Physical illnesses as ageing due to stress and anxiety.

[koalaburger]

I am 62 now and have had stress and anxiety to the max all my life. I was doing sit ups once and the instructor said I had the stiffest back he had ever seen. Massive fear from childhood violence. I have suspected because of the cumulative affect of it all I would get sick as I got older. In the last few years I have been diagnose with Coeliac disease, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. I am overweight and sedentary so that doesn't help but I am wondering how much the stress has affected my body. Just had a test for Hashimoto's disease because my sister has it and I have some symptoms. I joked to Carrie Fisher on twitter that mental illness was the gift that keeps on giving. She smiley faced back. Sadly, I think it is true.

 

[Cornczech]

I am 62 now and have had stress and anxiety to the max all my life. I was doing sit ups once and t...

Hello!

I am 51 and new to the PTSD diagnosis....though I guess I have been chronically ill with it. (I was self medicating as a functional alcoholic...though not so functional this last year with my "nervous breakdown").

I have a LOT of "somatic" things like chronic headaches. I had migraines when I was younger, but with a hysterectomy at age 38, most of those went away. I have epilepsy since 2010. I have such severe anxiety since I quit alcohol that I disassociate. In fact, in therapy last week, when I got upset, for a full 5 minutes, I didn't even know where I was! I can completely relate to the body wearing out. I no longer can perform the high stress job I used to , (30 years working in the medical field), and have to basically cut out a lot of the stress. I can't even drive without panicking. Thus why I am in intensive therapy.

I wish I had answers, but I wanted to at least reply so you didn't feel alone.

D-

 

[Still Standing]

Hi to both Koalaburger and Cornczech! Most of us with long-standing PTSD and C-PTSD carry physical ailments that are exasperated by or caused by the stresses we have carried for so long. Me, I have muscles in my shoulders and neck that are like cement. I get dizzy and my digestive tract likes to play war, at my expense. It is a tough journey, trying to distinguish if the physical aches and pains are legit or psychosomatic. I have a difficult time with feeling tired all the time since childhood. I do take a thyroid replacement to help counter this but I know a lot of it is from the exhaustion of thinking and trying to avoid people. I am glad you guys have joined us.

 

[Ms. Bond]

Trauma causes parts of the brain to work overtime. Therefore people often develop issues with adrenal glands, pituitary, hypothalamus, amygdala, etc. My Thyroid tests comeback indicating I have a thyroid disorder. Yet if any of these glands, organs, etc are not functioning properly. The thyroid can't function either. They put me on every thyroid medication available. Didn't fix the problem. Did research and realized it's not my thyroid. It is a result of prolonged trauma.
Conventional medicine doesn't have much experience dealing with this issue. I am finally starting to see a change with the help of a dr that uses holistic medicine, Chinese herbs, nutrition, vitamins, supplements, etc.
I started perimenopause at 35. There are other people I know that started it in their 20's due to trauma/extreme stress.

 

[DharmaGirl]

Google the Adverse Childhood Events study by Kaiser. They did a longitudinal study on how trauma causes physical problems. It's a real eye opener. Two states wanted to remove all children from abusive families, because it would save medicaid dollars in the future. Why not educate the families?

 

[Slushie]

All stress is cumulative and unless released somehow, like exercising, therapy etc, it only makes you sicker. It's super important to eat really healthy, eg, plenty cruciferous veg, oily fish, etc and keep all stressors as minimal as possible when you have PTSD. Diet can help vastly, especially cutting out sugars.

 

[Cactus Bloom]

I just wanted to share some information that may be something to look into just in case it makes sense to anyone out there. I’ve mentioned these names on another thread but I’ll just name them here just in case anyone wants something to check out. Dr. Gabor Mate you can find on YouTube and has good books out there about stress, trauma and disease and addictions. Dr. Stephen Porges developed the Polyvagal Theory (trauma and nervous system) and he’s on YouTube also. Irene Lyon (love her ideas!) has a website and on YouTube. Sally Gray also is on YouTube to discuss how to heal the vagus nerve to heal your mind and body.

I have tried so many things to become healthy but nothing has ever worked for me and it has been extremely frustrating and costly. When I learned about if my nervous system is stuck on survival mode constantly, all the healthy things I have continuously been doing but not getting better may be because the nervous system needs to stop being in survival mode. I certainly can’t explain it well at all but for myself I’m willing to learn different ways that can potentially be helpful for me.

 

[Cactus Bloom]

I am 62 now and have had stress and anxiety to the max all my life. I was doing sit ups once and t...

Hi! I get overly excited over the simplest things and I’m sorry if this is off topic or you don’t want to say anything but did you know Carrie Fisher personally? She was a strong and amazing woman.

My thyroid conked out in my early 20’s and nearly in a coma before I went to a doctor. I have gone from hypothyroidism to hyperthyroidism several times and of course many medication adjustments. I also have psoriasis which is another autoimmune disease but that doesn’t cause as much grief as the thyroid does. I’ve also gone from the extreme end of chronic insomnia (my “normal” state) to having a couple month long occurrences of narcolepsy.

 

[Didn’t know]

Hamburger and all who responded,
Thanks for bringing this subject up. In some ways there is nothing to be done as I am 65 years old and very ill but it does help to explain why I have been so ill since early childhood. Thanks

 

[MermaidBlue]

I notice that my stomach holds quite a bit of tension (I had IBS when I was younger due to complex trauma). I also have hashimotos disease and sinus headaches a lot. I’ve been trying to be mindful and unclench my muscle armoring - I notice that I do that a lot, especially my upper back