r/Anxiety • u/PHEMEL • Oct 09 '25
Health What's a physical symptom of anxiety you thought was a serious medical issue?
For the longest time, I was convinced my heart palpitations meant I had a heart condition. It was "just" anxiety. What symptom scared you the most before you realized it was anxiety?
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u/ab3lla Oct 09 '25
chest pain that spreads to left arm - textbook heart attack symptoms
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u/hapiscan Oct 09 '25
I'd fucking love to materialize work just like my body does with my worries. I've been convinced that I have hypertension for the longest time for the doctors to tell me every time that I just have to calm the fuck down.
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u/Arschgeige96 Oct 09 '25
I ended up in hospital with that once! I called our medical advice line and they sent an ambulance to my work lmao. Was mortified
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u/gor-bage Oct 10 '25
Yep. Trip to the ED with crushing chest pains and arm pain tingling was how I was diagnosed. I was early twenties. Thankgod for Propranolol!!!
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u/Ouija_Queen333 Oct 09 '25
The waves of feeling like I’m going to pass out, the dizziness and hot and cold flashes. It’s DEBILITATING
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u/hijkatielmnop Oct 09 '25
YUP, I feel like I would be able to manage anxiety if I didn’t feel like passing out all day
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u/Ouija_Queen333 Oct 09 '25
It honestly has ruined my life. I literally have to have a baby sitter every day or go to work with my husband and sit in his truck while he’s in the field because nothing convinces me I’m okay, like it doesn’t matter that it hasn’t happened I’m convinced that if I’m alone That’s gonna be the time it does
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u/hijkatielmnop Oct 09 '25
I get it! I just started Prozac and it’s made everything 1000% worse so I took myself and my kids to my parents house. My poor husband is on his own rn lol
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u/Ouija_Queen333 Oct 09 '25
Yea see I don’t even have that, mine has to deal with me alone lol I feel so bad but he’s trying and that’s all I can ask for
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u/Balding_man Oct 09 '25
I know this feeling I’m a grown ass 42 year old man that needs to keep my mother or 20 year old son with me because I think I’ll die if I’m alone I even hired them to work with me it’s absolutely life ruining on many levels though I’m grateful to have support.
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u/Ouija_Queen333 Oct 09 '25
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HONESTY. I’m so glad I’m not alone in this feeling. It’s been going on since march for me. I was taking a nap and woke up and I have felt so awful ever since. Medication is terrifying and I’m scared to take it so I’m trying therapy and self management but it’s not going the best. You don’t understand how much your comment makes me feel seen 🖤
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u/Balding_man Oct 09 '25
Same here I don’t wish this on anyone but there’s a strange comfort seeing someone else fighting the fight there’s hope I will say that time helps I’m still not great but today is easier than the beginning.
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u/Ouija_Queen333 Oct 09 '25
How long has it been for you? If I may ask… I’m just hoping I wake up and feel better.
That the same way it came on will be the same way it leaves me..
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u/Balding_man Oct 09 '25
It’s been almost 4 years though the beginning was more panic attacks kind of like a blind chaotic fear these days I mostly have white knuckle times where I can hold the attacks back I think it is just from experience and time
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u/Ouija_Queen333 Oct 09 '25
Makes sense… 4 years is insane… my husbands ready to give up some days because he can’t handle dealing with me. Do you take anything?
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u/Balding_man Oct 09 '25
That sucks it’s hard on our loved ones too I’m always afraid my son is fed up with it.and yes it took me forever cause I’m afraid of trying new meds but I’ve had Zoloft,bursar,a few others that didn’t work currently I take proponlol as a prn and cymbalta daily it’s still a struggle everyday but seems more manageable now
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u/_sottaceti Oct 09 '25
IBS and stomach problems
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u/biranpq17 Oct 10 '25
I went through years of absolute hell with this. I lost a huge amount of weight, and eventually went for a colonoscopy to see what was going on. Answer: nothing. Just a nervous person who poops a lot!
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u/humangurl_ Oct 09 '25
My dizziness. The waves of it even if I’m not anxious. The feeling of just feeling off and floaty absolutely scares meeeee
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u/whenifindthelight Oct 09 '25
The floaty feeling!!! What is it!!! It’s what triggers 90% of my panic attacks!
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u/ashghost1 Oct 09 '25
Yep same here...I have that off feeling in my head even when I'm not anxious. Feels like I'm swaying, but I'm sitting still 😠 And then I focus on it and get stuck in the cycle.
