Can someone describe their anxiety?

[yarodao]

Hi. Ive suffered from panic attacks for 5months. Now for atleast 3 months im panic attack free, but i feel like im constantly anxious even if i font know why. I constantly move my feet when laying or sitting and have this strange feeling in my sternum the center of my chest. Its like a dull small constant pain sometimes reminiscent of tickling , but it really drives me mad. Is it what Anxious people usually feel like? I just want you to desctibe how you feel. I need reassurance. Thanks :)

[MRS STRESS ED]

l to get that feeling in my chest it feels like pulling and stretching horrible and yes mine is anxiety the best way l can describe my anxiety is debilitating, I know I will always have it l just learn to cope with it that's all we can do you will have good and bad days x

[yarodao]

But its so strange. I wasnt an anxious person before my first panic attack. And now it seems that my mind is calm but my body is anxious all the time. :(

[GiantMogwai]

The feeling you describe is classic. It is an anxious reaction but there is a clear strategy for this one which will help. The physical symptoms like this can be caused by anxiety or they can be caused by other things such as muscle tension or reflux which can in turn be caused by anxiety or other things. Not very helpful so far. However with anxiety you will definitely get hyper-awareness. This is where things that used to happen all the time you are now hyper aware of. The thing to do is to recognise that this might happen and to ride it out with the knowledge that you are probably being hyper-aware. The classic in this area is hyper-awareness of one's own pulse. I had that for months and it caused all manner of additional unnecessary anxiety to the anxiety I was also feeling from other things.

---------- Post added at 10:31 ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 ----------

In addition to recognising being hyper aware, and that anxiety can cause these things it is worth developing a strategy for when to see a doctor and finding a doctor with an approach that works for you. I recommend a doctor who looks at things from a physical and mental point of few, and never one who says it's all in the mind. I once had a doctor repeatedly tell me a very painful throat I had was stress related, only for me to find out myself by trial and error that it was a prescription hay fever drug I was taking.

---------- Post added at 10:39 ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 ----------

Lastly, keep an open mind about anxiety. It can cause all sorts of things, and the fact that you had a panic attack means you are susceptible. I believe the stats in the UK for mental health issues are 1 in 4 people. I got my first panic attack in my 30s. It varies quite substantially and some people just get this rarely and aren't overall an anxious person as such. Some part of me still refuses to believe many parts of my anxiety are in my mind or that I'm really like that, but I know based on my own experience that this is the case.

---------- Post added at 10:52 ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 ----------

My breakfast cereal from this morning feels like it's still a bit stuck in my throat. My chest feels heavy and shoulders tense. Experience tells me this is stress and anxiety. I have an ongoing reflux problem but these specific symptoms happen much more often when I am stressed and anxious. A sort of pulse in my neck and chest feels more pronounced. Again anxiety and probably hyper awareness.

[ana]

My attacks are psychological more than physical. I do get shivers and shortness of breath, but mainly, I get depersonalisation and/or derealisation.

[GiantMogwai]

I've had an almost continuous sense of depersonalization since my panic attack of December last year. 5 screaming panic attacks in public in 6 months and continuously feel depersonalized, with vivid nightmare every 3 to 4 weeks of additional panic attacks. Not pleasant. Also very occassionally get depersonalization with scintillating scotoma, which is like a migraine aura without the migraine. You can actually see what these look like: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillating_scotoma

[yarodao]

Thanks guys and gals for answering.
It is definetely more easy to control myself and i do not get panic attacks anymore. But the anxiety is draining me as a person. Everything seems dangerious to my health or heart. My pulse is all over the place. Calm about 60 walking around 100+ and after a day of work it stays around 90 and i feel it soooo strongly not only feel it but see it on my neck and chest, my gf even jokes that i look like a frog when my neck sides start to lift bevause of this pulse. Btw is that okay? Its called bounding pulse right?

[GiantMogwai]

Sounds similar to mine but healthier. No big alarm bells on pulse rate. Do you exercise much? What is your rough age - 20s, 30s, 40s?

[yarodao]

25 was very big until 22, 200kilos then i dropped to 95 and now im back at 160. Exercise wise i ride a bike or walk.

[GiantMogwai]

I have similar heart rate to you. In my 40s and 115kg. My heart rate was healthier in my 20s. I was able to exercise more then.

[yarodao]

Yah but i feel every heartbeat and my neck fills up like a frog each beat :D

[kay1218]

I had a severe panic attack about three weeks ago and i have had non stop anxiety ever since. Most of my is Health anxiety to a certain extent..... my GAD gives me symptoms and i freak out thinking they’re more serious than anxiety such as heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and so on.... when I’m having anxiety but not panic attacks i just feel out of it, i don’t feel like myself, i feel as though I’m with everyone but I’m living a different more difficult reality than they are. I focus on my breathing and breathing becomes manual, i focus on my heart and think it’s beating too hard, too fast, too soft, too slow.. always something! I feel like i have to make myself to everything, eat, socialize, get out of bed, even my thoughts seem strained which sometimes worries me but my family tells me it’s just my brain being too stressed to think clearly... hope this helped?? Maybe you can check out some of my posts... I’ve been struggling lately!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk