Can Anxiety Cause Pain?

[Brooke4131]

It's been a rough month and my health anxiety has been frankly out of control. It all started with some pelvic and back pain a month ago. I had an ultrasound, CBC, and metabolic panel. Everything came back as normal, but of course, I'd already diagnosed myself with ovarian cancer....and then pancreatic cancer....and then liver cancer.:blush: I know this is completely ridiculous, but I'm really struggling to shake the anxiety. A lot of this has been prompted by a spouse of a friend who recently passed away from cancer and another friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I'm still struggling with pain and wondering if anxiety can cause this? I think I may be focusing on it so much that it's just amplified. Sorry for the ramble and thanks for listening.

[Fishmanpa]

I remember when I was young, there was an aspirin commercial that talked about headaches and the catch phrase was "Tension, Pressure - PAIN". So yeah, stress and anxiety cause muscle tension which can and does lead to pain.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yep, since my relapse and going onto a med that ramped up my adrenaline considerably I've had muscular tension and it can be quite bad at times.

Posture is often a problem too with anxiety and this causes back pain as well as breathing restrictions and the muscular aches in the diaphragm that can cause.

Then there is headaches, the effects of dehydration, exhaustion effects, burning through vitamins & minerals without getting enough replenishment, etc. It's a big list.

I've found natural supplements can help with this but also just reducing your overall anxiety levels will do a lot for you. You would be surprised how much anxiety causes physical pain to feel more intense, like it's in HD!

[NoraB]

Yep, since my relapse and going onto a med that ramped up my adrenaline considerably I've had muscular tension and it can be quite bad at times.

Posture is often a problem too with anxiety and this causes back pain as well as breathing restrictions and the muscular aches in the diaphragm that can cause.

Then there is headaches, the effects of dehydration, exhaustion effects, burning through vitamins & minerals without getting enough replenishment, etc. It's a big list.

I've found natural supplements can help with this but also just reducing your overall anxiety levels will do a lot for you. You would be surprised how much anxiety causes physical pain to feel more intense, like it's in HD!

All absolutely true.

I've had pain all over the place and over the last two days, muscle tension has been particularly bad. Do you do any progressive muscle relaxation?

[Cusper]

Hi Brooke!

Yes it almost always causes pain! Anxiety is the body's fight or flight response and everything ceases to relax because the body fears that there is danger. 20 years ago when my best friend's mom died of a terminal disease I was so shocked how fast she passed. After that I spiraled out of control and it was only until I was in therapy did I realize that it was only in my head. I could not believe all of the pains were created by me. I was blown away that I was creating all of that physical pain!!! However which way it can manifest. People have their own way of internalizing anxiety. Why people get sore stomachs before tests or public speaking when they get nervous.. etc.
I am so sorry to hear about your friends. I understand. I recently visited a friend who was getting chemo for bone cancer and my leg hurt for weeks after that. It's a shock to the system when friends get sick and if you are a sensitive person it's really difficult not to take it in and worry.

Now, I still worry but I have a bit of a hack now, (i used to be in emerge often before) but now I notice the symptom but rather than worry about it I just observe it and realize I used to obsess x amount of symptoms. So I think, ok if its there now, I will notice it for a second, but if it is still around in a few weeks I will maybe go get it checked if get worse. But the truth of the matter is, it almost always goes away. There will be some new pain that pops up but i do the same thing with that too. My point being, is that before I used to focus on it so much to the point that I would talk myself into having something serious and I would rush late at night in a panic to the emerge and as soon as they told me it was nothing the pain would almost immediately go away. so now I think ok it's there but I am just going to ignore it for now. just for now. so far so good. You will have aches and pains that will come and go but anything you focus on will get amplified. However on the flip side that is good news because if you focus on how strong and healthy you are or try to tell yourself you are these things all of the time and give less attention to the aches and pains. I know easier said than done. Also realize it is only natural that you would be upset since two people you know got sick and you are internalizing these things. All of us do it. It's just to what extent? I had a grandmother who just died at 97 and she was basically the last one of her friends die before her, but she was one of those people that seemed to brush herself off easily and that always blew my mind (since I am the opposite) and I am telling you she was no health nut. She boiled every vitamin right out of her vegetables and drank too much gin but she never panicked from what I saw. Just keep telling yourself you are strong and healthy and try and go out and have some fun. Stop scaring yourself!!

[NoraB]

A lot of this has been prompted by a spouse of a friend who recently passed away from cancer and another friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

That'll do it. I've relapsed and my friend died of liver cancer two months ago.

There is another great website called Anxiety.Com and there is a comprehensive list of symptoms. So when I get a new symptom and I think that anxiety can't possibly be causing it, I take a look at the list and lo and behold, it's there.

[Brooke4131]

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement - it really does help! I'm so amazed what our minds can convince us of (this comes from the person who has diagnosed herself with ovarian, pancreatic, and liver cancer all in one month!). I'm normally a very logical persom, but Health Anxiety just destroys any logical response I might have to any symptoms I'm feeling.

I know that this flare was caused by the two cancer cases that hit close to hime recently. I've been checked out amd everything came back as normal. Hopefully, I can relax and the pain will get better!

[MyNameIsTerry]

All absolutely true.

I've had pain all over the place and over the last two days, muscle tension has been particularly bad. Do you do any progressive muscle relaxation?

Sorry for the late response, Nora, I forgot about it and just remembered you asked about this. :doh:

Yes, when I first accessed IAPT they gave me the standard PMR worksheet. I used it daily for some weeks before moving on to Mindfulness.