Why does neurosis cause diarrhea?

Features of the disease

It should be noted right away that intestinal neurosis is not a disease of the stomach, but its reaction to external provoking factors. Sometimes the main symptoms can be provoked by diseases of the genitourinary system or poor nutrition, but most often this is a response to external stimuli of the nervous system. Therefore, if a person promptly consults a doctor as soon as the first symptoms appear, then most likely treatment will help to completely get rid of the disease without any consequences.

Main reasons

The main feature of this disease is that, unlike other stomach diseases, neurosis does not entail any objective manifestations and changes in the state of the gastrointestinal tract.

The most common root causes of the disease:

• stressful situations;
• nervous breakdowns;
• neuroses, malfunctions of the nervous system;
• eating disorder;
• disruptions in the functioning of the stomach, impaired peristalsis;
• increased sensitivity of the walls of the stomach and intestines.

Not a single doctor has yet fully established the root cause and features of this disease, although there is a lot of discussion. The only option is that during a stressful situation, intestinal motility increases, resulting in a sharp pain syndrome.

Neurosis of the stomach and intestines: signs of pathology and treatment

Intestinal neurosis (synonymous with irritable bowel syndrome) is a disease that is characterized by a combination of pain with stool disorders and dyspeptic symptoms (rumbling, flatulence, forced urge to defecate). The duration of the pathology is more than three months.

The disease is diagnosed in 50-70% of people who first turned to a gastroenterologist with complaints from the gastrointestinal tract. Intestinal neurosis is detected at different ages, including in children. Women are susceptible to irritable bowel syndrome 4 times more often than men.

Symptoms

With intestinal neurosis, symptoms can vary significantly. This disease is characterized by a chronic course with periods of exacerbations and remissions.

The most common complaints when visiting a gastroenterologist are:

The pain syndrome can vary in intensity: from mild discomfort to severe cramping pain. Triggered by food intake. The release of gas or bowel movements helps the pain subside.

Associated symptoms include:

• feeling of incomplete bowel movement;
• feeling of a lump in the throat when swallowing;
• migraine-like headaches;
• urination disorders (frequent urge to urinate, feeling of a full bladder, feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder, etc.);
• heartburn, belching;
• pain in the lumbar region.

Intestinal neurosis is characterized by a number of features:

1. Long history of the disease.
2. Variable nature of symptoms.
3. A clear connection between psycho-emotional factors and intestinal symptoms.
4. No symptoms during sleep at night.

Causes

Irritable bowel syndrome is considered a multifactorial disease, the development of which involves external and internal causes:

• psycho-emotional disorders (chronic stressful situations, depression, anxiety, panic attacks);
• social factors (family, financial, interpersonal conflicts lead to exacerbations of intestinal neurosis);
• impaired intestinal motility due to inflammatory processes in the intestines, low physical activity, suppression of the urge to defecate, nutritional disorders (lack of fiber, excess fat);
• heredity.

Under the influence of numerous factors, the functioning of the nervous system, which regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, malfunctions. The pain sensitivity of internal organs is impaired, motility (increased or weakened) and intestinal secretion are impaired. The exact relationship between all developmental mechanisms has not been fully established.

Types of pathology

Depending on which symptom predominates, the following forms of the disease are distinguished:

• Functional diarrhea. The clinical picture is dominated by symptoms of diarrhea, which can occur up to 4 times a day. The stool is light in color and often contains undigested food. Diarrhea occurs mainly in the morning. Abnormal bowel movements are accompanied by an imperative (violent) urge to defecate (tenesmus). Abdominal pain does not occur with this form.
• Functional constipation. Clinical manifestations of constipation have several variations. In one case, the absence of stool is replaced by constipative diarrhea (profuse excretion of feces), then constipation occurs again. In other cases, the stool is regular, but is accompanied by a feeling of incomplete bowel movement after defecation, or the stool itself resembles sheep feces or has a ribbon-like shape. This form of the disease is accompanied by a pronounced psycho-emotional coloring (a painful state, a feeling of internal tension).
• Painful form. The pain is cramping in nature, often appears in the left lower abdomen, and intensifies before defecation. After bowel movement the pain disappears. Eating can trigger pain. A person is bothered by a feeling of heaviness in the stomach, bloating. Flatulence intensifies in the evening. A feature of intestinal neurosis is the absence of abdominal pain at night.

