Am I Sick Or Is It Anxiety

Temporarily Relief For The Sick Feeling

Most over the counter medicines that calm the stomach can be mildly effective at relieving most of the sick feeling. Even though the nausea is caused by anxiety, some of the symptoms can be relieved with medicines.

For issues like swollen glands, treating them can be a bit more complicated. That’s because your glands aren’t always swollen, and if they are it is not usually that severe. Yet focusing on that part of the body can make us hyper sensitive to physical changes, and they feel more distressing. Your body is so attuned to the way you feel that it starts to believe that it feels significant issues, out of proportion with the reality.

The only way to reduce that is to reduce your anxiety and to do that you need to start to understand your anxiety better. Explore our website for more information, or speak to a specialist to begin treatment.

SUMMARY:

Anxiety can cause problems with the gut, and can lead to adrenaline related changes to the stomach, all of which can cause feelings of illness. Chronic anxiety may also have other complications. No matter the cause, anxiety reduction is the only effective long term solution to eliminate these feelings.

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Can Excessive Worry Make Me Physically Ill

Chronic worry and emotional stress can trigger a host of health problems. The problem occurs when fight or flight is triggered daily by excessive worrying and anxiety. The fight or flight response causes the bodyâs sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormones can boost blood sugar levels and triglycerides that can be used by the body for fuel. The hormones also cause physical reactions such as:

• Difficulty swallowing

• Heart attack

If excessive worrying and high anxiety go untreated, they can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts.

Although these effects are a response to stress, stress is simply the trigger. Whether or not you become ill depends on how you handle stress. Physical responses to stress involve your immune system, your heart and blood vessels, and how certain glands in your body secrete hormones. These hormones help to regulate various functions in your body, such as brain function and nerve impulses.

All of these systems interact and are profoundly influenced by your coping style and your psychological state. It isnât the stress that makes you ill. Rather, itâs the effect responses such as excessive worrying and anxiety have on these various interacting systems that can bring on the physical illness. There are things you can do, though, including lifestyle changes, to alter the way you respond.

Am I Sick Or Is It Anxiety

Another side effect of anxiety is flu-like symptoms. Do you remember the description of the stretched elastic band? If you stretch the band too often or too fast, it loses its elasticity. This makes it harder to do its job, like keeping your hair in place or holding together a bunch of pens.

In the same way, anxiety causes your body to exert itself as a response to danger. But if you experience trauma, or youre over-stressed for a long time, your bodys new default is in danger mode.

Danger mode is exhausting for the body. It causes muscle tension, which brings aches and pain. It increases your breathing, which makes you short of breath. Anxiety also causes increased blood flow, which can make you dizzy and warm. All these symptoms can be mistaken for the flu.

Over time anxiety can cripple your immune system, causing you to feel sick and weak. This also makes it easier for viruses like the flu to attack your body.

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Standing Up For Yourself

Sometimes living with Health Anxiety OCD can feel like you are living in your own private hell that never seems to end. On top of the despair you may feel, your OCD condemns and berates you for all the ways you imagine you may have failed, which then leads you to feel more isolated and often depressed. From this standpoint it is difficult to feel motivated or even capable of doing what it requires to get better. This is where self-compassion can be especially helpful. At this point my clients frequently scowl because they assume I am referring to some kind of give yourself a break type statement which they often hate. However, self-compassion is simply about viewing yourself as a human being who has challenges like all other human beings. Self-compassion is a way of separating yourself from the nasty voice of OCD and allowing yourself to be honest about the situation without judgement and criticism. From this position you are better equipped to challenge your OCD and actively engage in treatment.

The good news is you are not alone. Currently you may only know the suffering associated with your health anxiety but through the right treatment, there is hope of learning to appreciate the way your mind works. You may even learn to laugh at the ridiculousness of some of the ideas your OCD has you focused on and you may begin to appreciate the creativity it affords you. Above all, you may get to truly enjoy the benefits of the good health your OCD is so protective of.

