Anxiety and ways if affects our body

[msanxiety]

I have SEVERE ANXIETY and im wondering if anyone else out there gets pain in like their left shoulder or behind their left breast and thinks its their heart. Or one side of my face goes numb or my hands go numb......what all can anxiety do to us,,,,,,,,,,,,,Please if anyone out there has symptoms that are wierd but are only due to anxiety let me know i constantly think i have something wrong with me.and last year i had mris, cat scans ultra sounds on heart ekg,tons of tests and nothing was found.Im driving myself crazy every time i get a ache...........Can anyone relate to me?

[jrlexusman]

yes anxiety can do that. I have had a numb face and everything that you had. I had memory problems not in my right mind... the numb face is bad.. go to www.anxietycentre.com

[barfer]

It seems like all of us at one point or another thought or think that there is something wrong with us other than anxiety and sometimes it is true, but anxiety comes out in so many ways that most of the time, the only thing wrong with us is anxiety and once we accept that, our live can become much easier.  Once there is acceptance then it is easier to move forward to find a way to treat it properly. I think that a lot of us wish it weren't anxiety because we want a quick fix in that if you can take a pill for 10 days or and ointment to take away pain etc., and it's all gone...well, that would be ideal....but that isn't the reality of anxiety.  It is a lot of work, but with the right therapy and in some cases, medication, we can enjoy our lives.

[bosnianworrier]

severe anxiety can cause
numbness
tingling
vision problems
headache
dizziness
heart palps
chest pain
body pain
muscle stiffness
abdominal pain
nerve wrecking feeling
and bunch of other physical symptoms which all I have experienced with my severe "free-floating" anxiety.

[jaide987]

yeah i get the pains in my left side to, and like yourself i think im dying or having  a heart attack, even though we both know its the anxiety lol!!
each time i get them i always think "right this it, im a gonna" but once it disappears i have realised how silly i am thinking!

[JSGeare]

Msanxiety. Good grief -the ultimate in pagentry.

But anyway, for you and the other respondents, please see:

My journal entry: "Could it be..."

and the Healthpages (link at upper right of screen) FAQ for the symptom list.

Bottom line: if anxiety was a valuable natural resource -we'd all be millionaires!

[georgikb420]

I feel ya! What you describe is what happens to me. It is a lot like having a heart attack, I've had 4, but I also suffer from anxiety attacks too. I am constantly thinking that i'm having a heart attack but most times it's panic and anxiety attacks. My doc told me I have to come in to ER because I can't tell for sure which it is. This is becoming a hassle in my life and I wish there was something better than ativan to treat with. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Summer123]

I can't tell you how many times I've spent visiting doctors for all sorts of physical ailments that ended up to be anxiety.  Now, I am certain, that if ever I had a heart attack, I would never go to the doctor because now I believe ALL of my physical symptoms just to be anxiety.

[dizzy68]

Can i relate? You bet i can i have numerous tests and do i believe what the docs are telling me? No! Because it feels so real to real to all be down to my mind. But your mind can do this to your body i have had the sharp pain in my Brest bone before and was convinced it was angina but after seeing the doc alot it eventually went away. My most recent episode has been short of breath and i was/am conviced if is a critical illness however truth is it isnt it is anxiety and although i dont actuallly feel anxious my mind has been runing at such a high level of anxiety for so long i dont actually know what it is like to not be anxious.  x

[dmbfan07cb]

I understand exactly what you mean, I've been anxious 24/7 for atleast 2 months, sleep is my only escape.  When I finally do feel normal, not anxious, it scares me because I feel desinzitized if that makes any sense.  So the feeling of no anxiety is actually scaring me, this is sad.  I wish I could take some CBT or something but no appoitment for that is availabe for over a year.  I can't even get in to see a therapist for 4 months.  I don't think i can take another 4 months of this.  

[Sonic23]

I suppose I'm start to understand about what anxiety does to other people. I mean I want to believe that all my pain and symptoms are caused by my anxiety but most of the time I struggle to believe that is true.

