Telling Anxiety from purely physical illness

[Teavee]

I have always been a worrier with a tendency to panic, have phobias.

In recent months I have had a succession of physical health scares that I've had a hard time solving. There has been a host of physical issues of various kinds which have made me feel anxious.

I was trying to tell in this case whether one of my physical problems may either being worsened by anxiety or largely caused by it.

I have a bent bone in my nose that causes a degree of difficult breathing. But it has been scanned and it shouldn't be causing the degree of problem I'm having breathing.

I've had anxiety before, but these problems are near constsnt even if in the most relaxed state where I'm not really focusing on the symptoms or worrying about them. Can that still be anxiety?

I had minor symptoms until recent weeks, where things have escalated...current symptoms regarding or related to breathing are...

Palpatations frequent, almost constant, even at rest
Frequent swallowing, every few seconds
Shallow breathing, as though blocked in chest or base of throat or nose
Feeling of stopping breathing when drifting off to sleep, forcing me to wake with a start
Breathing more difficult laying down
When waking, during the night or morning, a physical, visible and instant trembling, for about 10-15 seconds
Ocassional trembling at moments of high anxiety
General weakness
Slight dizzyness

I wondered with anxiety, can you have all such symptoms, even when otherwise relaxed and enjoying yourself? If feels more of a purely physical problem to me, however when I typed in my symptoms, anxiety was by far most frequently listed as a possibility.

However anxiety attacks are usually brief? Or can one have such episodes on a long term near constant basis?

[PanicCured]

I think anxiety is a term used to describe a cascade of physical symptoms, that are the result of fear. They aren't imaginary symptoms, just the result rather than the cause. Also, our bodies are not perfect, so everybody exepriences weird things sometimes, but anxious people tend to obsess over it. But over the internet, for me it's hard to diagnose people if they have a real disease or just the result of anxiety. That is why I believe in getting things checked out by a doctor first.

[Teavee]

Thanks for the reply. Well I will go for a general check up tommorow. The trouble is I'm now living in a non-English speaking country so describing my symptoms accurately is a big challenge.

Every day it's getting worse. I believe that because I have a deviated septum, a bent bone in my nose, breathing is becoming more and more difficult over the years. Now it's to the extent I feel like I'm stuggling. My heart races constantly and feels irregular. When drifting to sleep or waking, I wake with a start and shake and tremble. The shaking is from my heart but even my arm is shaking with the beat of my heart.

Of course my diagnosis is just a guess. I worry about many things it could be, major heart issues, lung issues, thyroid, Anaemia...

I do feel despondent now. I'm torn between wanting them to find the correct diagnosis and being terrified what it might be.

[miss_mac666]

Anxiety is literally just very high stress. with this i guess we experience physical symptoms a well as you know emotional ones. it is all learned behavior. this is our body being used to its alarm system that we have legit tweaked. ok so i have had anxiety for close to ten years. for most of this time i had specific triggers... but now my brain is so used to freaking out so much that even when im thinking of negative things, i still get panic attacks. thus i have completely effed up my alarm system. i hope you get what im saying lol

and also panic attacks can last for a while.. because by feeding into it, makes it harder for you to just relax and ease your mind. do anything to distract yourself.