How do you tell if it is anxiety?

[Gee_88]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone else feel as though their anxiety is a secondary symptom of disorder?

I'm not talking about your anxiety being a symptom of your fear. I'm talking about anxiety being a symptom of a physical problem causing adrenaline to be released (eg: low blood sugar).

As I sit here I seem to be having adrenaline-like symptoms that I can't really explain. I'm not feeling anxious yet I have an increased heart rate and I feel as though my airways have dilated (you know that cold, clear feeling you get in your throat?).

My doctor doesn't have a clue why my heart rate is always up (85+) and it doesn't seem to follow any recognisable pattern. The other morning I woke up and decided to check my blood pressure. I'd only been up 30 minutes; my blood pressure was 115/60 and my pulse was 67, but that was a "one off" because it never goes that low while at rest.

The next morning I woke up with a rapid heart rate, lowered blood pressure and light headedness. My heart is always over 80 and sometimes for apparently no reason at all it'll be over 100 and sometimes up to 120.

I'm having trouble remembering which came first; the anxiety or the symptoms. I'm sure it was the sympttoms because I recall being confused about having a rapid heart rate and light headedness before I was having anxiety. I am beginning to think it may be the expectation of experiencing the symptoms which brings them on in the first place. My GP said he'd order a 24 hour ECG to check for any abnormal rythms but I'm not expecting that to show anything, mind. I've had pleanty of ECGs in the past and they all show normal sinus rhythm.

I thought it was low blood sugar once, but I started checking my levels and they're always fine. I think I'm going to ask my GP to check for increased adrenaline or something. I'm at a loss and I don't know what the hell could be wrong, if anything.

I'm scared to start having too many tests, too. I know I'll become dependant on them for peace of mind :D lol.

Thoughts and opinions are welcomed.

[ThePhoenix]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone else feel as though their anxiety is a secondary symptom of disorder?

I'm not talking about your anxiety being a symptom of your fear. I'm talking about anxiety being a symptom of a physical problem causing adrenaline to be released (eg: low blood sugar).

As I sit here I seem to be having adrenaline-like symptoms that I can't really explain. I'm not feeling anxious yet I have an increased heart rate and I feel as though my airways have dilated (you know that cold, clear feeling you get in your throat?).

My doctor doesn't have a clue why my heart rate is always up (85+) and it doesn't seem to follow any recognisable pattern. The other morning I woke up and decided to check my blood pressure. I'd only been up 30 minutes; my blood pressure was 115/60 and my pulse was 67, but that was a "one off" because it never goes that low while at rest.

The next morning I woke up with a rapid heart rate, lowered blood pressure and light headedness. My heart is always over 80 and sometimes for apparently no reason at all it'll be over 100 and sometimes up to 120.

I'm having trouble remembering which came first; the anxiety or the symptoms. I'm sure it was the sympttoms because I recall being confused about having a rapid heart rate and light headedness before I was having anxiety. I am beginning to think it may be the expectation of experiencing the symptoms which brings them on in the first place. My GP said he'd order a 24 hour ECG to check for any abnormal rythms but I'm not expecting that to show anything, mind. I've had pleanty of ECGs in the past and they all show normal sinus rhythm.

I thought it was low blood sugar once, but I started checking my levels and they're always fine. I think I'm going to ask my GP to check for increased adrenaline or something. I'm at a loss and I don't know what the hell could be wrong, if anything.

I'm scared to start having too many tests, too. I know I'll become dependant on them for peace of mind :D lol.

Thoughts and opinions are welcomed.

I have the argument with myself lots of times over what came first, the symptoms or the anxiety and lots of times I convinced myself that the symptoms were there first. That said my symptoms...and yours are all anxiety ones so that seems like a likely culprit! :)

Seriously a heart rate of 85 alot of the time is nothing, mine used to sit around 82 - 100 alot as did my sisters. It could also be a fitness issue or just a nervous feeling thats causing it to sit high or it could just be your natural rythm. I dont think you need to worry about tests or anything for it, its nothing to be alarmed about.

[Crush]

Being in denial of anxiety is something that the anxiety community has to take some responsibility for.

I am cured more or less from my anxiety as of late. (or not cured but 95% better).

It should be the duty and responsibility for types like us who are now in a sound mind to lay it out exactly what it's like to have anxiety and to really drive it home that yes you do have anxiety.

The information is too scattered.. too many vague/short descriptions.

I can't blame anyone for not believing they have anxiety when they get a huge muslc cramp, or they are getting twitches, or they are feeling light headed.

Think about it.

There is cause and effect. If I am light headed, that must mean that something physically must be causing this. There must be something 'inside' there causing this to happen. After all, this is how sickness is recorded. I get a tooth pain, that means there is a cavity there. I get sore knees, there is fluid inside.

Same with shortness of breath.

Same with musle twitches/contractions

Same with tunnel vision

Same with ear ringing

And especially chest pains.

Look at this logically. How can you get a shooting chest pain when you have normal EKG, and there is nothing inside there. These pains don't come out of thin air.

Well. They actually do. With anxiety, you will get real pains and symptoms out of thin air.

How severe, enough to make me think in the ER that if I got up out of my chair I would not be able to walk by myself over the washroom. My wife tried to find a wheelchair. That's how severe the symptoms can get. Chest closing in so severe that you can you violently gasping for breath while someone is calling an ambulance and a crowd is watching.

All out of thin air. All caused from constant worrying.

The biggest thing I learned through this is, for you to feel something, there doesn't have to be anything inside you causing the pain.

The symptoms are very real, but they stem from the mind. Something that I wouldn't even believe was possible if you would have asked me just 8 months ago.

Now I am a believer.

[unnerved]

A heart rate over 85 bpm is absolutely nothing to be worried about. "Normal" heart rate is anything between 60 - 100. But if you are going over 100 on occasion, it doesn't mean that something is wrong. Your heart can beat at over 200 bpm for an extended period of time without doing any damage. If you have been looked at by your doctor and told that there are no problems, you can rest assured that everything is fine, and you are just experiencing symptoms of anxiety.