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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

Not_Batman
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Thanks Fiatlux.

it does get better, we just need to work on it but by bit. Im not the mess i one was. I still get down, but have far better management for it.

RibbG
Community Member

Hi so I found this thread Tuesday just gone and it has helped me realise that I'm suffering anxiety symptoms and attacks and have been for a long time. I am 36/M married and I have been dealing with anxiety since I was around 9-10 years old I also have ADHD which was diagnosed at age 9.

My symptoms range from:

  • Tightness in the chest/hard to breathe or gasping for air
  • Burning sensation in chest and left arm
  • Dizziness or lightheaded
  • tinnitus or sudden high pitched sounds in my ears which then starts vertigo
  • Racing thoughts that I'm dying
  • IBS sysmpoms which do not discriminate where I am if I have to go it's now (which has been affecting me since I was 10 years old at the time of any stress)
  • General body discomfort and/or irritability
  • Hot flashes
  • I have been grinding my teeth and/or clenching my jaw so bad most my adult life that I have had the two top back teeth on both sides ripped out (including bone that it was impacted in) and now have a problem with my jaw locking all the time on the right side
  • nausea
  • Depersonalization
  • Hyper awareness and hyper sensitive of the skin

These have affected my work I have been throughts so many jobs because of my anxiety trying to explain to a boss why you have to go to the toilet so many times most people write you of as a stacker/lazy or crazy. All your posts have helped me realise that I'm not dying and I'm not the only one dealing with this and thank you. I would love to talk about my story more when I find the appropriate thread thank you for readind.

Gracie63
Community Member

Hi RibbG

I to have been living with anxiety for many years and I was amazed at seeing all your symptoms because I to have all those symptoms. Iam a 58 year old F and the struggle sometimes is just exhausting. I have been to the ED many times and had many tests. I actually went to hospital last night around midnight with a really bad panic attack although at the time I didn’t put it down to that. It has taking me all night and all day and still I’m not fully coming down from it. I’m so tired. I have spent most the night and day on the toilet as yes I to have that problem. I have spent most the night and day reading post on BB and it really does comfort me to know I’m not alone . Take care.

Kat_Em
Community Member
I'm in so much pain. The tingling, the pins and needles. The sensitive skin. The fatigue. Everyone keeps putting it down to Anxiety and telling me it's in my head. I can feel it. It hurts. It is taking control of my life. I cry everyday. I don't want to socialise. I feel broken and alone.

Hi Kat_Em,

I am so sorry you have been going through that. That must be so difficult honestly, I hear you. Can I ask, have you been to any specialists about it? Could it be to do with nerve pain or something going on with the nerves in your body?

We are here for you!

Ethelbrush
Community Member
Before going on medication I had regular panic attacks and the constant fear of having another one. Exhausting. My anxiety is everything. I'm now 66 and have lost 2 close family members and our 2 beloved dogs this year. I am preoccupied with dying and death. Not every minute of the day but it pops up all the time. How do you turn that off? Very frustrating.

Hello Ethelbrush...(and everyone!)

Thankyou so much for being a part of the Beyond Blue Family

I understand what you are are experiencing with ongoing panic/anxiety attacks,,,,I used to have chronic panic attacks for a few decades and they are horrible to have..and am still medicated

Ethelbrush...My sincere condolences for the recent loss of your family members and your two 4 legged furry family members....:-(

This thread topic rotates quickly as its about symptoms and thats okay as I just noticed your post and really hope you can start your own thread topic

any questions are always welcome Ethelbrush

my kindest

Paul

Dear Ethelbrush,

Thank you for your post. Like Blondguy Paul, we would like to encourage you to start a new thread with your questions so more of our wonderful community members will see, and have the opportunity to reply, to your post.

We understand that living through severe panic attacks can be extremely devistating. We understand that a common treatment is specialised deep breathing techniques which often can interrupt the increase in specialised overarching mental focus on one thing. Some of our members have posted about ways to learn and utilise these sorts of breathing techniques.

We would like to encourage you to call BeyondBlue Support Service on 1300 22 4636, or Lifeline on 13 1114, whenever you find yourself mentally heading in a direction you don't like. Their Mental Health specialists can talk you through the potentiial panic attack, and if successful, it might be lessened quite a bit.

We are always here for you.

Warm regards,

Sophie M.
 

Dear Ethelbrush,

Thank you for your post. Like Blondguy Paul, we would like to encourage you to start a new thread with your questions so more of our wonderful community members will see, and have the opportunity to reply, to your post.

We understand that living through severe panic attacks can be extremely devistating. We understand that a common treatment is specialised deep breathing techniques which often can interrupt the increase in specialised overarching mental focus on one thing. Some of our members have posted about ways to learn and utilise these sorts of breathing techniques.

We would like to encourage you to call BeyondBlue Support Service on 1300 22 4636, or Lifeline on 13 1114, whenever you find yourself mentally heading in a direction you don't like. Their Mental Health specialists can talk you through the potentiial panic attack, and if successful, it might be lessened quite a bit.

We are always here for you.

Warm regards,

Sophie M.
 

Hayabusa
Community Member

Hello everyone.

I have just found this thread after experiencing my symptoms for a number of years. For me I get tight chested and of late I feel like I just want to cry. The tight chest feeling sometimes is so bad once my work colleagues wanted to call me an ambulance.

I work in a demanding job where I am expected to perform at 100% all of the time. If I drop the ball once it doesnt matter about the remaining 99.99% of the time where I didn't drop the ball. My job is an engineering role in the food industry, so its not like I'm saving lives every day.

My role is seriously under resourced to the point where I have not had a day off work for months, soon I will have worked 100 days straight. I have a plan to get out of this as part of a tree change but that is 12 months away.

How I cope, if it gets too bad I try to pivot what I am doing to something that I enjoy doing.

Graham