Have you been so stressed that you felt physically sick?

[Notcontent]

I have been having a very stressful time, juggling work, a house renovation, supporting a stressed out teenager, etc. I am a lone parent and usually all is ok - a low level of stress is fine - but right now I feel things have reached a bit of a peak (a few things going wrong). I have been sleeping very badly and this morning I felt so anxious I actually felt like I was going to throw up. This will pass but has anyone else felt like this?

Yes. I got this last year when we went into lockdown. I'm not in the UK and lockdown was a lot stricter here. I ended up having to have an abdominal scan because I could hardly eat, was losing weight and felt sick all the time. Luckily things gradually improved as the restrictions relaxed although things do trigger it again.

Many times. I used to wake in the night and literally worry myself sick.

Yes and ended up fainting then eventually signed off work with burnout

How do you all manage the stress as when i am like this I can't do anything it's like I have to go to bed and I cannot do anything.

Very hard with x3 kids and a job

Yes, frequently.
I lie in bed often feeling very nauseous late at night, unable to sleep.
It’s fucking horrible.
I know what triggers me but it’s unavoidable.
Like a PP said, I wonder how I’m still rather wobbly all over as I barely eat a lot of the time. (More than make up for it when I can though!)
What can make me feel temporarily better is walking with a friend and chatting, not necessarily about what’s causing the stress but just about random shit. Or mostly listening to my friend talking crap.
It’s entertaining and helps me forget what’s stressing me out, even just for a bit.

Would suggest if it is very frequent, see the doc for some medicinal intervention. I was a stress type.

Cortisol racing through your body too often can not only affect the stomach and digestion, it can muck up your arteries, increase blood pressure and affect your heart. A heart attack at 53 was not much fun. All controlled by medication now... and that sick, dread feeling in the pit of my guts has gone, I can sleep, and blood pressure is nicely controlled.

Please don't let it go on for a prolonged time without at least a blood pressure check.

Yes, I was physically sick when pregnant (not morning sickness) because of the stress my workplace put me under.

Op, it can be that stress is finally taking its toll on you after living on adrenaline for a long time.

Don’t deal with this as just another “it will pass” moment, this is your body telling you to slow down, put yourself first for once and make amends to find the time to recover. Live with the “good enough is good enough” mantra until the stress is less.

I have found that if you ignore this call relentlessly you get to a point where you break inside, don’t let that happen to you, it is far more difficult to get out of that as you become more sensitive to the effect of stress the more you spend submerged in it. Remember, life needs to be run as a marathon not a 100m sprint, it is about long term survival, not short term perfection.