lobbie
01-05-23, 12:51
Hi everyone,
I've been having a really good time lately with my health anxiety. Just enjoying life without feeling much symtoms at all... and then I got the flu about a month ago. I was never too sick but had all the classic symtoms; sore throat, runny nose, slight fever, coughing, hoarse voice and very fatigued. I could walk around in my apartment without any issues but walking to the grocery store (which is about 700 meters away or a 10 minute walk (20 minutes both ways)) was really difficult even when walking slowly and I had to rest immediately after. Taking a shower was also very draining.
After about a week I started to feel better so I started to work again as I work from home and that went just fine. I didn't really go out much and had to get help getting groceries but other than that I could live a "normal-ish" life. For the next 2 weeks I felt just a little bit sick with a few remaining symtoms, mainly dry throat and low grade fever. For the last week I've felt even better; fever is gone and the dry throat is so mild now that I often forget about it. I feel like I have more energy but I'm still not fully recovered and this is worrying me. Ever since my low grade fever went away I've been getting a lot of neurological symtoms that come and go. Things like muscle twitching (always seems to be a random muscle), skin feeling hot like a sunburn (also on random body part but usually in my face or behind my head), occassional pins and needles in my feet, brain fog and fast heart beat. All these things come and go in the day. Sometimes I could feel totally fine and then suddenly a symtom shows up.
I know that all of these symtoms could just be anxiety. I've had a lot of stress lately in my personal life and then getting the flu on top of that meant things became even more stressful. Back in my later twenties I got some kind of infection and after that felt so drained that I couldn't function for 6 months. I could barely walk and just getting up to go to the bathroom felt nearly impossible. It was actually that event that triggered my health anxiety in the first place so I never ever want to experience something like that again. For that reason I'm terrified of getting any kind of infection but of course you can't really avoid it all the time.
The symtom that is most concerning is not any of the above though but it is my legs. They feel kind of "off" in a way that's hard to describe. I don't feel it when sitting or lying down but when walking around it is as if they are more stiff than usual (?) Almost like the feeling you get after running before you stretch. And sometimes they feel wobbly. It is kind of vague so sometimes I don't even know if I'm just imagining it, but then even if I try not to think about it I still feel they are not totally fine. I can walk more now than when I was sick but I don't know how much and I'm scared of testing it. I'm just so afraid that they will get worse so I'll get back to that hell of "post viral fatigue" I experienced in the past. Every morning I wake up now my first thought is "Will I be able to walk today? Maybe my legs have gotten a lot worse since last night...". For this reason I really dread getting up in the morning and I just lie there with fast heartbeat and sweating for a good 30 minutes or so.
I don't really know what I want out of writing this but if anyone have experienced something similar please let me know. If you ever had some kind of post viral fatigue that took a long time to recover from. How long did it take for you?
Even though I've been slowly getting better I'm just afraid I will suddenly crash.
I've been having a really good time lately with my health anxiety. Just enjoying life without feeling much symtoms at all... and then I got the flu about a month ago. I was never too sick but had all the classic symtoms; sore throat, runny nose, slight fever, coughing, hoarse voice and very fatigued. I could walk around in my apartment without any issues but walking to the grocery store (which is about 700 meters away or a 10 minute walk (20 minutes both ways)) was really difficult even when walking slowly and I had to rest immediately after. Taking a shower was also very draining.
After about a week I started to feel better so I started to work again as I work from home and that went just fine. I didn't really go out much and had to get help getting groceries but other than that I could live a "normal-ish" life. For the next 2 weeks I felt just a little bit sick with a few remaining symtoms, mainly dry throat and low grade fever. For the last week I've felt even better; fever is gone and the dry throat is so mild now that I often forget about it. I feel like I have more energy but I'm still not fully recovered and this is worrying me. Ever since my low grade fever went away I've been getting a lot of neurological symtoms that come and go. Things like muscle twitching (always seems to be a random muscle), skin feeling hot like a sunburn (also on random body part but usually in my face or behind my head), occassional pins and needles in my feet, brain fog and fast heart beat. All these things come and go in the day. Sometimes I could feel totally fine and then suddenly a symtom shows up.
I know that all of these symtoms could just be anxiety. I've had a lot of stress lately in my personal life and then getting the flu on top of that meant things became even more stressful. Back in my later twenties I got some kind of infection and after that felt so drained that I couldn't function for 6 months. I could barely walk and just getting up to go to the bathroom felt nearly impossible. It was actually that event that triggered my health anxiety in the first place so I never ever want to experience something like that again. For that reason I'm terrified of getting any kind of infection but of course you can't really avoid it all the time.
The symtom that is most concerning is not any of the above though but it is my legs. They feel kind of "off" in a way that's hard to describe. I don't feel it when sitting or lying down but when walking around it is as if they are more stiff than usual (?) Almost like the feeling you get after running before you stretch. And sometimes they feel wobbly. It is kind of vague so sometimes I don't even know if I'm just imagining it, but then even if I try not to think about it I still feel they are not totally fine. I can walk more now than when I was sick but I don't know how much and I'm scared of testing it. I'm just so afraid that they will get worse so I'll get back to that hell of "post viral fatigue" I experienced in the past. Every morning I wake up now my first thought is "Will I be able to walk today? Maybe my legs have gotten a lot worse since last night...". For this reason I really dread getting up in the morning and I just lie there with fast heartbeat and sweating for a good 30 minutes or so.
I don't really know what I want out of writing this but if anyone have experienced something similar please let me know. If you ever had some kind of post viral fatigue that took a long time to recover from. How long did it take for you?
Even though I've been slowly getting better I'm just afraid I will suddenly crash.