I eat a healthy diet and I exercise consistently. I have a bowel movement within half an hour of the same time every morning. It's amazing! But, every time I defecate, without exception, I feel like crap (no pun intended). Every time! It's been like this for a few years. After I go, I feel like it's taken everything out of me. I feel sick, and, if time permits, I lay down to rest. Any ideas on what is going on would be great.

Dear Elizabeth,

Based on the information you have given, I see no obvious cause for an actual physical disorder to be what is plaguing you, so I am going to presume that you are suffering from more of a psychosomatic disturbance of some kind.

Psychosomatic illnesses, now more commonly referred to as psychophysiologic illnesses or disorders, are diseases whose symptoms are caused by mental processes of the sufferer rather than immediate physiological causes. One example of such a disorder is fear of defecation. Usually this particular syndrome comes about after a particularly painful experience with pooping. The brain associates having to poop with being in great discomfort, and therefore causes all subsequent urges to have a bowel movement to result in a panic attack of varying degrees.

I am not saying that you have a fear of pooping. I am just wondering if maybe at some point a few years ago, you possibly had an experience after pooping that was so sickening that your brain made a subconscious association between feeling ill and having just finished a bowel movement, so that now every time you poop, you feel horrible. You may have developed an associative pooping disorder.

As therapy for this diagnosis, I suggest you begin practicing a positive reinforcement ritual with your daily poop. As you sit through your bowel movement, focus mentally on how you are ridding yourself of unneeded waste products and toxins. Maybe play some relaxing music and use aromatherapy to create a pleasant atmosphere. Then immediately after pooping, instead of lying down and allowing yourself to do the "sick routine." occupy yourself with some sort of activity. See if this retrains your brain to think of pooping as a good thing that makes you feel better, rather than a bad thing that makes you feel sick.

Thanks for asking Motherload!

Motherload is Certified Nurse Assistant as well as an IBS sufferer, which means she knows a lot about poop. Got a question for her? Ask it here. [1]