Muscle tension and backaches since Trump won?

[smirkymonkey]

Has anyone else been noticing an increase in muscle tension and back/neck/body aches since Trump won?

I have always stored stress in my lower back, shoulders and neck, but it was very occasional. Since the election it has been almost constant. I don't like to take pills because they bother my stomach but I have been spending a fortune on external pain medication - Salon Pas patches, gels & creams, etc. I am so tense all the time.

I was away this past weekend up at my sister's house and I didn't have much time to check in on news or DU and amazingly my pain went away. I am thinking that it is all due to the stress of having this pig in the White House and the daily chaos he creates.

Just wondering if anyone else is noticing the same thing.

[shenmue]

1. Depression, aches, throwing up

Same way I felt during the eight awful years of Bush Jr.

[smirkymonkey]

2. I never realized how much emotional stress could manifest itself in the body.

This has completely convinced me. I'm sorry you feel so awful. I hope we get some relief soon!

[shenmue]

5. Thanks

[Beartracks]

3. Hey, you're right. I think I am, too.

Don't know if it's stress directly from simply knowing the incompetent Trump Cabal and its GOP apologists are making America less great by the hour, or indirectly because I stay glued to the Web, hunched over the keyboard, now more than ever.



================

[luvMIdog]

4. My doctor had to increase my BP meds

[smirkymonkey]

8. Every time I hear about Trump, I can feel my blood pressure rise.

He is a menace to public health.

[elfin]

6. Oh yes! Increased meditation and breathing stretches

Told internist I may need to call for tranqs. She said to just call. We have known each other for so long, she will do so for a mild one without sending me to a psychologist. Seems a frequent occurrence in her practice now.

Just knowing I can do that has gotten me off the extreme anxiety ledge. No longer fighting true terror before sleep. Appointment of Mueller helps -- for now.

Hard times. I can't imagine the wingers had these same true fears during Obama - just hate while they knew they were still "safe" during their rants.

[smirkymonkey]

9. Obama was never a threat to anyone's livelihood or healthcare.

Trump is actually a threat to people's lives. This is serious. I think there would be something wrong with a person if they didn't feel threatened by this administration. There is no bottom to which they can sink us. They are actively trying to destroy the middle and lower classes. If that doesn't cause mass anxiety, I don't know what would.

[politicat]

7. Yes. More self-care.

Seriously, you can't keep resisting if you're hors d'combat. This is a marathon, not a sprint. If you're employed, you're looking at no more than 30 hours a week that aren't already allocated to keeping yourself fed, housed, working, clean, rested and maintaining your habitat. I know it's tempting to devote all of those thirty hours to resisting, but it's really not a good idea if you're feeling the stress. If you're retired or not working at a job (parenting is a job! Don't short-change your little humans!) you can add a few hours to activism and resistance, but treat it like a job: do the work, and leave it when you've accomplished the day's task. Don't take it home with you.

You've got something you love to do, that makes you feel good and that you can share with others. Maybe it's cooking, maybe it's gardening, maybe it's something textile based or gaming or building machinery or writing code or a sport. Schedule time for that activity, whatever it is. During that time, turn off your phone, concentrate on that activity and the people who share it with you.

All of us have to step up when we're able and step back when we're overwhelmed so we can recover as fast as we can and get back in the fight. If you can't bring yourself to take care of yourself for your own sake, then do it for those around you, so others don't have to expend time and energy taking care of you when you're down. And if you DO need help -- get it. Now. Don't let this fester. See your doctor, see or find a therapist, take advantage of whatever health benefits you have or can source. If you're in crisis, then your first priority AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE is to do everything you can and ask for all the help you can find to get yourself in a place where you're at your best.

The opposition wants us broken, despairing, in pain, and indifferent. They don't care about you. If you're demoralized and hurting, they don't have to expend any attention or time on you. Don't give them what they want.

[smirkymonkey]

10. I am trying. I am determined not to let them break me.

However it is exhausting some times. There are days when I just want to pull the covers over my head and not come out until this is all over.

[Danmel]

11. My hair is graying rapidly

And my tummy is pretty cranky.

[smirkymonkey]

12. Oh yes, my stomach has been a mess too!

Has this only been going on since the election? For me it has. I try to pretend this doesn't bother me, but my body isn't having it. It is reacting badly to all of this.

[femmocrat]

13. I have felt lousy for months.

And I have no attention span. Can't stay focused on anything.

[hamsterjill]

14. Most definitely.

Aches, pains, and a hell of a lot of insomnia. Worries about my own future, and the future of all of us collectively.

[mnhtnbb]

15. Yes and you are not alone.

https://www.bustle.com/p/10-little-signs-youre-more-stressed-than-you-think-over-donald-trumps-presidency-33427

[smirkymonkey]

16. Interesting article! Very validating.

I didn't think this was just all in my head.

[Aristus]

17. No.

I get a massage every month. And I try to drink as much as humanly possible.

If my liver survives, I'll go on the wagon in 3 1/2 years...

[smirkymonkey]

18. I would love to be able to get a regular massage, but I can't afford it.

However, I have a "Thera-cane" which helps me to massage out the knots in my lower back, spine and shoulders. Next best thing!

[Still In Wisconsin]

20. I've been drinking way too much.

[smirkymonkey]

22. I know what you mean. I have been indulging a bit

too much myself. It takes the edge off.

[Still In Wisconsin]

25. That's exactly what it does.

Unfortunately, in the morning, everything's worse.

[rzemanfl]

26. It's always been hard not to in Wisconsin. n/t

[Still In Wisconsin]

28. Yeah, that's very true. It's accepted... expected, even.

[Laffy Kat]

21. This is probably too much information but I've had terrible IBS symptoms..

It started again around the middle of November which I don't think is a coincidence. My symptoms have come and gone for 25 years depending on my stress level. It's a huge pain in the ass, both figuratively and literally.


On edit: I am also wanting to sleep A LOT more.

[smirkymonkey]

23. I have also had the same problem. It was fine for a while but flared up again in

January. I have to watch what I eat and drink because I get horrible stomach aches and nausea.

My sleep is also really screwed up. I sleep really lightly during the week, but on the weekends I am out. I slept until 2pm this past Saturday. I didn't even wake up and go back to sleep - I just slept all the way through. I tend to sleep late, but that was unusual even for me. I have a really hard time getting up in the morning. I just don't want to get out of bed.

[Laffy Kat]

24. Me too. I get up when I have to go to work.

I work shifts and those days when I don't have to be at work until 3:00 p.m., I'll sleep until 11:00 a.m. I do wake up early to feed and take the dog out. Then I'll bring coffee back up with me and go right back to sleep. The second sleeping session in the morning is deeper and dreamier than the nighttime sleep; I love it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. Not here.

I'm inclined to think that because I express myself quite freely about what I think of that idiot, that I'm not holding anything in, and so not building up stress levels that then show up in all the things mentioned here.

Back when W was President, same thing. I had no hesitation about saying what I thought of him, and just didn't manifest any stress related symptoms.