Diagnostic signs

Diagnostic criteria include recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort on at least 3 days per month over the past 3 months, accompanied by the following:

• health improves after defecation;
• delay or increased frequency of bowel movements provokes the onset of pain;
• the onset of pain is associated with a change in stool consistency.

Abdominal pain must be accompanied by at least two signs:

• bowel movements less than three times a week or more than three times a day;
• the stool is hard or bean-shaped (sheep feces) or loose, watery in nature;
• prolonged straining during defecation;
• secretion of mucus in feces during bowel movements;
• feeling of bloating, fullness in the abdomen, or incomplete bowel movements after bowel movements.

Laboratory and instrumental studies

To make a diagnosis and exclude tumors, inflammatory processes, acute intestinal infections, a mandatory diagnostic minimum is carried out:

• Complete blood count with leukocyte formula. The analysis shows changes in the blood during inflammatory processes and anemic conditions.
• Blood chemistry. The analysis shows the functioning of internal organs (liver, pancreas), identifies markers of inflammatory processes and metabolic disorders.
• Coprogram (stool microscopy). Detects disturbances in the process of digestion of dietary fiber (fiber, muscle fiber).
• Fecal occult blood test. The analysis shows the presence of intestinal bleeding (see also the rapid test from the pharmacy for occult blood in the stool).
• Sigmoidoscopy. The method allows, under visual control, to examine the mucous walls of the rectum and sigmoid colon and determine organic pathology.
• Colonoscopy. Using this method, it is possible to examine the entire large intestine and take biopsy material to clarify the diagnosis.
• Culture of stool on the intestinal group. The method is prescribed to confirm or exclude acute intestinal infection (dysentery, salmonellosis).

Treatment

Treatment of intestinal neurosis is complex and includes several areas:

Diet

With the help of food, it is possible to correct a number of clinical manifestations.

For constipation, foods containing substances that are not broken down in the gastrointestinal tract by enzymes and are excreted unchanged are prescribed (see ballast substances).

In the intestines, these substances bind with water and swell, filling the intestinal lumen. In response to filling, intestinal motility increases and intestinal emptying improves. These products include:

• wholemeal black bread;
• vegetables (especially cabbage, zucchini);
• fruits (pear, apple);
• bran.

The disadvantage of such a diet is the high frequency of provoked pain and flatulence in the abdomen.

Psychotherapy

A person remains dissatisfied when, during examination, they do not find an organic pathology that would explain the existing symptoms. In these cases, it is necessary to conduct explanatory conversations about the causes of irritable bowel syndrome and its consequences.

Drug treatment

Medicines are prescribed based on the dominant symptom (pain, diarrhea or constipation).

1. Drugs that improve intestinal motility (cisapride, lactulose). Used for intestinal neurosis with a predominance of stool retention in the clinic.
2. Antidiarrheal drugs (loperamide). Prescribed for intestinal neurosis accompanied by diarrhea.
3. Antispasmodics (no-shpa, buscopan). Used to combat pain.
4. Simethicone and dimethicone are used to treat flatulence.
5. Antidepressants (Atarax, Grandaxin). With intestinal neurosis, hidden depression or increased anxiety are often detected.
6. Prokinetics (Motilium), enzymes (Creon) are prescribed as auxiliary treatment.

Main manifestations

It is difficult to define neurosis due to the fact that the main symptoms are similar to those of other stomach diseases. The potential risk group includes representatives of middle age and the younger generation.

When discussing the problem, the international forum of doctors emphasized that the most important thing in this case is to make a correct diagnosis. Treatment for this disease is very different from therapy for other stomach diseases, while in many cases therapy should be started immediately.

