Can High Level Anxiety Most Of Your Life Casue Pots?

[nikigrl8883]

im just curiouis i have had alooooooooooot of hardships in my life and been under tremendous anxiety growing up and especially in the last 4 years i was broken hearted ...is it possibly for this illness to be provocked by anxiety and heartach of loosing someone very close to you... can it change your body someohow does anyone know about tthis as a possiblility for this illness?

[juliegee]

I'm sorry to hear of all of your hardships and losses. And, yes, I think stress can bring on this condition, but only if it was already there (dormant) in the first place. My worst autonomic problems also came at a very stressful time in my life. In other words, stress surely exacerbates this and many other conditions.

All the best to you-

Julie

[BEE]

I deeply believe so in my own case..and have heard of others..

[DSM3KIDZ]

I agree with Julie and Bee. I believe it had something to do with my illness.

Dayna

[nikigrl8883]

i just think it brought it out in my case i didnt want my dad to get married again and like a week after the wedding i was like this and have been since and i was in love and my bf left i was under anxiety over him for 3 yrs straight worrying and i was going nuts over my path in life too recently i think my body was run down and thats what brought it out i want it to go away!

[mkoven]

Tho I had some issues before, everything revved up this summer when work got super crazy. I'm going up for tenure in my job, and I had several major fainty meltdowns right after I had to turn in files representing eight years worth of work-- to be judged by anonymously by a panel of experts. The bummer is that things are calmed now at work, but I'm still left with these weird symptoms. So anxiety can worsen it, but it had a life of its own.

[Sunfish]

i wouldn't use the word "cause". like others have said, perhaps it can be a "trigger" for someone who is predisposed, just as physical stressors can be a trigger (illness, accident, etc). it definitely isn't always the case though; there are MANY who can't connect any triggering event of any variety.

my diagnosis is no longer POTS but my "instigating events" - to the best of our educated guessing were as follows: it was a a bad case of mono or a similar virus (we were told i had mono at the time per bloodwork but my bloodwork now indicates i've never had mono?!) that turned the page from pretty healthy to random periodic health issues that retrospectively were all related to autonomic dysfunction. not knowing better at the time it was then a blood donation (not a blood draw) that really put things over the edge for me in terms of more severe symptoms that led to an initial diagnosis.

that said, there's no way for us to know if i would be in the exact same place health-wise now even if i hadn't had that virus. if a mito disease is my actual cause of dysautonomia which is one of the current probabilities then the virus may have been a bit of an accelerator those years back but my degree progressive illness would have still happened at some point.

melissa

[MomtoGiuliana]

I am so sorry that you have been through hard times.

I agree with Melissa, I would be cautious with the term "cause". Definitely stress, anything that brings your fight or fight response on, can trigger symptoms, if you are pre-disposed to this condition. Stress can exaccerbate any number of other health problems too. It is important for that reason to work on eliminating sources of stress. We don't often have control over sources of stress outside of oursevles, but we can learn to manage it differently within ourselves. Sometimes seeing a counselor can really be helpful. Also, learning breathing exercises, yoga, meditation can help.

Take care,

Katherine

[futurehope]

I'm sure stress can "change our body somehow" and it can't be good.

That being said, there a millions of people out there every day who are under extreme stress who do not get this ailment - the president of the United States, for one, Bill Gates, for another, people who hold down two or more jobs because they are broke, people who are homeless, people who have lost a child, etc.

So, even though it sounds like stress caused something, I'm a firm believer in the fact that it is stress + your body and its weaknesses + possibly a viral or bacterial trigger. There are too many people with stress to believe it's just stress. They'd all be sick if that were the case.

I'm truly sorry you are having to deal with this on top of the difficulties you've had in the past few years. Anyone who is born will be subjected to stresses, and it their response that determines quality of life. I wish you strength and peace.

