stress makes me sick
after the somewhat frustrating, tiring, weeks past, I had a week of commitments. Summer chamber concert meant practice Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and then concert Friday. Practice means getting home after or near 10 and being wired for a few hours from the intensity of the practice. Prior, Thursday watched midnight showing of Harry Potter finale, had Friday off. My friend at HP exposed me to strep, but I don't think that's what I came down with. By Sunday I was feeling sore throat & tired & achey. So Tuesday, I went home sick. I slept all Wednesday. I stayed home Thursday and couldn't concentrate on anything.
I feel like I'm not that unhealthy of a person in general. I try to exercise. Since we started getting the LPO box twice a week we've been eating a much greater variety of foods and much more fresh veggies. I need a LOT of sleep, so generally I sleep about 8 hours a night. I've been taking vitamin C since last month when I thought I had mono. So what gives?? Why so sick?
Possibilities:
My two officemates are fountains of unhealth. They both have chronic and unsolved health problems, so on a given day, 2/3 of us are not feeling "well," and being a compassionate person, I have a vested interest and I'm always asking them how they are. So on a given day, I may get a good 5 minute or half hour dose of bad health report. Yesterday, I said my stomach was bothering me (probably virus associated with sore throat/aches) and my office mate told me she'd had diarrhea recently. Not 5 minutes later *I* got it. Is it possible I'm so compassionate and empathetic that being around sick people MAKES me sick?
I'm over estimating my general wellness. I could eat better. I drink coffee, don't skimp on butter, eat a fair amount of carbs, probably not enough fiber, etc. In nutrition it seems one can always eat better. I could exercise more/better. Maybe there's vitamins I should be taking (blood work two years ago should a deficiency in vitamin D, which I found out later, is important for body's natural production of calcium. Deficiencies in D are linked to breast cancer, and feelings of tiredness, as well. I have been taking D supplements).
Stress. I read a book about the stress/body health connection a while ago. It's called When the Body Says No, and the general idea is that having a poor stress coping system creates habitual overactivity of the brain/hormone/physiological stress response system. This can lead too all kind of physical health problems, such as hyperactive immune system (causes all kinds of problems with GI system, arthritis, etc), heart problems, even cancer. The idea is you're out of sync with the flight/fight response, and your body being in that state all the time makes it sick. If you listen to your body, it will tell you SOMETHING IS WRONG ALL THE TIME (stress response) and you need to figure out what you're responding to and deal with it instead of letting yourself be stressed ALL THE TIME. Do I have a low immune system because of a bad stress coping mechanism?
Do I have a genetic disposition towards weak immune system?
Is it my environment (working in close quarters with 2 strangers and 5+ coworkers each day)? Or just local concentrations of environmental conditions (orchestra ll this week, especially sick people at work?)
hmm.
I feel like I'm not that unhealthy of a person in general. I try to exercise. Since we started getting the LPO box twice a week we've been eating a much greater variety of foods and much more fresh veggies. I need a LOT of sleep, so generally I sleep about 8 hours a night. I've been taking vitamin C since last month when I thought I had mono. So what gives?? Why so sick?
Possibilities:
My two officemates are fountains of unhealth. They both have chronic and unsolved health problems, so on a given day, 2/3 of us are not feeling "well," and being a compassionate person, I have a vested interest and I'm always asking them how they are. So on a given day, I may get a good 5 minute or half hour dose of bad health report. Yesterday, I said my stomach was bothering me (probably virus associated with sore throat/aches) and my office mate told me she'd had diarrhea recently. Not 5 minutes later *I* got it. Is it possible I'm so compassionate and empathetic that being around sick people MAKES me sick?
I'm over estimating my general wellness. I could eat better. I drink coffee, don't skimp on butter, eat a fair amount of carbs, probably not enough fiber, etc. In nutrition it seems one can always eat better. I could exercise more/better. Maybe there's vitamins I should be taking (blood work two years ago should a deficiency in vitamin D, which I found out later, is important for body's natural production of calcium. Deficiencies in D are linked to breast cancer, and feelings of tiredness, as well. I have been taking D supplements).
Stress. I read a book about the stress/body health connection a while ago. It's called When the Body Says No, and the general idea is that having a poor stress coping system creates habitual overactivity of the brain/hormone/physiological stress response system. This can lead too all kind of physical health problems, such as hyperactive immune system (causes all kinds of problems with GI system, arthritis, etc), heart problems, even cancer. The idea is you're out of sync with the flight/fight response, and your body being in that state all the time makes it sick. If you listen to your body, it will tell you SOMETHING IS WRONG ALL THE TIME (stress response) and you need to figure out what you're responding to and deal with it instead of letting yourself be stressed ALL THE TIME. Do I have a low immune system because of a bad stress coping mechanism?
Do I have a genetic disposition towards weak immune system?
Is it my environment (working in close quarters with 2 strangers and 5+ coworkers each day)? Or just local concentrations of environmental conditions (orchestra ll this week, especially sick people at work?)
hmm.