I answered I don't get sick often. I seperated the illnesses due to stress from the PTSD and actually I am pretty healthy - only allergies with an occasional sinus infection. Back injury followed by surgery.

But, stress induced migraines, IBS, ulcers, eating disorder, etc....

I also think I tend to ignore my body and symptoms frequently. I have been told by doctors time and time again, "you have a high pain tolerance" and that I should have come in earlier for treatment.

Does anyone else ignore their bodies or health?

As a kid I got strep throat a lot but having my tonsils out fixed that. Now I get a cold once or twice a year (usually after exams when my stress levels are at their highest). I'm surprised I'm not sick more often considering I spend so much time in the hospital but then again perhaps that exposure to lots of things is what keeps my immune system strong.

I've been sick my entire life with one thing or another. The main issue is the stress we minds are under due to the PTSD.

It "is" a proven fact that stress weakens the immune system, therefore, we are sicker than the general population. It is not the PTSD that makes us sick, it is the stress caused by the PTSD that weakens our immune system that makes us sick.

I noticed common ailments that everyone posting here seem to have in common.
IBS and migraines seem to top the list. JMHO

I have always been sick more often than other people and I think it is directly related to the trauma. While I was in an abusive relationship, I was sick constantly, for months, had glandular fever, chronic fatigue, other viruses, flu, colds. I developed hypothyroidism which was also caused by my immune system. Generally sickness is very familiar.

My perception is that I have a much lower pain threshold than most, and pain tends to be a trigger for me and I get really distressed by it. That said, I do tend to just ignore low-grade pain or other symptoms.

I get colds and flus at about the same rate as my work colleagues, but I tend to have a lot more time off work than everyone else (except for another colleague who's also dealing with past trauma). About a year ago, I was diagnosed with a low-grade chronic inflammatory disease. I'd always assumed it was just IBS, but turns out it's not.

I have a tendency to somatise a lot of the emotional pain. I kept it buried in my twenties that way and I lost most of my twenties to not facing up to the trauma. I still have occasional tendencies with that, which is one of the reasons why I tend to ignore illness as much as possible. My doctor and I often have trouble working out what's real illness we need to deal with and what's emotional stuff I need to work on. Dizziness, headaches, fatigue and generalised pain are typical somatisation symptoms for me - but they overlap with so many physical illnesses (eg colds and flus) that it gets confusing at times.

I'm always sick with something especially when I've been stressed. The herpes zostor virus better known as "chicken pocks" always shows it's face when my immune system is down as shingles and bells palsy.

I hardly ever get sick - I just get cancer.

i been having a real bad time with my ibs lately. it keeps me awake nights going to the bathroom. i have been out once in the last three weeks because of it. i know from the doctor at the va ibs isn't cause by stress but is made worse because of it. i hope it lets up so i can go to my ptsd group at the vets center.