what physical feelings of anxiety do you get?

[annabay]

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.

[MainlyG]

Only feel I'm new to anxiety.

I'm 39 and used to be the easy going, whatever happens guy.

I have done a 180.

anyway...

sore abdominals

Tight hips

Tingly feeling in hands and feet

Worrying

That's about it.

Have only had 1 panic attack in shower about 6 months ago.

Interested in the tight hips one which seems to be the worst at the moment.

The 2 glasses of red each night is a real help for me lately.

Almost no symptoms when I'm enjoying that 3 hours.

[Heidi17]

Started having panic attacks a few weeks ago. Just out of the blue. I am 45 years old, and positive it is the result of my body starting to go through the perimenopause stage. My symptoms are waking in the night trembling, increased heart rate and super fidgety, and just can't relax. I have had stomach issues. Grumbling, bloating and pain. My thoughts are that there actually is something wrong physically in my gut, but so far doctors haven't followed up on these physical symptoms but relate it to anxiety. My question, from reading others posts, are the digestive issues commonly related to anxiety. Am going to do further tests to look into the stomach issues.

[Sophie_M]

Dear Heidi17,

  Firstly, welcome to the forums we are so glad that you found your way to this supportive and welcoming community. We hope that you find ideas, options and support from the shared experiences and knowledge of all our members. This is a safe space to share and express your own feelings, struggles and experiences without judgement.

Regards

Sophie M

[missep123]

Hi MainlyG,

I'm really sorry to hear that you have been going through this.

You mentioned that you are new to anxiety, did anything happen that may have triggered these feelings and physical symptoms?

One thing I try to remind myself as well is that I am not anxiety, I am a person who happens to deal with/used to deal with anxiety symptoms. I think it is very important to not let it take control of our identity, as you mentioned that you used to be an easy-going guy - I truly believe that you are still you. Sometimes we have some obstacles to go through before we find our balance again.

Please continue to reach out on these forums! We care about you!

[missep123]

Hi Heidi17,

From my own experience when I had anxiety or really anxious thoughts it impacted my digestive system where I had to keep running to the toilet if you get what I mean! Sorry if it is TMI (too much information) but my friends also told me when they got extra nervous it impacted them in this way too

I'm really glad that you are taking your wellbeing and health seriously and that you will be doing extra tests just in case!

I truly hope that you feel some relief from what you have been experiencing, we are definitely here for you!

[blondguy]

Hello Heidi17 and a wave to SophieM and misssp123

I understand what you are experiencing and yes its awful. I used to have chronic anxiety since 1983

Our digestive system is the most sympathetic (vulnerable) to even low levels of anxiety feelings/symptoms and yes its extremely common

As SophieM mentioned the forums are a rock solid safe and non judgmental place for you to post. You are always welcome to start your own thread as you will have more replies that are related to your own situation

you are not alone at all

my kind thoughts

Paul

[daisybaby888]

When I was younger I use get extremely faint and the whole room would spin. I'd tense up so bad I'd pull muscles in my neck and upper back and couldn't move for days on end. Then I started to get extreme panic attacks arounds age 11. I've been having multiple a day since; I'm 19 now. Recently I've been loosing my appetite and constantly feeling nauseous, this has strange. I've always had weird little things as well: I use to cough when I got anxious, sometimes I'd punch or bite myself, recently I've been doing a lot of rocking and pulling out hair. I also feel like I have pots and pans smashing in my head, it's exhausting I cant sleep. It's also really affecting my relationship and I'm scared I'm going to lose the love of my life to my anxiety. He's been so patient with me but with it being my birthday recently my emotions were heightened and I lashed put pretty bad. I was upset for a valid reason, but I hate the way I addressed it.

[Haylz23]

Hi I’m sort of in the same boat , I had heart palpitations, shortness of breath , shallow breathing , chest pain , rib pain ( like a stitch ) pins and needles in hands and feet . The first time this happened was just over a month ago and I went to the hospital as I didnt Know what was happening ,

they checked my bloods and done a ECG but all was fine , In the next 2 weeks I was in and out of emergency doing the Same thing , the 5th time in there I was admitted to do full checked of my heart and lungs and was in the hospital for 4 days , everything came back clear .. so now we have put it down to anxiety, yet to see someone about it , but Other symptoms I’m having now are hair loss ( more than usual ) , burning pain in the chest or upper stomach , back pain in between my shoulder blades , headaches , which then makes me unable to focus or i literally just wanna lay down all the time in worry . Unfortunately my stresses are my home life as my partner has a back injury and it’s changed our lives as it’s caused him depression and a 5 year old daughter that is on the go all the time . I feel like i start to get the symptoms as soon as I’m a big frustrated and talking to either my daughter ( when she’s doing the wrong thing ) , or hearing negative things from my partner or any little arguments . This makes it hard as it’s not something I can just avoid doing . In saying that I always feel discomfort in the chest daily now and half of the time there isn’t a trigger , it just comes on ( as I guess my home life isn’t changing any time soon ) . It makes me sad to feel that it’s home stresses that is causing it . It’s putting a stop to my life atm and there are days where I just wanna cry because I’m over feeling like this already . Everyday is not like it use to be . My next step is to book in to see a psychiatrist but the wait times are weeks-months atm .

[Emma_Mil]

Hi ! I suffer from Generalised Anxiety and Panic Disorder.

When I'm anxious I usually have shortness of breath, involuntary movements in particular of the upper body and tightness in the shoulders, neck and jaw. When I'm in panic then it's totally different - feels like you're dying and can vary. I've had drooping eye, headaches, heart palpitations, pain in the shoulders and back, tingling and numbness in the arms, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, derealisation. Afterwards I get really tired and have a headache.

I find the physical symptoms of anxiety to be much worse than racing or negative thoughts. I tend to be able to rationalise and talk myself away from thoughts but the way anxiety shows up for me physically is the part that can be tough to deal with.

I just recently made a change to my medication and am hoping this will help. So far it's a week in and it has not been fun but fingers crossed it's just the initial uptake of the meds.

[MainlyG]

Thanks for reply.

Yes I'm knew to anxiety and it's unusual symptoms.

Yes-i used to be easy going, loved kids, liked strange people even if they were rude ,I used to like 99% of humans really.

A year on, kids stress me out, I dislike strange people and only like "normal polite people" and I haven't re ally been socialising with humans as now I find most rude.

I have since given up alcohol a month ago even though my 2 or 3 beers or glasses of beer a night was when I was at my most relaxed