Anxiety constant physical symptoms

[Tryingtomoveon]

Hi

Thanks for reading this post. I'm finding that when I feel more anxious I start getting really bad nausea,headaches and heart palpitations. I find it hard to find ways to stop these symptoms. I find they then increase my anxiety even more which becomes a vicious circle. I really don't know what to do I feel like I've tried it all mindfulness, breathing, walking, distraction but it just is so intense. I think what doesn't help is I'm unsure why my anxiety is increasing to cause this.

[Annas1]

Hello TTMO,

I can really identify with the intensity of the physical feelings you can experience as a part of anxiety. It can feel very frightening when your body acts in this way. I sometimes feel like my body is 'betraying' me somehow. So, don't feel ashamed about needing support when things feel out of control - that's what it's there for. In the long-term you will develop more coping skills and strategies to reduce the frequency of attacks and lessen their intensity. The other important skill or attitude is one of acceptance and self-compassion. It really is tough when we have these feelings, especially if we don't have the social support we're looking for. I'm still on a journey of 'radical self-acceptance', which means tolerating the peaks and troughs of my feelings even when I wouldn't choose them.

I have received lots of good re-framing advice on my travels, and one of the most profound was the idea that when I feel bereft or anxious (for whatever reason) that on one level this reflects the fact that I am 'full of feeling'. Now, normally, deep sadness and anxiety are not feelings I welcome, but re-framed this way they simply become members of a family of feelings that are part and parcel of being human. That's in fact what we are, we are feeling beings. This re-framing has helped me understand that my pattern of feeling suppression has been harmful to my fullest sense of self. In other words it's completely normal to have all sorts of feelings and we needn't deny any of them.

A particular insight for me is the connection between repressing sadness and feeling anxious. Often lying beneath my anxiety is a need for expressing vulnerability and feeling safe. This is what I am now working on, to reconnect with those core feelings. I'm working with a new psychologist to 'go beneath the bonnet' and explore why hiding sadness has been so important in my life. It's another chapter on the journey toward an easier sense of being all of myself. I will undoubtedly be challenged by more feelings of anxiety and deep sadness, but I will choose to be courageous and work for positive changes in managing my internal world and forging my place in the world. We all have something unique to give, you and me too!

[Here2Talk]

Hi Trying,

There are multiple things that can cause anxiety, including our genes, early childhood experiences, trauma.

our bodies react to how we perceive the world. Sometimes you may get anxious and your body responds with what they call fight or flight response - heart rate goes up, blood pressure etc.... it’s like our body senses threat and then our mind; or the other way around, or both in a feedback loop.

what things have you and your psychologist/psychiatrist shed light on?

[Tryingtomoveon]

Thanks both for your reply.

I recently began to read Tara Brach book radical acceptance. I think for me it's about believing it which I need to work on. I think alot of the anxiety is to do with childhood trauma and never learning to express my emotions and now struggling to learn these new skills while being anxious.

Thank you so much though for all the tips I will look more closely at these at the weekend and I think I need to write a go to plan.

[Here2Talk]

Come back if you want to talk more, and good luck. With severe anxiety it is likely that there are thoughts, behaviours and feelings that are leading to the continuing anxiety, and overcoming it will deep exploration of the self.

[Tryingtomoveon]

Today I got out my skills from the DBT program and ACT skills and I'm having altogether so I can focus on them and know where they are when im outside my window of tolerance. Thank you all for your help this week in making me realise I'm not alone and offering me some strategies it has really helped.

[Annas1]

Hi TTMO,

it sounds like you are doing a lot of reflecting and coming up with some new understanding of yourself and your emotional patterns. This is so important in maintaining wellness over the long-term - really getting to know and appreciate ourselves, where we've been, who we've known, how we've truly felt. You are definitely on the journey to self-acceptance my friend.

My extra thought is that the inner shift to self-acceptance usually takes time (I'm still working on it!), especially if the old pattern has been one of resistance, denial or self-judgement. This means that sometimes I need to forgive myself for instinctively reacting to my anxiety with resistance, denial or judgement. It's tricky, that's for sure. But let's keep at it TTMO. I have definitely observed a change in my own instinctual reactions when I'm triggered to become anxious. I think there is a bit more space now between the alarm and my thought process. It's very encouraging when you can identify positive changes - it will happen for you too.

Mantra of the day - Be kind to yourself!

[Tryingtomoveon]

Today was a pretty bad day and the physical symptoms are getting worse again. I had a miscarriage this time two years ago. My friend announced she was pregnant today and I was finding this week tough. I am delighted for her but it just makes me feel like I keep failing and everyone around me is moving on.

[Annas1]

Hello TTMO,

I'm sorry to hear you've been having a rough time with the physical symptoms of anxiety. I have this problem too sometimes, and it's often worse when I haven't had adequate sleep. Sometimes the best thing I can do for myself is find a quiet place to lie down and focus on my breathing.

I also think it's important not to beat ourselves up for struggling so much - it's really not our fault that things are rough. The brain is a complex beast and we only have so much control. We need to be kindest to ourselves in these difficult times. Imagine being a 'best friend' to yourself. How would you respond to your friend experiencing these physical symptoms? Would you be sensitive to the mental distress they might be causing? Would you reassure your friend that you are there for them and understand that this hard for them? This is the kind of attitude i'm trying to cultivate towards myself in times of crisis and struggle. I encourage you to think about doing this for yourself too.

Sending you kindness and warmth,

Annas1

[Croix]

Dear Tryingtomoveon~

You have been given some pretty good advice in this thread since you started it and I'll not try to add further on mental states and how best to cope with them.

Instead I want to look back as how I have been, and to a lesser extent are now. The physical symptoms are a real burden and add a lot to one's stress and mental state. Even such a simple thing as needing to go to the toilet often means one has to always be near one. Headaches mean one may want silence and possibly being left alone too, the same goes for the rest of these mentally induced problems.

Of course as they start to occur they do need proper medical examination to ensure there is no physical cause, and in my case very occasional re-examinations to enure my symptoms are not making something more serious that has developed more recently - chest pain is a good example.

Once all that has been done my psychiatrist and GP went out of their way not only to treat the mental health problems that were the underlying causes but also addressed each physical symptom as well, so headaches got headache tablets, going frequently to the toilet was treated with specific meds to slow things down, and most of the other symptoms in a similar manner. Importantly this was not just a case of handing out tablets but came with specific techniques to try to help each.

This had, for me, a very positive effect as I no longer had to worry about where I was ,or who I was with and so on, that resulted in stresses being so much less. I believe this also helped my mental conditions (one of which was anxiety) so gained a further improvement.

If you have already done this my apologies, if not do you think it is worth talking to your medical team and suggesting this approach?

Croix

[Tryingtomoveon]

Hi Croix

Thanks for your message. I actually saw my doctor last night and we did look at putting some strategies in place for addressing some of the physical symptoms. Im so glad that this has worked for you this gives me hope.

Thank you all for continued support.

Thanks

TTMO