Hey there I'm just looking for some support and to see if others notice a similar pattern in their anxiety battles. I suppose my anxiety is mainly centred around health, although other things in my life can set me off which in turn results in the physical symptoms that turn into health anxiety. I find that as soon as I have come to terms with one symptoms and almost accepted it as anxiety, and not life threatening, that another, unrelated one pops up from no where just to continue the process. It's as if my anxiety can disguise itself as so many different things and it makes it even harder to over come. I am getting there, slowly. I'm back on my anti depressants and just trying to push through but it seems I'll have a good day or two and then it just hits me again. Usually during the night, I always find the night time hardest to deal with. Less distractions I suppose. Do any of you feel the same about your anxiety, how do you cope with the changing physical symptoms and do you have any useful tips for when it strikes, especially during the night. Thanks for the support.
hello gillian,
This happened to me as well. when i accept some symptom as my anxiety trigger then that symptom goes and some other comes.. i have been experienced more than 100 physical symptoms from 4 years.. i am on medication so getting better now and just ignoring whatever symptom i have every day.. so just ignore whatever happens to you. symptoms will go once your mind forgets about them.
hope this helps..
Thanks, Umar Khan.
this happens to me too its draining its horriffic i freak out when the glands in my neck feel swollen some days i cant breath some days i can but i feel sick ive forgotten what normal feels like the only thing that helps me is if i tire myself out walking the dogs so that i sleep on a night i feel hopeless in the day at home but better when my boyfriend gets home
Hi Gillian,
I am suffering from exactly same thing. I suffer from muscle pain , numbness, and other anxiety symptoms which make me freak out it is fibromyalgia every 2 days. I sail in the same boat.
Hi.
**Please read this. You're not alone. You're getting there ! Hang tight! **
This was me 2 months ago
I have this for almost 3 years now. Constant! 24/7. Multiple tests
In order to clarify all the confusion that engulfs everyone who is currently suffering from GAD or health anxiety I can safely validate this that as I'm in the process of documenting this post I am experiencing a slight panic attack and breathing difficulty and some sort of discomfort.
I'm 29 years old. Living in Athens, Greece and 2 years ago I had everything on the tip of my finger.
I am working for a multinational advertising agency, had pretty much everything I needed in life although I was stressful since birth. A life full of joy, fun and adventure. Friends, lots of women ( please don't mock me there's a reason I'm writing all of this itty bitty info. [cheesygrin] [wink]
2 years ago I bumped my head in a cabinet, had something of a soft concussion. Nothing extraordinary. 3 days later I woke up with severe clutter headache. A sense of pressure, weight in my forehead, eyes, nose even mouth some days.
Mind you this was 24/7. No breaks, no early check-outs. 24/7 all day, everyday. For 2 and a half gruesome years. Still standing.
Mind you again that Greece has highly qualified doctors and medical facilities ranking them amongst the greatest and most efficient in the world.
My complete medical exams as of now, 2 years and 3 days after, are a mixture of: a CT 3 days after, MRI 15 days after. Both clean. Had a second MRI about two months ago. None.
4 Blood tests, 2 urine tests, 2 triplex heart tests, 1 lungs CT (obvious reason) 2 exams of gastroscopy, 1 neck x ray, 1 testicles x ray, 4 visits/tests in 3 different neurologists and ONLY 1 VISIT TO A PSYCHOLOGIST/THERAPIST (SHAME SHAME SHAME)
Along with the feeling of having something terminal (tumor, cancer, plague, divers' disease) I had other symptoms as well. Joint pains, muscle tensions & pain, blurred vision, eye pain, short breath, spastic movement, fear, fatigue, more fear, inability to think, focus, foggy mind, insomnia, derealisation, tremor, armpits pain when touched, numerous digestive issues. And along with all those beautiful feelings I also had oulitis, or inflammation of the gum, common you may think. On the contrary I had been spiting blood and a series of liquids close to the orange color. These were mainly from the digestion problems I was experiencing. A process called Palindromisis. However I was convinced that I was spitting blood because I had terminal cancer along with the brain tumor related to my cluster/tension headaches. A poor diagnosis in my gum related problem led me to believe that. Just 1 week ago it was confirmed that it was oulitis. Thanks a bunch for the first failed test on me doc.
Nowadays and 2 years after all this rather uncomfortable situation I had overcome most of my issues and psychosomatic tribulations but a new challenger arrived to claim this poor soul.
