Ding ~ Ding ~ Round Two

Well, just when I thought I was well on my way to recovery ~ two days of no snot, blowing, coughing, head pain, etc.... I've received a knock out blow ~ only this time I think it might be influenza.

Last night I woke up every 30-45 minutes feeling quite nauseous. This was followed by a few quick trips to the bathroom for rather violent eliminations, followed closely by another.

Now this morning, I'm quite dizzy, achy and with a tight chest, so my guess ~ this is the flu. Thanks goodness, I'm not normally a puker, so, so far no upchucking. Keep my fingers crossed on that one.

So, my question is whose to blame? I am ~ that's who.

All of the stress I have subjected my body to during the adjustment of having my mom move in, has I am sure played a huge role. I know that I have been under a great deal of stress as we three have worked towards adjusting to this new situation.

My concern now is that my mother is exposed to me and as well I visited with my grand babies yesterday, exchanged hugs and kisses which exposed them to this bug as well. So Seb, forwarned is forarmed.

I did a little research to see just how much of a role stress plays in our overall well being.

"When an individual is faced with stress, his body mobilizes for action in what is called a fight or flight reaction. During a fight or flight reaction, the heart rate increases, breathing is accelerated, and the muscles tense up as if in preparation to throw something like a rock (fight) or to run away.

If stress persists after the initial fight or flight reaction, the body's reaction enters a second stage. During this stage, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system declines and epinephrine secretion is lessened, but corticosteroid secretion continues at above normal levels.

Finally, if the stress continues and the body is unable to cope, there is likely to be breakdown of bodily resources. It is in this stage that there may be a reduction of the levels of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine in the brain, a state related to depression. Stressful life events are related to the risk of infected individuals developing an illness. Traumatic stressful events may trigger either behavioral or biological processes that contribute to the onset of disease. Chronic stress has been associated with increased reports of illness. Long-term exposure to chronic stress may facilitate the development of illness during exposure to stress. Exposure to chronic stress may results in permanent or at the very least long-term psychological, biological, or behavioral responses that alter the progression of illness. Those who had either a work related or interpersonal chronic stressors (defined as stress lasting one month or longer) had an increased risk of developing colds compared to those who had no chronic stressor. In addition, the longer the stress endured, the more likely a person was to become ill.

Psychological stress predicted a greater expression of illness and a greater production of interleukin-6 in response to an upper respiratory infection. Life experiences are significantly related with energy level."

So my advice ~ stay well ~ stop and smell the roses and try not to obsess over anything in life ~ because, you will pay for it with your health. I'm learning ~ if I can't change a situation, then learn to live with it without obsessivly stressing about it. Stress breeds stress and as I said in an earlier post, the tension in our home has been so thick we could have chewed through it and we have passed it around from person to person.