Does anyone have stomach issues?

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There is actually quite a story behind it for me. I apologize now for how long my post is going to be, but I really can't figure out how to shorten it.

For many years (from when I was around 9 or 10, until I was almost 17) I was misdiagnosed with a stomach disorder. I would have these episodes lasting anywhere from a day or two up to an entire week during which I would throw up. I have thrown up so many times over the years that I could make you a list of foods that are the worst to throw up. I was diagnosed with abdominal migraines. I was treated with a medication and the episodes decreased in severity and frequency until they eventually stopped happening altogether. But there was a problem. With a typical case of abdominal migraines, a patient would be weaned off the medication after their episodes went away and they would be fine and have no more trouble. But every single time we tried to wean me off the medication, I would get sick again. No one could figure out what the problem was. I had ultrasounds and x-rays of my stomach to see if there was something else going on, but everything seemed normal and perfectly healthy.

Throughout all of this I was being treated for anxiety but as it turned out, it was not completely treated. A situation occurred when I was almost 17 that lead me to change psychiatrists (it was nothing too bad, but it would take way to long to explain here.) We decided to take me off all my medications, including the one for abdominal migraines, and start afresh. Once we got my anxiety under control, or at least into a manageable state, my stomach issues completely disappeared. I have not thrown up in two years, which considering my history, is practically miraculous.

My anxiety is neurological. It is caused by certain neurotransmitters going haywire in my brain and throughout my body. The reason that people feel sick to their stomach when they are nervous is because one of the chief neurotransmitters involved with anxiety is also found in abundance in the gut. What had been happening was I would work myself up into such a state that I would throw up.

The abdominal migraine medication successfully treating my episodes of throwing up is a perfect example of the placebo effect in action. I believed that the medication would make me not throw up and so it did. Whenever I was weaned off, I didn't have the "security blanket" anymore so I would throw up again.

Believe me, I wish very very much that I could get rid of my anxiety problems. My anxiety is severe to the point that it could be considered disabling. It is not easy but it is what I have to live with.