Dodgy Belly on the road

[aust240378]

• Embarrassing subject alert *

Every since I was around 15/16 I suffered with a dodgy belly when I was nervous about something, it would manifest as I needed to go for a dump pretty quickly or feeling like I would pass out. It went away for quite a few years but came back when my wife gave me chilli beans the night before I was getting in the car as a passenger to go to work the next day.

I remember sitting in the back minding my own business and then it felt like a fire in my stomach and I had to beg one of the blokes we had just collected to use his flat in a hurry Since then I have had it pretty much everyday before getting in a car / coach / train you name it. I usually make sure I go before I leave the house but that sometimes doesn't help.

As a driver I've had to bail in some weird places - M11 I had to run up the side of the motorway into the trees or get off into a country road and jump over a gate into a field or woods with a toilet roll.

I know it's mind over matter and not dietary and I try to see the funny side of it telling funny stories about it, but it's annoying and inconvenient and not often talked about.

My coping mechanism is making sure I know where all the toilets are on a route - (McDonalds are useful) just knowing I can stop means I don't usually have to go but it's not always possible.

Does anyone else suffer with this or am I alone?

[vikingaero]

(1) A few years ago I was on the approach to the Blackwall Tunnel when an overheight lorry hit the top of the tunnel. We were there for hours and I started to need to pee. There were bus stops there with people waiting, coaches in the queue etc, so there was nowhere to pee. I scouted around the car for empty coke bottles, but I'm too tidy for that.

Then I saw them, the holy grail, nappy sacks from the Vikingettes. Figuring they hold poopy nappies they must hold some liquid in? So I nested 3 together, put some tissues into the bottom of them to absorb the liquid and provide an element of preventing sloshing about.

I got Mr Winky out and held on the nappy sack handles and peed away. Then I tied them up and hung it off the gearstick until I was able to dispose of it. So I still keep a pack of nappy sacks in the car...

(2) When I did helicopter lessons, we were flying along and my instructor said to me to take over:
"You have control"
"I have control"
And with that he whipped out one of those sick bags (that had a powder in the bottom that turned into a gel when contacted by urine), then he got his Johnson out, peed and folded the bag over and stored it in the map pocket. I declined to shake his hand after we landed.

[mwstewart]

I have UC, so very much used to planning ahead. It isn't all the time, but enough for the thinking ahead to be routine.

If it's bad then I will restrict intake 24hrs ahead of a big journey.

[Roono]

Thankfully my anxiety usually manifests itself before I leave the house. Handy for keeping the body weight down is the only benefit!

A few months back on the A303 someone was in a layby 'dropping off the kids' just at the edge where it goes into an open field, no hedgerow or anything. So I guess that was a similar case of it's just going to happen now.

[shirt]

I call it pavlov’s arse, like it’s preconditioned to happen.

I had my gall bladder removed which caused some high stakes code brown emergencies in the early months and still can. I’ve had some very close calls but thankfully always made it to porcelain.

[Sir Keith Stormer]

Those who suffer from pernicious anaemia will know the feeling well, the day before I'm very careful about what I eat and plan the route for pit stops beforehand, it's a proper b@stard to live with.