Overly emotional

[ccerulean]

Is anyone else overly emotional during a flare? I've always been an emotionally sensitive person, but since I've been dxed in February I've been crying at the drop of a hat. Happy things and sad things make me cry. I'm almost always on the verge of tears. I don't think I'm depressed, but...? I spoke with a therapist for several sessions but I felt silly doing so.

I've been having symptoms since New Year's Eve so Crohn's has consumed the majority of my year. I switched doctors in September after feeling like my original GI wasn't understanding my needs as an individual. My new doctor is so great so far, he started me on Azathioprine two and a half weeks ago. Been on Pentasa the whole time as well. IDK if these meds have anything to do with it either.

 

[Justanothercp]

I definitely am more emotional during a flare. I think I'm just tapped out, I'm so busy being sick, and being sick and tired of being sick, that I don't have the capacity to cope/deal with anything else.

 

[Pilgrim]

The pain and frustration of IBD? Emotion is understandable. Try not to be too hard on yourself.

 

[Axelfl3333]

Don,t worry about it your totally normal when a chronic illness plays up,just about everyone gets emotional.

 

[It takes Guts]

Definitely some dark days - Some due to the symptoms, some due to the medications, sone due to the tiredness, others due to missing the life I had being able to whizz around. It's frustrating and seems unmanageable and predictable but there are always better days and brighter moments coming. February is hardly any time to come to terms with this. Be kind to yourself.

 

[Mary:)]

Im emotional all the time and during a flare Im a wreck. The fatigue makes it worse.

 

[DJW]

Being sick takes a lot of mental and physical energy.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I'm exactly the same in a flare, I cry at anything and everything. At one point I remember holding my phone in my hand so that I could call my mom - I hadn't even dialed yet, but just the thought of calling my mother for some reason set me off into a crying fit. Another time, I saw a sad-looking puppy on a TV commercial and started crying. It just seems to be yet another flare symptom for me. During the worst of my illness, I cried a minimum of 6 days per week. It's embarrassing at times but I look at it as another gauge to tell me what my body is doing. The more I cry, the worse my flare must be. Not particularly scientific, but I try to get what use I can from the information my body gives me.

 

[MsZombie]

I don't have any links to read more research on this, but I had a talk with Doc about the link between IBD and depression, which I suffered with for years. Your intestinal system is equipped with it's very own, separate neurological system (just like your brain), responsible for producing much of your body's Serotonin, especially in the lower ascending colon area. Which explains why depression and IBD go hand in hand. My Doc even had colleagues that cross-studied this in med school. I found it fascinating. It also explains why spinal cord injury patient's bowels can be so easily trained.

 

[FrozenGirl]

I am the same way. The amount of times I end up laying on the floor crying is very high.

 

[Jennifer625]

I'm exactly the same. I'm usually pretty emotional as is but noticed recently that I've been feeling pretty hopeless. I hate this feeling!

 

[ChristieJP]

I'm very glad to read this thread because my emotional stability is one of the first things to fall apart when I start not feeling well. It makes it much more difficult to handle a flare wisely! I'm putting people around me who can speak the truth to me when I can't figure out for myself what it is. But the feeling of being on the verge of tears all day long is exhausting!