Horrible neck pressure

[Ditapage]

I AM an anxious person and i subconsciously hunch my shoulders up, so I don't know if anxiety caused my symptoms or my symptoms cause anxiety. But my neck feels weird... it's not a pain, it's a pressure, and it kick starts my fight or flight response because when i get it out in public, it's accompanied by a weird feeling in my head that scares me, and i want to run away. My neck feels like it cant support my head and my head just wants to drop down. Then i get an odd sensation in my arms, like they're weak... i don't know whats anxiety and whats a real problem. Blood tests came back clear, but everytime this neck feeling hits, and it affects my head, i think i'm going to die, lose control, or faint.


A friend said my back, and neck is really tight so i don't know if that has anything to do with it. But combined with the head feeling i feel really out of it and i respond with panic. I've had it for 7 months, but it first happened on the computer, and i've since stopped working on computers all day because i just can't do it, the feeling comes back full force and i start foot tapping to stay conscious! Probably doesn't help that i'm convinced fainting is awful (i've never experienced it.) This pressure is worse when i'm sitting - thats when i think neck strain mixes with anxiety because i get the urge to run away, strained eyes, everything starts looking blurry, labored breathing, sinking feeling in my stomach, urge to go to the toilet, tight throat, dry mouth, and an unexplainable feeling in my head (sometimes it feels like a soft buzzing and it lasts a few seconds and makes me feel completely out of touch with reality, and at its worst it feels like my head will explode) that may/may not be caused by adrenaline .


I also feel nasal congestion, but the ENT said thats clear. I can't sit! yet i keep getting told anxiety is doing it. I've had anxiety for years from bad nerves, but it only ever caused nausea hyperventilation and hot flashes and i always calmed down quickly. I don't understand how all these other long lasting symptoms could just start, and i don't have heart symptoms, it's primarily head and neck, but i definitely FEEL like i'm panicking, especially since "Ok, die." relaxes me (but the neck pressure is still there) Also i can't get physically excited anymore, because it feels like panic. Can anyone enlighten me, please, i'm at wits end. :weep:

[Stormsky]

Anxiety symptons tend to change over time... ive suffered 12yrs and they manifest in different ways over the years... i have back neck / down right side, had it months now, i think we are sooooo tense, and the adrenaline goes to our muscles... need to burn off the unwanted adrenaline, i exercise when i can motivate myself!!
Panicking/anxiety causes blood pressure to rise, so you wont faint.... fainting is caused by low blood pressure....
i get alot of those symptons... head pressure is scary, and sounds like you get a touch of depersonalisation too... all anx symptons im afraid....
I dont feel excited about anything anymore...but i know what you mean about it feeling like panic... because like exercise, excitement ups your heart rate, and adrenaline, but in a good way!! and we confuse it for the start of panic..... so we avoid anything that might simulate panic....

[Ditapage]

Thanks stormsky, that's really helpful. Can I ask what your head pressure feels like? Maybe I would relate to whatever description you come up with, but I know it's so hard to explain. I HATE panic, especially if I'm sitting in a crowded room and feel like I won't escape 'in time' when I know that's just a mind trick of the anxiety and i feel like just yelling "help me!" though no one knows whats going on. At best i say "i feel faint" and they offer water, lay down, etc, but im so convinced i should be fighting to stay conscious that i just freak out. Derealization is hell, too. What fuels my anxiety is the thought that dying is a terrifying experience or that i'll just suddenly see black - that fear doesn't even make sense because I wouldn't be aware I was seeing black but i still struggle with it. What anxiety can do....

[Stormsky]

My head pressure can make me feel confused, scared, like im losing it....some unreal feelings... but i quickly go to damage control before its can escalate... i start teling myself positive statements, go do something 'real', (to stay in reality)...
I have fainted twice in my life, once when i had my bellybutton peirced and once when i hurt my back and passed out from pain...i recall everything going black before passing out, weird experience, happens so quick dont have time to find it frightening..
Stop worrying about things out of your control....we have no control over dying...and like to think of it as a peaceful thing when our time comes.....

[Libby]

OMG, Dita - you have the exact same nasty neck/weird head stuff I have!
Like you, I've suffered anxiety a long time and it manifested as anxiety without the neck/head involvement but then two years ago, I was sitting at my desk and -wham! - out of the blue it hit me! I know exactly what you mean when you say you can't sit. My neck hates it when I sit. Standing is fine as is lying down but sitting is so hard.

I have good days and bad. As I say, I've been like this two years and it seems to disappear or at least lessen for a few months at a time before it's back. For me, what helps is looking after the important stuff: rest, sleep, healthy diet (my symptoms are so much worse when my blood sugar is low) and gentle exercise. Got checked out by doctor who said it was all anxiety - nothing sinister going on. I didn't believe at first but two years down the line, I've learned that dwelling on the symptoms makes them feel worse while occupying myself with something else and just accepting it, calms the anxiety and makes it easier. I have got very tight muscles on left shoulder and neck so even when the anxiety is low, the neck tightness is there.

Just want you to know you are not alone with this x