Weird symptoms during times of intense stress

[Hope_for_the_best]

With the help of my psychologist, I combated two episodes of intense stress during my studies. I am feeling okay now, but I dwell on the loneliness while I was suffering from anxiety symptoms, because some were very atypical. All friends I know either have insomnia or stress-eat when they are anxious. However, I never have any issues with sleeping; I fall asleep easily at night and often wake up the next morning. When I am stressed out, I lose my appetite instead of gaining. Some friends have racing heartbeats and shortness of breaths, which I had sometimes and I could calm down within minutes of listening to relaxing music. Up to now, these are still very typical symptoms.

The two atypical and bothersome symptoms that I had were (1) a lumpy throat feeling and (2) overreaction to smells. None of my friends have ever experienced a lumpy throat, although I realised how common it is when I googled. When that happened, I could feel my throat muscle tightened up. I did not know what to do about that. I could only wait until the feeling passed. I bet some of you encountered a lumpy throat feeling before. How did you deal with that?

For the overreaction to smells under stress, I hardly found any information about that. Basically, when I am stressed out for a prolonged period, I must develop an aversion to a daily smell. For example, I never like cheese, but I am fine with someone having it in my vicinity. I remember I was in a stuffy lecture hall one day shortly before exams. One of my classmates was eating a very cheesy creamy pasta. He was not supposed to eat there, but the lecturer did not stop him. The smell was so overwhelming that I could not take it. I could not attend the rest of the lecture. Since then I got super aversion towards cheese smell. I was madly checking all food to ensure no cheese. I also avoided the cheese stall in the supermarket. Strangely enough, after finishing those stressful exams, I suddenly became as comfortable with cheese as before. Has anyone ever encountered that before? I feel that I am weird as nobody seems to have that.

Thanks for sharing!

[MsPurple]

HI hopeforthebest

When I had anxiety I used to get the feeling of a lump in my throat too. It sucked. I was so worried I was allergic to something that it made it worse. Once I figured out what was causing it helped me deal with it. I just had to keep telling myself that I was ok, I was safe and I wasn't allergic to anything. This helped me.

With the heightened smell could be caused by your CNS is heightened. This may make you a bit more sensitive to smell. I have had this before that when I was really stressed out and on edge I felt like my sense of smell was heightened. And when I was anxious i sometimes felt nauseous

I found for me meditation helped. I would try meditate for 10 minutes a day. It helped me relax and it helped me stop the racing thoughts in my head. Maybe this is something you could try. You can download a free app called 'headspace, smiling mind or calm'. They might help

[blondguy]

Hi Hope

Thanks for posting a good thread topic!

Anxiety can manifest itself in many ways including that awful 'lump in the throat' feeling too. I used to have the same as you do. I used to have anxiety for years starting from when I was 23...It was an awful place to be in.

I think you are an amazing proactive person to have a counselor organised with these nagging symptoms whether they are breathing or throat feelings. There are so many people that have anxiety that wont seek help from a health professional. You have done really well.

The digestive system is the most sympathetic to anxiety disorder. Throat sensations...stomach...bowels etc...Some people get all or just one of them depending on the severity of their anxiety.

Anxiety feelings are just an indicator that we are 'oversensitised' thus the smells being more acute than they used to be. A sensitised nervous system will play tricks on our sense of smell for sure

you are not alone here at all. You have been through a lot with your exams and the ton of stress associated with it

Its like being in a helicopter for the first time....many people would find their senses are hyper sensitive

I hope some of this has been of help to you Hope 🙂

my kind thoughts

Paul

[Hope_for_the_best]

Thanks for your replies, MsPurple and Paul. I am so relieved that I was not alone, especially about the smell thing! I am in my last stage of my postgraduate at the moment, so exams were already history to me. But they made good examples to explain what I went through. I am writing a thesis at the moment and some months ago I was terribly stressed out with data collection. That time was 10 times worse than those exams. I have had experiences with intense stress like this before, but still caught me off-guard, especially the smell thing. My psychologist says it is normal to feel uncomfortable with repelling smells. As long as they don't affect my daily life (which is my case), I am okay. I tried meditation too and somehow it helped. But the most helpful thing was resolution of the stressful situation, i.e. finishing data collection!

