Please Help...Very Scared

[SamJay]

Hello,
Today I have been experiencing a sort of numbness and pins & needles type feeling in my left arm which is really making me worry about my heart.
Has anybody else experienced this? Please help, I'm really worried.
Thanks.
Sam

[JimP]

Where abotus is the numbness?? I get it in my lower forearm and hand, its carpal tunnel problems, nothing to do with heart

HTH

Jim

[SamJay]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for replying. The numbness is mainly in my hand but also working it's way up even to my upper arm. My hand just feels weak, hard to explain.
I've not experienced this feeling before, my arm feels really heavy.

[Copsgrl8]

Hello Sam

I get this often it scares me so much as I am thinking it's my heart as well. My Dr has told me it's just another feeling that goes along with anxiety.
Sometimes if I stop focusing on it the feeling will just disappear.

Take Care

[belle]

I have a very heavy, aching, numb, weak feeling in my left arm at the moment. I've also got a problem with the lumbar secion in my back so of course i am thinking i've got some hideous cancer that has spread into my back and that is now effecting my arm,
Ugh - hating anxiety!

[nomorepanic]

This is from the Symptoms webpage on the left....

Another symptom directly resulting from this is tingling in fingers and toes. A sure sign of hyperventilation. The numbness is a symptom that its hard to get used to – why 3 fingers and not the whole hand or just the right side and not the left etc. This often leads people to self diagnosing strokes and fits whereas this is ‘just’ hyperventilation and extremely easy to correct.

Hyperventilation is not a serious medical condition as the body will automatically readjust when you let it. However, the sensations are extremely unpleasant and frightening. In many cases the sufferer has lost the ability to control their breathing correctly and this can be remedied by re-learning a correct method of breathing , from the abdomen and longer the out breath (count of 11) than the in one (on count of 7) and as slow as you can make it.

Numbness or tingling in hands and feet

What you feel:

You feel pins and needles in your hands and feet, or other parts of your body. Sometimes you get a feeling like a particular area of your body is numb or frozen. Other times you may feel a burning sensation in your arms, legs or face.

What causes this:

Since the nervous system conveys touch sensations to the brain, when the nervous system is over stimulated, it can sometimes send impaired information which will often be felt as a numbness, tingling or pins and needles. For example, when an individual pinches a nerve they usually feel the results of this as numbness or tingling in a certain part of the body.
Because the entire skin area of the body is touch sensitive (nerves cells connected to the brain through the nervous system network), any part of the skin or body can feel numb, tingly or as pins and needles.
Typically this sensation comes and goes, and will affect a wide range of body areas off and on. It’s nothing to be concerned with and will subside once the nervous system gets sufficient rest.

[SamJay]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks so much for your replies, I just needed to know people were out there and could re-assure me, which you have all done, so thank you for that.
Well, I'm obviously still here so it was nothing serious but so scary when it happens.
My goal for today is to try and get my breathing pattern in order, I know I'm always shallow breathing but didn't realise it could cause so many other symptoms as well as the dizziness I feel.
It's funny, as sometimes when one symptom goes and another arrives I think about which one I'd prefer and can cope with better whereas I should probably be thinking about how I can eliminate them all! Crazy.
Thanks again everyone, it's so nice to get the support when you need it.
Take care,
Love,
Sam x