Panic attacks - chest rush

[bing123]

Hi,

I'm currently going through a bad bout of anxiety and i'm on medication. I tick off the majority of the anxiety symptoms that you would expect (light headedness, hot flushes, fidgety and uncomfortableness etc).

The one thing i have which i haven't seen anywhere is what i can best describe as a chest rush. I get a very tight chest which i know is not unusual which can have knock-on effects to breathing etc. I can reach a stage where i run out of breath when speaking a normal sentence which is not much fun.

However sometimes i also get what feels like a big wave go through my chest which is brief but leaves me a bit shaky and kicks off other symptoms. I call it a chest rush as its similar to how it feels when you have a head rush.

If anyone familiar with this or anything similar? I also find that i end up rubbing my chest and fidgeting my shoulders in an attempt to relieve the feeling, although im sure it doesnt actually do anything.

Thanks

[purplesky]

I find it's always difficult to describe physical symptoms of anxiety, but what you are describing sounds like your nervous system doing something to make you aware it is there. By that, I mean from my own experience, it will try anything to get your attention and thereby make you feel more anxious.

That is what it sounds like, as to specifics, nerves can do pretty much anything in the way of unusual physical sensations (that we find alarming) to make us feel more anxious. They (nerves) are incredibly creative in the ways they find to attract our attention, with the end result of more anxiety.

By saying all this I am trying to say that concentrating on specific physical sensations will likely only make us more hyper vigilant to them, and the ideal solution is to accept they are happening and let them float past in our completely relaxed state...however, reality states that this may take some time and is not always easy.

I hope though that for you and others it becomes less intrusive and you find some inner peace. :)

[Speranza]

I've had that one. Great name for it!! Just ride it out... x

[ankietyjoe]

Likewise, I always assume it's a rush of adrenalin.

As Speranza advises, just ride it out like every other symptom.

[Dafyddjohndavies]

Yeah I got that one too.. It's really horrible. I find I used to stretch my chest out all the time as it felt really tight and the muscles would feel so tense and uncomfortable. Nothing seemed to get rid of it and it led to panic attacks.

Your body is pumped with adrenaline and that is one of the symptoms. Don't go thinking its anything more than anxiety as it isn't.

The way I learned to get through it was to stop fighting it. At the moment your probably dreading that feeling, and the more you don't want the feeling the more you feel it... it's a bitch... But instead focus on wanting that feeling, and I mean really wanting it.. Try and make it worse in your head and really challenge it... if you get it right you will notice that the feeling will change from horrble anxiety tightness to an adrenaline high!

I promise you it works... just practise. Anxiety is there because you desperately don't want it... the second you focus on wanting the anxiety it turns into its counter part, excitement.

Hope that helps

[Amarena]

However sometimes i also get what feels like a big wave go through my chest which is brief but leaves me a bit shaky and kicks off other symptoms. I call it a chest rush as its similar to how it feels when you have a head rush.


I have experienced that same sensation - it feels like a huge rush of anxiety/panic waving through my chest, and it's awful! I usually get this "symptom" when I wake up at night having panic attacks. :meh:

[SLjimbo]

It's common for one physical symptom to be the trigger for panic/anxiety. For example, any twitch, twinge, or funny feeling in my chest seems to set off my panic and the other physical symptoms kick in (weird feelings in my extremities, lightheaded, etc.) I know that I'm not ill and realize it's anxiety, but it can be a bit difficult when your body doesn't behave.