Anyone else can’t handle stress/confrontation?

[Veta]

Hi guys,

I was only diagnosed with this today but have been having symptoms for about a year. Along with pre syncope, vertigo, shortness of breath, brain fog, headaches, irregular heart beats, chest pain, low blood pressure etc I noticed something else that only started recently.

When I’m in a mildly stressful situation (ie confrontation with a friend) My heart starts going crazy and I get an overwhelming need to run or immediately leave the situation, then I start shaking and usually crying. Before I was diagnosed I thought it was anxiety attacks however I never used to get them and they come very early on, like situations I used to be able to handle quite well.

Can anyone else relate or have any idea why this is happening?

 

[KaciCrochets]

I avoid confrontation like the plague, I get shaky and sweaty and get adrenaline rushes. Then I spend hours obsessively thinking over what happened. I hate it. My brain is so oversensitive that anything can trigger fight or flight, but someone being angry with me has always been a huge trigger. 

Welcome to the board!

[p8d]

Arguments are evil.  I never can sleep after one of our rare arguments.  Kaci is spot on, the norepinephrine just dumps.  Being on alpha blockers has really helped me but I still get overstimulated very easily.

[Random-Symptom Man]

You are not alone.

Stress is not my friend. Of any kind. Stress can take me out for days. If I try to power through the stress, the aftereffects get worse and last longer. Most people only see me in the moment. They don't see the repercussions. 

The way my psychiatrist described this to me went something like this:

Him: Do you know anything about the autonomic nervous symptom. 

Me: Uh, I think so.

Him: Then you know that the sympathetic nervous system is the fight or flight response, right? He's talking slowly, so I can understand.

Me: Nodding my head, trying to understand through a particularly bad brain fog.

Him: So stress triggers the sympathetic nervous system. 

Me: OK.

Him: In you, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system don't balance out into homeostasis.

Me: confused face.

Him: Homeostasis means balance. So stress effects others, but really messes with you because things don't go back to a balance. Things spin out of control.

Me: I get this last sentence.

I'm glad my wife records my visits to doctors. I wouldn't remember stuff like this otherwise. I filled in my best guess as to my mostly silent responses. I really don't remember the conversation. I do remember listening to it later.

You are not alone.