Coping with physical symptoms of anxiety

[charlotteharris]

Hi all. Apologies for the long explanation... I have suffered from severe anxiety from very young, with various physical symptoms. I have taken Paroxetine and Propranolol for several years and also Diazepam during particularly bad times. I have recently (in the last couple of months) been suffering with some blurred vision which I have been told is anxiety related.
My anxiety has been very high and I was struggling to manage so have been prescribed Pregabalin starting at 150ml per day. At the moment I have a constant trembling inside which covers my whole body, as well as visible shaking of my hands.
In the last couple of days I have had what feels like a numbness in the right side of my face and the muscles around my eye feel really strange, as though anaesthetised.
I'm getting increasingly brought down by how I feel and have constant negative thoughts which I'm battling with. Just struggling to cope and reaching out to anyone who has experienced something similar. Thanks for reading x

[AnxietySufferer]

Hi Charrlotte.. I have gone through this, and have posted very similar posts in the past so know exactly how you feel! No matter how much i was told it was just anxiety i found it so hard to believe, i was having such a large range of physical symptoms and was feeling so ill day in day out..
THE GOOD NEWS... it gets better, the physical symptoms will die down you just have to keep telling yourself that it is anxiety causing you to feel so bad...
I m feeling a lot better inmyself but i have been getting a lot of intrusive thoughts and have been unable to relax :( let me know if you have any good relaxtion tips!!

[charlotteharris]

Thank you for your response. I keep telling myself it's just anxiety but it's such a battle and I'm so fed up with feeling so scared all the time. The intrusive thoughts are horrible. I am always on the look out for good relaxation tips, I'm trying to do breathing exercises every day, or at least be aware of my breathing and try to keep it under control... Hope you feel better x

[HoneyLove]

Hi Charlotte, sometimes the symptoms that you're describing (including the blurred vision) can happen when your facial/jaw muscles are very tense. When you're anxious you can hold your jaw very tightly, or sometimes you will clench your jaw or grind your teeth at night. It has a knock on effect on many of the muscles in your body, as the jaw muscle is so very powerful. If you feel you might be clenching your jaw then it might be a good idea to visit your dentist.

The trembling and shaking that you're experencing are also very common with anxiety.

There's a great book that talks about some of this called Self Help For The Nerves by Claire Weekes, it would be a good read for you. It explains a lot of what happens with anxiety and how you can go about managing it.

The breathing exercises that you're doing will help you if you're practising them daily. Try to make sure you're also eating & drinking properly, getting some exercise and avoiding stimulants like caffeine and it will also help you.

[charlotteharris]

Thanks for your response honeylove, I am actually about half way through the Claire Weekes book that you suggest and I am finding it very useful so far. Has anyone else had any experience in going to the dentist with this problem? x

[MrAndy]

Thanks for your response honeylove, I am actually about half way through the Claire Weekes book that you suggest and I am finding it very useful so far. Has anyone else had any experience in going to the dentist with this problem? xi have ,i was grinding my teeth at night so the dentist made me a bite guard and it cured the problem

[HoneyLove]

If you ask on the health forum you'll find plenty of people with the same problem, I also have it myself :)

It's called TMJ which is just short for temperomandibular joint, the name of your jaw joint.

I have ground my teeth in my sleep ever since I was a little kid, and it gets a lot worse when I am stressed or if I have acid reflux happening. In the last couple of years it's been triggering problems with my balance and vertigo for me, but it also causes a whole host of weird vision problems, muscle pain in my neck, back, shoulders, head and face, sinus problems and plenty of headaches. It can cause a lot of issues that don't always appear to be related to the jaw, it's a very sneaky problem lol!

I spoke to my dentist about it last year, and she fitted me for a mouth guard to wear at night. This usually does the trick for most people, but unfortunately for me it made the problem worse as I only ended up clenching down on the guard. So she's now referring me to a TMJ specialist who I hope will help me stop the night time grinding!

[charlotteharris]

Thanks for the replies, I will have to get to the dentist x

[HoneyLove]

Hopefully it will help, let us know how you get on :)