The most obvious symptoms:

• nausea, vomiting;
• burning sensation, cramping, discomfort in the abdomen;
• belching, rumbling in the stomach;
• abdominal pain, often cramping in nature;
• heaviness in the stomach, colic;
• flatulence, bloating.

The most common symptoms include pain in the stomach, a feeling of emptying or fullness. Symptoms mostly occur after eating and are more common in people who smoke, drink alcohol and drink coffee.

Manifestations occur in children often due to changes in environment and various conflict situations; the disease manifests itself most actively during adolescence in adolescents.

The problems are complicated by the fact that a vicious circle arises. To overcome it, it is necessary to use only comprehensive treatment, simultaneously aimed at solving all problems. Neurosis is provoked by problems with the nervous system, while at the same time the neurosis itself then provokes additional problems associated with the nervous system. Therefore, in order to cope with the disease, you must initially choose a treatment that will simultaneously combat both problems.

Also, additional symptoms often arise that allow an accurate diagnosis to be made:

• frequent depression;
• headache, insomnia;
• feeling of anxiety, irritability;
• increased sweating;
• strong heartbeat.

In this case, one symptom follows from the other. The pain often intensifies at night, causing insomnia. Due to lack of sleep, irritability, depression, and headaches then occur.

Symptoms and causes of intestinal neurosis. Diagnosis and treatment of neurosis

More than a billion people in the world suffer from symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or intestinal neurosis. According to statistics, residents of developed countries and city dwellers are more likely to get the disease, which can be explained by both the greater availability of medical care and the tendency to analyze their health more closely.

What are the causes of IBS?

This condition is called a biopsychosocial disease, emphasizing its psychosomatic nature. A direct relationship between stressful situations and the formation of IBS has been proven.

These can be either single traumatic situations in the distant past or within several months before the onset of the disease, or extended events that aggravate intestinal neurosis. Its symptoms more often occur in people with other disorders of the autonomic nervous system, in particular with vegetative-vascular dystonia (VSD).

An important role is also played by the patient’s personal characteristics – increased sensitivity, tendency to worry. There is also a hypothesis about a genetic predisposition to IBS, but at the moment there is no reliable evidence of its existence.

It is also possible that diet may influence the development of intestinal neurosis - abuse of coffee, alcohol, chocolate, excessively rich or unusual food can contribute to the occurrence, and will certainly contribute to the aggravation of IBS symptoms. An infectious theory of intestinal neurosis is also being developed.

What is special about SRK?

The main difference between intestinal neurosis and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract is the absence of an obvious morphological substrate of the disease.

For example, with colitis there is an inflamed mucous membrane of the large intestine, with cholelithiasis there are stones in the gall bladder. With intestinal neurosis, it is not possible to detect any characteristic changes.

Therefore, IBS is often a diagnosis of exclusion, when an in-depth examination fails to find pathological changes.

How does intestinal neurosis occur?

The combination of a stressful situation and impaired functions of the nervous system leads to increased intestinal sensitivity. Also, under stress, peristalsis often increases or accelerates. The combination of high sensitivity and more active peristalsis is perceived as a pronounced painful stimulus.

The brain receives redundant signals from the intestines and, accordingly, the response signal is also redundant. As a result, intestinal motor activity is disrupted, and the secretion of enzymes increases or decreases.

Thus, a vicious circle arises - excess impulses from the intestines cause too strong a response, which affects the state of the intestines, causing even stronger signals.

Symptoms of intestinal neurosis

Due to the psychosomatic nature of the disease, the symptoms of IBS are extremely varied.

Traditionally, they are divided into three main groups - stool disorders (constipation or diarrhea), abdominal pain and increased gas formation, which are also the main signs of intestinal neurosis.

Attempts to unify the diagnostic signs of intestinal neurosis led to the development of the Rome Criteria II (1999) and III (2006) revisions. According to the Rome II criteria, the diagnosis of IBS includes the following symptoms recorded within 12 weeks of the year (not necessarily consecutive):

• Flatulence and bloating;
• Various disturbances in the process of defecation (the presence of an urgent urge, the need for prolonged straining, a feeling of insufficient bowel movement);
• Presence of constipation (stool less than once every 2 days) or diarrhea (more than 3 times a day);
• Abnormal consistency of stool.

