Unable To Deal With Mental Stress

[gertie]

I know we all live under undescribable stress on a daily basis from this illness. I've always considered myself a strong person when dealing with sick people or animals. I've been a care giver for at least 50 years of my life & managed to stay calm in any situation, but now when one of our animals are not well I freak out. Instead of taking them to the vet myself I try to talk DH into doing it for me. If I can't handle the stress of a sick animal what will I do when it's a family member? Does anyone else feel as if their coping skills have gone beserk? feel I've lost control of my emotions but of course my family doesn't understand this. Thanks.

[Dizzysillyak]

Me too ...

Maybe it's age or post menopause related because I'm this way now too. I started crying over

comercials when I first became perimenopausal. Thanfully, I'm over that .. Lol ..

Fwiw tho .. My chihuahuas were my babies. So if they got sick, it hit me harder than if an adult in

my life got sick. So, maybe it's just the type of bond we form with animals .. hmm, i had this with my

Very young children too tho. It was a feeling of helplessness.

tc ... D

[julieph85]

Since I have had dysautonomia I have experienced the same thing. I have ZERO tolerance for anything stressful and I cry over everything. I feel like any little thing is going to send me over the edge. I absolutely believe that it is related to the dysautonomia and the adrenline system. I think we are all in a state of hightened arousal that damages our coping abilities.

[Maiysa]

This is so interesting. I was told with my condition that I have to stay away from stress. What happens is that my fight or flight is getting turned on and won't go off. Even too much good or excitement can cause an overwhelming feeling for my immune system. I got over happy about something today and now I can't stand up straight...so dizzy. And I've had to disconnect from most people whom were causing nothing but stress in my life, and mostly takers, so I'm only down to a few of my old friends. So sad but true. haha. This is life. If I cry I also get pressure in my head, so had to give that up and now it's only for special occasions.

[E246]

Yes, I get really stressed about anything complicated now. I just can't cope with it. At work i am often quite focused and driven and then afterwards collapse with the stress and can be ill for days so i try and space out these days.

Even being with people i want to be with can set me of too much.

I think i am functioning quite normally until i start shaking or have a flare and realise it is only temporary. I feel very delicate when i am out in public.

Like you Alicia i considered myself really tough and resilient. But it is getting better. I remember going to the doctors and asking for him to give me a minute before i spoke because my adrenaline was flooding with the anxiety and stress of being out and fighting my corner again - and he is a good doctor.

You're not alone

[kmichaelson]

I have definitely noticed this as well! At first I thought that maybe stress was just getting to me because I'm so much more tired than I used to be, but I have really physical responses to stress as well. Like my heart feels like it's going to explode, I'm dizzy, shaky, nauseous, etc. I feel like I just cannot think or handle things sometimes! It must have something to do with adrenaline like others have said--it's like my body is really overreacting to the slightest stress.

Also, as others have said, just talking with people and getting involved in an animated conversation seems to have a similar effect. I don't feel nauseous and shaky when this happens, but I get very dizzy when I talk to people for a long time (like more than a few minutes). It's like the effort to focus wears me out. I wonder if there's some way to prevent this or deal with it when it happens, because I can't go my whole life without encountering stress or having conversations more than a few minutes long!

[Maiysa]

Dblonde, I have the same thing. If I'm talking to someone for too long I get so dizzy. Or if they talk to close to me, they start looking fuzzy and out of focus. It is embarrassing, especially if I get myself too animated I start to black out or if they are too excited it wears me out. And I was a theatre actress in college and nothing makes me nervous, but now if I'm just talking to someone new and am slightly nervous I start to feel so dizzy and sick. It's not normal. Then once that happens I can only catch every other word the person is saying. I feel like an idiot because I can't concentrate. Even talking on the phone causes all the above. If I could just be pushed around on a gurney I could be a much better conversationalist.

[Katybug]

alicia,

I definitely get more symptomatic when I have any sort of stress to my body, be it physical or emotional.

