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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

acca
Community Member

hi i am new on here i have bipolar disorder and major anxiety i have ended up in hospital several times now with anxiety.

Main symptoms for me are

.Dizziness

. Heart palpations with pain in chest and in arm (like a heart attack)

.shaking

.feeling sick in the stomach

. headaches

. Dry mouth

. concentration problems

. blurry vision sometimes so bad its like looking into a kaladescope

Of course if any of the major symptoms happen i just stress more making the attack worse the other night my vision just suddenly went i panicked so much i was admitted to hospital with a heart rate of only 35.

Sorry for the long post im just hoping to connect with people in a similar position its very scary for me at the moment. thanks for reading

Gasrush
Community Member

I completely understand this feeling. Especially the lack of concentration.

How do you manage it? I've tried just about everything.

DefiantPanda
Community Member
I'm just feeling very shaky... The anxiety has been coming and going for days. I feel it in my centre... I never feel like I'm good enough for anything. I feel like I'm an imposter and people are going to find me out. And then I'm going to be humiliated. And ashamed. I just feel like it's only a matter of time before they realise how bad I am. I'm afraid of having to bear the looks on their faces, the annoyance, disgust, contempt. I don't want to face that. I'm really scared of it lol it's crazy. Why should I be scared of that?

Rhirhi2
Community Member

Hi Rach93

reading your post, I feel exactly the same, I am convinced I have ms.
what kind of symptoms have you been having?

I am in a constant worry 😞 I’m also waiting for MRI on Monday.

contrarymary
Community Member

I have read all of the replies to the question and I can relate to most of them,

palpitations

pacing up and down the hallway or outside in the garden

agitated cant relax

spending more time in the bathroom

then the big one chest pain which makes me more anxious, I have been to emergency many times they do all the tests find nothing and say try not to get stressed and anxious.

it always seems to happen at night and then I can't sleep and lie awake worrying even more

but after reading all the responses I realise I am not alone with what I suffer and I am trying to get control, people say keep occupied and get a hobby.. I find doing crossword puzzles helps but I get stressed if I don't know the answer so perhaps that not the best thing to do.

Lyly
Community Member

Hi everyone!

I am really hoping to be able to have a lot to give, in the hope of learning to be open to receive.

I’ve always been “the strong one” while equally coping with a tortuous mind.

I appear almost normal.... even successful...

But I’m not.

I’m on a mental battle for my life. My weight is skyrocketing, my obligations feel overwhelming.

Hi Lyly,

Welcome to the forums - we are glad that you have chosen to reach out to our valued online community. It sounds like you're going through a lot at the moment and we're sorry to hear it. We can hear that you have a good community spirit. Please know that you are not alone in this and we are reaching out to you privately to offer some extra support.

If you'd like to speak to someone tonight, Lifeline is a national charity providing all Australians experiencing emotional distress with access to 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. You can call them 24/7 on 13 11 14, or chat with them online 7pm-midnight AEDT - https://www.lifeline.org.au/crisis-chat/

This is thread that you have posted on is a shared thread on the topic of physical feelings of anxiety. If you would like to seek support from the community, we would recommend that you start a thread of your own so that the community can respond to you there.

Mine are presently snacking and, the one that bothers me immensely because of how visible it is, is facial ticks (eg half smiles, raising eyebrows, clenching teeth, scrunching nose, popping ears, blinking/winking, tensing my muscles). It happens more when I'm in stressful situations or where I'm aware it'll be most obvious - eg when talking to someone face to face.

Sometimes I find anxiety symptoms disappear when they are replaced by new ones. But I can't seem to shake this one.

I find the same thing...As soon as I stop worrying about one of those physical symptoms, it will disappear - usually to be replaced very quickly by another. I have had physical symptoms hang around for months on end, before vanishing, though, so just because your latest one is hanging around does not automatically mean it’s real and true.

CheeseDingo
Community Member

RSI after a hard day of being a computer addict?

Earlier this week I uninstalled an online game I have been addicted to for the last 4 years/~10k hours. That game consumed ~98% of my time that I spent on videogames over those 4 years.
I also blocked Reddit and Twitter this week as the endless feeds were built for degenerates like me.
I have also managed to more than halve my cannabis consumption this week and feel confident that I can take a break from it completely in the coming days after every day smoking for 6 months and then vaping for 6 further months.

All of these changes were spurred on by my first NewAccess appointment that I had 2 weeks ago.

In spite of these small wins, all of my nervous energy has been re-directed towards my long running writing anxiety and it's connection to a thoughts/feelings diary I have to write for my NewAccess coach and resume writing I need to complete in the coming weeks. I have not been able to keep up with the diary and have nothing written in it for my NewAccess appointment next week outside of some posts here. I have been napping during the day in the absence of playing video games and using social media, and high levels of anxiety has made me go outside and walk alot more to try to clear my mind