Can stress make you feel unwell?

[identitytheftisnotajokejim]

The past few months I have been incredibly stressed (work, unsuccessfully ttc and my ocd has been particularly bad). The stress I've experienced has been unlike anything I've ever experienced.

I have noticed that I have been feeling really run down - tired, headaches, hot, breathlessness and a general feeling of being really unfit. Im having huge sleep difficulties - constantly tossing and turning when usually I sleep really well.

Is this likely to be stress related??

Help! 😬

Absolutely yes. The lack of sleep can be caused by stress, and lack of sleep makes you feel absolutely shit in all areas.

Is there anything you can do to dial down the stress? Medication review for the OCD? Talk to manager about workload? Put of ttc? Certainly pregnancy takes a huge toll on your health as well so wouldn't be trying for that while in such a low place mentally unless there's some urgency...

Oh also - what's your age? I'm reading more and more about perimenopause and the myriad ways it can make you feel like shit - any chance that might be in play for you?

The thing that got me reading about it was insomnia overnight (even though I'm so tired I drop off on the sofa while looking at my phone sometimes!) and horrible joint pain.

@herewegoroundthebastardbush

I'm 30. I'm my own boss too so I can't speak to anyone 😬
I've been ttc for 10 months and I only have one working tube so I really can't put it off unfortunately. I do wonder how much stress is impacting my ability to get pregnant too...

Of course it is! I can't see how it isn't. You need help to sort it out. See GP, go to yoga and/or try hypnotherapy. I've found yoga and hypnpotherapy have made a huge difference to me although my situation was different. They complement each other so well.

A resounding yes. hope you can reduce your stress

1000% yes. I had a job which was stupidly stressful, to the point that I walked out of the office one day and went straight to the GP and got signed off, handed in my notice by email and never went back.

I lost a very nice pair of heels that were in my office drawer, but I also found that I was no longer getting sick every 5 minutes, my eczema cleared up, my flaky scalp cleared up, I wasn't getting a stye in my eye and a cold sore on my lip every weekend, my spots on my chin cleared up...it was ridiculous how much turned out to be related to stress. I slept better because I wasn't clenching my jaw all night, and I was literally breathing easier because my nose wasn't stuffed up constantly.

And then the pandemic came, and a lot of the above came back in the second lockdown - it was all purely from stress. Then it went away again once the kids could go back to school.

Phew!
I have been worrying that it could be peri menopause but my age is hopefully in my favour!

I also feel really wobbly on my legs and shaky - I don't get much exercise (due to working all the time!) so I wonder how much unfitness has to do with it too.

Yes, commonly.

@Xiaoxiong

I had no idea that stress could do this to you! I have always had a pretty stressful life but the past few months have taken me to places I didn't know existed.

I suffer with spots on my chin too! I never had spots as a teenager so to be getting them as an adult always concerned me!

Just saw that you're self-employed - honestly that is really not for everyone, I know people talk about how they love being their own boss and would never work for someone else again but I found that being my own boss was terrifying and I felt such an obligation to keep the money coming in to pay employees, suppliers, etc. I'm much happier in a slightly bigger organisation where I feel like I'm part of a team.

I'd think seriously about whether your current set-up is working for you. Could you be employed within a bigger organisation? Sell your business to another one doing something similar? Find a different role? Might be worth working these things through with a mentor or career coach (a real one that is relevant to your industry).

Yes stress affects every system.

You can either reduce the source of stress or do active stress mitigation - most people do best with a combination of the two.

I'd advise you to do an honest, detailed audit of your life and look at a) what you can cut out/back and b) what healthy things you can put in.

Totally and utterly 100%.
My body lets me know sooner than my brain tells me.

Yes absolutely. Stress can cause havoc with your body and there should be more studies done on this subject.
If you can find any way to manage the stress, you should see the benefits.

Very much so, when I was signed off work for a month with stress it was so bad I was physically ill, being sick, awful stomach aches, headaches, dizziness, fainting, weakness, extreme fatigue coupled with insomnia, night terrors. It was horrendous.

Stress impacts absolutely everything. My periods were even affected by it.

Ok I definitely think this is stress then...

It's affected my periods too - they're lighter than usual!

Problem is I don't know how to stop being so stressed. I worry about EVERYTHING. ☹️

I've got so little energy it's really concerning me. How can I stop being so stressed?

It's about your nervous system, it's in constant activation and you aren't entering parasympathetic state.

Learn how to Meditate, relax, breathing work, Yoga, Sound Baths, properly enter a state of rest

Yes stress can cause this, and if you don’t resolve it you can end up with much worse problems. Stress can trigger autoimmune diseases and all sorts. This book was recently recommended on another thread and I found it helpful.

https://archive.org/details/selfhelpforyourn00week

Yes it can and if it's left to go rampant it can cause all manner of unexplained chronic illnesses and cognitive issues. You can also shed insane amounts of weight and become malnourished, weak and frail.

That's what happened to me, a mixture of SE stress but also abusive marriage. I went from 13st healthy active guy down to 7st with chronic illness and nearly ended up in hospital multiple times. Needless to say now I am out of that environment and my stress is lower, it's all gone, my weight is increasing and I'm stronger/fitter again.

Stress is damaging, very damaging.

When stress rises our immune systems naturally respond & plummet. Mine really does as I have an immune deficiency but I think it applies to the mainstream.

I feel so bad again today. I'm worried it isn't actually stress but I know I've been so so stressed the past few months.