Worry Is A Component Of Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety has three main components: emotional, physiological, and cognitive.

Imagine you have a presentation coming up at work. You might notice feelings of fear and dread, two examples of the emotional component. You may also notice bodily sensations, such as heart palpitations, sweating, or a tightness in your stomach, which represent the physiological component. Finally, you might be thinking, I cant do it, or Im going to embarrass myself. Worries and negative thoughts like these about what might happen in the future are the cognitive component. So, while worry is an important part of anxiety, it is only one of the three main building blocks.

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Common Symptoms Of Anxiety Are:

• Feelings of panic, danger, or dread

• Increased heart rate

• Increases nervousness, or a feeling of restlessness and being tense.

• Increased breathing, or hyperventilation

• Difficulty focusing on anything other than what youre worried about

• Insomnia

• Digestive problems like gas, diarrhea, or constipation

• Obsessively focusing on or avoiding a thing that triggers anxiety

• Heightened anxiety about a life situation that triggers a memory of past trauma

If you experience these symptoms often, then you might be showing signs of anxiety.

How To Cope With An Anxiety Attack

Lets start with the immediate, quick hacks to help you freeze your anxiety attack once it kicks into your life. No matter how scared or helpless you feel at that moment, try to do the following things:

When you have an attack, your breath is too short and shallow, meaning it worsens further symptoms. Once you feel the panic stand up and start doing some simple stretching. If you manage to squeeze in a yawn, that will help you tame the attack even faster. Stretching and yawning instantly helps you relieve muscle tension and interrupt the vicious cycle that is just about to roll in full strength.

No need to master the art of meditation for this. Simply inhale for three counts and exhale for five. Repeat the exercise for as long as you need to.

To regulate your bodys temperature and reduce the escalating cycle of panic, slowly drink a glass of icy water. Take small sips and focus on every gulp you make. While drinking, imagine how your body and mind is cooling down.

To activate your parasympathetic nervous system, use this simple meditation technique: focus your gaze on an imaginary point in front of you relax your focus and use your peripheral vision, as if you are trying to take in everything around you with soft focus. It signals to your brain to relax. The more you practice this technique the faster it will help you to relax in any situation.

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Tips From A Psychologist For When A Relationship Causes Anxiety

Anxiety is loves greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic. ~Anais Nin

When a relationship causes anxiety, we are groomed to believe our relationship anxiety is the problem. After all, anxiety can strangle love, suffocate it, tear it apart, leaving most of us to believe that relationships and anxiety simply dont mix.

If we feel anxious, most of us believe we need to get ourselves under control lest we ruin our relationship. We dont see anxiety as useful, we see it as a problem which adds pressure to the anxiety we are already feeling, and ultimately escalates it.

But what if anxiety wasnt the problem at all, but was instead trying to tell us something? Something important that we needed to hear?

The most important thing to know about anxiety is that it isnt dangerous, and nothing is wrong with you if you feel it. Anxiety can actually be a powerful help to you, a sensitive tool we can use to pick up on potential threats to the things we care about most. What we do with anxiety can make the difference between it being helpful, or harmful. Anxiety wants to be recognized, and understood.

If your relationship is causing you anxiety, here are a few things to consider.

1. Anxiety in relationships is common.

2. Anxiety means you care.

3. Tune into what relationship challenge your anxiety is signaling.

5. Detangle your baggage.

Not All Health Worries Indicate Health Anxiety

Being concerned about your health is not the same as health anxiety. It’s normal to be worried about your health from time to time. You may wonder if your stomachache is a sign of a more serious condition. If you have had a severe illness in the past, you may be anxious about an upcoming imaging scan.

“There is a difference at least medically speaking between a person who has no symptoms or minimal symptoms and is frequently worried and anxious about being or getting sick and a person who is worried about concerning symptoms,” says Dr. Scarella. However, he notes that anxiety about real health conditions can also become problematic.

