Seeking reassurance/tips on tension, bloatedness and shortness of breath
October 29, 2023 12:10 PM Subscribe
Hello. I have just finished a two month period of heavy work (all computer based). I really enjoyed the work but I know it produced an unhealthy amount of tension, which I used to get through it—love that nervous energy! I'm living the consequences of that all now as I've achieved my goals and feel terrible in a way I'm not used to. I'm writing this to get a handle and sense check on my health and behaviours.
I let everything go to accompany my period of heavy work: no exercise, eating the wrong things, drinking alcohol everyday, snacking. We're not talking bingeing, but I mean a sustained period of not looking after myself. Think misguided teenager or college student eating patterns. In fact, the no exercise has been going on since July. I had a pretty dissolute summer of enjoying the finer things, in anticipation of this heavy couple of months of work. So let's call it four months of falling off the looking after myself responsibly bandwagon.
I'm a 47 year old man. Don't smoke. Drink a fair bit (15 drinks a week?). I was pretty healthy and fit in July. I must have put on 20lbs since then. I'm still not obese now, just edging overweight. I'm not worried about weight gain as I can lose the weight. I am worried about the way my body feels now:
For the last month, my gut has been complaining. Lots of wind/gas, smelly, loose stools. This is pretty unusual for me. Last week I flew abroad for a conference and this background health thing has become acute. My stomach wants to be big. It feels and looks bigger than it should be and I feel best if I stick it out and let it go. It feels stretched and tight. To accompany this my breathing is more shallow. I've never been short of breath before, but I have been for the last few days. This is scaring me. So it has been accompanied by anxiety that Something Is Wrong With My Body and I Will Die.
I've got no pain. Apart from the background gut discomfort, these acute symptoms (bloated stomach, shallow breathing and anxiety) have kicked in immediately after I stopped my heavy work period. This is why I don't think I need medical care in an urgent way: I stopped working and bam I feel terrible.
I do have a history of overworking/pushing myself for months and then having strange and worrying stress/post-stress symptoms in my body. No history of heart attacks in family, but I have had a pulmonary embolism. That was a big scare and I have looked after myself better since then. I take blood thinners.
I am overseas for another week. I have emergency travel insurance, but nothing more than that. So I likely won't be seeing a doctor for ten days or so at most.
So, my questions. Does the narrative of pushing myself workwise, not exercising and eating and drinking poorly explain these symptoms? Is there anything I should be watching out for/asking when I do see the GP?
If this all makes sense, how do these periods of extreme focus and work end up erupting into bodily symptoms? What are the physical processes connected to stress? Or is it mostly the poor lifestyle that accompanies them?
Given that I am not at home for another week, in a hotel, eating out for all meals, and in environments at which drinking alcohol at evening is always encouraged, what can I focus on/eat/drink for the next week to minimize my symptoms? I'm going to avoid alcohol in the day, but I would like to have a beer with colleagues in the evening. Is a pint or two dangerous?
A wider question: I enjoy pushing myself at work. I get satisfaction from doing a lot. I also get material rewards. Obviously I can't keep doing this. How do I bring this down, watch this tendency, manage it better?
Thanks for any help or advice.
I let everything go to accompany my period of heavy work: no exercise, eating the wrong things, drinking alcohol everyday, snacking. We're not talking bingeing, but I mean a sustained period of not looking after myself. Think misguided teenager or college student eating patterns. In fact, the no exercise has been going on since July. I had a pretty dissolute summer of enjoying the finer things, in anticipation of this heavy couple of months of work. So let's call it four months of falling off the looking after myself responsibly bandwagon.
I'm a 47 year old man. Don't smoke. Drink a fair bit (15 drinks a week?). I was pretty healthy and fit in July. I must have put on 20lbs since then. I'm still not obese now, just edging overweight. I'm not worried about weight gain as I can lose the weight. I am worried about the way my body feels now:
For the last month, my gut has been complaining. Lots of wind/gas, smelly, loose stools. This is pretty unusual for me. Last week I flew abroad for a conference and this background health thing has become acute. My stomach wants to be big. It feels and looks bigger than it should be and I feel best if I stick it out and let it go. It feels stretched and tight. To accompany this my breathing is more shallow. I've never been short of breath before, but I have been for the last few days. This is scaring me. So it has been accompanied by anxiety that Something Is Wrong With My Body and I Will Die.
