Anxiety manifesting as... flu?!

[Murakawa]

I woke up this morning feeling lousy. To be fair, I went out last night and drank rather a lot so that was to be expected!

I've been having these funny hot flushes this morning. I'll just be sitting there and notice that I'm hotter than usual. I thought maybe I was going down with the flu or something.

I had a bit of a panic attack earlier and ended up laying down for a few minutes, where I tried to think rationally and convince myself that it's just anxiety (this is what I usually do when I'm slightly panicky.) Since then, I've been fine. I don't feel hot, in fact I feel pretty much normal.

I know for a fact that this is all caused by my brain. But I just find it incredible how powerful the brain can be. Has anyone had any weird physical symptoms from anxiety?

[northstar]

hi murakawa! :) out enjoying the christmas part season i see :D

it may help you to know that hot flushes are actually really common with hangovers, i've had them many a time myself when i used to drink a lot more and find that wine especially makes me flush. so don't worry, you're not experiencing anything unusual, it may be just the first time that you've personally had this happen :)

the hangover is probably the reason for your panic today too! three reasons why

1) dehydration, which is pretty easily fixed by sipping from a bottle of water throughout the morning :)

2) when you drink you burn through your body's supply of vitamins, especially the B vitamins. B vitamins are responsible for keeping your nervous system happy and helping you to stay stress free - so naturally if you've depleted them with alcohol you're gonna feel bad and anxiety & panic will ensue if you're prone to it. the best way to solve this is to take a B vitamin complex the morning after, something like Berocca or lots of hangover cures contain B vitamins, ask your pharmacist about it :)

3) alcohol acts like liquid sugar within your body and will play havoc with your blood sugars. the blood sugar crash you get after a night out in the pub can give you all kinds of symptoms like sweats, shaking, ringing in your ears, anxiety, panic attacks, heart palpitations to name but a few. again there's an easy way to combat this: make sure you eat before you drink or even while you're having a couple of glasses or when you arrive home. and i don't mean typical after-the-pub-fare like kebabs and chips lol, but things like wholegrain bread or toast or nuts & fruit. if you eat pretty healthily the next morning too it will help with the hangover, complex carbohydrates will keep your blood sugars stable for longer so try to get some in :)

so basically i'm not telling you not to drink at all, but just to remember that it can cause anxiety and panic problems that are easily fixed by just simply taking care of yourself. i find that the knowledge of what physically happens when we drink and how exactly it causes anxiety really takes the power away from the panic feelings - i know that if i drink i may feel anxious, but i also know that i can solve this pretty easily and that i'm not going crazy it's just my body giving out to me, so i don't freak out if i feel bad the next morning, i just start doing the things i know will help me to feel better.

i really hope this helps you to feel a bit better - now you can go out and enjoy a drink and also know how to take care of yourself the next day so you can handle the anxiety it can create without it getting too much for you :)

i hope you're enjoying the holiday season :D

[Murakawa]

Wow, that's great. Really informative post, northstar - thanks a lot!

I must admit I've never really had this in the past.... though a couple of weekends ago I felt similar (again, after a night on the town!) so I think that's the answer. Will definitely lay off the alcohol after the festive season... and ideally the caffeine, but that might be a little hard :)

I've been drinking water all day and I think it helps. I'm making a point of eating extra healthily tonight as well!

Cheers again - and have a great Christmas!

Murakawa


hi murakawa! :) out enjoying the christmas part season i see :D

it may help you to know that hot flushes are actually really common with hangovers, i've had them many a time myself when i used to drink a lot more and find that wine especially makes me flush. so don't worry, you're not experiencing anything unusual, it may be just the first time that you've personally had this happen :)

the hangover is probably the reason for your panic today too! three reasons why

1) dehydration, which is pretty easily fixed by sipping from a bottle of water throughout the morning :)

2) when you drink you burn through your body's supply of vitamins, especially the B vitamins. B vitamins are responsible for keeping your nervous system happy and helping you to stay stress free - so naturally if you've depleted them with alcohol you're gonna feel bad and anxiety & panic will ensue if you're prone to it. the best way to solve this is to take a B vitamin complex the morning after, something like Berocca or lots of hangover cures contain B vitamins, ask your pharmacist about it :)

3) alcohol acts like liquid sugar within your body and will play havoc with your blood sugars. the blood sugar crash you get after a night out in the pub can give you all kinds of symptoms like sweats, shaking, ringing in your ears, anxiety, panic attacks, heart palpitations to name but a few. again there's an easy way to combat this: make sure you eat before you drink or even while you're having a couple of glasses or when you arrive home. and i don't mean typical after-the-pub-fare like kebabs and chips lol, but things like wholegrain bread or toast or nuts & fruit. if you eat pretty healthily the next morning too it will help with the hangover, complex carbohydrates will keep your blood sugars stable for longer so try to get some in :)

so basically i'm not telling you not to drink at all, but just to remember that it can cause anxiety and panic problems that are easily fixed by just simply taking care of yourself. i find that the knowledge of what physically happens when we drink and how exactly it causes anxiety really takes the power away from the panic feelings - i know that if i drink i may feel anxious, but i also know that i can solve this pretty easily and that i'm not going crazy it's just my body giving out to me, so i don't freak out if i feel bad the next morning, i just start doing the things i know will help me to feel better.

i really hope this helps you to feel a bit better - now you can go out and enjoy a drink and also know how to take care of yourself the next day so you can handle the anxiety it can create without it getting too much for you :)

i hope you're enjoying the holiday season :D

[bethy79]

sometimes i feel like i have a fever and i get achy from my muscles tensing up. Then again I've had a billion symptoms from anxiety. Once in awhile my throat will constrict and feel like its closing but i just tell myself its the anxiety and try not to think about all the aches and pains.