant I make sure I know that there is a restroom near by. Or at the movies I feel nervous because it's so far away. My biggest issue is that I have emetophobia. So it prevents me from driving and being alone. I started the program this week and I'm doing cd # 2 today.

Hey VictoriousDnice7, thx for the reply, it feels good to know u arne't the only one that feels this way, that's a relief. i just ordered the program but haven't received it yet so i'm just waiting. has the program helped u so far?

Hello Bella if you'd like email me at dniceangel7@yahoo.com So far the program has helped relax me and help me understand why I do somethings that I do. I thought I knew ALOT about everything but this has opened up my eyes. I've been putting the program off a bit because of my schedule but you've really got to stick to it. Since you are just receiving yours I don't mind comparing notes and experiences and fears. We can help each other!

hey victoriousdnice7 i wrote u an email just now, oh mine is breathenaked@hotmail.com so it might go to your junk email cuz the name sounds wierd but it's just from a song i liked years ago. anyway cool post u wrote, so if u want we can talk on here or by email, talk to u soon, have a great day

Yes, I have had this problem. It really sucks if you are at a campground. I have had IBS and am scared that I will have diarhea wherever I go and people will know. I have a cottage up north and it only has one bathroom and when other people besides my immediate family are up there. I will panic all night about having to take a morning crap and people will know. I dont know why I do that to myself. Sometimes I barely eat hoping I wont have to go to the bathroom. So yes, I know exactly how that feels. It sounds so stupid as I write this. One time someone told me to give myself an assignment and go to the bathroom outside. People have done it for thousands of years. So I can feel better that no matter what I can go to the bathroom.

hey sophia thx for the post i was just talking to my friend on the phone before and i was telling him how i think the program is probably going to say something along the facts to not care if u have an accident or something but in reality i think anyone would care and be embarrassed, it's like how do u say hey who cares if i crap myself u know lol is that realistic? but i havent' gotten the program yet, i'll get it tomorrow. i hope it really helps cuz i need it. i'm grateful for all i have in my life but i also want more, more freedom more happiness. i think these posts really help us help one another because you have someone who relates to you and can give you advice and support. how has the program helped u so far?

I get scared of passing out. I start thinking to myself "what if I passed out in front of all of these people?" The book "From Panic to Power" talks about being scared that you will lose control in public. Even though my fear is slightly different it is kind of the same in the sense that it is a "what if" kind of thing and "how embarrassing". The book and talking to people with anxiety made me realize this was a normal symptom of anxiety and that alone really helped. Now when I am out and I start feeling like I may pass out I try to remember that it is all in my head.

Hi! I had that anxiety a while back but I'm thinking it was a medication I was taking. I had polio when I was 2 2/2 yrs old, in the mid 50's. Lately I have been shaking a lot and some people told me I had Parkinson's. I had a health news letter in the mail talking about Essential Tremors. Went to a neurologist, who said I didn't have Parkinson's but probably have Famial Tremors (Essential Tremors that run in the family), because my brother shakes a lot too. He prescribed Primidone and wanted me to work to 750 mg a day, over a 56 day period. As soon as I started taking it, I got the diarrhea. I ended up taking an anti-diarrheal, which helped for a while but then the diarrhea would sneak up on me when I didn't expect it. Having to get around with crutches and braces I can't run to the bathroom so would have anxiety about not making it which a lot of times I didn't. I also deliver a couple rural paper routes a couple days a week and would be in the car, far away from a bathroom and at times it would strike then. I got so tired of worrying about it that I figured the shaking was easier to cope with than worrying about if I was going to make it to the bathroom. I stopped taking the Primidone and I am only bothered once in a while. I think when I am bothered with it, it is when I am really stressed out. Johnny G in WI

hey everyone, it's a relief to see that other people feel or have felt how i feel at times. I finally got the program yesterday, i really like
the relaxation tape i heard it last nite and again during my lunch break today, works very well. today after work i'm going to start the program and am really excited. has anyone taken the pills from the program? i haven't yet, but i will later. oh before i forget i wanted to ask Johnny G about the part in your post when you said at times u didnt' make it. how did u handle that? because that's one of my biggest fears. was just wondering how you coped with it and if you had any advice if it does happen to someone. and Mandif yeh i know the fear between you and i are slightly different but you are right about it being the same with the "what if" thinking and the "how embarrasing" i think the program covers the "what if" thinking but i really hope it helps us all. thank you everyone