Heart palpitations. I always had them. Big deal I thought. But no. This time of year this was not the case.
I had experienced a new form of heart palpitations. A more mature one. A newly developed.
I thought my heart was dying, shutting down as I was feeling a burning sensation in the left part of my chest and neck. Imbalance, fear, this is how it ends right?
Skipping beats, slow beats, fast paced beats. All this in a crazy run. BY GOD JIM I had the fear of God in me.
I'm feeling uneasy and I'm currently experiencing palpitations as I write this. I begin this as a sort of self-cleansing but I also though it could help a poor-struggling soul.
YOU HAVE NOTHING WRONG. YOUR WORST FEARS ARE MANIFESTING INSIDE YOU. FOOLING YOUR BODY. FOOLING YOU. YOU 'RE NOT DYING. YOUR SANITY IS. KEEP CALM. AVOID TOXIC PEOPLE. AVOID TOXIC LIFE. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. EMBRACE YOURSELF. LET PEOPLE KNOW. MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND. IF NOT, F**K THEM. DITCH THEM OUT. KEEP CALM. TAKE A BIG BREATH IN. LET IT ALL OUT.
DO YOU SEE THE END OF THE TUNNEL? NO!
IT'S NOT YOUR TIME YET.
LIVE LIFE.
- I say this ALL the time haha. As soon as I get used to one symptom it goes away and a new one comes up - ready to frighten me all over again. It's sooo frustrating. I try to see the humor in it and say "well eventually my body is going to run out of symptoms to produce right?" haha but then who knows.
- I've had tension headaches, cluster headaches, numb/tingling arms & legs, chest pains/tightness in chest, lump in throat, tension in my head/neck/face, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pains, blurry vision & seeing "spots", and more lol.
- At the moment I've been dealing with chronic itch, it comes and goes and is anywhere on my body, but mostly my neck and hands. I'm assuming it must be anxiety related bc on the weekend, when I'm out with friends and distracted, I rarely feel itchy.
- I haven't really learned to cope with new symptoms, I've only learned to cope with symptoms I've already had. Like if I get chest pains now it doesn't make me that nervous bc I've had them before and I know it's just my anxiety. But when new symptoms show up I always get nervous at first.
Thank you for all your replies. At least it's nice to know you're not alone. It seems to simple to someone who has never suffered when they tell you it's not real, it's in your head. It all feels so real. The last few days I have managed to fine some peace at times and get a bit of a rest which helps massively.
I have been taking my anti depressant, zoloft ( or sertraline), again. This does help me a lot with my anxiety, it's only been about two weeks since I re started and it can take a while to kick in but it has taken the edge off a bit and is stopping me from escalating to full blown panic so I have been able to cut down on the beta blockers a bit over the last few days to maybe one or two a day.
I have run out of my two week valium prescription which was to help me try and get back into a good sleep pattern. I have tried to take a hot shower before bed with some lavender oil and have found a tea from the health food store that is meant to help with a good nights sleep. I have also found taking a couple of Kalms tablets can help keep me asleep for longer so I am managing ok off the valium at the moment, although I never feel like I am fully asleep I'm always aware of noises and sounds round about me. I'm hoping once the anti depressant starts working properly then my sleep will get back to normal.
Thank you for all your support and if I can offer any in return I am happy to.
Someone that's pretty much identical ! haha
Thank you for this!
Do you deal with any of the generalized itching? haha I don't see many people posting about that
hi philly ,does your itching feel like random bug crawling in all different places on you ,im fanatical looking for fleas ,but no one else in the family are itching .My health anxiety is ,as usual through the roof
- It doesn't feel like bugs for me, but from what I've read when Googling the "skin crawling" feeling is a common symptom of anxiety! Sounds like what you have.
- Mine is more just generalized itching, like all of a sudden my neck will be itchy feeling, and ill scratch it and then it gets all red and hives appear sometimes too.
Im going through the samething right now stomach issues i just feel so numb all over my neck and back feels so heavy like the mucles pulling me down .i been having stomach is issue i had sigmoidoscopy done yesterday and its was all clear . i just dont feel normal im just fustrated im not being normal i was fine 2 months ago until i fell i hit my chin and head then i started to worry about my head and i dont know if that cause my anxiety which i never had problems with my health .its making me feel like im going to die .im so confused if its actually a health issue or stress.does medication help im scared of the side affects?
hi, i get this! my anxiety manifested itself in stomach issues whereas now i have: fatigue....awful fatigue. I ask myself if its a sinister illness... and i panic about it. even though i know that fatigue is related to anxiety/ depression, i just can't accept it. i spoke to another Doctor today who recommended that i don't repeat blood tests i did 6 months ago because nothing has changed... i hate being like this
You sound just like me, annual blood test set me off waiting for results. then seems I have low potassium levels and a other blood test. I just go to pieces with worry, thinking all sorts, off my food, driving my partner insane. Suppose we are glass half empty people. so your not alone.
