Why do we always feel worst at night / when we go to bed when we’re sick?
In: Biology
Your immune system is a really resource intensive system for your body to run, which is fine if it can fully focus on getting better. It does this through a fever, inflammation, etc. However there are a lot of situations that can arise that have a higher priority than your immune system and for that your body has the stress response, which means flooding your body with a hormone called cortisol that suppresses – among other things – your immune system. During the day you have a lot of situations that warrant your body creating cortisol, but at night your body comes to rest and you generally no longer experience any stressful situations, so your immune system is free to ramp up to full capacity again. Which causes symptoms to increase.
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More distractions during the day, so you’re not as focused on the fact you’re ill and the symptoms involved.
When you lie down, mucus settles more on your chest etc. Causing more difficulties breathing, having cough, etc.
What? The mornings are always worse.
I’m the opposite. When I’m sick I’ll wake up with a sore throat that feels like a knife is stabbed into the back of my throat and it goes away throughout the day.
I don’t think it is worse at night – it’s just that when you’re lying in bed trying to get to sleep, you have no distractions, so you feel the symptoms more. During the day, you don’t have the time to think about them.
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