But, what you say about your pets rings particularly true for me. But, I don't think it is a physical symptom from my POTS...I think I have come to depend on my four legged nurse-mades for a certain amount of support that I don't feel the humans around me can give (they try but they can't cause they're human). My pets (a dog, 2 cats, and even my horse when I go to see her) have that sense that humans don't have...they know how I am doing without asking and without me having to explain. When, I don't feel well, they lay quietly with me and ask for nothing but to be close. My dog literally knows (I bet from her sense of smell but who knows) which days I can manage a walk and when I can't...she will poke me with her nose on days when I can do it but on the bad days she just lays near me as though she wouldn't even consider a walk. And, my little fury friends also pass NO judgement about this whole situation, something, again, humans have a very hard time with. So, now, when I think there might be a health problem for one of them, it really is emotionally challenging because they are a large part of my support system and I just can't imagine them not being here. (I hope you all don't think I'm a nut! ) But, they provide the companionship that humans just can't right now.

I think this is normal....it's one of the reasons using horses for both physically and mentally challenged patients is so effective. The animals just do things in silent, sublte ways that affect us in ways we often don't notice. Being chronically ill and often house-bound probably brings us much closer to our pets than we realize until we feel their health is threatened.

Katie

[anaphylaxing]

I have zero threshold for stress since this started. I can barely handle someone speaking to me, I wear ear plugs. I'm so withdrawn because I'm trying to avoid stress.

[sue1234]

I have to agree with everything everyone just posted! It's amazing how we are all so delicate now.

I agree that I've become socially isolated for the most part. I dread family get-togethers because of talk of different political views, etc. When someone says something like that, my heart starts racing and I feel like I'm going to faint! It's really ridiculous how easy I get flustered, and then symptomatic.

I was an RN for a short career, but I could NEVER handle even one hour of working that again. ANY mental stress is like someone just gave me a shot of adrenaline. I try to remind my kids not to call me if it's an emergency--call someone else. I would be of NO use, and probably turn into an emergency situation myself. I hate feeling like this. It keeps me from doing so many things(within my physical limits).

[gertie]

I am so thankful for all of you & ditto to each response. I feel better if I can be at home alone. I'm dreading

the holidays. I've been invited to family gatherings & the idea of having to make conversation with a lot of people &

trying to get the energy to cook is too much. There is no point in trying to explain this illness to anyone in my family

because no one listens. I listen to everyone else complain no matter how trivial they sound to me. Then there

are others who have terminal cancer so I realize how lucky I am, even tho I may feel miserable.

[aunie]

This happens to me as well. I get over stimulated so easy. Too many people around me, cause me to get amped up, lots of talking, excitement and chaos make me feel like I'm constantly on edge. Stress causes the same problem, but even more so. After prolonged stress I can actually throw myself into a hyperadrenergic phase. Nausea, headaches, tachycardia, the whole bit. I have a room where I can just shut everyone out if I need to, take a break from the chaos. I meditate daily and say lots of prayers to keep myself calm and balanced, this has helped alot. It's really hard to keep our bodies calm when our nervous systems are so sensitive.

[gertie]

I always feel these holiday get togethers last too long.

[Clairefmartin]

I"m happy to hear others talk about this - I have said for years that I feel I get "overstimulated", sometimes just walking into a big store like Walmart will set off my symptoms.....I still am trying to get testing done to see if I'm hyper-potsie, but am almost positive I am due to my response to the slightest stressers and the massive adrenaline surges I feel constantly. Even movies sometimes get my system going, watching at home even! I cant image being in a movie theater right now. I take Klonopin to help me chill, its been the only thing that keeps me from being totally set off (physiologically) from every day situations. The motion of a vehicle, any extreme emotion - even elation, big overwhelming environments with loads of bright lights and colors all seem to make me light headed, heart pounding, I start greying out, esp. in my right eye and on my right side (weird!), but its not a mental response, its a physical one. I really like people and being social and going out, and going to movies and music shows, but can't imagine doing that now. I hope to get it back some day, its very isolating, especially since I've been stuck in either a hospital or in my house for all of 2011. My only journeys outside have been in ambulances and by medical transport.

Anyways, best of luck to everyone, it is really comforting to know this doesn't just happen to me.

[Clairefmartin]

PS - my reactions are so severe right now, I think if someone I was close to or a family member died I would have a heart attack. My dog almost died while I was hospitalized so I hadn't seen her in 4 months, and my BP shot from 70-80/40-50 to 180/100!!! They had to sedate me. She pulled through thank God, but it freaked me out.

[MomtoGiuliana]

I am easily flustered, I think in general (even prior to severe POTS that led to diagnosis) but I think it is related to this condition. I blush easily (over very minor things), I think also with brain fog that can come over me, I get anxious about being able to carry on conversation or remember names, etc. Not always, but often. In emotional situations I often get adrenaline surges that exceed normal response, for sure.