Bella123, This is Johnny G. When I didn't make it, I usually wasn't in a public place so didn't have that embarassment. I had it once when going into this tavern, where I usually go. Luckily there weren't many people in there but was able to clean up in their restroom and aside from the smell...was ok but didn't stay long. I don't know if anyone noticed but no one said anything. I had it once, when I went to this donut shop so cleaned up in the bathroom, rinsed out my underwear and then didn't stay, but told them I was sick and left. I usually stopped to visit with friends so I don't know if they knew what happened or not. A lot of times a person worries about what others are thinking and either they notice but don't say anything or they really don't notice. Once it happened when I was going into church so cleaned up in the restroom and wrapped my soiled underwear in several paper towels and put them in the garbage. Since it came while I was walking, I didn't get any on my black jeans. I tended to where dark jeans so wetness wouldn't show. No light color khakis!!! A couple times in the car, had to wait until I got home. Of course then the car stunk for quite a while. Used OUT for pet odors & stains, which seemed to help and also air freshner and febreeze spray cloth deodorizer. A couple times in the car, when out in the country, could stop in a secluded spot and go on the ground. If I didn't make it, took off the underwear and tossed them and cleaned up and left with no underwear, just my jeans. Sometimes I was lucky and was wearing shorts with elastic waistband and was able to go and not mess anything up. Kind of a challenge with being disabled. Now that I'm thinking about it, back in the summer of 2000, I think, I had a girl and her 2 boys age 5 & 7 living with me for a while. I knew her Grandpa and he had helped me a lot and had passed away in June 1993. He had doted on his granddaughter and her mother so when he passed away, they had a hard time coping. I had made up my mind to not get involved but since I'm such a pushover, ended up gradually getting more and more involved in helping her and her 2 kids. I was her FREE TAXI most of the time. It was causing a lot of stress on me. When she got evicted from her last apartment in October 1999, I let her move in with me. The next thing I knew her boyfriend was living there too and I became their free babysitter. She was also letting some of her so called friends spend time there and I think some of them were taking things on me. I was so worked up, that when I went to my telemarketing job, it felt like my insides were vibrating. Her girlfriends little boy had a diahrrea problem and she didn't take him to the dr so don't know if I caught something from him or if it was all the stress and anxiety of having her there. Her and her boyfriend were always fighting too and I got to the point where I pretty much stayed in my bedroom, in my own home. I finally told her she had until a certain day to leave. I should have made her go in October 2000 but she owed me quite a bit of money for rent and was running my phone up until I finally disconnected it. She was going to be getting a tax refund because of the kids and she had worked a little so let her stay until Feb but then she got the refund and surprise......she didn't have any money for me!!! I told her she had to be out by the end of February 2001. All that time I was bothered with anxiety and diarrhea but was usually able to make it to the restroom. She was supposed to be giving me something for rent but was on welfare. Things were ok until they revamped welfare and made the people work. She was a highschool dropout, no driver's license and no vehicle. Her boyfriend could drive but had lost his license and wasn't dependable. Of course he didn't have a vehicle either. He had inherited some money, when his mother died but blew it all on drugs, pot and especially crack. Although she lived in town and could have used the bus, it was too easy to call me and I was too quick to go. Now that I don't have the stress of her being with me and don't take the Primidone,I don't have diarrhea much anymore. I think I had a lot of anxiety about what other people would think and either they didn't notice or they didn't say anything. I don't go anywhere too much but had always worried about having it when I went to church, which is why I would take 2 anti-diarrheal pills before I went. That usually helped because I knew I was having the problem while I took the Primidone. It is one of my biggest fears, since I am disabled and unable to run to the bathroom.

Hi bella!
This was my biggest problem when I started this program. I'm not fully recovered from it yet but I'm much better. The problem for us is the fear of things. "Normal" people don't go about their day thinking about diarea, we constantly think about the next time we need a bathroom.
The first thing I did was bying Imodium-pills. They are great when I'm traveling or when I'm going somewhere I don't know if there is a bathroom. They last for about a day (for me)and I can feel comfortable for a while. This is not a solution but it feels good to know that I have some help if I need it. This can take away your fear of needing a bathroom all the time and I think that if you can stop thinking about it you won't need one most of the time. When I know there is a bathroom I won't need a pill, there is nothing wrong to go to the bathroom at work or at a friends house, this took me a while to realize but when I did I don't need to go as often. Another thing I did was to write about my bathroom habits in my journal. Sounds crazy but it helped me. I didn't have a healthy way of looking at my bathroom habits. When I started writing in my journal I realized I wasn't going as much as I thought and most of the time it wasn't diarea, it was normal. And the times I had diarea was when I was nearvous or if I had ate something heavy or greasy.
Now, after 9 weeks in the program, I still have problems in the morning but now I usually only go once a day. You can also try long walks, that helps for me.

