Can stress make you feel physically ill?

[Pinkchampagne]

I have been very over stressed over the last couple of days.
I am a single mum & the boys have been playing me up to the point of me losing it. I know I shouldn't, but I had lost it in that horrible heart racing lost the plot kind of way. I have been very tearful straight after & felt I just couldn't cope.

I have noticed that both yesterday & today, I have felt under the weather in myself. Tired, slight headache & feeling slightly sicky.
Could the two be related? Can intense stress lead to you feeling physically unwell?

Absolutely. Stress is one of the main causes of being generally unwell I think

Yes - I always get a bad stomach and diarrhea when I'm stressed.

Yes, definitely. Nausea, headaches, dizziness, stomach upsets, that weird shaky feeling you get when you think you might pass out, and many more

Oh yes, PC, I'm under huge stress at the moment at home and I have a cold that I can't shake off and I feel really unwell. Like you, headachey, muscle pain, just quite rough.

It's hard work enough without doing it all on your own. If it's any consolation, my dd aged 5 is a pain in the wotsit at the mo. I threw a chair across the kitchen the other day because I was so wound up. No-one got hurt as dd wasn't in the room and I felt awful afterwards. You're not alone in this. Try to look after yourself, can you take a break in any way at all?

If I'm really worried abot something I do feel physically ill.

I think I have developed IBS through stress.

How is the cat doing?

Thanks for the replies. Just feel a few degrees under, and have done since yesterday. Both days had a very stressful start to them, so I wondered if the under the weather feeling could be connected to the intense feelings of stress.

NotABanana - cat is ok, but still very nervous. She hisses & lashes out easily, which isn't ideal with the boys around.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the chemicals released when your under stress compromise your immune system so it makes you more prone to picking things up.
All the symptoms you list are absolutely typical. I suffered from panic attacks a few years ago and would never have believed a mental health problem could make me feel so physically ill. I thought I was dying.

Also felt quite breathless when talking on the phone earlier. Have had this before after being very stressed, and once as a child, when I hyperventilated soon after.

Yep, when I am stressed (which is most of the time at the moment) I get a dicky tummy, diarrhoea, headache, aches+pains and AWFUL insomnia.

In fact, I think most of it is due to the insomnia which is a direct result of a very stressful job and busy family life.

Pinkchampagne
I have exactly the same symptoms of you and Im under stress with forthcoming court on Friday

I have had horrendous mouth ulcers & cold so went to Dr. He said that stress means your body cannot fight simple infections.

I have palpulations regularly & hyperventilate when I cry. its scary and makes me feel stupid but you cant tell yourself to stop stressing can you.

My friend does Indian head massage and I'm thinking of asking her to come round & de-stress me...

Yes.

(I meant yes to op, not to can you tell yourself to stop stressing.)

Stress makes me feel completely exhausted mentally and physically