anyone have these symptoms?! stress related?

[cnote]

I'm 25 male. Not a stranger to the community one bit. lol. Been a sufferer from anxiety since October of 2007. Off and on.

My question is, I've been under a lot of stress at work lately with my new position I started about 4 months ago or so. I get stressed easily... but its normal stress... but I've been getting stiff necks latley... and this time the front of my neck is sore too.. its not my lymph node... but its next to my lymph node kind of under my chin if i push up with my thumb... and sometimes i get muscle spasms in my head! its crazy!

the thing is, an average joe would say "man, my neck hurts..." and go on with life.... Me on the other hand thinks things like "when will it go away?" "could it be cancer of the lymph nodes?" and i make my stomach nervous... and sick... then of course im stressing myself out even more with these irrational thoughts... and which in turn, probably makes my neck and muscles more stiff... and sore.

i thought about going to the dr., so he could tell me "hey, its not cancer... its stress"... but ive seen him before a couple times for practically the exact same symptoms.. and he always tells me "chris, you need to relax, its just anxiety... the reason you come here a lot is b/c you let the anxiety take control... dont let it do that"

he has me on a little bit of lexapro... VERY mild dosage... 2.5mg to be exact... and it seems to help for the most part... but no drug can actually help me with the way i think... i have to fix that myself... he's a great doctor...

so im being strong this time, and am not going to see him.... and im going to wait a couple of weeks, and i know ill look back and see that my muscle stiffness left... and beat this anxiety. =)

just wanted to know if that is common with anxiety with any of you guys? neck stiffness and even the front of the neck tenderness or stiff?

hard to explain... my collar bone areas also get a little tense too... so strange.. maybe i carry all the stress up above?

thanks for letting me vent! my anxiety isnt that bad this time around.. its been a heck lot worse! trust me! lol. im getting better at it, but even though its not that bad, its bad enough, where its kinda trying to ruin my day to day living...

thanks again.

[Paxiled]

Hey, tight necks are pretty much a constant for anxiety sufferers.  But I have an odd story.  I felt for years my anxiety was causing my neck to hurt, but it turned out it was a wearing away of the discs due to an old automobile accident.  Took a chiropractor treating something else entirely to find it.  But my guess is, you just have a tight neck unless you have some trauma that happened.  Swollen lymph nodes can happen, but they would only hurt on the sides of lower neck.  I say, get a good massage therapist, and work out those kinks!

[cnote]

youre right silverberg, i keep a journal, and i looked back at when i had my stiff neck last time and it was when i was under a massive amount of stress. I'm also assuming once I finish up this major work project, it will start eliminating as well. Its really draining me.

Thanks so much for writing! =)

Here's how I know I'm winning this battle with anxiety. I suffer from anxiety spells, not panic attacks... my anxiety spells are symptoms of a panic attack, except they last for weeks... non stop!!! its terrible..

My symptoms are usually the following:
Nervous stomach
De realization
Shaky hands/legs
No appetite
Diarrhea from nervous stomach
Heart palpitations
Can't sleep
Tension
Pacing (feel the need to keep moving/walking around)
Tinging in certain spots of the body


The only symptoms I am having now are the following...
Nervous stomach
Tension
Little loss of appetite, but not extreme like I used to get.
Some diarrhea in the mornings due to nervous stomach.

That's it... so I know im beating this... it's not taking FULL control like the past times... atleast I can eat some, sleep is no issue, so that's great. =)

Thanks again for the encouragement. You are right, this WILL PASS. =) It ALWAYS does.

-Chris-

[silverberg]

It is really good that you do NOT go to Dr. this is classic anxiety symptom, I get indigestion and feel I may have Heart Attack, mind starts racing, but I have been Panic free for 7 months. and use my CBT,  Now back to you LOL, by not going to Dr. You send a message to your brain that this is something you have had before and it got better and you moved on! keep sending that message to your brain and it will take. keep track of these symptoms and when they appear and you may be surprised to see a pattern.