I've got no pain. Apart from the background gut discomfort, these acute symptoms (bloated stomach, shallow breathing and anxiety) have kicked in immediately after I stopped my heavy work period. This is why I don't think I need medical care in an urgent way: I stopped working and bam I feel terrible.
I do have a history of overworking/pushing myself for months and then having strange and worrying stress/post-stress symptoms in my body. No history of heart attacks in family, but I have had a pulmonary embolism. That was a big scare and I have looked after myself better since then. I take blood thinners.
I am overseas for another week. I have emergency travel insurance, but nothing more than that. So I likely won't be seeing a doctor for ten days or so at most.
So, my questions. Does the narrative of pushing myself workwise, not exercising and eating and drinking poorly explain these symptoms? Is there anything I should be watching out for/asking when I do see the GP?
If this all makes sense, how do these periods of extreme focus and work end up erupting into bodily symptoms? What are the physical processes connected to stress? Or is it mostly the poor lifestyle that accompanies them?
Given that I am not at home for another week, in a hotel, eating out for all meals, and in environments at which drinking alcohol at evening is always encouraged, what can I focus on/eat/drink for the next week to minimize my symptoms? I'm going to avoid alcohol in the day, but I would like to have a beer with colleagues in the evening. Is a pint or two dangerous?
A wider question: I enjoy pushing myself at work. I get satisfaction from doing a lot. I also get material rewards. Obviously I can't keep doing this. How do I bring this down, watch this tendency, manage it better?
Thanks for any help or advice.
so, if you can see a doctor, maybe get some basic blood work done? also, is it possible that you caught an intestinal bug when you were traveling? it almost sounds like you could have an enteric illness, which your doctor can help you figure out and treat.
re getting back in track with healthy behavior: TAKE YOUR TIME. baby steps are fine, you do not need to build Rome in a day. try adding back a new healthy habit once a week or so:
go for a walk, if you feel you have enough breath. it can be short, it can be slow. just get a little gentle moment in.
pick one small dietary improvement: oatmeal for breakfast, a serving of fruit.
as you progress, you should be feeling better, which will give you the energy and motivation to keep making adjustments. try to avoid placing pressure on yourself about this: no need for a timeline etc., just slow and steady. maybe a night a week with no alcohol, then 2.
good luck! you can do this :)
posted by supermedusa at 12:17 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
re getting back in track with healthy behavior: TAKE YOUR TIME. baby steps are fine, you do not need to build Rome in a day. try adding back a new healthy habit once a week or so:
go for a walk, if you feel you have enough breath. it can be short, it can be slow. just get a little gentle moment in.
pick one small dietary improvement: oatmeal for breakfast, a serving of fruit.
as you progress, you should be feeling better, which will give you the energy and motivation to keep making adjustments. try to avoid placing pressure on yourself about this: no need for a timeline etc., just slow and steady. maybe a night a week with no alcohol, then 2.
good luck! you can do this :)
posted by supermedusa at 12:17 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks. That's helpful. Particularly looking for short term advice on the coming week...
And anything about those three symptoms that are worrying me (sudden onset of stomach bloat/gut problems, shortness of breath and anxiety) following this intense period of work. It seems weird to me, but perhaps it's understandable.
posted by einekleine at 12:18 PM on October 29, 2023
And anything about those three symptoms that are worrying me (sudden onset of stomach bloat/gut problems, shortness of breath and anxiety) following this intense period of work. It seems weird to me, but perhaps it's understandable.
posted by einekleine at 12:18 PM on October 29, 2023
I find shortness of breath and anxiety to be interrelated, personally. The more shallowly I breathe, the more my anxiety builds, which causes me to take more shallow breaths.
