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.

[Thommo1163]

Recently my anxiety has been very emotional. I find myself crying at the drop of a hat at one memory of something that I have. Mostly though it is a feeling of being watched & ridiculed where I just want to curl up in a ball and drift away.

[bluemoonbluesky]

Have been going back to the gym, which is good. I can lift again.

However, have had terrible insomnia and poor quality of sleep the last few weeks. I also randomly get the shakes and trembles. Nothing seems to trigger it and it can be pretty disabling. I do know that caffeine doesn't help but it doesn't necessarily trigger it. Couple of days ago I had the shakes bad before going to meet a friend. Lo and behold, when my friend came and I relaxed a bit the shakes went away. Very hard to explain, like a mixture of depersonalisation, internal shaking and my legs turn into jelly. Very weird.

Seems like when one symptom calms down another happens. Pretty exhausting.

[Pixiey]

I know this sounds stupid and gross but I’m when I’m anxious I vomit

[Rattled]

OMG I am so embarrassed! Had a zoom meeting tonight and out of the blue they chose me to talk about myself for 3-5 mins and I totally freaked, made up some totally unbelievable rubbish and totally made a fool of myself. Now I have to deal with that! I dont have anyone to talk to about it cause I'm the one everyone else comes to talk to, this feeling is such rubbish! It feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest

[Guest9337]

i been tapping my right leg really fast and staying awake heaps

lots of energy and words and stuff

on and on.

[bonniebon95]

my anxiety symptoms change and sometimes stay the same. here's a list of my most common ones.

Anxiety Symptoms:

Panic and anxiety attacks
Chest pain
Feeling like I can’t breathe when I’m breathing perfectly fine
Heart palpitations
Tingling tongue and lip from hyperventilation without realizing (psychiatrist told me)
Severe gut pain that radiates
Diarrhea
Headaches
Jaw and teeth clenching
Fidgeting
Racing thoughts
The feeling of impending doom
Severely convinced I’m dying
Dizziness
Nausea
Nightmares
I also suffer from PTSD from late partners suicide which has contributed to my anxiety.

[Haraldo]

So terribly, excessively sweaty.

Constipated.

Teeth grinding while I sleep - which creates migraines.

Endlessly planning, pre-planning, organising, every part of my day and life in my head repeatedly.

Freeze or fight reactions to simple events and conversations - especially unplanned or spontaneous ones.

Sensory overload - especially in supermarkets, crowds and whilst night driving - which is when I get panic attacks.

AVOIDANCE - physical - of others, especially eye contact.

minimisation - I throw all my stuff away - especially all my clothes - so I can control everything in my space and life to the smallest detail.

Good question.

Usually I just lurk.

Thanks

[isabelle21]

does anyone feel like they are literally going to collapse? jelly legs.. like your legs are tight and stiff yet jelly.... and a sensation that your walking on clouds/things feeling really uneven? just the worst feeling... 😞

[Marks_Mum]

Hi Bonniebon 95, thank you for your post. Your symptoms are so much like mine, my panic disorder started many years ago with the death of a girlfriend in a car accident. I've managed it over the years with a combination of medication at times but mainly CBT, but with the stress of covid and the anxiety of being vac'd it's very hard to stay calm. I too have that constant feeling of doom and fear of dying which takes all my energy to stay grounded. I am finding the 333 exercise helps me to ground myself when I feel overwhelmed.

I look around and find 3 things outside my window, they might be a bush in my garden birds on my neighbours roof and a patch of blue in the sky and take note of colours etc, then I listen for 3 sounds that I can identify could be my dog snoring, the dishwasher doing its job and a bird singing outside, then I move 3 parts of my body, I shake my hand wiggle my toes and move my head from side to side. I've been using this technique for a couple of weeks now and I think it helps me to stay in the moment when I feel like I'm spinning out. I can really relate to what you are going through and wish you calm and peace, that state of mind that can be often times elusive for we anxiety sufferers, but we keep trying! take care of yourself.

[Calbue]

Hi guys,

Lately I've been waking up with anxiety and I'm not sure how to fix it. The lump in my throat, heart palpitations, heated chest, nausea.... Does anyone have any tips on how to reduce this?