Increased anxiety while sick

[meganrosetx]

Hello, hope everyone is well and having a good New Years. I’m in need of some advice.. I can usually manage my anxiety pretty well but my symptoms are amplified while sick, which I currently am. I felt a cold coming on yesterday but woke up feeling better this morning so I thought I was in the clear, but nope. This afternoon brought on body aches, nausea, and fever. I can’t stop worrying now that I’m sicker than I actually am and something horrible is going to happen. I took some cold medicine about an hour ago which lowered my fever but my heart won’t quit racing from my anxiety. Does anyone else experience more anxiety symptoms while sick?

[GiantMogwai]

Heart rate being faster when sick is normal. Used to get anxious about that all the time until someone explained it. Rest up, drink plenty of water, get some vitamin C, and take medicine to ease temperature. You'll be ok. :)

[meganrosetx]

I didn’t know being sick could increase your heart rate..makes me feel so much better! Thank you :)

[GiantMogwai]

Yup, it's your body working harder to fight off the bug. :)

[meganrosetx]

Update: so my terrible cold has turned into an ear infection. I had to leave work early today and go to urgent care because the pain was so severe. While I was there my bp was slightly elevated (131/80) and my pulse was 117! Kind of freaked me out when I saw that.. but then again I was pretty anxious at the time. I was prescribed amoxicillin which I’m about to pick up at the pharmacy but I still can’t stop worrying that my ear infection will spread or something more serious is wrong with me. :weep:

[ankietyjoe]

All sounds normal to me, especially the high heart rate. If I'm laying down at home, my heart rate is usually about 10-15% higher than normal, so always well over 80bpm at rest, often closer to 90.

Last time I was really ill I drove myself to the GP and it was well over 140 by the time I got in to see him. He didn't flinch.

Use it as practice to manage the anxiety at a more elevated rate than you usually have, that's what I did. You'll be fine :)