IMHO I’d try really focusing on calming sessions of 2-3 minutes, as often as you can throughout the day, where you do a minute or two of box breathing followed by a minute or two of consciously “normal” breathing.
posted by samthemander at 12:30 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
IMHO I’d try really focusing on calming sessions of 2-3 minutes, as often as you can throughout the day, where you do a minute or two of box breathing followed by a minute or two of consciously “normal” breathing.
posted by samthemander at 12:30 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Best answer: To lessen your anxiety for the remainder of your work trip:
- Ask the front desk about a nearby medical clinic, and have your blood pressure & oxygen saturation levels checked.
- Schedule a physical with your regular doctor; if you have an online patient account, you can do this today, too.
- Restaurant food is higher in sodium and fat in general. Look for "grilled" in menu descriptions, and skip sauces and dressings or ask for them on the side.
- Drink fewer carbonated beverages, but more filtered water.
- If you've been drinking through straws and can stop, stop; there's a lot of inadvertent air swallowing using straws.
- Take walks after meals, if it's a safe area and it's not hot out, to aid digestion.
- A local pharmacy will have anti-gas, anti-bloat OTC products. Read the labels to make sure you're taking it correctly, and that you'll have a couple of hours of downtime in your schedule after the first dose (in case of belching/flatulence effects).
- If I had your current stomach issues and work obligations, I'd stick to *one* pint during evening functions, nurse it along, and not finish it.
Sorry you're not feeling well. Your AskMe is pretty insightful: you're recognizing these patterns and how they're not working for you anymore. Metabolism really shifts in one's 40s. When you're back home, see your doctor and commit to making positive changes. Your health is more important than your job. Being in good health allows you to do the work you want to do, consistently.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:02 PM on October 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
- Ask the front desk about a nearby medical clinic, and have your blood pressure & oxygen saturation levels checked.
- Schedule a physical with your regular doctor; if you have an online patient account, you can do this today, too.
- Restaurant food is higher in sodium and fat in general. Look for "grilled" in menu descriptions, and skip sauces and dressings or ask for them on the side.
- Drink fewer carbonated beverages, but more filtered water.
- If you've been drinking through straws and can stop, stop; there's a lot of inadvertent air swallowing using straws.
- Take walks after meals, if it's a safe area and it's not hot out, to aid digestion.
- A local pharmacy will have anti-gas, anti-bloat OTC products. Read the labels to make sure you're taking it correctly, and that you'll have a couple of hours of downtime in your schedule after the first dose (in case of belching/flatulence effects).
- If I had your current stomach issues and work obligations, I'd stick to *one* pint during evening functions, nurse it along, and not finish it.
Sorry you're not feeling well. Your AskMe is pretty insightful: you're recognizing these patterns and how they're not working for you anymore. Metabolism really shifts in one's 40s. When you're back home, see your doctor and commit to making positive changes. Your health is more important than your job. Being in good health allows you to do the work you want to do, consistently.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:02 PM on October 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
I, also middle aged, was eating poorly and differently than usual for about six weeks due to family health stuff and also basically not exercising. My stomach felt bad a lot in various ways and it has mostly responded to getting back to an okay even if not fantastic diet. A big thing was ultraprocessed foods - are you eating a lot of those, even if they are the high class kind? After a few weeks of processed and ultraprocessed foods plus other take-out, etc, I had stomach aches a lot, bad digestion, a lot of physical discomfort.
If I were in your shoes, I would try to eat less - give your stomach a break. Try skipping breakfast tomorrow and don't eat lunch until you're hungry. I always get hungry right at breakfast but if I skip it, I stop being hungry until lunch. Giving your stomach some resting time will probably help.
Can you make yourself eat a luxury salad for one meal, trying to choose one that isn't a small amount of greens, a cup of dressing and fifty croutons? And get some fruit or carrots to snack on? Again, if this were me, a skipped breakfast, salmon and greens lunch, a little fruit and then a non-gigantic restaurant meal would probably go a long way toward setting me up again.
Also, can you get a little walking in? Exercise helps your digestion, and I've definitely noticed that when I am not exercising mine is worse.
