Stress & Heart Disease – Learning to Recognize the Symptoms

In the last post, I mentioned how stress is mostly unavoidable in our daily lives.  It can be good for short periods of time, but when it becomes prolonged, is when we run into health problems that can affect our health (including our hearts).

That is why it becomes so important to recognize the symptoms of stress, and learn to control them before they begin to control you.  What follows is a description of symptoms to be aware of.  You may not have all of them, as it varies with each individual.  It is important to note that some of these symptoms though can be symptoms associated with other medical conditions so you should still discuss them with your physician.

Chronic Fatigue – When stress never goes away, you will begin to feel tired all the time.  Activities that you normally could perform begin to feel like a chore.  You may prefer to sleep all the time, and socializing with friends and family may go to the bottom of your priority list as you just do not have the energy to entertain and be entertained.

Feeling Burnt-Out – It took me a while to learn to recognize what my body was telling me, but I think I finally have learned to ready my body so that I can stop BEFORE I get sick.  Burn-out may demonstrate as fatigue, but also as feelings of nausea, general unwellness, irritability, decreased concentration, decreased interest in things, and decreased coping skills.  You may also experience a sore stomach or diarrhea.

Increased Susceptibility to Infection – You may notice that you get sick more often and you catch more colds.  A negative effect of stress is that your immune system, which is what protects you from germs and viruses, becomes weaker and cannot ward off infections as well as it used to.

Trouble Sleeping – You may find it hard to fall asleep at night or to stay sleeping at night, because you are thinking about all the stressful things in your life.

Inability to Relax – You may feel like your heart is always going a mile a minute, and taking your pulse confirms it.  You may even feel shaky and weak at times.  Feeling anxious is another thing that you may experience.

Depression – or sadness can be another symptom of stress.  This can result from a feeling of hopelessness or feelings of being overwhelmed.

In summary, learning to recognize the symptoms of stress can go a long way towards improving your overall health, including your heart health.  In the next post, I will discuss ways to cope with the stress now that you have learned to recognize it.