Anxiety or Illness

[LittleLionMan]

Hi people!

Does anyone really struggle when they are ill?

I have had a cold for about a week, and it’s resulted in a persistent headache, ringing and pressure in my ears, and coughing like mad to try and clear my chest.

The problem I have is where other people would be able to relax, accept they are ill, and ride it out, it seems to cross over with my anxiety where I don’t know what is illness and what is anxiety, I worry that it is something more serious, and I get all tense, making everything worse.

I’m really not having a good time with this, and I’m worried about how it is going to affect me on Xmas day, which I always find difficult anyway.

Cheers,

Phil

[Bigboyuk]

Hey Phil Yeah I was really bad last year with 3 colds which is un heard of for me the first one really knocked me for 6 I had to ride it out, which I did then weeks later another cold hit me not as intense as first one then the third one was over in a few days. So my tips are keep hydrated keep your Vit C high like High Juice Blackcurrant it's a good way to keep/lessen the affects of a cold etc and keep warm but not overly warm as cold/flu germs breed much quicker with a lot of heat about. You are perfectly ok and not suffering from anything serious that's just your anxiety telling you different so ignore it mate. And as for xmas don't get me started I am always glad when it's over and done lol :) ATB

[cattia]

Yes I'm going through this at the moment. I have this flu type bug and I'm struggling with pains, fatigue as well as the cold symptoms. My anxiety is in absolute overdrive, googling like an idiot and worrying about what's wrong / what it might turn into / what if it never goes away etc etc. I have health anxiety anyway as well as GAD so being ill is a massive trigger for me.

[LittleLionMan]

It’s horrible isn’t it. I know that my anxiety is making me feel worse, and I’m not sure at this point if the worrying about doing Christmas Day whilst I’m not 100% is what is making me feel so awful. It’s like my head is in a vice, ears ringing, can’t focus on anything, and I have to spend all days ‘having fun’ and putting on a brace face. Not looking forward to it at all. I woke up this morning with a pounding headache and all dizzy and I just think ‘how am I going to do tomorrow if I feel like this, then it gets worse! I’m just going to do everything I can today to make myself feel good, relaxation tapes, take the BMW out for a spin, I might try and force myself to go for a run, then settle in and watch a film and chill out before bed.

I’m just dreading a day that everyone else looks forward to so much, it’s horrible isn’t it!?

[cattia]

I feel just the same. I know I have to appear well and happy tomorrow no matter what for the kids' sake and it's really stressing me out. I'm really anxious about these shooting pains I've had with this virus and the fact that they're not going away and now I'm wondering whether the fact that I'm obsessing over them is making them worse or whether there's something really wrong with my body. I was just about holding my own after a really rough few months with my anxiety and I feel like having this virus has set me right back again. It's hard and frustrating. I guess we will get through tomorrow whatever happens and then maybe we can relax a bit more although in our case we still have people around for the next few days.

[LittleLionMan]

That’s it. My little nephew will be there, 2 years old, and I don’t want to just struggle through it, I want to enjoy it a little and it’s looking less and less likely that’s going to happen. I’m pretty low. I don’t think this headache will go until I stop stressing about it.