General strange symptoms, worrying and difficult to remind myself....

[Sash]

Hey guys,

I have suffered from anxiety for years now, I am 25, I've had most symptoms really in the last 5 years.

I think you will all agree, it is difficult when getting a new symptom to remind yourself that you have either had this before and you were fine in the past or the difficult one in just saying 'its only anxiety' and powering through it.

I had a period of about 6 weeks, up until last week, where i had NO anxiety symptoms at all, which was utter bliss. I felt so much freedom and clarity, it was amazing. I am hoping to reclaim that. I am up right now in the UK at a stupid time, writing this because of some symptoms I have been feeling over the last few days and could do with some feedback on.

Right now I am getting a very strange mixture of symptoms:

1. Hard heartbeat
2. Moderately fast heartbeat
3. Feeling in the center of my chest of slight pressure but not a lot
4. Feeling heartbeat in other areas of my body - fingers/toes
5. Feeling dizzy / lightheaded / slightly dissorientated
6. Stomach going a bit crazy etc.

I have had all of these symptoms before, probably all at the same time in the past too, I think that I am just finding it difficult to believe in the obvious rather than do what I usually do which is resort to thinking about the worst case scenario and think there is an underlying, undiscovered medical condition , which after all the tests I have had over the years, someone has somehow failed to miss.

I have to occupy myself right now which is why I felt it so nescersary to write this, as being alone with my thoughts is causing a lot of panic and upset.

Any advice/feedback on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Regards

S

[Sash]

And I neglected to mention 7. Constant tingling/pins all over my body

[Sash]

Damn, and 8. getting some pre-depersonalization (had it quite bad before, I know how it feels).
and 9. feeling spaced out / maybe due to the light headed feeling / getting confused with which feels like which etc.

[jessed03]

Distraction works well for people in the midst of high anxiety.

Are you alone, or do you live with others?

[ellen1]

Definatly anxiety. Feeling your heart beat in other parts of your body is because your heart is pumping blood very fast because you are in fight or flight mode, you can feel the blood pumping round your body, i shouldn't worry! stay calm and relax, everything will be fine xxx

[Bunnyjager]

All of the sysmtoms you mention I've had, along with most of the users on this forum. Try to recognize that these are symptoms of an anxiety disorder and not some other condition. Remind yourself of that everytime a symptom arises and your thoughts go racing towards the worst.

[vonnhelsing]

Dear Sash,

We all know what you are talking about. We have it too! you say you've done all kinds of tests over the years, which rules out a serious underlying medical condition. also you say you were anxiety free for a few months. I was in the same situation. I was anxiety free for a whole year and now its come back. It just takes a stressful event to trigger it returning back into our lives. But this time i was more prepared and i knew how to deal with it. That's what you need to do now. I know those heart symptoms are extremely scary, but nothings happened yet right?? :) it's anxiety and adrenaline making your heart beat extra fast. your body believes that your'e in danger and the adrenaline is making your blood thicker so that if you were to bleed, you wouldn't lose as much blood. so your heart's gotta pump faster. It's important to completely relax and let your brain know that you are in no danger at all. do some breathing exercises and try doing meditation. once you get the hang of it, it becomes really useful during a panic attack or when you feel very anxious.
Take care of yourself :) you'll get through this! xx

[jessed03]

A technique that I have heard lot's of people find very successful may be able to help you. I use it a bit before big events.

It's talk to yourself like a baby. Not in jibberish, but in a way that is so calm, and relaxing. When a child get's upset, the mother talks to it in such a way that it makes everything sound gentle, calm, and peaceful, and the child picks up on it. For example, I know people who in a state of anxiety, say to themselves in the most calm voice "This is just a moment of anxiety. The nerve impulses in my body have become slightly over worked. It's perfectly natural, and will sort itself out on it's own. Thank you for alerting me, and letting me know, but this is nothing to worry about, it will be perfectly fine" it can be in the head, it doesn't have to be out loud.

And perhaps if the situation lingers on; "It is taking it's own time to sort itself out, there's nothing that needs to be done about it, there's honestly no need to be concerned about it. But thank's again for letting me know.

A lot of self help books now talk about comforting and connecting with that inner child.

[Sash]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all taking the time to get back to me and reply, much appreciated.

I take on board what everyone is saying and it really is classic anxiety symptoms, deep down I think we all know when we encounter a new or strange phsyical/mental ailment that it is JUST anxiety.

I think the difficult thing amongst this is that you can just be getting on with your day, seem entirely relaxed to yourself, not aware of any underlying stress or cause for anxiety to route its head, and then all of a sudden you will notice something physically different with your person, and you become hypersensitive to this. And the thought pattern goes something like this:

Detected
Analyze
Perform a 'system check'
Try to self diagnose
Assume / Guess / Google
Panic

And its a vicious cycle coupled with the fact that having anxiety about a symptom causes more anxiety and you become extremely hypersensitive toward what is going on and every little thing becomes an extremely large thing.

I think, personally, the people who suffer from anxiety have something different in their subconcious in the way that they are processing information / surroundings / environment etc - and the way that things manifest themselve is not something that is apparent on the surface, or immediately recognizable as something which you would point to as the reason for feeling the way you do.

It is actually insane, the amount of different physical symptoms that can present themselve but just be your body/mind saying it needs a rest, need some more sleep, etc, or whatever it may be.

I think we all share the common view that even when hearing it from an authority, (that its JUST ANXIETY) it is still difficult to accept because, 'what about and what about'.

And its always 'well what if this is the one' and that is the route. Obviously shifting your focus, and attention to something else, always helps.

After I wrote that stuff last night, I attempted to sleep, but found it extremely difficult to just relax due to the symptoms mentioned above so I literally sat online for another few hours, got to sleep at 6am and got up at 8am for a driving course I'm doing.

It very much is a vicious cycle and I know with 100% certainty that I will, and I am sure the rest of you, will be able to be free of your anxiety.

If, like me, you analyze everything, it's difficult not to have these worries.

I have had a lot of tests done, and I know, thinking back, that I have had almost identical symptoms in the past, minus the lightheadedness, so why worry?

For me, what happens is that because it is OLD symptom but with Added new symptom (in this case the light headed feeling / dizzy etc) it becomes an issue that you then can't relax with because if it was just THE OLD, its a lot easier to remember to just accept it. Having that ever so slight new symptom just adds another level of panic/worry to it.

Regards

Sash

[Nick83]

I go through the SAME EXACT THING. Fight/Flight response...

Even though you have had these symptoms, THIS TIME IT'S DIFFERENT... does that sound familiar?

When I had this happen, I used to fall into the pattern of fighting it. my heart was pounding, stomach was cramping up... and the more I worried and fought it, the worse it got.
How did I know I wasn't dieing, and it was all anxiety... I called 911, and as soon as I knew HELP was on it's way, the symptoms stopped. Now, I'm not telling you to call 911. DON'T. You need to find your "safe" place. Mine is, and this is going to sound wimpy... it's the bathtub. I run a warm bath, light a candle, put on calming music and sip a nice glass of red wine. Trick is, for me... finding that safe spot, and not worrying about it... works every time (when it comes to the heart/breathing/headache/foggyness symptoms)

A piece of advice my doctor told me... if you were dying, the symptoms you are describing, wouldn't be happening.
Feel better man... and DON'T FIGHT THE SYMPTOMS... LOL