Читать книгу Trust Your Gut - Gregory Plotnikoff - Страница 18

It was hard for Kevin to make it through his day's work because he just couldn't concentrate. His mind was preoccupied with the dread of an imminent attack of gut pain, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation. It was hard to sit still, and if he did sit still and happened to notice a sensation in his gut, he'd get quite angry. He would urgently start strategizing how to respond to this latest attack. Should I take a laxative? Should I go for a walk? What the heck am I going to do?

He was so off center that he couldn't even focus when he was at home with his family. His anxiety and worry about his symptoms took over his entire day. All he could do was anticipate the worst.

His bloating was so bad, he bought extra pants to accommodate his expanding waistline. He had a thirty-six-inch waist, but he kept a thirty-eight- and a forty-inch pair on hand to wear on any given day, depending on his level of bloating.

Kevin increasingly saw himself as being damaged. He had no hope that his symptoms could get any better. These cumulative anxieties kept stirring up his nervous system and made the bloating and the pain even more intense. Kevin was totally off balance, but he never even thought about it that way. His physician kept giving him medications for his symptoms and his psychologist kept telling him to relax. Nothing worked, and that just made it worse.