Why does stress make IBS worse?

If you’re living with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), you’ve probably noticed that stress tends to make

your symptoms worse. Maybe your stomach clenches up before a big meeting, or a flare-up strikes

when you’re about to meet your partner’s parents. This isn’t all in your head — it’s actually a very real

thing, and it has to do with how your brain and gut talk to each other. Let’s break it down.

Your Gut Has a Mind of Its Own

Inside your body, your gut has its own nervous system, called the enteric nervous system — some

people call it the “second brain.” It doesn’t think like your brain does, but it’s packed with nerves that

control digestion. It talks constantly with your actual brain through a pathway called the gut-brain axis.

When you’re relaxed and things are going smoothly, this communication helps your gut move food

through your digestive system, absorb nutrients, and keep everything in balance.

But when you’re stressed…

Stress Puts Your Gut on High Alert

When you’re anxious, your brain sends signals to your gut that something’s wrong. It’s part of your

“fight or flight” response — the body’s way of getting ready to face danger. It’s actually a really

important nervous system state, that keeps you alert, focused, and ready to take action when you’re in

a challenging situation, like keeping you on-task at work, or staying vigilant when someone catcalls you.

In those situations, you body re-directs its energy towards your eyes, heart, lungs, and muscles, so you

can rise to whatever challenge you’re facing – which your body thinks is probably a bear chasing you.

This means it diverts energy away from the digestive system, which slows down digestion, causing

constipation – or it can do the opposite. And in the case of IBS, it often can’t decide, and swings back

and forth between the two.

In addition to diverting energy, your fight or flight response also makes you more perceptive, so you can

quickly identify and respond to a threat. It does this by dilating your pupils to see better, and by

increasing your sensitivity to pain.

When your gut becomes highly attuned to pain signals, this is called visceral hypersensitivity.

Visceral Hypersensitivity: Why Everything Feels Worse

People with IBS usually have visceral hypersensitivity even when you’re not stressed, meaning that

things most people wouldn’t notice — like normal gas or digestion — can feel painful or bloated to you.

Your gut is more “tuned in,” almost like the volume knob on pain is turned up.

If you have sensory sensitivities, like sensitivity to light, noise, or textures, this might sound familiar –

and it explains why IBS is so common among Autistic folks.

When you’re stressed, your nervous system gets even more reactive, and that hypersensitivity kicks into

overdrive. So something small, like a totally normal amount of gas in your intestine, can feel like

cramping, bloating, or stabbing pain.

Think of it like this: if your gut nerves are already jumpy, stress is like someone turning on a bright light

and yelling at them. Everything feels more intense.

So What Can You Do About It?

You can’t eliminate stress — especially if you’re dealing with chronic health concerns, which are stressful

on their own. But you can calm the gut-brain connection and reduce how your body reacts.

Here’s how I approach IBS with my patients:

“Rest and Digest”

The body has another nervous system setting, which is the opposite of “fight or flight”. It’s nicknamed

“rest and digest”, because when you’re relaxed, you can put much more energy into effectively

digesting your food. Ideally, you should hang out in This nervous system state when you’re

eating, chilling at home, or hanging with friends.

It’s crucial to learn to hang out in your rest and digest state more often. Psychotherapy can help you

identify when you’re stuck in fight or flight, and develop tools to move into a more relaxed state more

often. There are also medicinal herbs that can support this in the shorter term.

Remove fear of foods

When you’re constantly anticipating digestive symptoms, just the idea of eating can become stressful.

Learning to predict your reactions and manage your symptoms can start to take some of that fear away.

Rewire your enteric nervous system

Specific therapies can teach your second brain that it doesn’t need to lose its sh*t (literally) about

normal digestion stuff. It’s usually best to save this until you’ve got your stress and your trigger foods

under control, because trying to tell your gut that everything is ok when it’s dealing with very real

challenges sounds a lot like toxic positivity.

IBS isn’t all in your head

Stress doesn’t just make you feel anxious — it changes how your gut behaves and feels. For people with

IBS, it turns the dial way up on pain and discomfort. But by understanding what’s happening in your

body, you can start to take small steps to feel more in control.

You’re not imagining it. Your pain is real — and it makes sense. The good news is that your brain and gut

can learn to feel safer again, one calm moment at a time.

💜 Dr. Arlie Millyard is a naturopathic doctor, LGBTQ2SIA+ wellness advocate, and gut health nerd. Arlie

helps folks who feel alienated and unseen in health and wellness spaces work towards wellness on your

own terms, so you can feel comfortable and empowered in your body.

📩 Visit me at https://arliemillyard.ca/

📞 Book a free discovery call at https://app.outsmartemr.com/online-booking/3063/Arlie