There are always horrible outlier situations but my first guess here is that you've just disordered your gut microbiome a lot by eating low-fiber, high-carb processed foods for months and even a fairly short period of more normal food and exercise will put you back on the path to feeling okay.
posted by Frowner at 1:15 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
If I were in your shoes, I would try to eat less - give your stomach a break. Try skipping breakfast tomorrow and don't eat lunch until you're hungry. I always get hungry right at breakfast but if I skip it, I stop being hungry until lunch. Giving your stomach some resting time will probably help.
Can you make yourself eat a luxury salad for one meal, trying to choose one that isn't a small amount of greens, a cup of dressing and fifty croutons? And get some fruit or carrots to snack on? Again, if this were me, a skipped breakfast, salmon and greens lunch, a little fruit and then a non-gigantic restaurant meal would probably go a long way toward setting me up again.
Also, can you get a little walking in? Exercise helps your digestion, and I've definitely noticed that when I am not exercising mine is worse.
There are always horrible outlier situations but my first guess here is that you've just disordered your gut microbiome a lot by eating low-fiber, high-carb processed foods for months and even a fairly short period of more normal food and exercise will put you back on the path to feeling okay.
posted by Frowner at 1:15 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
The gut stuff is probably lack of fiber and maybe the alcohol. Shortness of breath = you wouldn’t believe how quickly we can get deconditioned. Like you can lose a ton of capacity in a week of sedentarism.
1) make smart choices while you’re eating out.
I don’t know if you’re having fast food, but most places have *ok* options. Eg at Wendy’s you might get a baked potato with a chili or non-crispy chicken sandwich. Or a chicken salad with extra chicken.
If you’re going to decent restaurants, go for a protein + salad, and if a bean salad is available go for that, dressing on the side.)
Don’t drink your calories, limit alcohol and fancy coffees. Depending on how bad your gut problems are, you may wish to forgo that pint, otherwise, if you’re doing everything else, you’ll still be consuming less than before.
2) go for a 30 minute walk after lunch and dinner. Take it easy for now, just stroll. If you can only get one in that is still good.
posted by cotton dress sock at 1:35 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
1) make smart choices while you’re eating out.
I don’t know if you’re having fast food, but most places have *ok* options. Eg at Wendy’s you might get a baked potato with a chili or non-crispy chicken sandwich. Or a chicken salad with extra chicken.
If you’re going to decent restaurants, go for a protein + salad, and if a bean salad is available go for that, dressing on the side.)
Don’t drink your calories, limit alcohol and fancy coffees. Depending on how bad your gut problems are, you may wish to forgo that pint, otherwise, if you’re doing everything else, you’ll still be consuming less than before.
2) go for a 30 minute walk after lunch and dinner. Take it easy for now, just stroll. If you can only get one in that is still good.
posted by cotton dress sock at 1:35 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
I get shortness of breath related to anxiety, so I can vouch that it's a thing. The fact that you have a history of pulmonary embolism would make me want to err on the side of caution and maybe make a visit to a medical clinic to be checked out, as Iris Gambol suggested.
Nthing the suggestion of OTC gas relief products. Not sure what is available where you are, but I use Phazyme Extra Strength which is 250 mg of simethicone. Maybe also pick up some Beano, it helps with gas from other stuff than just beans. Are you pooping? My pooping apparatus annoyingly always shuts down when I travel. A laxative or enema may be in order.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 2:04 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Nthing the suggestion of OTC gas relief products. Not sure what is available where you are, but I use Phazyme Extra Strength which is 250 mg of simethicone. Maybe also pick up some Beano, it helps with gas from other stuff than just beans. Are you pooping? My pooping apparatus annoyingly always shuts down when I travel. A laxative or enema may be in order.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 2:04 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm a pulmonologist, not your pulmonologist.
One of the doctors who trained me had a saying: "Is your patient short of breath because they're anxious, or are they anxious because their doctor doesn't know why they're short of breath?" In other words—I am always hesitant to ascribe shortness of breath to anxiety as a default without evaluating for other things.
New shortness of breath is a very legitimate reason to present for urgent medical evaluation.
posted by telegraph at 2:32 PM on October 29, 2023 [9 favorites]
One of the doctors who trained me had a saying: "Is your patient short of breath because they're anxious, or are they anxious because their doctor doesn't know why they're short of breath?" In other words—I am always hesitant to ascribe shortness of breath to anxiety as a default without evaluating for other things.
