Psychosomatic illness cause by stress

[LogicalConclusion]

Just wondering, does anyone else here experience sickness caused by stress? I feel crazy. This has happened to me for a long time and I've never really done anything about it because, well, what can you do? For at least a week now I've felt again this alternating hot and cold, or sometimes feel both at the same time. My skin hurts, my body aches, soooo tired and I feel delirious and feverish a lot even though my temp isn't out of normal range. Also having stomach issues going both ways. Seems like this came on once I ran out of weed and now I've got another assload of stress coming...idk how much further into the ground they can run me. By now I should be six feet under, literally and figuratively. Anyway, do any of y'all experience that? If you do, how do you deal with it?

 

[oopswronglife]

Yes. It's well documented and studied that stress creates illness through various mechanisms. It can create new ones that are entirely psychosomatic (still very real but not some infection/cancer etc), it can open the door to those types of illnesses by reducing or inflating immune response, it can also make existing things much worse. Every single person alive has suffered psychosomatic illness at some point and I'd argue most are right now. The real problem is people think "psychosomatic" means "just in your head" like you are making it up and lazy or weak. The brain creating something in the body isn't imaginary. It's not fake. It's not something you CHOOSE or can just shut off by being "tough".

Dealing with it...the best you can do is try to control stress (I know), recognize that something is or is likely caused by it (your back hurts severely but tests show no problem etc) and keep moving in life. It's a neverending thing we have to deal with and there is no "cure" to keep it from ever affecting you. You can only try your best to reduce it's opportunities and reduce its impact.

 

[not_a_robot]

My symptoms had an actual physical cause. I just had to stop listening to my doctors telling me I was "imagining" it, pay attention to my own body, and do my own research. I am now successfully curing myself, but I still don't feel life is worth living, after hateful doctors fucked my life with a bunch of fake mental health labels.
(paywalled)

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[oopswronglife]

It's a misunderstanding, infuriatingly even amongst many doctors, that psychosomatic illness has no cause or isn't real or is all in your head. It creates the same processes that a physically based disease does. The same cells are altered, oxygenation etc is affected, metabolic processes changed, same pain nerves activated with the same eletrochemical impulses. It's all REAL. It's not "psychological" only. It's just the root cause isn't an infection or injury, rather the mind initiating the processes in response to stress. Have a look at John Sarno and TMS if you want more info.

 

[262653]

Damn straight I did. Intense, sharping pain in my skin (or so I have thought at first; more likely to be muscle tissue), as if my body was being pierced by thousands of thorns and cooked alive. I've been told it's all in my head (no visible symptoms of irritation, aside from me squirming, as if I was insane), or that I have to take bodily hygiene more seriously, nevermind having the pain back an hour after taking a bath. I've been getting the pain from stress, be it strenuous exercise, intense emotional responses, masturbation, sensory overload... I thought it was my brain's way to avoid exercise, so I kept a breadknife (serrated knife) near my dumbbells... to be ready to scratch irritated parts and relieve the pain. I've been prescribed with some tablets that didn't helped, then another tablets, painkillers... guess what, 3x more expensive. Then something even more expensive... I felt its a scam, they're trying waters with relatively cheap drugs and then consecutively get to more expensive... I refused to participate in that kind of treatment.

Then one person on suicide sub was talking about nutrition... I don't know how to explain it, but made so much sense to me intuitively. I haven't been doing lots of research. Someone showed me a better way and I simply followed... Better nourishment has made my life more bearable. I forgot the last time I experienced that kind of pain...

 

[LogicalConclusion]

It's a misunderstanding, infuriatingly even amongst many doctors, that psychosomatic illness has no cause or isn't real or is all in your head. It creates the same processes that a physically based disease does. The same cells are altered, oxygenation etc is affected, metabolic processes changed, same pain nerves activated with the same eletrochemical impulses. It's all REAL. It's not "psychological" only. It's just the root cause isn't an infection or injury, rather the mind initiating the processes in response to stress. Have a look at John Sarno and TMS if you want more info.

