Red Flags - Subtle Symptoms of Illness
Red Flags
Subtle Symptoms of Illness
The Habit Ayurveda
Red flags.
This blog is part of a series on my personal experience with Long Covid / Post viral illness.
Long Covid falls under the category of post viral illness - a diagnosis that was with us long before covid.
It can be triggered by the common flu, or even a cold.
Post viral illness is commonly associated with the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, and a variety of conditions that fall under the diagnosis of dysautonomia.
Dysautonomia is a disorder of autonomic nervous system (ANS) function.
The ANS is in charge of so much more than feelings of “nervousness”. It regulates the body’s involuntary functions—things that happen without thinking—like breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, excretion, perspiration, temperature regulation, pupil dilation among others.
The autonomic nervous system is responsible for maintaining homeostasis, or equilibrium, in the body.
And, it's responsible for the body’s immune response.
Looking for simple tools to bring you back to balance?
When a virus is introduced in a body that is already malfunctioning, overreaction of the inflammatory & immune systems is likely to occur.
Are you experiencing Autonomic Nervous System dysfunction? Here are the symptoms to watch out for:
intolerance to heat
feeling cold all over
cognitive impairment
numbness or tingling sensations
aching neck and shoulders
low back pain
noise sensitivity
light sensitivity
disequalibrium
chemical sensitivities
easily over stimulated
lightheadedness
generalized weakness
palpitations
tremulousness
shortness of breath
chest discomfort
loss of sweating
bloating after meals
nausea or vomiting
diarrhea or constipation
pupillary dysfunction
fatigue
food allergies
sleep disorders
headache / migraine
myofascial pain
neuropathic pain
dizziness
tachycardia
exercise intolerance
claminess
anxiety
flushing
low blood pressure
histamine intolerance
feeling wired
I’m guessing there was a lot of nodding while you read this list.
I did a lot of nodding when I read this list.
It’s common to try to fix the subtle symptoms of imbalance by “doing more”. More exercise, more supplements, more juicing or fasting or sitting at our desks planning how to feel healthier.
All of these things are important, and are the right thing to do to bring balance in certain situations…. and the wrong thing to do in others.
As a lifelong overachiever, acceptance seeker, people pleaser trained to “be my best self”, I was addicted to doing. Looking for the dopamine hit that came from taking a new action, I overrode my nervous system, trying to “solve for x”.
Which was useless, because “x” was my nervous system.
Sound familiar? Hop in the comments and let me know.
Carly at The Habit Ayurveda
p.s - Next article, I’ll be sharing the first steps I took toward healing and regrounding my nervous system.
p.p.s - As the symptoms of dysautonomia can be associated with many other conditions, please reach out to your primary care provider if you’re struggling. Bloodwork, hormone testing, getting your blood pressure and oxygen levels checked all provide peace of mind, which in turn help the nervous system heal <3
