Maybe this post can help :)

Hey, I just found this post on another site with a pretty much complete list of anxiety symptoms.
I have a good majority of them, but it always makes me feel better knowing its just anxiety.. I still cant help but worry though grr :( But yeah, here is that post:

This is for everyone who is uncertain as to whether or not they have anxiety. As someone who was once convinced they were going crazy, had a brain tumor, going to have a stroke, etc., this list should help comfort some of your concerns about what you are feeling.

Body:
Burning Sensations throughout the body
Chronic Fatigue
Electric shock feeling
Excess of energy, you feel you can’t relax
Feel like you are going to pass out or faint
Feeling cold or chilled
Hyperactivity, excess energy
Increased or decreased sex drive
Muscle twitching
Neck, back, shoulder pain, tightness/stiffness
No energy, feeling lethargic, tired
Numbness or tingling in hands, feet, face, head, or any other places on the body
Persistent muscle tension, stiffness
Sore or tight scalp or back of the neck
Startle easily
Sweating, uncontrollable profuse sweating
The floor feels like it is moving either down or up for no reason
Trembling or shaking
Urgency to urinate, frequent urination, sudden urge to go to the washroom
Warm spells
Weak legs, arms, or muscles

Chest:
Chest pain or discomfort
Concern about the heart
Feel like you have to force yourself to breath
Find it hard to breath, feeling smothered, shortness of breath
Frequent yawning to try and catch your breath
Heart – beating hard or too fast, rapid heartbeat, palpitations
Heart - Irregular heart rhythms, flutters or ‘skipped’ beats, tickle in the chest that makes you cough

Fears:
A heightened fear of what people think of you
Afraid of being trapped in a place with no exits
Constant feeling of being overwhelmed.
Fear of being in public
Fear of dying
Fear of losing control
Fear of impending doom
Fear of making mistakes or making a fool of yourself to others
Fear of passing out
Fear that you are losing your mind
Fears about irrational things, objects, circumstances, or situations
Fears of going crazy, of dying, of impending doom, of normal things, unusual feelings and emotions, unusually frightening thoughts or feelings
Heightened self awareness, or self-consciousness
Need to find nearest washrooms before you can feel comfortable
Need to seat near exits

Head:
Burning, itchy, tight scalp
Dizziness or light-headedness
Frequent headaches, migraine headaches
Feeling like there is a tight band around your head, pressure, tightness
Head, neck or shoulder pain, tightness/stiffness
Giddiness
Shooting pains in the face
Shooting pains in the scalp or head
When you close your eyes you feel like are beginning to, or will, float upwards
Sore jaw that feels like a tooth ache
TMJ (Temporo-Mandibular Joint) - clenching of the jaw or grinding of the teeth

Hearing:
Frequent or intermittent reduced hearing or deafness in one or both ears
Low rumbling sounds
Ringing in the ears, noises in the ears, noises in the head

Mind:
Deja Vu, a feeling like you've done or experienced something before
Desensitization, depersonalization
Fear of going crazy
Fear of losing control
Fear of impending doom
Feelings of unreality
Frequent feeling of being overwhelmed, or that there is just too much to handle or do
Having difficulty concentrating
Obsession about sensations or getting better
Repetitive thinking or incessant ‘mind chatter’
Underlying anxiety, apprehension, or fear
You often feel you are carrying the world on your shoulders

Mood / Emotions:
Always feeling angry and lack of patience
Depression
Dramatic mood swings (emotional flipping)
Emotionally blunted, flat, or numb
Emotional "flipping" (dramatic mood swings)
Emotions feel wrong
Everything is scary, frightening
Feeling down in the dumps
Feeling like things are unreal or dreamlike
Frequently being on edge or 'grouchy'
Frequently feel like crying for no apparent reason
Have no feelings about things you used to
Not feeling like yourself, detached from loved ones, emotionally numb
Underlying anxiety, apprehension, or fear
You feel like you are under pressure all the time

Mouth/Stomach:
A ‘tinny’, ‘metallic’ or ‘ammonia’, or unusual smell or taste
Aerophagia (swallowing too much air, stomach distention, belching)
Choking
Constant craving for sugar or sweets
Constipation
Diarrhea
Difficulty swallowing
Dry mouth
Feeling like you can’t swallow properly or that something will get caught in your throat
Feeling like your tongue is swollen
Frequent upset stomach, bloating, gaseous
IBS
Lack of appetite or taste
Lump in the throat, tight throat, something stuck in your throat
Mouth muscles twitching/jumping
Nausea or abdominal stress
The thought of eating makes you nauseous
Tight throat, lump in throat
Tongue twitching
Urgency to urinate, frequent urination, sudden urge to go to the washroom
Vomiting

Skin:
Burning skin sensations, skin sensitivity
Skin problems, infections, rashes