Hi- Please know that you are not alone in how you're feeling. I have battled GAD all my life (I'm 46). It wasn't until I was in my early thirties that I even realized I had it. I just figured everyone felt the way I did.
After I had my second daughter I became hyper-aware of what was going on in my body. I would have all these physical symptoms and fixate on them. During that time I was at the doctor a lot. I never thought it could be anxiety because I was physically feeling all of these symptoms that I didn't know could come from anxiety.
I went to the doctor for stomach problems and back issues. I developed migraines with auras. Eventually I was tested for MS and lupus because I developed tremors and tingling feet/hands. Heart monitor for flip flopping heart. Every time the tests came back negative. Thank God :)
It was after all that that I started to research anxiety physical symptoms. Sure enough, the minute I would get the all clear from the doctor the symptoms would go away and something else would pop up.
It's so frustrating because you are physically feeling what you're feeling. Just know you're not alone. One thing I find helpful is to journal. Also to write down the physical symptom I'm concerned with. I have a list on my phone and when I see all the symptoms I've been worried about and how all over the board they are it helps.I also will tell myself that I am not equipped to make a medical diagnosis. I will give myself x amount of days with the symptom and if it doesn't go away I'll go to my doctor (whom I trust very much). Finally, I take a product called Calm at night, which is a magnesium supplement. It and a warm epsom salt bath is super relaxing before bed.
Anyway, hope this helps. Hang in there. Anxiety sucks but the fact that you recognize that what it is is half the battle. You've got this :)
I have been experiencing a new symptom that is very bothersome. My jaws feels restless all the time and never feels relaxed. This keeps causing annoying dull pain in lower jaws and headaches sometimes. Another feeling I have been having in my head, usually in the morning to mid-day, is this rushed/tense/buzzed feeling going down both sides of my head. It is very hard to explain the sensation is gives me, but it is very annoying and almost feels like I could go into a seizure or stroke....even though I have no idea what either feel like because I have never had one. I wish there was a vitamin or supplement that could cure this, but I am worried it is just anxiety.
Does anyone else know the feeling I am describing? It not really a tension headache, but more of a state of feeling rushed and panic?
Exactly how I feel! 100% sometimes I used to think its from Fluoxetine when I used to take it . But I think it was a masked panic attach from using ADs. I do not know man I also feel a horrible head pressure and now it happens when I take my ADs. Before it was when I was not taking anything. Now it happens 30-60 min after I take my dose of Effexor which I am currently on! I am on a relatively low dose and still happens and sometimes I wake up with this too!
Only thing that will calm it down is breathing and it does elevate it a little or benzos which I hate to now take regularly as if it was not for them I would be an absoulte mess!
I also have restless legs. Specially if I am not into any meds , I get them very bad and no way of calming my legs specially at night. My base of anxiety is health anxiety and fear of death! Its a horrible thing to live with! I really really feel for all of you here... I just hope the best for all of us.
hi your symtoms are pretty much the same as mine, my anxiety seems alot worse at night, last night been the worst every time i was about to fall asleep i got a huge rush of fear over like i was gonna pass out and extremley panicky. then i start to get chest pain ect which then just sets my mind racing of what it could be then thats usually followed by other symtoms. heart beating / fluttering ect. its an awful thing to have isnt it i hope your feeling better x
hi Gillian definately empathise with you as i am the same. my wheels have just fallen off again and my new ( but actually not new ) symptoms have me convinced of illness. mine is at night too when i try to relax all hell breaks loose. im finding going back to everyday meditation and some self care. Also writing down fact versus fiction. ive had chronic stress for so long and then things go well then it falls over , so i find lack of confidence an issue. practice the breathing during the day with a music you love. then it can be your go to at night.
Hi Gillian,
I hope you take some comfort in my reply. I could have written your post myself. Just when I feel relief over one health concern, I feel something else in my body that will lead to another. It's scary and draining. I'm not on medication but am doing CBT. I just wish I could cure my mind and go back to being the happy, carefree person I once was.