My psychologist also appreciates my pro-activeness towards mental health. She reassures me that this will greatly reduce the chance of my stress escalating into a disorder. Well, mental illnesses somehow run in my family. I have uncles, aunts, cousins etc. from both maternal and paternal sides having various mental illnesses. My parents and sibling are okay though. Still, I am concerned that I will develop a mental disorder one day. Seeing my relatives struggling to cope even with medication and therapy makes me really scare of getting an anxiety disorder.

P.S. My first helicopter ride was to watch the 12 apostles in Melbourne. I was too excited to experience any negative senses 🙂

[blondguy]

Hey Hope 🙂

I love what you wrote....."My psychologist also appreciates my pro-activeness towards mental
health. She reassures me that this will greatly reduce the chance of my
stress escalating into a disorder"

Let get me understand this......You are currently completing your post grad......and writing your thesis?????

And you have been in a Helicopter above the 12 Apostles????

I know you are time poor Hope......but if you have any spare time to share your strengths on here we (me) could learn a lot from your attitude (yes...proactive!)

Thesis first of course.....

We really have to talk about that chopper ride......I wish I had the guts!

Great to have you here as part of the Beyond Blue family Hope!

You Rock

Paul

[Hope_for_the_best]

Hi Paul,

As I wrote in my previous post I am in the final stage of my postgraduate. I think my pro-activeness towards mental health is down to relatives having various mental illnesses and struggling. I know how difficult it can be to cope with mental health issues, and I know I am a naturally born nervous person, so somehow I know I need to do something before I get a mental disorder. What I would say is to get help as soon as you feel uncomfortable emotionally/physically, rather than leaving it until the symptoms interfere with your daily lives. Stress at early stage is easily tackled with one session of counselling. When it gets to the stage that interferes with normal functioning, it takes more and longer to recover.

For the helicopter ride, I hope the following information will ease your fear towards it. They weigh every passenger and allocate seats according to weight, so the helicopter is well balanced before taking off (very safe). The takeoff is slightly different from a plane. Basically the helicopter ascends levelly, unlike a plane that rushes down a runway and then ascends at an angle. Personally, I am uneasy with the takeoff part of a plane ride (my desire for holiday always wins over that though!) and I find a helicopter ride much easier. The view is wonderful enough to distract you from any fears. Almost all passengers were very excited and busy with taking photos. The ride is only a couple of minutes, so in case it is too overwhelming rest assured that it will end soon.

[Hope_for_the_best]

Update: I am moving on fine at the moment, but I am still struggling with a symptom which I didn't share. I am scared of the wind which was not an issue to me in the past. It is all down to an unpleasant memory with one of my supervisors last year. She and another ex-colleague collaborate with another group for a project. The colleague finished her contract before completing the project. My supervisor asked me to take over a part of the work. It is not my project but I am happy to do a favour because my work will be acknowledged and it is good for my CV. Things went wrong at the collaborators. They were procrastinating until the last minute and I had to rush through the project within a week. I was very stressed out the whole time and that week was very windy. My supervisor did apologise to me for pushing me that much, but the whole experience was traumatic enough and I am scared of the wind from then. It only takes me 10 min to walk from where I live to the office, but it will take 20 min if it is windy. I am basically in cycles of panicking and calming down when the wind strikes. I talked to a counsellor but then she had a hard time understanding me and she even asked what support I was after. I really wish someone can understand and reassure me that this too shall pass. The stress towards the end of my degree is just too much for me!

[MsPurple]

Unfortunately anxiety can present itself in weird ways. To be honest I haven't heard of someone being anxious about wind but I can understand it. When walking out in the wind I suggest thinking 'I am ok. I am safe. It is just the wind. Others are walking today and they are fine as well. It is just my anxiety'. Sometimes reminding yourself that you are ok and going to be ok helps. Now it may seem silly but after doing it for a few days it will really start to sink in. I also suggest meditating before going to work. It will help calm your racing thoughts

[Hope_for_the_best]

Thanks for your reply. Turned out it is another atypical manifestation of my overwhelming stress. Well, the past month I had issues with that supervisor who pushed me hard on someone else's project last year. I am meant to write up my project but she kept adding more work to me. The work is not of great urgency but she was very eager to have it done. Thankfully, after talking my other supervisors, they all agree that I should focus on my project and postpone whatever extra work. They also allow me to take breaks from writing as I wish so I can keep myself comfortable. I am so glad that they finally realise that I have too much stress. I am more comfortable with the wind these days.