Tense muscles ?anyone

I have depression and anxiety and one of the numerous symptoms that I am plagued with is tense muscles. I tend to tense my upper stomach muscles (without even realising that I do it), and this in turn tightens the whole area and I get pains in my lower rib area. I am not worried about this being dangerous or anything, I would just like to know if anyone else has this and how they 'relax' these muscles as this is so painful. I also have very tense neck and shoulder muscles.

I do relaxation exercises but this doesn't seem to help and I am trying to consciously keep relaxing these muscles but half the time I forget. It must be second nature as I do it all the time and don't even notice I am doing it until I feel pain.

Could have wrote this myself apart from stomache tension instead I get pectoral tightness as well as neck and shoulders. Just seen doc today again and once again as well as another three docs they all say it'd tension as well as poor posture. Unfortunately I have no answers on how to relieve it, doc says you probably need massage therapy but chiros and acupuncture cost money. I've had these symptoms for four months! Hope u get better and if you find something let me know. I will say heated wheat bags help a little but can't wear them 24/7.

Me too. Again not in my stomach, but def in my neck, shoulder and arm. Done a similar thread today as it happens.

I regularly ask whether my on-going pain is due to anxiety, or is my on-going anxiety due to the pain? Therein lies the Health Anxiety Conundrum!!!!!

Me too. Mine's mostly my neck - chronic stiffness, which is what caused me to go to A&E. I had a CT scan but it came back clear. This is what keeps triggering my anxiety/panic. I also get a lot of tension headaches. Paracetamol doesn't even touch it, but I have found Tiger Balm White/Red gives short-term relief.

I get bad tension in my upper body - shoulders, neck, arms - especially on my right side. I hold myself very tensely especially when I'm walking or lying in bed. Thing is, when I try to relax I slouch and I hate slouching. I guess my posture is good but not relaxed good - if that makes sense :huh:! xx

I have just been through a very stressful health scare and my stomach muscles have been so tense it's caused crippling back pain, digestion problems, and preventing me from sleeping. I was convinced I was dying of bowel cancer, but turns out I'm not. It's incredible how much it can affect us emotionally and physically. I couldn't go to the toilet properly and my stomach muscles stopped working - I couldn't push out or suck in and it terrified me. After getting good news about not having cancer they miraculously started working again. I now believe our bodies are capable of mimicking any disease, because I was 100% convinced I had cancer that had spread to my spine and I only had months to live. My husband and I had discussed my care plan and what he was going to do when I was gone. I refused to believe that anxiety could possibly cause me so much pain. But I was wrong!

True, it's so hard to believe it's anxiety but I've been told by numerous docs it's anxiety ( I have burning muscled in neck, shoulders and chest) suppose I've got to exept it.