Thanks, you are absolutely correct. :) I know the symptoms are real but also that there is no real physical cause for me. I call this "stress-sickness" or "brain-fever" because of how feverish I feel even though I'm at a normal temp. Haven't gone to a doctor because I know there's nothing they can do and it would just add more stress. Been trying to do things I enjoy and then people keep coming along and pushing more unreasonable expectations on me. I can't even take care of myself and my apt and don't currently have a PCA so why in tf they think adding outside activities is a good idea is beyond me. Honestly, I wake up feeling moderately okay until real life hits me again and I'm like "oh yeah..." and then get hit with the physical symptoms. I feel like the only way to bring down the stress would be to just stay in bed so my brain/body can recover to some degree and watching something entertaining/enjoyable or reading. That would be soooo much easier if I had a PCA though. I'm truly at a loss

Damn straight I did. Intense, sharping pain in my skin (or so I have thought at first; more likely to be muscle tissue), as if my body was being pierced by thousands of thorns and cooked alive. I've been told it's all in my head (no visible symptoms of irritation, aside from me squirming, as if I was insane), or that I have to take bodily hygiene more seriously, nevermind having the pain back an hour after taking a bath. I've been getting the pain from stress, be it strenuous exercise, intense emotional responses, masturbation, sensory overload... I thought it was my brain's way to avoid exercise, so I kept a breadknife (serrated knife) near my dumbbells... to be ready to scratch irritated parts and relieve the pain. I've been prescribed with some tablets that didn't helped, then another tablets, painkillers... guess what, 3x more expensive. Then something even more expensive... I felt its a scam, they're trying waters with relatively cheap drugs and then consecutively get to more expensive... I refused to participate in that kind of treatment.

Then one person on suicide sub was talking about nutrition... I don't know how to explain it, but made so much sense to me intuitively. I haven't been doing lots of research. Someone showed me a better way and I simply followed... Better nourishment has made my life more bearable. I forgot the last time I experienced that kind of pain...

Sorry you've experienced that as well, but it's also relieving to know I'm not alone. I know meds wouldn't do anything since there's no physical cause and I'm on 4 physical and 8 psych meds as well as ~4-5 supplements/vitamins. I'm glad you've found something that helps you :) Ugh, honestly a nice turkey cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing sounds amazing but I am so broke...I hate that real food is so expensive because a salad or some cucumbers sounds bomb af rn. Can I ask what changes you made that you found beneficial? I know everyone is different, but maybe hearing about things that have helped others can lead me to some solution for at least a minimal amount of relief.

 

[262653]

Sorry you've experienced that as well, but it's also relieving to know I'm not alone. I know meds wouldn't do anything since there's no physical cause and I'm on 4 physical and 8 psych meds as well as ~4-5 supplements/vitamins. I'm glad you've found something that helps you :) Ugh, honestly a nice turkey cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing sounds amazing but I am so broke...I hate that real food is so expensive because a salad or some cucumbers sounds bomb af rn. Can I ask what changes you made that you found beneficial? I know everyone is different, but maybe hearing about things that have helped others can lead me to some solution for at least a minimal amount of relief.

More raw veggies. My usual mig beal is apple, cucumber and cabbage, sometimes cut down in salad, then vegetable soup with meat broth (leftover liquid after cooking meat in the oven), preferably with boiled chicken egg, then meat. Nuts and seeds instead of chips. No grains, refined sugar. I try to avoid candies but occasionally fall into the trap. Cheese when I feel like, brie, goat or sheep cheese. The last two are very expensive but the money isn't mine. Basically eat and sleep well and avoid toxins/stuff that may hurt you (stress, mold spores, dust, electromagnetic waves?) I don't do this anymore, but it is advisable to keep the nourishment journal: write down when and what you eat, when and how much you sleep, how you feel throughout the day... I'm also taking vitamin and mineral supplements...

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The purpose of this health section and meaning of the pain I had to go through: find health and happiness.

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