A question, what is the pills you got in the program? I didn't get any with mine.

Good luck!

It is so helpful to read about people who are going through the same things as you are. Bella and this bathroom business is so familiar. Reading about makes it a bit funnier- boy when you are sitting there, scared out of your wits about something totally natural, you feel pretty alone.

I had chronic, terrible back pain for 10 years, (I am young too, this started as a late teen) I went to Dr. John Sarno (amazing doctor, very well published, I highly recommend his book Mindbody Prescription), he really cured me of my back pain by explaining that it was me, cutting off oxygen by being anxious....it is the same thing as a calf charley-horse....terrible pain but TOTALLY harmless. ANYWAY, he told me that the distracting pain in my body might migrate to a new location (we who are anxious torture ourselves with all sorts of clever symptoms) indeed it did migrate (never had a single bit of back pain again!) and settled into a TERROR of being sick and bathroomless. I feel almost like passing out, I get sweaty when I feel myself digesting food....I touch my stomach a lot and imagine that I'll either throw up or have diarrhea....it is such a dumb drag. I have had the program now for a month, I feel better, I now tell my friends about this, they are cute, it helps a lot to laugh about it and see how shocked they are of my fear (they all usually laugh, one of my friends actually says she likes having diarrea once in awhile, makes her feel "cleaned out"...I almost died, this girl is stunning, smart....funny how different people can be). I have another friend who goes to work when she is sick, she could not care less, she trusts her mind and her body....she is calm....she'll laugh about "not feeling so good" with her boss...

I've tried anti-anxiety meds, they seem a bit on the useless side, I agree with Lucinda, this is a process of de-mystifying anxiety. I recommmend to anyone out there Immodium AD, you can actually safely take it, I do a few times a week before going out to a restaurant....it works perfectly (I actually hardly ever get sick, I just think about it a lot). Also, I am a vegetarian and a New Yorker (which is great for restaurants) and contrary to our bad reputation for being rude, chef's here are always nice about simplifying food....pasta with just olive oil, some veggies and a little parmesan will NEVER make you sick.

I have a friend who is an EMT, it helps to remember that people in the world look after eachother, you are not totally alone, it's so good to have a sense of humor about it, to tell people "I have the dumbest fears about getting sick, it is almost funny blah blah." I wonder how Bella is doing? Let us know. Good luck all you fellow, funny sufferers of the seemingly endless "what ifs"

Hey everyone, i just saw all the posts on here wow i'm not alone i have been doing very good of course still feel sick and anxious at time,but who doesn't u know. but i have been doing very well with the program hey Brooklyn ur my neighbor lol i live in new jersey. i was like cool someone that's from around here. yes because of this lovely disorder i never go to new york but i will one day. i mean i have before but that was a long time ago but i did manage to go to jersey city on the train and drive down the shore, so new york is one of my goals later on as well. i bet once i start going there i won't want to leave lol. i'm now on lesson 2 and i've changed a lot and for the better i also bought a new cookbook called "Healthy Cooking for IBS" from Barnes and Nobles. I'm going to take a better look at it today and see if it helps me, my problem is laying off the junk food lol. and boy i wonder why my stomach hurts so much lol. i also believe being anxious and nervous has A LOT to do with IBS as well. so far from what i've read in the book it seems to be very detail oriented. You guys should check out the book and we'll compare cooking notes lol. maybe it will help us feel better. well thank you guys for sharing your stories with me it does make me feel better to know hey i'm not the only one going through this stuff, a lot of people are worrying about the same thing when in reality we should not even be worrying, we have to have that mentality of who cares. hope to hear from you all and hope all of you are doing well

hi bella-

so funny to read your post, would you believe I get scared to leave New York City? It's so funny what you train yourself to be scared of. No one in the world feels totally safe coming here, and I am afraid to leave....anxiety is so weird. I was so glad you posted originally, because the sickness/bathroom thing really is my biggest fear. It helps so much to be busy and of course to see that others have the same problem. Do you have any other symptoms or obsessions? I am glad you are going to cook for yourself. I think it is really important to relax a bit though. I got myself so worked up that I only ate REALLY REALLY healthy food (I am a vegetarian, I would eat a salad EVERY SINGLE NITE, no oil, fried food, NEVER had a soda, no heavy things....blah blah blah....so many "fresh" things, you'd have thought I was a rabbit) and had ZERO fun....was very rigid about everything. I actually know that IBS is in the head, it really is. I can turn it off completely when I am happy and distracted. In the 70's there was a huge epidemic of ulcers, now it is gone, replaced by IBS....our mind/body connection is incredible.

Keep my updated!!