[JodieArizona]

Hi Everyone,

I was in good health until last February and I contracted Mono during what was a very very stressful 2 years of my life. I had a hysterectomy at the same time after going the ER in an ambulance with strange symptoms that did not add up to Mono to the doctors. The doctors did not believe me when I told them how ill I was feeling and did the hysterectomy anyway due to very large and dangerous uterine fibroids. It took them 5 weeks 2 hospitals and 8 doctors to finally diganose me with Mono. I have been ill since February and finally diagnosed with Dysautonomia 2 weeks ago. Having the major stress of a viral illness and a previous 2 years of terrible stresses in my life...here I am a testimony that stress can trigger a terrible illness.

My belief and trust in God has provided quality of life for me even through all of the suffering!

Best Wishes To All!

Jodie ~

[futurehope]

Jodie,

I do not deny that stress triggered your ailments. I'm arguing semantics. Stress did not cause the illness, or every stressed out person would be sick. Stress and (the virus, your immune system, your weaknesses) in combination might have created your situation.

I do not want people out there who are stressed out to be waiting for a dreaded illness to hit them.

Enough said. I'll take a back seat to this thread now.

[kholdefer]

I've heard that stress can trigger it, but I don't think it causes it. Before I got sick I went through a really bad break-up with my boyfriend. I think that may have had something to do with it getting as bad as it did, but I don't think it was the cause of it. I'm sorry to hear about the heartache in your life.

Kady

[MomtoGiuliana]

I think this is a sensitive issue for a lot of us b/c so many of us went through a period of not having a diagnosis and being told our symptoms were all in our head and/or due to stress or depression.

Katherine

[dizzygirl]

while i dont think that high stress levels can "cause" dysautonomia.. I really feel that it can tirgger or spin things into an even more uproar.

......in regard to pots symptoms...

I know that for me.. growing up I was in a constant fight or flight mode due to family dynamics/dysfunctional behavior..... I have had pots my enitre life.. and i can attest to the the increase in symptoms when things where rough.. BUT I dont think it is the cause of my pots.. i think that it contributed high levels of stress to my body that trigger or helpded along faints or crashes thru childhood and teenage years..

i can understand katherine's point in this being a senstive issue for alot of folks.. I know that I for one.. fought the "its all in your head" "your stressed out" "or that i had to work out """ISSUES"".. or just plain out and out was a crazy person who was manifesting these symptoms as part of a mental health disorder..

I fought long and hard to be taken seriously.. and I no longer have mental health diagnosises..... But i remember the few time i was taken to the er and was "evaluated" or sent to the psych ward b/c THE DOCTORS COULD NOT FIGURE OUT why my heart rate was 200bpm.. so there it must have been anxiety!....

i know that even now that i have docs who take meseriously when i run into one that pulls the OH its just stress card.. that i get very defensive..

[nikigrl8883]

i think people misunderstoof me o wasnt trying to say anxiety caused my pots i was asking if people noticed that it may have somthing to do with its onset orBROUGHT IT OUT you know what i mean? im saying if recently i hadnet been under all this stress maybe it wouldve never came out as pots or lead to pots more is what im saying...i was curious on if there was in some cases any connection between the two at this point im willing to hear any opion

[BEE]

Yes mam..I think it definetly helped bring it out..

[Jersey Girl]

I agree with Futurehope. Everyone has major stress in their lives from time to time, some worse than others for sure. But I believe that it is how our bodies are wired to react to these different stresses that sets us apart. Maybe we are all long lost cousins! And Katherine is right as well about most of us being misdiagnosed for so long that creates extra unneeded anxiety. Martha

[futurehope]

I couldn't resist adding two more cents worth.

Ed Bradley (I think that was his name) was a reporter who just passed away. He was well-respected in his profession, loved what he was doing, and died of leukemia. I guess enjoying your life doesn't necessarily keep you from getting sick.

Oprah Winfrey, was sexually abused as a child. She doesn't look like she's suffering from any obvious physical ailments. The stress in her case motivated her to achieve great things.

An aunt of mine had to walk around Europe with her young son to avoid the concentration camps. She lived to a ripe old age.

I guess I'm trying to say that it is more productive to "look ahead" and not "look back".

Sorry for my philosophizing. I didn't realize I had such a passion for this subject.

[Jan]

I was under extreme stress when I "came down with" POTS. I believe stress was the trigger and often wonder if I had left my marriage years before I got sick if I would have even gotten sick.