This story was originally published in our Sept/Oct 2023 issue as "Hypnotizing the Gut?" Click here to subscribe to read more stories like this one.
Ashley had just begun to dig into the cream-sauce pasta when it occurred — that familiar, urgent need to find the bathroom. She was dining at a friend’s house, with many other guests. “I need to get out of here,” the teenager thought as she started to sweat.
To avoid unwanted questions, Ashley devised an excuse to leave and rushed out of the gathering. She stopped at two gas station bathrooms as she sped toward her house. “I was in so much pain I was crying by the time I got home,” she says.
Similar episodes plagued her well into adulthood. The culprit: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). “When I was having an IBS attack, it was an immediate fight-or-flight response,” Ashley recalls. “I just wanted to get myself out of there.”
