Can PTSD cause a Flare Up?

[Niminity]

Hello,

I haven't been on this forum for so long because I've been in remission for years. But I find myself back here again fearing I may be starting my first flare up since I started Remicade.

I've found myself in a very dire and stressful situation, I have flashbacks and triggers. The event happened about a month ago and I haven't been diagnosed with PTSD however I have most of the symptoms.

I've been searching online for a correlation between the two but mostly i find articles of Crohn's causing the PTSD, making the symptoms of the disease worse. This isn't my case.

Does anyone know of any studies or articles or anything really, pointing to PTSD causing an IBD flare up?

 

[cmack]

Hi Niminity,

I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through a traumatic experience. I know for me, that any long term increase in stress can cause a flare up. I'm not sure about what PTSD could cause though. I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and I am medicated for that to reduce my stress levels. I believe it has helped me remain in remission. Being in a situation of having to deal with something traumatizing definitely causes you stress, so maybe it is the same for you?


Give me a shout any time,

Chris

 

[elz100]

yea any stress can. my parents shouting at me. exam times, falling out with people, stress at work.

 

[elz100]

There are hardly any studies on PTSD and IBD directly, but the second paper on stress and IBD looks interesting. (should be able to access on google scholar)

S1216 Is There an Association Between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Depression and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among US Veterans?

G Gupta, RE Bolus, J Talley, S Jedel, 2010

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Psychological stress in IBD: new insights into pathogenic and therapeutic implications[/URL][/B]

http://gut.bmj.com/content/54/10/1481.full

JE Mawdsley, DS Rampton - Gut, 2005

 

[Bufford]

One of the reasons why I can manage my Crohn's better in recent years is that I don't stress over things like I used to. I am at the point where I have pretty much lost everything in my life with little left to worry about. Worry, Stress, PTSD Depression all steal strength and life from our bodies leaving our systems vulnerable to a flare.