# connection between the flu and an increase in dissociation ?



## jc (Aug 10, 2004)

after staying in bed for two days with a bad case of flu (which is now alot better)
the unreality and dissociation i have felt is absolutely unbelieveable...what can the correlation between being ill and feeling detached be ?
there must be something that is chemically happening to me to make me feel so spaced out and detached /////
or is it just my mind playing silly tricks

all the best

jc


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## enigma (Feb 18, 2005)

Anytime I have _anything_ dragging me down and feeling much less energetic, be it a cold/flu bout,or insomnia (like today),my dp/dr is always intensified by it. I never imagine there being any more correlation beyond that.

e


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## kenc127 (Aug 10, 2004)

From past experiences, just simply getting sick causes me to dissociate.
Being sick along with staying in bed for 2 days, it makes sense why you feel very disconnected.

Ken


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2005)

jc,there is a chemical that is released at the beginning of a flu that will make even a so called normal person feel spaced out.I get it so badly it's almost worse than the flu symtoms.
There are so many things happening with a flu,head congestion etc that could make you feel abnormal,light headed,dizzy etc all things that worsen dp.

It will wear off when the flu leaves.
At the moment I have an ear infection,I'm very dizzy and hence very dp'd.

Cheers Shelly


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## berlin (Aug 19, 2004)

That was how I tried to describe to the Dr how I experienced things, as if I had a head cold all the time! Now if I have a bad cold or fluey its the only time I notice a difference from my ususal 24 hour fog- it gets worse and I 'know' I must be at least a little better the rest of the time!!!! 
Another way I tried to describe it, and I wonder if its just been me experiencing this but I always felt still asleep and crap after a night out on the booze (even only a little hungover) everything was dull and I'd get up and throw open the windows to waken myself up to try and feel the fresh air.


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## jc (Aug 10, 2004)

cheers folks

im starting to feel part of the real world again,but ive always wondered why being ill makes us feel so 'out of it' 
now i understand why janine when embarking on an operation she always tells the quacks that she is prone to dissciative disorders


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## dakotajo (Aug 10, 2004)

Most "experts" believe that depression/anxiety is linked to the serotogenic system which in turn is all strongly linked to our immune system. Just how is still a mystery. I myself believe that dp/dr is a symptom of very low serotonin in the brain. A lot of people that have gone thru serious illnesses eventually experience depression and anxiety. I know the HPA axis is involved. Ive read some place that drugs like St. Johns Wort may not even cross the BBB and is theorized to possibly work directly on the immune system to achieve its antidepressant effects. It may help to somehow reset the HPA axis.

Joe


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## jc (Aug 10, 2004)

surely though due to the fact im taking an ssri on a regular basis this shouldnt make a difference....but either way whatever illness does to us chemically to make us even more spaced out must have some connection to us being in a dped state permenantly...i have also been feeling heavily that symptom of no speration between the days,its been feeling as thoygh one day sort of melts into the next without a break,but this could also be a resulting factor of me snoozing throughout the day.....im sure that all of these sensations are normal but being of an anxious state of mind im just so aware of them,when really, does it all matter {shrugs}


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## kenc127 (Aug 10, 2004)

> Ive read some place that drugs like St. Johns Wort may not even cross the BBB and is theorized to possibly work directly on the immune system to achieve its antidepressant effects.


That's really interesting. I guess that explains why the withdrawal is nothing at all like that of a standard AD. In fact, there really isn't a withdrawal.


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