New shortness of breath is a very legitimate reason to present for urgent medical evaluation.
posted by telegraph at 2:32 PM on October 29, 2023 [9 favorites]
You probably should see a doc for a general work up, but my unmedical experience is that acid reflux can present as shorteness of breath. The stomach issues you mention make me wonder.
posted by aetg at 3:05 PM on October 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by aetg at 3:05 PM on October 29, 2023 [5 favorites]
For the coming week: run out to a drugstore and get yourself some fiber supplements. You might find gummies, which are easily portable. Or some individual fiber packets that you can dump into your coffee, water, etc. Then make a decision to make smarter choices in the restaurant food over the next few days. You don't have to go nuts, but make an attempt to include some healthier choices, just to see where that gets you, belly-wise.
(I am team "don't ignore bloated belly/shortness of breath" but I think starting with some fiber + an attempt to ease off the worst of the restaurant food to see where that gets you is a good idea.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:17 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
(I am team "don't ignore bloated belly/shortness of breath" but I think starting with some fiber + an attempt to ease off the worst of the restaurant food to see where that gets you is a good idea.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:17 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oatmeal every day. It will probably relieve some of the digestive issues because it is great soluble fiber.
+1 to lots of flat water, walking, and green vegetables
posted by halehale at 3:18 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
+1 to lots of flat water, walking, and green vegetables
posted by halehale at 3:18 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've had acid reflux present as shortness of breath, which we figured out (a) because it was happening after eating, and especially after eating large meals (so now I eat smaller meals, it's been good for me, even if I am occasionally boggled that I can't finish a freaking hamburger in one sitting) and (b) because my doc ran a couple of tests that confirmed no masses in my chest, no fluid in my lungs, etc.
So, it might be gas, but also, one of my best friends died of a heart attack minutes after complaining he had really bad indigestion. It is very difficult for even the person having the experience to tell for sure.
posted by Lady Li at 3:24 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
So, it might be gas, but also, one of my best friends died of a heart attack minutes after complaining he had really bad indigestion. It is very difficult for even the person having the experience to tell for sure.
posted by Lady Li at 3:24 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
You can tell a very scary story about these symptoms, or they could be completely innocuous and connected to your lifestyle changes. The way to tell is to see a doctor as soon as you are home.
Specifically re the anxiety, coffee and booze make that worse. And unfortunately as you enter middle age, your body will likely be reacting differently and worse to caffeine and alcohol. If you stop suddenly, it will take several days before withdrawal symptoms ease off. But nonetheless, it would be worth dialling back or eliminating both. You may find other symptoms resolve if you do.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:43 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Specifically re the anxiety, coffee and booze make that worse. And unfortunately as you enter middle age, your body will likely be reacting differently and worse to caffeine and alcohol. If you stop suddenly, it will take several days before withdrawal symptoms ease off. But nonetheless, it would be worth dialling back or eliminating both. You may find other symptoms resolve if you do.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:43 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Call your doctor. If you are based in the US, you are 2 years overdue for your first colonoscopy, schedule it for the first available opportunity after you return. Elsewhere, make an appointment to go tell the doctor your symptoms at the first available opportunity.
There's not much you can do in the next 10 days, honestly. If something is already seriously wrong, you can probably not make it much worse. It would be useful though, as data, to try to at least keep your food selections geared toward food that looks as much like its original state as possible, as in vegetables you would recognize if you saw them in a field, grains that are grain-y instead of paste or sponge, proteins that are not fried (or reconstituted goo). Drink water, even better if you can find electrolyte water without sugar. But I advise all this so that you can look back after 10 days before you fly home and say "actually, I HAVE felt a lot better!" or not.
But you still go to the doctor because of Lyn's friend who had his first routine scope at 45 as a non-drinker who had already reformed a meh diet into something that wasn't threatening diabetes, and he woke up with metastatic colon cancer. He was quizzed in depth about anything he could identify as a symptom, and the best he could come up with was a moderate change in stool, some extra stodginess around the middle attributed to middle age, and tiring more easily when doing daily tasks.
