To what to know your most personal symptoms of stress

[LanaDelRaybans]

As per the title...

I say personal, because for me, I'm one of those people that holds it all in and doesn't let anyone know I'm crumbling. It feels so personal and intrusive, almost, to discuss what stress does to me.

But it's an anonymous forum so I'll share, and I'm really curious what it looks like for too:

Broken sleep
Can't actually fall to sleep to begin with
Racing / intrusive thoughts
Feeling weak / tired / shaky
Feeling lightheaded / dizzy
Pacing
Avoiding being social
Over / under eating
Being irritable
Being snappy
Difficult to do anything I enjoy

So there's mine. Please share yours and make me feel less crazy 😩

Mine is exactly the same as yours. Infact im going through it right now. Pretty much think I'm having a mental breakdown to be honest.

In addition
Nosebleeds
Sweating
Headaches
Shit myself. Yes really it's that bad 😞

Sending you the biggest hug, I'm so sorry. It's wild how prevalent stress is.

Another poster made an excellent point about short term / long term and having to have a look at making changes. I'm sitting down with my notebook and pen to do that now x

@LanaDelRaybans big hug right back for you, thank you xx

Lack of motivation to do anything, go anywhere or get excited about anything
Feeling of doom
Incontinence
Anger - such anger!
Easily irritated
Eating a lot/eating too little
Losing my identity
Not doing anything I enjoy

Oh, and stomach pains...fuck, these are horrible and I usually get these on the way to work. I like my job but it's very stressful.

My hair falls out. I’m sporting a very thin patch on one side of my head after my last ivf cycle.

Exactly as you’ve described OP - honestly uncanny

IBS flares up massively,hard to fall asleep, broken sleep, headaches, I get incredibly anxious, overwhelmed by everything. The skin on my hands gets itchy & dry & certain areas start to peel. My skin can break out & I have roseca & that flares up. My appetite can go either way , & I find I stop drinking as much not alcohol as I don't really drink but anything water etc oh & I drink more coffee which is not helpful 🤦🏻‍♀️

Many of the above plus not wanting sex.

Buying shit that will make my life less stressful such as robot vacuums, magical cleaning products, gadgets, and books on mindfulness/overcoming your shit childhood/overcoming your clutter problem.
Amazon could probably use AI on my buying habits to tip off my GP that I'm on one of my episodes.

I constantly feel stressed and overwhelmed, but surprisingly never had any issues with sleep! I grind my teeth nightly (and wear a night guard for it), get rashes and itchy skin, total sensory overload very easily, IBS, lots of fatigue, over eating, and constantly messing with my hair.

Racing heart - this affects EVERYTHING! I can't eat, it makes me feel sick and I can't sleep. The lack of sleep means I can't function properly, I'm knackered, weepy, prone to mistakes, spaced out. And my banging heart carries on banging. Beta blockers are wonderful things.

Terrible stomach issues.
Racing heart.
The shakes.
Retching.
Overthinking at night and unable to shut off and sleep.

Oh and really intrusive ear worms. The same snatches of song on endless insistent repeat in my brain, even while I'm sleeping.

I break out into a rash all over my body!

I shut down and sleep. It sounds like a release but I'm permanently exhausted when this happens even if I've slept for 12 hours for days in a row which then makes me more stressed.

Also digestive issues.

Constant eating.

Recurrent dreams about failing at school, my teeth falling out, toilet mishaps, or skin diseases.

Migraine auras (though it's more a sleep deprivation thing)

Mouth ulcers (though they can just pop up regardless)

I sometimes get a fast, strong pulse and a metallic taste in my mouth, but that's more acute stress.

My stress response is very handy but also disgusting. I get bacterial vaginosis. Sometimes I don't realise how stressed I am but then the smell arrives (absolutely vile) and I think 'Aha! That's what is happening'.

Constant nausea, can't eat anything and throw up multiple times a day, which means throwing up water and bile so I get a really sore throat and often lose my voice.
Stomach cramps
Nose bleeds

An eye tic. In fact, it normally arrives before I even realise I’m stressed. I’ve learned to use it as my body serving notice that I need to check in with myself and change something! This one kicks in when lots of low level long term stuff is starting to get to me.

Generally, stress makes me feel like the living embodiment of that swan metaphor - gliding serenely on the surface, paddling furiously underneath. Sometimes it literally feels like my organs are churning or vibrating and I need to hold myself together, move slowly and carefully, so I don’t explode.

Stress/anxiety before interviews, flights, etc normally comes out as Anxiety dreams - mostly I’m being chased rrreeeeeeaaaaallllyyyy ssssslllllloooowwwwllllyyyyy 🤷‍♀️. Plus needing the loo lots!

The worst for me is the numbness I feel on my face especially the tingling lips. Ended up at the doctors due to it and he says stress causes it.

so now if I feel the tingling begin, I take myself off for 10 mins to concentrate on my breathing which helps.

Currently under massive stress and my old skin discolouration from pregnancy has darkened again. It's a delightful brown line around my top lip so I look like I've been scoffing chocolate.

Also many of the above. I haven't slept, so am running on caffeine and adrenaline so fuzzy/forgetful and barely functioning. thinking about it I haven't actually eaten in days. Constant heightened anxiety, tearful- frustrating because people keep hugging me and I am not a hugger.

Oh and anger, raging at the small things.

Many that are already here, I have one that I just can't hide but has only happened twice in my life, both after some extremely difficult time but I develop a strange slow speaking pattern, almost a Welsh type accent, very unnerving when it happened as I didn't realise until someone pointed it out. I had an argument with them because I thought they were winding me up but as I got more upset talking to them I started to hear it, never been more horrifically embarrassed in my life.

Trouble getting to and staying asleep
Hair pulling and nail biting.
Rapid, extreme weight loss as can't eat.

Anxiety, racing heart, throat closes up, can't sleep, overthinking in a loop, intrusive thoughts, catastrophising, liable to make rash decisions, withdraw from people, lose sense of self and self esteem, lose confidence in myself as a professional, self blame, mood plummets, lose all motivation, feel utterly hopeless. It's beyond horrible and I will never let myself be put in that situation again.

I get severe back pain.
I didn't work out the link to stress for the longest time until I'd just finished presenting a two day training presentation to a large customer and on the way back to the airport my back suddenly cracked and loosened up and felt better than it had in weeks.

I now have to focus hard on releasing the muscles around my lower back and stomach when stressed.

As for how long it lasts, well that depends on the source. I'm always stressed about something in particular, not just life in general.