Tingling Hands and Feet

[michaelpakenham]

Hi all !

I have been suffering on and off for panic attacks for quite some time - and of course it is ALWAYS a heart attack and of course my heart has been given a clan bill of health.

However I am at the moment quite edgy and when I don't have actual attacks I have tingling in my feet and hands that can last all day long!

Does anyone know what this is? I have been told it could be hyperventilation. Would that mean I am hyperventilating ALL THE TIME? Even when I lie in bed?

Its a very disagreable sensation!

Thanks for any advice

Michael

[Crush]

Hi all !

I have been suffering on and off for panic attacks for quite some time - and of course it is ALWAYS a heart attack and of course my heart has been given a clan bill of health.

However I am at the moment quite edgy and when I don't have actual attacks I have tingling in my feet and hands that can last all day long!

Does anyone know what this is? I have been told it could be hyperventilation. Would that mean I am hyperventilating ALL THE TIME? Even when I lie in bed?

Its a very disagreable sensation!

Thanks for any advice

Michael

Great.

Now I feel a bit of tingling in my hands and feet too. Thanks! Hehehe..

I find the tingling to be a sign of anxiety. I got the tinglign about 5 days or so my big dizzy/light headed/can't leave the house days began.

These are sensations. That is all they are. Do NOT.

D O N O T

start to think that these are some other illnesses. They aren't.

It starts with the tingles, then with the worrying that it might be something else and you are missdiagnosed, and next thing you know, worse anxiety meaning more weird sensations elsewhere in your body and then more worrying and this happens until you are like me going to the ER and are so dizzy and light headed you feel you cannot get up to walk to the bath room becuase you might not make it without falling over.

What you are feeling are harmless sensations that myself, my wife, and millions of others also feel that is a trade mark of anxiety. Be positive, don't think about it, let them pass. It's honestly nothing.

(i thought my tingles were diabetes.. of course that's silly because I would have had all the other signs.. but my anxious mind painted the worse cast scenarios for me)

[BestMate]

Hi, I too have had these tingles. All started in my hands and I managed to worry about them so much that I had them pretty much all over in the end.
I got rid of a favourite house plant because I thought I had some reaction to it when done some pruning!! Same old story, more we think about it the worse it gets. Thankfully that has now all gone, did take a while to go though.
All the best.

[denisea]

Hi....i have been having pins and neddles in my hands and feet too for the last couple of months off and on....but i dont relax at all...i have so much anxiety and suffer from mild depresson.

[michaelpakenham]

Thanks a lot to all of you! I of course thought it was my heart - as usual!
:shades:

Michael

[marchant]

Hi all !

I have been suffering on and off for panic attacks for quite some time - and of course it is ALWAYS a heart attack and of course my heart has been given a clan bill of health.

However I am at the moment quite edgy and when I don't have actual attacks I have tingling in my feet and hands that can last all day long!

Does anyone know what this is? I have been told it could be hyperventilation. Would that mean I am hyperventilating ALL THE TIME? Even when I lie in bed?

Its a very disagreable sensation!

Thanks for any advice

Michael

Hi Michael,

Are you on any medication? I am thinking of beta blockers? I take those and the side effects are tingling and a tight chest!

Have you tried breathing from the diaphram? say counts of 4 in, hold, out, hold, a few times and the blood pressure and rate should come down. When you breath in, breath all the way and push down on the diaphram.

Have you tried breathing into a paper bag during these episodes? That combats hyperventilation.

take care

Steve :)

[Crush]

Thanks a lot to all of you! I of course thought it was my heart - as usual!
:shades:

Michael

Oh no when you graduate to the chest pains you'll really think it's your heart and that you were right all along. That's what happened to me.

So what did I do when I got my chest pains after the tingles? I quit smoking and drinking which made the anxiety 20x worse as those were crutches to help me deal with my anxiety these past few years. So my anxiety got worse.

Eventually, I ended up at the ER twice because of the chest pains and dizziness.

Let me tell you this: 50% of all my horrible summer I had is due to experience at the hospitals which I still don't like to think about this day. I will not go into details of the emotional trauma I went though there and can assure you it will not be a pleasant experience.

The goal here for you, and for anyone else reading this at the tingle phase is to cut it off there. Don't let it graduate to chest pains/dizziness. And whatever you do, stay away from the ER.

There's nothing wrong with you. The tingles are harmless sensations related to anxiety. We need to bring your brain levels back down to normal because right now your body is telling you they are higher than usual. they aren't really 'up there' though and lets keep it from getting up there. Time will be key in letting them fall back down.

The more you 'worry', the more at risk you are at your levels increasing and then getting worse physical sensations.

[Crush]

Hi....i have been having pins and neddles in my hands and feet too for the last couple of months off and on....but i dont relax at all...i have so much anxiety and suffer from mild depresson.

There's lots of medication that can help you. If you are only getting pins and needles then maybe you don't need it.

Here was my order of my anxiety symptoms:

1. Mild OCD. Basically the same thought running through my head over and over and becoming obsessed with certain topics.
2. Pins and needles in some finger tips. Sensations around hands. Left mostly.
3. Chest ache over heart. Faint, bot caused a LOT of worry.
4. Mild depression due to the above.
5. (ER Visit #1) Pains in ribs, shoulder, arm.. weird places along with chest ache.
6. Whole right hand with a cold/numb/tingle weird feeling. Bit of left too.
7. Musle twitches all over legs.

Entering into the red zone below:

8. (ER Visit #2) Dizziness/Off Balance/Light Headedness with a 'stoned' feeling
9. Disturbing thoughts.
10. Heavy palpitations. Especially after eating.
11. Heart attack style panic attacks.
12. Agoraphobia. Can't go into malls/grocery without panic attacks. Truck pulls up beside my while driving and I can feel mild panic attacks. Wife had to drive me in car sometimes.

There was also some mild mania in there too but I can't remember the stage and it was short lived.

At state 8 I was finally diagnosed and perscribed Lorazapam. It helped a lot with the panic and helping me relax before bed, but it did not provide a cure. It just helped the physical symtoms. When I finally got to see a family dr after waiting 3 weeks, he perscribed me Citalopram and in a few weeks I got better.

These pills stopped me from thinking disturbing thoughts and worrying.

Worrying is basically what causes anxiety. So if a pill stops you from worrying, it will stop your anxiety. That's the most simplest way I can put it. Now I only have a bit of the anxiety left. Heck, it's probably just normal anxiety that everyone has but I now can notice every little symptom.

I tried all sorts of things like to trying to challenge my anxiety, breathing, etc. None of that stuff works when you have the type of anxiety I had.

One thing I rarely read about is the 'build up' time it takes to get there though. I do not believe all of a sudden it can happen out of the blue. I believe there are opening symtoms (tingles), and signs at each stage afterwards until you reach the worse part - agoraphobia.