environment

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I'm still amazed how much my environment can affect me.

Less than an hour ago, I was at my parents' house, so convinced I was ill that I took a Covid test. My cheeks were flushed, my brain felt too big for my head, and I was really drowsy.

Now I'm home, in my PJs, I feel so much better. No longer flushed or hot, head feels better, and I'm not even as tired.

Is this the same for anyone else?

Oh Yes! On my own I feel a WHOLE lot safer that I do with other people. Safe space and the self care of making it for oneself is so important!

Do you mean that your parents themselves make you feel sick or that your parents' house has some dust, bugs or some allergen that makes you have hay fever?

I do feel mentally exhausted when I'm surrounded by unkind people (most places) but don't get physical symptoms. I do get physical symptoms when I'm in a dusty environment. I tend to sneeze a lot and my eyes get teary.

Yes

Sounds like you were experiencing heightened anxiety from being outside of your comfort zone. Flushing, brain fog and fatigue are common symptoms of such.

environment or the company you were keeping? as pointed out above, perhaps there is a lot of stress involved in visiting family? I did not understand for years how come I always got sick at family parties, all you described, plus nausea and headache, once it even went to my actually vomiting. I learned in therapy that it was because the ways I had learned to cope with family (please and appease) were so difficult for me to sustain for long, it was stress and distress from the effort to keep myself together when completely overwhelmed with expectations and demands of others in a place where I could not escape ( except that I could excuse myself for feeling sick and lock myself in a quiet dark room). I don't mean I deliberately made myself sick to escape, but that my overwhelm was so great that I was going into shutdown. Might want to keep track of when you feel sick like that. I did not connect the company and circumstances with it happening, so you are already way more aware than I was back then. Hope you sort it out and come up with accommodations. Best wishes

Now that I'm not with my mom and not constantly stressed out, half of the health issues I was having just went away after a few weeks.

It's nice not feeling like that 24/7 and worrying if something is going to happen to me due to it.