[nozmeg]

hi therei really feel 4 u i to get numbness in face headaches and think ive got sum awfull incurable disease had blood tests mri/mra 2 yrs bk came bk ok doc diagnosed anxiety its hard 2 believe i know but i guess we gota try it aint easy im a complete freak with it but we can all support each other thats wat its about lol hope u feel better soon

[geromer]

I am a little behind on posting to this forum but really felt the need to do so. I am currently going through something similar. I have had numbness, tingling and pain in both arms. Some muscle cramps in my calves and shoulders and muscle spasms all over my body. I am 31 years old! I have gone to three different Dr.s and all of them have said it is anxiety. After running a few tests that showed no problems, the neurologist actually told me that he was 99.9% positive that it was anxiety related.

But I still find it hard to believe. I still search the web and see that my symptoms are similar to MS, or ALS or Parkinson’s or something else. But I have to say that it is very reassuring to see this post and find that there are others out there who have similar symptoms related to anxiety.

I have made my first appointment with a therapist for tomorrow night and the Dr. put me on some anti-anxiety medication (after making a same day appointment because I was so stressed out). So here is where my new journey begins.

I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in taking this journey.

[shelzmike]

I see that there is a list of symptoms someone posted here. The reality is that anxiety can nearly mimic any and all symptoms of any illness or disorder. What you are experiencing is definately a symptom of anxiety. I used to get it all the time. And all the weaknesses in muscles and such are related as well. Think about it this way, anxiety is adrenaline acting on our sympathetic nervous system, causing our muscles to cramp, tighten, etc. Basically, it is tension, just like stress produces. Now, the reason it bothers anxiety suffers more readily is because with stress there is usually a definable trigger, like a deadline, loud and hyper children in a small house, or any specfic instance, something that we can say - oh, I am stressed because of x,y,z, etc. This leads us to a root cause, thereby making us feel better. However, we persons that have generalized anxiety disorder (basically anxiety some or all of the time for no "real reason") have no real "trigger" that we can attribute to it (other than the anxiety itself, but for some reason, we find it hard to accept that). Therefore, it causes us to panic and be anxious even more, because we think "Oh, what is this coming from now, I am not stressed, so it must be my heart, lungs, brain, etc." This effectively causes us to be more anxious, panicked, stressed, thereby causing the pain to stay or intensify. This is the infamous cycle of panic, or anxiety.

Most of the time, this specific type of pain (as it is related to anxiety) is caused by tension in our intercostal muscles (those that are in-between our ribs). The have very little flexibility and are very short, so when there is even the slightest bit of tension, we feel it. For whatever reason, it is felt quite a bit exactly where you said you have it.

Also, believe it or not, these types of pains can also be caused by gas. When I was 22 years old, I kept having sharp, excruciating, pains that caused me to not be able to breath (or it would hurt worse) very well and went to several doctors, including a cardiologist, turns out, in the end, it was just gas. Anxiety causes more gas to build up as well!

Here is what I used to do to help myself calm down when I had these pains:

I know (from being a paramedic) that generally a heart issue that causes pain is somewhat sudden, gets worse, and usually does not go away. So, if the pain does not get worse, even if it lasts for what seems like weeks, it is more than likely not a cardiac event. Also, the pain is usually something that you have never ever felt before(both in intensity and type - however, do not fool yourself into thinking that you have never felt it before when you probably have - do not ovethink it, usually you will know right away if there is something wrong - notice I said KNOW, not just THINK).

Also, see if movement makes it worse - try twisting your body at the waist, etc. If the pain sharpens upon movement, it is usually intramuscular. Also, see if it hurts if you push on it. I know that sounds funny, but it helps me realize that it is not on the "inside inside" but on the "outside inside" (If that makes any sense!).

Finally, TRUST the tests. If you have had all  those tests, when you are having the pain, and they are negative, there is usually a great possiblity that there is nothing wrong with you. Sure we have all heard horror stories about misdiagnosing, but the reality is that with the technology available today, this is the EXCEPTION, not the norm. Good Luck!

Mike