https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 17:35:05 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907113 Sat, 28 Dec 2019 08:08:08 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2907113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Glad reading this thread I’m not alone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907112 Sat, 28 Dec 2019 04:56:56 +0000 turquoisemama 2907112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: All I can say is you are not alone! I always get way worse when a big event is coming up. We just had my MIL here for Christmas and I was trying so hard for it to be perfect but drove myself crazy worrying I was going to get a stomach bug and ruin everything. My hands are so dry and cracked from washing so much. And to top it off, the pressure was on to cook Christmas dinner(which I never do since I’m always at my parents house) and I had to cook raw chicken which I also never do since I hate having raw meat in my kitchen. I was sanitizing everything after that.</p> <p>Also my MIL always wants to go out to lunch and I’ve caught myself fantasizing about bringing sanitizing wipes and cleaning the table and chairs before we sit down. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907109 Sat, 28 Dec 2019 01:16:34 +0000 MenagerieMama 2907109@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: I have this problem too, and one of my coping strategies for my anxiety is to problem solve how I would deal with the likely and worst case scenarios - but I work in healthcare so I can come up with too many of the latter 🙄 And while I have pretty generous leave, I have to cancel my entire day of patients today take time off which makes me feel super guilty. My anxiety has gotten worse with LO3 because he has some minor health issues and so now when one kid gets sick I’m on pins and needles waiting for the rest to get sick. LO2 just had a fever with a cold over Christmas, and now big sister is congested and the baby is congested with a low grade fever and I’m so worried for them! I feel like I know the logical things to chill out (and I evaluate kids like them and reassure families all the time!) but I just still irrationally worry. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907108 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 23:55:58 +0000 PinkElephant 2907108@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: I don’t have advice, but can totally commiserate. 😞 I have a big level of anxiety surrounding one of my kids (then two, then all three, then me...) getting sick. Namely, getting a stomach bug. One of my kids vomited on a family trip this summer, and I got so worked up that I nearly made myself sick, and felt almost like I was having a panic attack. We were with another family, and I had to excuse myself from the adults hanging out/having game night and go to my room....I didn’t sleep that night. Over Christmas I’ve intentionally kept my kids out of our athletic club’s kids club/child care, make them use hand gel/shower at night after being out or at church or around other kids, etc. because I just reallly can’t cope with thinking about anyone being sick. I’m not sure why I’m so consumed by paranoia about this - I’ve had sick kids at holidays, I’ve gotten caught on an airplane alone by myself with three kids when I came down with a stomach bug...and in the moment it was manageable and we all lived to tell the tales!</p> <p>I don’t take anxiety medication or see a therapist, because while I sometimes worry about random things or have trouble falling asleep if my mind gets too “busy”, nothing else consumes me quite like the fear of someone waking me up at 3 AM to tell me they threw up in their bed. </p> <p>Like @SweetCaroline: I try to be ultra prepared with supplies in hopes that if I’m ready for it, it won’t happen! 🤣🤣🤣 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907099 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 21:11:27 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2907099@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@muffinsmuffins: I saw your other post, I hope you guys recover soon! I keep trying to figure out why this is such an issue for me and can't find a reason, and I'm usually good at finding the root causes for what's making me anxious. We've been really lucky and never really had major illnesses or issues, and kiddo is getting older and things are getting easier to identify and control so if anything I should be getting calmer but the anxiety is only getting worse. I dunno, maybe I'm waiting for something worse than usual to happen, but that still doesn't feel right. Thank you for chiming in, good luck with everything! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907093 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 19:56:55 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2907093@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m going through this now as our whole family has been sick with gastro over Christmas (see my other thread) and now little guy has the worse cold he’s ever had and won’t eat or drink so I’m terrified to have to take him to ER for dehydration. It stems from me being a hypochondriac my entire life so I think the worst, but also when my older was hospitalized for 8 days for pneumonia when he was 2. I was good with my younger so far but this one is really getting to me. It gets so much better as they get older for sure. I have to think worse case scenario and plan for it like you said but it still gets the best of me. This time I think the anticipation of all of us eventually getting sick was a big trigger for me, as well as hearing all these stories about the hospital wait times being so crazy where we are with cold/flu season. So, I don’t have any magic tips for you, other than commiseration. I had to see a therapist about it after my older one and it seemed well managed for a couple years until this week really 🤷🏻‍♀️ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907078 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 15:10:43 +0000 MrsSRS 2907078@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I treat this with Valerian at my psychologist's suggestion. