@wilkinsmacabre850

2 weeks ago

I know this was months ago, but in case it helps you out next time you’re ill: 1. I have EDS and POTS; I also used to have a good bit of health anxiety not unlike what you’ve described here. For the first year after my chronic symptoms started getting bad, it made the health anxiety worse, but after that it got so much better that I think I now have less health anxiety than the average person. Being unwell near daily means I’m desensitized so I’m less likely to ruminate, and also means I’m more confident I can get through the bad days since I know I have before. Can’t guarantee that’ll happen for you if you end up with/realize you’ve been having chronic symptoms, but hopefully it helps to hear that it can happen. 2. You’re very unlikely to make yourself sicker by wearing the incorrect number of blankets! Hot and cold flashes are super annoying but they’re pretty inevitable with a fever—they don’t mean you’re interpreting your body’s requests incorrectly or anything. Sick bodies are just kind of impressionable and indecisive. Similarly the water thing: if you feel worse after drinking water it’s a good idea to slow down, but trial and error is the only way to find out what your body will tolerate, so it doesn’t mean you’ve screwed up! That said, it’s usually easier to handle frequent but tiny amounts of water than a whole glass at once. I like to suck on ice cubes when I’m sick, since it means I get water constantly but never enough that my stomach gets mad at me for it

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