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what physical feelings of anxiety do you get?

annabay
Community Member

hey there, what physical symptoms of anxiety do you experience?

I often feel very alone in my experience of having physical chest (what I think are heart) spasms and was wanting to create a space for everyone to list their physical feelings that come hand in hand with anxiety so we can all feel less alone.

hope everyone is well.

797 Replies 797

Hi Everyone 🙂

Welcome Larks98....You are very proactive with your health..You are not alone with these horrible anxiety feelings. Your symptoms are exactly the same as mine used to be. Good on you for making an appointment with a psychologist!

Just per my own experience with anxiety...The more frequently we see a health professional the better our recovery will be. I wasted 13 years thinking I could self heal....I was so wrong...My anxiety only increased...whoops

Hi Yara and Welcome too!....Can I ask if you have had a lot on your mind that may have brought on the headaches? Having difficultly getting to sleep is common when we have a lot on our mind Yara..If you wish to provide any additional info we can provide more effective support

The forums are a rock solid safe and non judgmental place to us to post

my kind thoughts

Paul

Lindaek
Community Member
Heat ponding, and waves of heat like hot flushes, but the worst is the muscle soreness and tightness , and cramping in my chest and arms and neck and shoulders. the muscle soreness last for days and days after.

Muscle aches and pains, racing heart, breathless, face flushed, and for the last probably 2 years I can't hold back the tears either. And can't think straight, or at all. It's definitely getting worse, not better, despite trying all sorts. Today I even got pins and needles in my nose during a stressful meeting.

The last really bad episode resulted in a 3 day migraine. Also - it makes my tinnitus worse. Anyone else get that?

hi Katy, I've heard a few people write about tinnitus here, altough I haven't experieneced that.
I get the headaches, sort of like my mind feels like a heavy block is on top of it, weighing down my thoughts.
I also can feel exhausted and wide awake at the same moment.

Hello Everyone and thankyou for helping others by posting (so they are not alone)

Hey Katy....ditto here with tinnitus.....Ive been so occupied with anxiety and depression I have never mentioned how awful tinnitus can be..ugh! I am lucky that I never get headaches though

Hey Sleepy21....Feeling exhausted and wide awake is a pain....same here...except I dont remember what decade I had a headache...I do get frequent 'brain fog' though....

I hope everyone has a good weekend

my kind thoughts

Paul

ecomama
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor

Hi Paul and the gang lol

Like you Sleepy21, I also can be totally exhausted yet be unable to get to sleep. If I don't have to wake up super early, I just keep doing housework lol. If I HAVE to get up early then I do the whole shebang.. warm bath, low lighting, Dr Joe's sleep meditations and I'm out.

Tinnitis? My brother had that and it was fixed when he had an operation to restore his hearing.
It went. He was very ill from it before the op. Hugs Katy.

I can get a swollen tongue when I'm feeling super anxious.
A friend's mouth begins to bleed when she has high anxiety. Finally she's seeing a psych for depression and anxiety. I hope it's helping her - I must check in and ask.

I can also break out in a sweat. I did that the other day when our boss announced some shocking news. Like a mini panic attack. It was shocking news though. Most of us had looks of shock with her news.

I also hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Love EM

Hey EM

what an excellent post! I thought I was the only person on the planet that has those vile cold shivery sweats when I am in a difficult situation!...Mini Panic attack!....thats spot on...ugh!

you are a breath of fresh air on the forums EM

Paul

Hi Isabelle21

I know it's been a minute since your post but your words jumped out at me and i thought I'd reply.

I've been feeling the jelly-leg thing over the past few days as I've been having myself sit down at the computer and apply for jobs. This triggers my anxiety in and of itself (hellooooo don't you know you aren't good enough) but I think the actual act of sitting and not wanting to makes me feel anxious. It feels like I'm about to give a big presentation or something. And it's a similar band-type feeling around my legs.

I do think its a physical manifestation of my anxiety, and I need to shake it off my going for a quick walk, deep breaths, change the song I'm listening to. Basically I need to distact myself from my own distraction. If I ever feel weak out in public or that suddenly an activity feels really hard, its often from emotional pain for me im not addressing. But I'm not an expert and it doesn't work all the time

How have you been doing? I'm interested to hear an update from you.

Hi there,

I was getting worried that no one had really replied and thought... oh dear, maybe it's just me!
It's really strange... I don't know it it's due to COVID and being at home more/doing less.... that I am hyperventilate and more sensitive towards certain feelings that come up in my body. It happened today again... just really jelly legs like any moment they could kind of collapse on me... I am scared to get checked up about it because I fear the worst (didn't help that I used google)... I don't know if it could be just less activity/fatigue or as simple as a symptom of anxiety...! I am a bit stuck... and it's putting me off just going for a walk around the block... I really dislike the feeling! 😞

kpxl
Community Member

It's so terrible isn't it? I think a lot of people who don't experience it badly underestimate how 'physical' anxiety can be.

For me, when I'm at my worst (like now - yay!) I get numbness, tingling and cramps in my left hand/arm and left foot/leg. I also feel like I can't take a proper breath, sighing a lot, I feel like I'm on the verge of tears constantly and I vacillate between feeling hyper aware of things to exhausted/broken down/zoned out. It requires so much effort to appear 'normal' in front of others and to tune out the internal monologue of fear about my physical symptoms I find it takes all my efforts (hence the exhaustion.