Anxiety causing tense neck, headaches, nausea?

[Paul87]

I'm try my best to explain my situation I do suffer from Anxiety and do worry and panic at times over stupid things

But currently I been having headaches very bad ones and incredibly tense neck not stiff at all but tense I'll give a example like today is a good example

Last night my neck was prob most tense it's ever been so I laid in bed and watched tv trying to rest and relax my neck

Woke up this morning like normal had few twinges of pain right side of forehead and around right eye lasting few seconds and I thought to myself great one them headaches are going to start to come on ain't it? Neck felt tense like it does everyday but not anywhere near as bad as yesterday

So I decided go out and eat breakfast and lunch out so I started get more spams of pain on my head and top of my head I also noticed last night I clenched my jaw lot during tense neck and couldn't help it

Anyway while out I slowly started get headache on forehead and feel muscle twinges on top of my head and it is quite painful to be honest it's like a stabbing constant throb pain but it comes and goes in pain levels but while my headache came on I noticed one thing?

My tense neck stopped....I tried ignore headache and carry on but I started feel sick like I'm going to puke my head top of scale inside my head not outside felt coldish and I felt like I'm puke but didn't

While feeling sick no headache and no tense neck which is strange!!! Now my stomach feels but queezy but nausea has gone and headache again which also seems feel twinges on back of my head above my neck

Slightest of tense neck again around 1/10 on scale at moment tense neck wise

But I'm worried it's something serious the DR reckons it's anxiety or stress causing tense neck causing headaches and headache causing nausea and all this seems logical apart from I'm not anxious or feeling anxiety I only do when I get bad headaches or nausea as I start to worry it's serious

I'm wondering if this is anxiety and if it is? How can I cure this problem that's effected me past month now

[JeffY]

I wish I could tell you how to cure it, but I deal with tense shoulders, arms will feel weak, legs will feel weak. I still have the same strength ,but that is what anxiety and stress does to me. I have been put on Meds, and have been on them for a few weeks, it helps, but I still have my bad days.

Regards,
Jeff

[Fishmanpa]

I can tell you flat out 100% that stress and anxiety can and does cause those symptoms. I'm not an anxiety sufferer per se' but recently, some situations concerning my work and career have been causing me undue stress. The result? Really sore shoulders and neck as well as tension headaches. I'm sure it can cause nausea as well.

I wake up feeling better in the mornings but by the late afternoon at work, my neck and shoulders are killing me.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

I agree with FMP. It certainly does cause nausea too, anything that means headaches will potentially do that.

You could try Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) which is an old technique from the 1920's but the NHS (and many other therapy & health providers around the world) still use it today. Here is one of the worksheets:

http://psychology.tools/progressive-muscle-relaxation.html

There are different ones out there which expand on further muscles and they cna easily be found via Google Images. I saw the one my therapist gave me by doing that.

Something interesting is the jaw clenching. When I started my current med I had 6 months of Bruxism. I thought I might have a TMJ after a spot of healthy Dr Google use and since I had an appointment for a check up with my dentist coming up I thought I would mention it. He spotted evidence of grinding on my wisdom teeth and asked me if I found the pain worse in the mornings. I did, so he explained I was grinding mt teeth in my sleep.

I've found muscular tension is worse when adrenaline levels are higher and this becomes less of a problem as you recover but spikes in anxiety will certainly heighten it again. You can also focus consciously on pain and make it worse, hence why you have Primary Pain (feedback from the injury site) and Secondary Pain (your mind's interpretation). Secondary can be reduced and studies in Mindfulness have shown it can achieve this. It's one of the reasons it is being used to treat the symptoms of physical illness, injurry & disease e.g. asthma, cancer, etc. CBT has been proven to do the same hence why it is used in people with physical problems again including cancer.

I created a thread with a guide in for referred pain and treatment with trigger point massage. It's easy to learn and the book has all areas of the body in it:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=169782

Something you might find interesting is that when you clench your jaw the muscles not only in that area move but also the ones around yout temples. Place your finger on your temples and you will feel it happen. When I had my Bruxism I had plenty of headaches with it, most likely due to this and it was virtually all right-sided. Depending on how you clench, you may also feel some of your neck muscles tense.

Reduce overall anxiety levels too as this will reduce any muscular tension.