Sleep:
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Frequent bad, bizarre, or crazy dreams
Hearing sounds in your head that jolt you awake
Insomnia, or waking up ill in the middle of the night
Jolting awake
Waking up in a panic attack
You feel worse in the mornings

Sight:
Distorted, foggy, or blurred vision
Dry, watery or itchy eyes
Eye tricks, seeing things our of the corner of your eye that isn’t there, stars, flashes
Eyes sensitive to light
Spots in the vision
Flashing lights when eyes are closed
Your depth perception feels wrong

Touch:
Burning skin sensations, skin sensitivity
Feeling cold or chilled
Numbness
Pain
Tingling, pins and needles feelings

Other symptoms are described as:
Being like a hypochondriac, muscle twinges, worry all the time, tingles, gagging, tightness in the chest, tongue twitches, shaky, breath lump, heart beat problems, head tingles, itchy tingling in arms and legs, and so many more.

In addition to these symptoms, you may also find yourself worrying compulsively about:
• Having a heart attack
• Having a serious undetected illness
• Dying prematurely
• Going insane or losing your mind
• Harming yourself or someone you love uncontrollably
• Being embarrassed or making a fool out or yourself
• Losing control
• Fainting in public
• Not breathing properly
• Choking or suffocating
• Being alone





I hope it helps alittle :)
-Myke

[Kaylz1986]

It helped a LOT.
Thank you Myke :-)

[myamb318]

Good :) I seem to be reading over it constantly, Which i guess isnt a good thing.. I just want all my symptoms to go awaaaaaaaaaaaaaay and never return.. I wanna feel like im actually here again!!
Grr anxiety..
:/

[km88]

this helps a lot and i keep reading over them too!

i have so many of these symptoms but the thing is they all come and go throughout the day. it doesnt matter if im not having a panic attack, i still have these symptoms? is that common?

[sunset555]

Of course that is common. I have also experienced many of these symptoms on and off but not all together too!

[myamb318]

Yeah, they just come and go for me all the time.. Except for derealization... I have that constantly [The feeling of not being here]. Im kind of use to that feeling now though.. it no longer scares me with is good.. maybe that will be the way it goes away.. *fingers crossed!*

Its 01:01am here.. Im so tired but cant sleep grr well least wwe raw live is on.
lol
-Myke

[mystruggle]

big list of nonsense that feels real physically, but can NOT hurt you!

if you were in the jungle and a lion was chasing you, you would feel all of those things and not think a thing about it. those feelings are there to protect us via the fight/flight response. without it human beings would be extinct.

learn to get though an attack. that takes the panic out of it....then they go away...practice!!!

[myamb318]

Just because you find it easy doesnt mean everyone else does.
Ive tryed for years, and still suffer from them.
Ive had all types of therapy etc... but its still here.

[sunset555]

How dare you give a response like that on this site, myamb318 has put her faith and trust in us for some good sound advice, support and encouragement, NOT a slap in the face, as to what you have just given her.

You obviously DO NOT suffer with anxiety or panic attacks, so you are obviously looking at the wrong forum, or are you just out to annoy people, either way, save your awful heartless responses for yourself.

Sunset

[suzi-q]

I have learned to control a lot of my anxiety...and yes it takes practice...LOTS OF PRACTICE!!!  With the help of medication and changing your thought process it can be done...HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER, it takes a lot of time and a lot of knowledge to change that inner voice.  I have been suffering with anxiety for 14 years and I would say it is only the past 8 years or so (so that is 6 years of trying to figure it out!) I have learned how to desensitize myself to the feelings.  

After saying this, I would also like to say that I would have LOVED to have this list and this site 14 years ago.  It took forever to convince me that it was anxiety, and back then, without the world at your fingertips I felt so ALONE feeling I was the only one who felt this way.  If I knew that there were so many people like me and had a list that I could relate to and say "AHA, that is ME!"  I wouldn't have felt so alone and scared walking on that dark road.  I also feel I would have gotten better sooner.  I think being educated about anxiety is the best revenge against it!

[myamb318]

lol thanks for sticking up for me :) But im actually a guy not a girl :P
I didnt want to put my actual name, so i put myamb. its like half of my 1st and second name lol :)

But yeah, I just like to help others because they help me :)
-Myke

[smel05]

omg thank you.

[strawberey]

that list helps a lot. I just dont understand why i still feel anxiety and I still get panic attacks and freak out so bad when i read over and over panic attacks are harmless. It is so fustrating to always be scared of something that isn't going to hurt me.