People with health anxiety often misinterpret normal or benign physical symptoms and attribute them to something more serious. For example, if they were to compress an arm while asleep, instead of rolling over and shaking off the numb feeling, they might worry they were having a stroke. Symptoms produced by anxiety which can include muscle pain, chest pain, heart rate changes, headaches, and dizziness, among others can heighten existing anxiety about one’s health.

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When To See A Doctor

If anxiety-related nausea is interfering with your quality of life and you cant manage it on your own, its time to see your doctor. If its not due to a medical condition, ask for a referral to a mental health professional.

Everyone experiences stress and anxiety at some point. There are steps you can take to lower stress and deal with occasional bouts of nausea.

There is help. Anxiety, nausea, and anxiety disorders can be identified and effectively managed.

Why Am I Anxious For No Reason

Anxiety can be caused by a variety of things: stress, genetics, brain chemistry, traumatic events, or environmental factors. Symptoms can be reduced with anti-anxiety medication. But even with medication, people may still experience some anxiety or even panic attacks. The best treatment combines medication with therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. If the anxiety is rooted in trauma, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing may be the best course.

Anxiety usually has a triggeran event or thought that provokes an anxious response. However, most people arent aware of their triggers, and believe they have become anxious for no reason. As human beings evolved, our species developed an instinctual response to danger, known as fight, flight, or freeze. The sympathetic nervous system makes our bodies and minds react quickly when we are in danger, and we may choose to stand and fight, run away, or stay totally still as if playing dead, known as the freeze response.

Our anxiety, or fear, evolved as an alarm bell to move us into life-saving action. In our modern world, we encounter conflicts that arent actually life-threatening. But our nervous system doesnt know this, and so we can react to a variety of stimuli with the fight, flight, or freeze response, even when it is inappropriate. Add this to the fact that anxiety can also cause confusion or disassociation, and you can see why the exact causes of your anxiety are often so hard to pin down.

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Poor Diet And Dehydration

Dehydration and malnutrition, or having a poor diet, both put stress on the body. A chronic lack of proper nutrients and hydration can cause many problems, including:

• chronic fatigue and weakness
• poor immune health and extended healing time
• weight loss

Treatment

Recommendations for daily water intake differ, depending on a persons age, sex, pregnancy status, and illness. It is often said that most people should drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water daily.

If a person suspects they are dehydrated, they should visit their doctor to find out the best treatments.

To treat and prevent malnutrition, people should eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in foods, including:

• whole grains
• whole fruits and vegetables
• pulses, such as dry beans, lentils, and chickpeas
• healthy fats, such as in fatty fishes, virgin olive oil, most nuts, whole eggs, avocados, and dark chocolate

Psychological Symptoms Of Gad

GAD can cause a change in your behaviour and the way you think and feel about things, resulting in symptoms such as:

• restlessness
• difficulty concentrating
• irritability

Your symptoms may cause you to withdraw from social contact to avoid feelings of worry and dread.

You may also find going to work difficult and stressful, and may take time off sick. These actions can make you worry even more about yourself and increase your lack of self-esteem.

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Obsessively Thinking That Youre Sick Might Actually Make You Ill

Some people worry excessively that they have a serious illness or are going to develop one, a disorder commonly called hypochondria or health anxiety. Might such fear and unease be hard on the heart?

The study involved 7,052 adults , including 710 people considered to have health anxiety. Over a decade, 234 participants developed heart disease: 6 percent of those with health anxiety compared with 3 percent of the others. After accounting for potentially contributing factors, people with health anxiety were 71 percent more likely to have developed heart disease than were those who were not overly anxious about their health. The greater the degree of health anxiety, the higher the risk for heart disease.

People who are preoccupied with their physical health, to the point of being unrealistically fearful of having a serious disease, even without supporting medical evidence. This can create a cycle of symptoms and worry that can be hard to stop. As a result, people with more-severe cases sometimes develop depression, anxiety or panic disorder. The official diagnostic term for health anxiety or hypochondria is illness anxiety disorder.