Just recently I have been through a very traumatic time in my life. At the time I felt I coped well but now that things are almost resolved I seem to be falling to pieces!
I do have a history of depression, panic attacks and anxiety going back about 15 years but have had everything pretty much in control for the last 5 years.
I have been feeling so ill - very tired, very weepy and neck ache, head ache, migraines, interrupted sleep.
I've been to the doctor - several times and had numerous blood tests and a general check-up. She is treating the symptoms but doesn't find anything much wrong with me. And yet I feel so ill all the time.
Years ago, I developed a phobia to medication, and a fear of doctors and hospitals and any illness, mainly because if I'm ill or see a doctor it normally means having to take some type of drug.
I've been unable to take the drugs the doctor prescribed which are for anxiety and for the pain in my neck. So I don't feel any better.
Because I'm so anxious that something is seriously wrong with me, I feel worse in fact.
The doctor agrees that what I have is caused by stress and is similar to post traumatic stress disorder.
Of course I still doubt her (I want to believe her!) and keep thinking there's something more - so I worry more and more and feel worse and worse.
My question is : I do understand that stress can make one feel weepy, tired, sleepless etc. but can it really make one feel ill? I feel like I have flu most of the time. Is this normal?