Can anxiety really cause all of these symptoms?

[leoguaje7]

I know that looking for reassurance is frowned upon for those with HA, but lately I am really struggling.
In the past 3/4 months i've been the most anxious that i have ever been. It all started when my grandma died in April, and i had a mouse infestation in my house at the exact same time (thankfully problem solved!)

But this period has been hell, I started off with bad jaw pain for 2 weeks that subsided, then i seemed to have tension headaches for 2 weeks straight. Then i started to feel lightheaded and shaky. Then i developed insomnia for the first time. Usually i am terrified of visiting the doctor and i will only go if i feel like im dying. I had to go because of the insomnia, i thought i was gonna end up going crazy. The doctor said anxiety was causing the sleeping problems (i thought it was neurological), she upped my sertraline from 100mg to 150mg (i'd been on the sertraline for 4 years, since the last time i went to doctors lol) and she booked me for blood tests. however this is the UK so i have to wait another week for the blood tests.

So basically my current symptoms are slight lightheaded feeling that comes and goes, i have weird body jerks that happen in my arms, hands, feet and legs. This is the symptom that scared me the most. How can anxiety cause body jerks? It's not while i'm sleeping either. It's like a constant thing throughout the day. I also have a weird weakness feeling in my left hand. Like when i tense my hand in the grip position and let go, it feels shaky for a second afterwards.

MS is a real worry for me and these symptoms feel exactly like that :( everytime i look for people experiencing anxiety symptoms, i never see the jerking one (when awake). Thats what is causing me the most fear :(

[Flapj]

Yep. I’ve had all those symptoms come and go with anxiety.

[leoguaje7]

Thanks, i usually put down my symptoms to anxiety but the jerking is terrifying and immedietaly brings my mind to something awful like MS or epilepsy everytime it happens

[Sparkling_Fairy]

I had muscle twitches 24/7 for a year, which was actually my first symptom and sent me down an MS/ALS rabbit hole and an anxiety spiral that is going on 10 years now. Woohoo!!!
They were often bad enough that it would be a muscle jerk. It's caused by an overloaded nervous system that is misfiring. Totally harmless. But annoying AF!

[Pkstracy]

oh yeah that is deff anxiety.

[Fishmanpa]

Can anxiety really cause all of these symptoms?

Yes

FMP