Today at work I got super stressed out. And as all of you IBDers know, stress makes our symptoms worse. Which is what happened to me today. And after I got stressed out I then got even more stressed because I was worried about making it to the bathroom(I had an hour drive, with few rest areas). By the time I got to the site I was working at today I was chanting “I will not shit myself. I will not shit myself. I will not shit myself.” You know it’s bad when you’re telling yourself that. Luckily I managed to not shit myself but it was a close thing.
It made me realize that I need to get a better emergency kit together for times like this just in case I need it. Right now I just have an extra pair of pants and some underwear. I really should add in some wet wipes and a couple of trash bags. I’m going to try and get it together this weekend.
But today made me realize that I need to work on stress management skills for work. I really wish I could just have one of my dogs be like a Stress Management Service Dog. That would be awesome. But anyway, does anyone have any tips for dealing with stress? Like as it’s happening. I do go to the gym sometimes but that doesn’t help me out in the moment.