Also, if you are traveling somewhere with a different water microbiome, or mosquito-borne illness, or a dramatically different standard of food safety practices, you should let your doctor know where exactly. You could be dealing with something that is slowly increasing in severity and eventually will be emergent but for the moment is merely troublesome.
If this all makes sense, how do these periods of extreme focus and work end up erupting into bodily symptoms? What are the physical processes connected to stress? Or is it mostly the poor lifestyle that accompanies them?
Stress harms your body in literally every possible way. Stress is a series of chemicals your brain (and other organs) produce, and your brain (and other organs) respond to those chemicals as if you are about to die. It doesn't matter if the issue is actually TPS reports, your body is trying not to get eaten by hyenas, or drown, or suffocate. These mechanisms redirect resources from where they ought to be going, in order to oversupply the important parts of you needed to run away or punch a mammoth (and one of the things you do not need to be doing for survival, in a mammoth situation, is digesting food - this is one of the reasons stress is so bad for the gut). Neither the deprived parts nor the overresourced parts are meant to be run in that state constantly for weeks/months/years. You may not end up with a nightmare story like my friend, but it is very common for someone to find that a stressful life period has triggered thyroid issues, low vitamin issues from bad digestion, gallbladder or pancreas trouble, etc. Get that bloodwork done.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:49 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's not much you can do in the next 10 days, honestly. If something is already seriously wrong, you can probably not make it much worse. It would be useful though, as data, to try to at least keep your food selections geared toward food that looks as much like its original state as possible, as in vegetables you would recognize if you saw them in a field, grains that are grain-y instead of paste or sponge, proteins that are not fried (or reconstituted goo). Drink water, even better if you can find electrolyte water without sugar. But I advise all this so that you can look back after 10 days before you fly home and say "actually, I HAVE felt a lot better!" or not.
But you still go to the doctor because of Lyn's friend who had his first routine scope at 45 as a non-drinker who had already reformed a meh diet into something that wasn't threatening diabetes, and he woke up with metastatic colon cancer. He was quizzed in depth about anything he could identify as a symptom, and the best he could come up with was a moderate change in stool, some extra stodginess around the middle attributed to middle age, and tiring more easily when doing daily tasks.
Also, if you are traveling somewhere with a different water microbiome, or mosquito-borne illness, or a dramatically different standard of food safety practices, you should let your doctor know where exactly. You could be dealing with something that is slowly increasing in severity and eventually will be emergent but for the moment is merely troublesome.
If this all makes sense, how do these periods of extreme focus and work end up erupting into bodily symptoms? What are the physical processes connected to stress? Or is it mostly the poor lifestyle that accompanies them?
Stress harms your body in literally every possible way. Stress is a series of chemicals your brain (and other organs) produce, and your brain (and other organs) respond to those chemicals as if you are about to die. It doesn't matter if the issue is actually TPS reports, your body is trying not to get eaten by hyenas, or drown, or suffocate. These mechanisms redirect resources from where they ought to be going, in order to oversupply the important parts of you needed to run away or punch a mammoth (and one of the things you do not need to be doing for survival, in a mammoth situation, is digesting food - this is one of the reasons stress is so bad for the gut). Neither the deprived parts nor the overresourced parts are meant to be run in that state constantly for weeks/months/years. You may not end up with a nightmare story like my friend, but it is very common for someone to find that a stressful life period has triggered thyroid issues, low vitamin issues from bad digestion, gallbladder or pancreas trouble, etc. Get that bloodwork done.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:49 PM on October 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Eat fresh fermented foods, like fresh sauerkraut and kimchi. Lots of vegetables and fruits, daily big salads. Try some oatmeal in the morning; I add some oat bran, which is undetectable but effective. You want to reset your gut flora a bit. Try reducing meat, dairy and most junk food for a couple weeks. Drink a lot of fluids. Bloating can easily be cause by constipation or an irritated gut. A couple months of crappy nutrition can leave you without minerals, too, veg and fruit are the answer.
