Can anxiety do this?

[Rach93]

I’ve just started on new medication to treat my anxiety & today I’ve just had a weird sensation like my right eye was weak and my right side face was weak but there’s no numbness or tingling can this be anxiety? I was obviously obsessing over it and made it feel worse is it possible for one side to be effected by anxiety ? Has anyone had similar experience

[Guest_342]

Hello Rach.

I haven't had that happen specifically, but I personally have at times found that my anxiety makes me more aware - and sometime afraid - of my various bodily sensations. Also, I have found that my mind sometimes convinces me that I have a particular sensation. Another thing is that i have had panic attacks which created real sensations that made me actually feel like I was dying eg from a heart attack and made me feel absolute dread.

Anxiety is a funny thing. I couldn't tell you whether you need to worry about this particular sensation you have. But I personally have found that I have gradually learnt to tell the difference between something my anxiety is creating and something life threatening.

If you are worried, and you've never felt this before, might an option be to call nurse on-call or something similar? This is a free service in my state and may be something other states offer too? Their response might give you the peace of mind you need or might allow you to judge whether it is a real problem.

Best wishes for 2021.

[Rach93]

Hi

thanks for your reply was really helpful.. I am see GP on Monday and I will talk it all over with her because some of it might be from starting this medication also.

do you know if it’s possible to have physical symptoms a lot of the time without feeling anxious? I know a lot of the time I may feel anxious but sometimes I don’t think I do and I still feel sensations. It started from an event that happened a few weeks ago - made me panic and since then I have had physical symptoms on and off for weeks. It hasn’t stopped - they are not panic attacks.

[Guest_342]

Hi Rach,

I'm so sorry for the delay.

I wonder whether, if you are getting sensations, perhaps they are the tail end of your body's response to what happened? I sometimes get sensations, pain, etc when I don't feel overly anxious, but because I am not anxious at the time about it, it doesn't tend to bother me. I wonder whether, because you seem to be worrying about it then maybe you are in fact mildly anxious and you might not realise?

I'm not sure, I'm sorry. I can only speak from my own experience. But I think you'll probably get a lot of peace of mind when you chat openly with your GP - it's so wonderful that you've found the courage to do this.

Hoping you are ok.

[geoff]

Hello Rach93, this could be because of the new medication or your anticipation or expectation of believing how it will work, it may also be showing you signs that you're tired.

Anxiety and stress are capable of displaying slight physical differences to your body that you might not have experienced before, in other words, some may have different emotional responses, while others could have slight physical symptoms.

Let us know how you get on.

Geoff.

[Rach93]

Hi Geoff

sorry for the late reply! I’m not sure with what’s going on with my face I haven’t talked much about it with the GP I was more focused on my leg at the time as I was obsessing over the tingling in my legs & numbness - I have since found out I have a pinched nerve on that side so that explains the sensations I have in my leg. But does not explain the sensation in my face I am trying not to stress over it as it’s probably something to do with stress or anxiety or even an injury in my back as my back has been hurting a lot & I do have a 4 month old baby I’m constantly picking up and bending over. I have been stressing over medical conditions I could have and it drove me crazy I am now trying to trust my doctor and believe what she says and we will hopefully find out this weird sensation I am experiencing in my face! at the moment it feels numb but when I touch it there is no loss of sensation.. very weird!