[mystruggle]

i have delt with anxiety/panic for 8 years and agoraphobia for 2 years!

you know what i've learned. DO NOT SIT AROUND LOOKING AT LISTS OF SYMPTOMS! it contributes to psychosomatic symptoms, in laymans terms...self fulfilling prophecy! listen up you may learn a bit...

get on a good med, do CBT and go and practice it! it will go away! then stay away from internet horror stories. it's tuff, but so is life. we could have cancer or aids, but we don't, we have something that is basically a lie we believe and through negative thinking we bring on physical symptoms. it sucks. but it can be managed effectively and you can go on to live a great life.

i have battled this for 9 years with no medication at all. so sunset if somehow and someway you took that as disresect, that's your problem not mine. there was nothing in my post disrespectful to anyone. the only things included were FACTS!

if you do not like them, do not read them. that is what the off switch is for you computer.

jay...out

[xanweaner]

You're quite lucky that your anxiety did not debilitate you, and you were obviously able to work, face people, function normally, while you were suffering with your anxiety.
I don't think that it's bad to look at lists of symptoms to raise awareness....obviously, just don't obsess on the list.

CBT is great for those who can learn to practice it. It's been a struggle for me, hence my need for xanax.....
In closing, I think that all of us need to be compassionate and caring to one another in this forum.
We're all here for support and enlightenment - atleast I am.....

[mystruggle]

if being housebound with agoraphobia isn't debilitating then i don't know what is. this in NO way has been easy. it's a walk through hell. every time it roars it's ugly head. i could not work at times, i could not face people at times, i've lost relationships due to this, i've missed great things in life due to this. i most definately still can not function totally normally.

like i said i mean no disrespect to anyone on here, i'm here to learn and to offer what insight i have to help others. i do not like being jumped on for stating facts, i'd naver attack anyone on here or anywhere. but to say i basically slapped someone in the face by a post that just stated facts, is out of line. and people like that can check their ego's at the door. no room for that in healing!

jay

[dancesprt20]

Geez I'm a poster child for anxiety. Lol Thanks for the post! It helped out a lot.

[myamb318]

Least some people appreciate this post, like I said, I found it and it made me feel better, so I then re-post so maybe others can feel better :)

[JSGeare]

This post ha stirred up quite a lot of discussion, and because I believe discussion is a GOOD thing I'm inclined to let it stand for now.

But there is a violation of the Medhelp Terms of Use in the original post -specifically, the mention of an off-site URL (anxiety ecntre) which, as it turns out, is a commercial venture, selling counseling at a buck and something per minute. The folks there may be very good or they may not be good at all, and your mileage will vary. Let's just say this: if anyone had actually found the magic bullet, we wouldn't be here right now.

More importantly, however, the post carried a list of symptoms copied over from the url, and THAT got some attention -it let folks know that what they have is what many people have. Keep in mind, however, that the folks at the anx cent didn't do the research to come up with this list. Pretty much the SAME list has been assembled right here on the forum, in answer to the question, "What have your symptoms been?" (Or something like that).

Some of the commentary seemed to be a bit "in your face," but what the heck, we're all adults here (well, most of us anyway) and everyone seems able to tolerate some strong attitude on the part of others. Just don't forget that your opinion is JUST that, your opinion, and when disagreements devolve into arguments then all you have is -guess what- an argument. Interesting, maybe enlightening, maybe even amusing for others to read but usually with low reward for the opponents.

To review the Terms of Use, click on "Terms of Use" (go figure) at the bottom of your screen. A lot of legalistic mumbo-jumbo, there, but steel yourself and scroll down to the part entitled "Rules for Posting Questions in Forums and Public Areas," where you will see Rule #9: "Posting links to other websites or individuals, without prior written permission from MedHelp." Trust me, posting the link does not mean just a "click-on" link -the name of the link is just as much a no-no. Note that the rule is absolute: literally, the way it reads, you can't even post a link to something like NIH. But Medhelp will allow citations such as that on a case-by-case basis.

ON THE OTHER HAND, those rules apply to the forums and "public" areas and do NOT apply to PM's -these are personal areas where you can say pretty much what you want -subject, of course to the common-sense and legal controls that would apply to annoying, threatening, malisicious or porngraphic content -and the general rules applying to the MedHelp site as a whole. But you could certainly send a PM to a friend and tell them about "PanicKiller.com" and be in violation of nothing. Of course, each member has a little "off" switch they can use to block out anyone they so choose.

Complicated? Maybe. But all in all, common sense is the controlling test and for other special stuff you have people like me to pop up uninvited and call your attention to any tripping hazard I think I see.

This seemed like a good opportunity to mention all this. I appreciate your understanding, cooperation and your tolerance.

JS Geare/Community Leader

[sunset555]

I'm sorry I didn't realise that you also suffer with anxiety as I didn't take the time to even find this out, because I will be very honest with you, I sometimes get so wrapped up in my own problems that I "forget" to take other people into consideration, so I do apologise to you for that, and hope that you can forgive me.

I also would like to thank you for the good and solid advice that you gave me in the accupuncture column, I have just read it now, just back from the parade a while now, as you probably know its St. Patricks Day, and I'm Irish.

Sunset