Exercise. Get outside as much as you can, it has a restorative effect. When you are very focused, you probably move very little for extended periods, and may tense your muscles. The stress hormones make you feel crappy later when you have to metabolize them. Staying still, sitting and not exercising can make you feel crummy. Esp. if you're staying at a hotel, have some hot baths, turn off the tv, play music, meditate a little or read a book.
Can you walk up a flight or 2 of stairs comfortably? Are you coughing? If you're worried, fingertip O2 raders are now easily available(Thanks, Covid). Make an appt. with the doc at home for when you return, and if it gets worse, you may have to find local urgent care. I hope that isn't needed.
posted by theora55 at 4:39 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Exercise. Get outside as much as you can, it has a restorative effect. When you are very focused, you probably move very little for extended periods, and may tense your muscles. The stress hormones make you feel crappy later when you have to metabolize them. Staying still, sitting and not exercising can make you feel crummy. Esp. if you're staying at a hotel, have some hot baths, turn off the tv, play music, meditate a little or read a book.
Can you walk up a flight or 2 of stairs comfortably? Are you coughing? If you're worried, fingertip O2 raders are now easily available(Thanks, Covid). Make an appt. with the doc at home for when you return, and if it gets worse, you may have to find local urgent care. I hope that isn't needed.
posted by theora55 at 4:39 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Alcohol can cause fatty liver disease, which will lead to digestive distress and bloating. Cutting out alcohol altogether is the only way around it.
posted by waving at 12:07 AM on October 30, 2023
posted by waving at 12:07 AM on October 30, 2023
What are the physical processes connected to stress?
There's a growing body of evidence that allostatic load--the cumulative burden of stress on our physiological systems--is due to weathering at the cellular level. And there's a hypothesis that weathering may be due to accelerated telomere shortening. In other words, stressed and unstable cells seem to result in incomplete replication (specifically of telomeres).
If this were me, while traveling I'd be looking for two things to help de-stress in addition to immediately improving my nutrition: restorative or yin yoga, and 90-minute deep tissue massages.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:20 AM on October 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's a growing body of evidence that allostatic load--the cumulative burden of stress on our physiological systems--is due to weathering at the cellular level. And there's a hypothesis that weathering may be due to accelerated telomere shortening. In other words, stressed and unstable cells seem to result in incomplete replication (specifically of telomeres).
If this were me, while traveling I'd be looking for two things to help de-stress in addition to immediately improving my nutrition: restorative or yin yoga, and 90-minute deep tissue massages.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:20 AM on October 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
theora55 is right on about the fermented foods. If you decide to go this route — restoring your gut flora — probiotics are also an option and can be bought over-the-counter. Good probiotics often have more CFU (colony-forming units) than you can manage to ingest in fermented foods. Not all probiotics are equally good, though; some of the cheap ones you can buy at supermarkets don't contain viable probiotic. Some that I've found success with in the past when I've had bloating and distension are Florastor, Visbiome, and HMF Powder. They need to be taken for at least 2-3 months to have maximum effect.
Another tip: if this persists even after cleaning up your diet for a couple weeks/months, and especially if you find that fiber makes things worse, look into gut dysbiosis and SIBO. Both are very treatable with probiotics and certain diet restrictions (keyword to look into: low FODMAP diet). Though I hope that this clears up much faster than that!
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 9:31 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Another tip: if this persists even after cleaning up your diet for a couple weeks/months, and especially if you find that fiber makes things worse, look into gut dysbiosis and SIBO. Both are very treatable with probiotics and certain diet restrictions (keyword to look into: low FODMAP diet). Though I hope that this clears up much faster than that!
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 9:31 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Absolutely fantastic answers here. Very helpful, thank you all. I'm still at the conference but have followed the alcohol, food, exercise and OTC meds advice. The breathing has relaxed a lot. Still there sometimes, but much, much better, along with my gut. Doctor when I get home. If I'm alright, hopefully this will act as a warning in the long term. Changing work patterns long term will be challenging.
posted by einekleine at 7:36 AM on November 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by einekleine at 7:36 AM on November 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by Amy93 at 12:14 PM on October 29, 2023 [3 favorites]