PDA

View Full Version : Physical symptoms of anxiety - how bad can it actually get?



maryjane91
02-05-20, 09:53
These past 3 months have been the most stressful of my life. I have always been an anxious person and I've always experienced many physical symptoms of anxiety, but these days it's worse than it's ever been - and trust me, it's been bad before. I have severe HA as well as OCD and generalized anxiety disorder.
So a few months ago, my partner (who is also the father of my two children, aged 7 and 5) and I decided to split up after 8 ½ years together. We probably should have done this a long time ago, but we both really wanted it to work for the sake of our kids, but in the end it just didn't work out. Ever since then I've tried to find a place to live, but so far haven't been able to find anything that I can afford. I am so scared, I don't handle change well and I have never lived alone. I worry how this will affect the kids and if I am going to be able to take care of them on my own and whether I will be able to handle being on my own when they're at their dad's. And what if I have an actual physical illness and have to deal with that too? Maybe even dying? I am so scared I am not going to see my kids grow up.
Covid19 isn't exactly helping my anxiety either.

My anxiety has never, ever been this bad. I feel so anxious all the freaking time. It started (as usual) with twitching and jerking. Then the headaches. Visual disturbances. Widespread body pain and aches. Severe fatigue. Then abdominal pain and frequent visits to the bathroom. Severe nausea. Frequent urination and pelvic pain and spasms. And so on... It's been getting worse and worse these past few months.
Last night I woke up at 4 with severe headache and abdominal pain. Managed to fall back asleep. When I woke again in the morning I still had the pain and the headache. I also have back and neck pain. Then after breakfast came the nausea as usual. My friend, who's also a nurse, says it's likely caused by me not eating enough, I don't have much of an appetite when I'm anxious.

I saw my doctor two days ago, he was not concerned about my physical health, says it's obiviously caused by stress and anxiety.
I had a CBC in March which was normal except for slight iron deficiency. But I am still worried about waking up at night with headaches and abdominal pain - I know it's a red flag when it wakes you up at night. Though I'm not sure if it woke me up or if I woke up for some other reason and just happened to be in pain, as it's not unusual for me to wake up once during the night. But still.


So my question is... how bad can the physical symptoms of anxiety actually get? Part of me thinks it's no coincidence that I'm experiencing so many physical symptoms given the circumstances.
But the other part thinks that it can't possibly be just anxiety, when it's this bad.

I'm 28 years old, normal weight (maybe slightly underweight now), I eat a healthy, plantbased diet (vegan for 12 years - supplement with B12 and vitamin D, of course), I do yoga and I run (though not as much lately, as I'm often feeling too ill - been spending a LOT of time in bed with headaches and nausea these past few weeks). I take Escitalopram 10 mg. for my anxiety, though it's not been much help lately.

pb
02-05-20, 16:46
I get all of these, never sure whether there physical or caused by anxiety.
Hope you feel better.

O_O
03-05-20, 10:33
They can be really bad, and manifest in so many different ways.

Personally, anxiety has at times made me so sick that I have been unable to eat and would often involuntarily throw up after eating to the point that I lost 2.5 stone in about two months. I'd get pins and needles in my legs that would keep me from sleeping. A lot of my anxiety was centred around my uterus, and to this day if I get anxious my uterus starts contracting uncontrollably.

It's different for everyone.

AntsyVee
03-05-20, 17:13
I'm not going to go into details because I don't want to scare you, but basically your mind is a very powerful thing. It really does control your whole body. And in extreme cases, it can cause your worst fears to become true. We've seen many people on here with HA get the very symptoms that they are worried about due to their anxiety.

If I were you, I would talk to your doc about upping your escitalopram to 15 mg. 20 mg is the max dosage. If you max, and you still aren't seeing results, it may be time to cross taper to something else. Also remember that while meds can help a lot, they don't solve all of our problems. You still have to use your coping mechanisms to deal with the intrusive thoughts you do get. Are you in therapy? Have you tried mindfulness? Meditation? Yoga? Do you get regular exercise? Meds alone won't always cut it.

Fishmanpa
03-05-20, 18:18
It can vary between a minor annoyance to literally crippling. There was a woman on another anxiety site that was literally bedridden for years. She had to crawl to the bathroom etc. There was nothing physically wrong :shrug:

Hope you feel better soon

Positive thoughts

ankietyjoe
04-05-20, 18:08
So my question is... how bad can the physical symptoms of anxiety actually get?

In my experience, much, much worse than you are describing.

Your situation is more than enough to provoke horrendous anxiety both mental and physical. As Fishmanpaa said, it can be literally crippling, without exaggeration.


However, there are some things you can do. You need to try and intercept the 'what if' part of your brain. You listed a series of situations that aren't actually happening, but even pondering them can create more and more anxiety. Try and live for today alone, don't worry about what might happen down the line as it serves no purpose. Breaking up, having money worries and looking for a new place to live with children is massively stressful. I can't imagine a situation that's more stressful that excludes illness or grief, so try and give yourself a break. Your situation can easily create the symptoms you are describing, but they're not inherently dangerous.

I would suggest that you go easy on things like running, as your adrenals are already shot and more high intensity exercise will be counter productive in the short term.

The most important thing you can do right now is not create additional imaginary worries. Deal with now, and only now. You will get through this.

maryjane91
05-05-20, 07:44
Thank you for your replies everyone!

I do practice yoga, I've done mindfulness and meditation in the past, should probably start again. I've just always found it difficult to relax (surprise). I just find running so much easier.

I'm not currenty in therapy, but I've been referred and start next month...

ankietyjoe
05-05-20, 11:22
I do practice yoga, I've done mindfulness and meditation in the past, should probably start again. I've just always found it difficult to relax (surprise).



Yes, you definitely should practice meditation again. I think it's worth trying to understand that meditation has got very little to do with relaxation. It's actually about learning acceptance and non reaction to stimulus. In turn, that will help you relax. Don't go into meditation with the goal of relaxation as you will fail 100% of the time at this point in your life.

AntsyVee
05-05-20, 17:54
Also, please make sure you talk to your doc about your dosage. If the current dosage isn't working, there's no reason to keep it at that dosage.

Leon82
12-05-20, 06:39
Hi,

I know it can become completely all consuming which is really tough. Accepting it is anxiety and stress is half the battle here.

maryjane91
20-05-20, 14:28
Thank you all so much... I was feeling a bit better, but now I'm back to feeling horrible again. Nausea, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, headaches... I just feel awful. My cycle is also all over the place and I am worried I might be starting menopause prematurely :( I've always been regular, even during the most stressful times - except when I've lost too much weight, then my periods have just stopped altogether.

I also got an eye exam last week as I've been experiencing more visual disturbances, she was very nice and said my eyes were a bit irritated and recommended eye drops, but my optic nerves looked perfectly healthy. If I had a brain tumor, this would not be the case, right?
I also went to see an ENT today because of tinnitus, ear and nasal congestion and pressure on the left side of my face. No polyps or tumors or anything, she just removed some earwax and told me to stop using cotton buds ;-) But I still feel the pressure and the tinnitus. I wouldn't be so worried about the tinnitus if it was on both sides, as I've been told that unilateral tinnitus is a bad sign... But if it was a sign of anything sinister, surely she would have noticed something - or something would have come up on the eye exam last week? Has anyone else had unilateral tinnitus that wasn't caused by anything serious?

Argh! I don't even know what I'm afraid of anymore. It just feels like my entire body has stopped working and I am just so exhausted.

AntsyVee
20-05-20, 17:51
It's a lot of stress on the body to be worried 24/7. It may all just be fatigue due to that.