In 2006, at the Rome Consensus III, these criteria were modified: the time frame was reduced, now the diagnosis of intestinal neurosis can be made if the above symptoms are present for at least 3 days a month for 6 months.

The concept of nonspecific IBS has also been added - now this diagnosis can be made even in the absence of classical symptoms. Other characteristic symptoms of intestinal neurosis (abdominal pain and flatulence) also have characteristic features.

The pain syndrome can vary significantly in strength (from minor discomfort to intense paroxysmal pain) and localization (usually in the lower abdomen, but can be observed in any part of it). Pain often appears or worsens after eating. The absence of pain during sleep is very characteristic.

The patient never wakes up due to pain, but it can appear even at night if sleep is interrupted. Flatulence in IBS is often very pronounced and causes significant discomfort, which is why the patient is forced to refuse to attend public events and wear clothes with a belt. Stool with intestinal neurosis also has characteristic signs.

With constipation, feces consist of individual small pieces glued together (sheep feces) or a long narrow strip (pencil-shaped feces). Stools in the form of a “plug” are also often found; at the beginning of the act of defecation, the stool is denser and liquefies towards the end.

Diarrhea in patients with intestinal neurosis occurs more often in the morning in the form of repeated small bowel movements, often mixed with mucus. There are no other pathological impurities (blood, pus) in the stool. In addition, there are conditions that accompany intestinal neurosis. Their symptoms are as follows: palpitations, sweating, headaches, sleep disturbances, gynecological problems in women.

Diagnosis of IBS

The diagnosis of intestinal neurosis, as mentioned above, is a diagnosis of exclusion. To diagnose it, you need a full examination, which includes:

If there are threatening symptoms (changes in blood tests, pain at night, blood in the stool, the presence of colon cancer in relatives, age over 45 years), this list of studies can be expanded.

Treatment of intestinal neurosis

Therapy for the disease is complex and includes both treatment of gastroenterological manifestations and correction of the psychological status that accompanies intestinal neurosis. Treatment is primarily based on routine aspects: adherence to diet and frequency of meals, compliance with the psychologist’s recommendations to reduce stress, and increased physical activity.

The diet for IBS includes a large amount of foods containing dietary fiber. The diet is fractional, in small portions in 5-6 meals. Psychological methods and psychotropic drugs are very effective in treating intestinal neurosis. Including them in the treatment regimen significantly increases its effectiveness and speeds up recovery.

Of course, traditional medicines are also used. Due to the fact that the most common complaint is pain, antispasmodics are used more often than others. All their groups are highly effective. Myotropic antispasmodics, in particular duspatolin, have the maximum effect with a minimum of side effects. Loperamide (Imodium) has worked well for diarrhea.

Constipation can most often be corrected with diet; if necessary, lactulose medications can be prescribed. Ancillary drugs are also used. Probiotics to normalize microflora, enzymatic preparations (festal, mezim) to increase the secretion of bile acids and normalize peristalsis, as well as other symptomatic agents.

Non-drug methods are also effective - physiotherapy, reflexology, physical therapy.

Forecast

Favorable for intestinal neurosis. This condition does not develop into more severe organic lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, has no tendency to degenerate into malignant neoplasms and can be successfully treated.

Diarrhea as a symptom of gastric neurosis

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Main types of therapy

Although intestinal neurosis is not a serious disease in itself and does not cause changes in the structure or functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, if treatment is not started in a timely manner, a number of other serious diseases may occur.

Treatment must simultaneously perform two functions:

• normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• improve the patient's nervous system.

It is advisable to visit not only a gastroenterologist, but also a psychotherapist.

Most often, the patient is prescribed treatment consisting of several stages:

• physiotherapeutic procedures. Aimed at relaxing the patient - massages, swimming;
• traditional methods of treatment;
• medications (antidepressants);
• general strengthening of the body (visiting the resort area);
• psychotherapy (attending sessions with psychologists).

Also, to normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, you need to take symptomatic medications: laxatives, anti-diarrhea medications, relieving spasms.

Additional serious treatment is not required in this case. The patient simply needs to calm down and direct efforts to improve his psychological state. To do this, you should follow simple recommendations:

• establish a clear sleep pattern. At the same time, it is very important to get a good night's sleep;
• walk more;
• to live an active lifestyle. Attend those sports sections that give you pleasure;
• try to avoid conflict situations.

Treatment

Treatment of intestinal neurosis is carried out under the supervision of not one, but several specialists at once. This is due to the fact that competent treatment requires not only the psychological cause of the development of the disease, but also the symptoms accompanying it. After all, for example, uncontrollable diarrhea can cause serious dehydration and the need for hospitalization.

Attention! Some doctors scare patients with the danger of developing complications of an oncological nature if they do not pull themselves together in time and do not throw all their strength into the fight against neurosis. But in general, such threats have no basis, since intestinal neurosis as such is not capable of causing the formation of malignant cells.

The following are involved in choosing tactics and direction of therapy:

• Gastroenterologist. Depending on the clinical picture, the doctor selects a diet for the patient, which must be strictly adhered to. In addition, he may recommend taking certain medications to eliminate discomfort and alleviate the patient’s condition. Patients are also often prescribed microenemas based on chamomile decoction or with the addition of olive oil.
• Neuropathologist. The task of this doctor is to select medications that will help normalize the condition of the patient’s nervous system. Most often, patients are prescribed tinctures of valerian, motherwort, and so on.
• Psychotherapist. This specialist plays a large role in the treatment of the disease, since he can help the patient cope with feelings of fear, obsessive thoughts, excessive excitability, hysteria and other disorders, which are precisely the cause of the development of neurosis.

The speed of recovery depends on the emotional state of the patient

Tip: to relax and relieve nervous tension, you can take a bath with infusions of medicinal plants. To prepare it, just boil a mixture of 3 teaspoons of mint, 2 teaspoons of lemon balm, 2 teaspoons of yarrow and 1 teaspoon of wormwood over low heat for 20 minutes.

As a result of joint actions, doctors must develop a comprehensive rehabilitation program for the patient, which may include medications, psychotherapy and dietary nutrition. It is possible to supplement the course of treatment with traditional and alternative medicine. More information on this issue can be obtained from the article: Features and importance of treating irritable bowel syndrome.

Nutritional Features

During this period, special attention should be paid to a special diet. It is important that the load on the stomach is minimal. There are a number of universal tips for this disease:

• eat in small portions 7-8 times a day;
• drink more fluids. In this case, it is advisable to completely eliminate the consumption of alcohol, coffee and strong tea. It is better to limit yourself to herbal teas, choosing those that have a calming effect on the nervous system. You can also stop at berry and fruit juices;
• exclude salty, sour, bitter foods from the diet, as this can have a negative effect on the weak mucous membrane;
• Minimize the consumption of fried and smoked foods.

The remaining features of the diet are determined by the doctor depending on the symptoms for each patient separately. The main thing is to exclude from the diet foods that can worsen the problem, and give preference to those that can solve the problem:

• with increased gas formation, foods that provoke fermentation in the intestines, legumes, and carbonated drinks should be excluded from the diet;
• if you have frequent diarrhea, you should limit your consumption of fruits and dairy products;
• for constipation, you need to reduce the consumption of protein foods, increase the consumption of fermented milk products, apricots, plums, apples.

If intestinal neurosis is one of the manifestations of another disease, then it is necessary to pay attention to the treatment of the root cause, as well as to following a diet to improve intestinal motility and digestion.

Preventive measures

To prevent the occurrence of such unpleasant symptoms, you should adhere to the following basic recommendations:

• lead an active lifestyle, take frequent walks;
• monitor your diet;
• control your emotional state.

And the main thing is to learn to control your emotions. If the patient continues to be too nervous, then the most effective therapy selected by the doctor will not give any results, since the unpleasant symptoms will return again.