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907072 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 13:35:01 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2907072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetCaroline: this is me too, on the preparedness stuff. And rationally I know that anything can happen and everything will be fine afterwards (we've recovered from the flu before, we've delt with plenty of stomach bugs, etc.) and still, it winds me up. Fingers crossed it's a calm winter for you guys! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907071 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 13:31:56 +0000 SweetCaroline 2907071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Man, I'm sorry you're working through this. I'd say I have a normal to slightly heightened level of anxiety regarding sickness. My anxiety stems from the fact that DH does not have a generous leave policy at this time and my job is of the nature I will have a complete disaster waiting for me at work if I take too much time off (or any time at all during busy seasons).</p> <p>To quell my anxiety, we have hand sanitizer everywhere and immediately apply it after leaving public places and before eating out. I also keep my car stocked with garbage bags, towels, paper towels and Lysol wipes in the event there is a puke incident. I have hospital grade Clorox hydrogen peroxide wipes at home and go nuts sanitizing when something raises my anxiety. We also all take vitamins and elderberry syrup.</p> <p>I'm also always stocked up on saltine crackers, chicken noodle soup, Gatorade and tylenol suppositories (both for adults and kids). I should have emergency Sprite on hand too. I also always have lice treatment on hand.</p> <p>Basically, my antidote is all the prevention and reaction tools, if for nothing other than to make myself belive I'm doing everything I can to prevent and be prepared.</p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907064 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 12:43:52 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2907064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Elizabear: Interestingly for me, if someone is actually sick, I manage that part just fine, I'm good in a crisis. It's the possibility of it even happening that winds me up this much! That's what bothers me most, I'm not even worried about something that's real. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907062 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 12:35:27 +0000 Elizabear 2907062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can totally relate to all of this! I am anxious in general and when my daughter is sick, I feel it until she is all better non stop. What seemed to help me the most is that as she is older, she doesn't get sick nearly as much. She's 4 1/2. The first year in daycare it seemed she was sick every other week and now its more like 2 times per year. I think the fact that we have been though it a bunch makes it easier. I know that 2 days into antibiotics is much better and 4 for virus so I try to focus on the high I feel when she is all better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907061 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 12:32:25 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2907061@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am the same. All my friends have been down and out with puking kids. I am on high alert. I hate it. My friend has this fear really bad (extreme fear of vomit) and works through it with her therapist and has seen improvement.<br /> I’m bringing it up with my therapist next week too! It sounds like you’re doing the right things trying to manage it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sickness-anxiety-tipscommiserations#post-2907054 Fri, 27 Dec 2019 08:47:24 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2907054@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wondering if anyone tends to get exceptionally anxious about commonplace sickness (your own, LOs, etc.) - not catastrophic stuff, but your typical flu/stomach bug stuff (and especially the stomach bugs, because vomit is my kryptonite for reasons I never quite figured out). I have generalized anxiety that I work through with my therapist, but throughout the year and especially in the fall/winter, I get incredibly anxious about my family getting sick and this year seems worse than usual because it seems like the flu is hitting early and a lot of people are getting stomach bugs too. I try all my usual tricks, like deep breathing, reminding myself that we are really lucky that we have very liberal work leave and have no pressure to be at work or do anything if we're sick, we're close to doctors/urgent care if needed, etc., and I even write up problem solving scenarios like "if we all come down with a stomach bug, what's our action plan" to calm myself and be prepared. And still my heart races when I read a Facebook post of friends and even strangers being sick, I overanalyze my daughter any time she's "off" (or my perception of "off" because no one is 100% the same all the time), I have a hard time going to sleep, which isn't usually an issue for me. I think it bothers me even more that this happens because not only do we not get sick often, we always get through it just fine AND we're really in the biggest place of privilege when it comes to leave and resources so it frustrates me that I'm so overly anxious about this. I'm going to talk about this more with my therapist but wanted to see if this happens for others and if anyone has helpful tricks for getting their brain to relax. </p>