Emotional physical pain?

[marta1234]

Hi, I've been wanting to know if someone has felt the same as I have.
Starting from yesterday, my body has been physically hurting so badly: my brain hurts and my muscles ache a lot. I kind of am freaking out inside because I don't know what's wrong with me.
I've people talk about "emotional physical pain", and I think I've had it, like pain in my stomach. But right now this is too much, it's like my body is in a flare up. Everything hurts.
I just wanted to know if anyone has any advice of what's happening (at this moment doing my own research is just too much).

[Snookiebookie2]

I'm a big believer in mental/emotional healrh being linked with physical health. If you're feeling down/sad/unhappy it can affect you physically.

I think it can make you more susceptible to infection, and I am sure there is evidence to say it can cause inflammation.

One of the things to consider, and something that I experience is body armouring. Because of the hypervigilance my muscles are constantly tense - almost like a protective armour against perceived attacks.  This has left me exhausted and extremely sore.  I find it difficult to concentrate too.

So, yes  I relate to what you're describing.

[Kizzie]

Trauma is linked to a number of different conditions/illnesses/diseases unfortunately, one of which is inflammation (https://www.outofthestorm.website/academic-articles/). I often have the same thing when I am triggered/under a lot of emotional stress - big time muscle/body aches as though I have the flu. 

Some things that help me: hot showers/baths, rest/sleep, lots of fluids to wash the toxins out, pain relief and reducing stress as much as possible. 

Hope this helps 

[marta1234]

Thank you Snookie and Kizzie for your replies, I've just been so out of it that trying to find the answers myself was too much.
Thank you for your recommendations Kizzie, I had no idea that inflammation could be a symptom of emotional distress. 

[Blueberry]

I get a lot of flare ups like that too, marta, so you're not alone. I know when I get tonsillitis - fairly frequently - there's a cptsd component to it too. Though sometimes I forget.

Here's a hopefully pain-reducing hug for us both 

[marta1234]

Thank you Blueberry, a hug for you too so you can get better
I just realized that feeling ill or feeling physically worse is very triggering for me, so I'm pretty sure that's what happened. I felt trapped again and unable to get better.

Thank you all for your kind words. I hadn't really discovered the physical symptoms parts of this forum because I just want to avoid that, but I guess I'll check it out to know more about it.

[Kizzie]

I just realized that feeling ill or feeling physically worse is very triggering for me, so I'm pretty sure that's what happened. I felt trapped again and unable to get better.

Those of us who developed CPTSD in childhood are unlikely to have had nurturing, caring parents when we were ill so it's no wonder we're triggered by any health problems/issues. It's a time when children really need others to care/help for them, but instead parents respond in an abusive/negative way or simply neglect/dismiss the child.

Mine had/have NPD and illnesses bought my M attention, my F basically ignored them.  I learned not to fuss, ignore, not acknowledge health problems, much to my detriment unfortunately. Nowadays I give myself the gift of regular checkups, medical and dental, and I don't ignore any potential issues like I used to. All good   

[Blueberry]

Hi, I've been wanting to know if someone has felt the same as I have.
Starting from yesterday, my body has been physically hurting so badly: my brain hurts and my muscles ache a lot. I kind of am freaking out inside because I don't know what's wrong with me.
I've people talk about "emotional physical pain", and I think I've had it, ... Everything hurts.
...

My body hurts all over at the moment too, though it's low-level pain. But a couple of hours ago I was thinking I should maybe get it checked out by a doctor, but unfortunately I no longer have a doctor (a GP) who really understands my emotional-physical health, the correlation. It's probably 'just' severe armouring but then I come up with bizarre ideas (influenced by FOO's unqualified finger-shaking "Watch it! You're going to get xyz physical health problem if you do abc" in my childhood and later). So I get 'hypochondric' tho I'm not quite sure that it's hypochondria, I think it's more I go into an Inner Child and can't access any knowledgeable Adult information, and the Inner Child is still influenced by and frightened of FOO and FOO's predictions about health and FOO's prejudice against the medical field and doctors.

Probably all my pain is muscular, but then I think even my bones are aching so I probably have cancer in my bones. Which is probably a totally ridiculous idea though at this precise moment I have absolutely no idea whether it's impossible or not. FOO would get angry or maybe they'd just ridicule me (or would have / did do so in my childhood / teens on other topics) for being so 'gullible' as to think the pain could herald a serious problem like cancer. But actually I'm not being gullible and nor was I in my childhood / teens. FOO has a lot to answer for, like about the way I suddenly have 'no idea', some of the 'irrational' fears I get and my inability to sort out what could be true or not. Particularly the latter, which is not surprising considering the amount of gaslighting FOO did to me from a young age.

I don't think you've been around for a while or are likely to read this marta but I don't want to start a new thread. Others may read it and discussion may take place again, new experiences may come up, the way they are for me rn as I write.

[NarcKiddo]

I think this is a very interesting topic.

My mother would forbid pretty much everything on the basis that taking any sort of risk might result in a terrible health calamity. (Subtext: and then I am going to be mightily inconvenienced by having to take you to the doctor which is a hateful chore and I resent it hugely, and I already have to take you to the doctor enough because you dare to have bad eyes and bad teeth  )

I compulsively check Dr Google if I have symptoms of anything. I did wonder if I have some sort of weird health anxiety but I don't think it is that. I think it is a need to work out what is wrong with me in case I can fix it myself and therefore not become a nuisance. Or if I can't fix it myself I can at least minimise the period spent trying to diagnose the problem. I think there is also (these days) a need to feel informed enough to protect myself and advocate for myself. I have realised I tend to dissociate at medical appointments and take what they say as gospel truth. Which is not necessarily helpful, especially if I have dissociated enough that I haven't actually communicated the full panoply of symptoms. This fixation with making myself informed has actually stood me in very good stead over the last year of health investigations and in particularly good stead during my recent stay in hospital where I had to have some stern arguments with the medics.

In terms of emotional pain translating to physical pain - yes. I think it can do. Possibly in the moment (we all know about feeling actually sick to our stomach with worry) and I also do a lot of muscular armouring and have done since childhood. But also longer term. For instance, I breathe inefficiently, probably due to a lifetime of shallow breathing either from fear or wanting to keep myself as inconspicuous as possible. I have ended up with a lung problem and I have really had to concentrate on proper breathing during my recent hospitalisation with pneumonia.

[Blueberry]

My throat is weird atm. Not hoarse, but feels difficult to breathe, though it isn't actually that way. Didn't even go to church this evening never mind sing with the choir. Anyway I googled "weird throat" and found my symptoms can come from anxiety.

There are possible other causes, including over-use (singing lessons?) and over-eating late in evening, though that would normally give rise to heart-burn, which I definitely don't have atm. It took me a few years on this forum to figure out I was even having anxiety (!) due for instance to people being in my apt / my space, like tradesman or even my computer guy. I know the latter, but didn't help much, I was totally exhausted and that's all I knew - more exhaustion - till I figured out from others' posts on here that the exhaustion was due to anxiety.