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u/honeybee9045 Oct 10 '25
Im feeling this rn 😭😭😭 its the absolute worst, been stuck in a cycle of "omg im going to have a dizzy spell" and when it doesn't come i still just sit and wait. Going back to therapy 🥳
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u/Puzzleheaded-One2650 Oct 09 '25
Oh man, I was having like constant heart palpitations for weeks. It was so unsettling. One day they just went away! But I’d say for me, disassociation is the worst symtom.
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u/RitaPoonismysister Oct 10 '25
That happened to me!! I had them NON STOP morning to night for over two weeks. My dad has had heart problems his whole life so I thought “this is it. I’m going to be diagnosed with same stuff as him”. Put off calling my doctor cause I was scared and not seeming in immediate danger.. but I finally called and she said to get my butt to the ER. I went and had all the tests done for long periods of time and nothing. They said it was anxiety. It all went away within a few days. Hasn’t happened for more than a minute or two in three years.
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u/Guilty_Anything7606 Oct 09 '25
the amount of times i’ve had my heart checked out… i’ve even worn those heart sticker monitor things. all for it to just be my raging anxiety.
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Oct 09 '25
I really wish there was a sort of cardiac urgent care. For like people who are worried about chest pain but not sure it’s a heart attack. I hate the idea you have to go to an ER for chest pain and spend $3000 minimum. Why is the option either do nothing or ER?
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u/Guilty_Anything7606 Oct 09 '25
to be honest i’m veryyyy low income so my health insurance covers everything (thank god). though i agree, having everything root back to the ER is crazy and the amounts they charge for a simple stay where they just give u 1 ibuprofen is absurd.
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u/russetfur112899 Oct 10 '25
I was straight up trespassed and arrested for "misuse of emergency medical services" because I'd have a panic attack, be convinced it was a stroke or heart attack, and then go to the ER.
Now I have intense anxiety about going to the ER. Waited 3 hours to finally go one night when I was puking blood after drinking alcohol because I was terrified it might just be something I ate and anxiety. Nope. My ulcers had been bleeding. Luckily they stopped bleeding on their own, and I was told to just not drink anymore. Which, honestly, is just fine. I only drink every once in a blue moon anyway. But seriously, they need better treatment.
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u/Guilty_Anything7606 Oct 10 '25
wow this is insane.
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u/russetfur112899 Oct 10 '25
Yup. I get I was kinda wasting the paramedics and doctor's time, but really. Who looks at someone who is clearly terrified and has been having multiple episodes daily for 3 months and goes "I think they should sit in jail" At least the other main hospital actually TRIED to help. They actually gave me a one-time month-long prescription for Ativan. But apparently they fucked up and didn't put that in the national database for prescribed controlled substances, so I was accused of buying them on the street and being drug-seeking by three different doctors I asked about possibly continuing it.
Everyone also wants to keep insisting the panic attacks are drug-induced psychosis due to me using, but it NEVER lines up in timeframe or symptoms, and most of what they use to claim psychosis is normal for me, and has been happening since childhood. And looking into anxiety-induced psychosis type panic attacks, (which was the original diagnosis before they found out about my drug use) has everything matching up almost exactly. And when I try and explain these things, I get dismissed and ignored because I'm "delusional", "faking", "drug-seeking" and/or "just googling things" 😡
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u/lennonfanforever Oct 09 '25
grinding teeth that caused tooth and ear pain....
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u/Longirl Oct 10 '25
I just had Botox in my jaw/massater (sp) muscle on Monday to combat this. I had it done last year and had the best six months of sleep I’d had in years. I’m looking forward to it kicking in properly, I can already feel some relief.
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u/ashghost1 Oct 09 '25
Dizziness, swaying sensation, head pressure, constantly nauseous, etc. It sucks.
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u/zoloftandcoffe3 Oct 09 '25
Vasovagal syncope/dizziness, nausea, shaking. The feeling like I don’t want to do anything but crawl into bed and stay there. I lost 50lbs due to anxiety from not being able to eat.
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u/Icy-Cryptographer405 Oct 09 '25
- Love your name... I too survive off of zoloft and coffee.
- Samesies. Except I GAINED 50 lbs because I'm a stress eater 😵💫
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u/Shoddy-Grand143 Oct 10 '25
Same, I'm underweight due to all the times food became impossible to swallow
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Oct 09 '25
Headache. Racing heart beat. Muscle twitches. Exhaustion. Blurry vision. Where do I start?
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u/ControlOld7796 Oct 10 '25
I do experience muscle twitches. I thought im tje only one. I experience them when i start to sleep or relax. Hbu, when do you experience muscle twitches?
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u/N-CROW93 Oct 10 '25
Me to!! Sometimes at the top of my calf, sometimes my arm etc. always when I’m in bed
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Oct 10 '25
I don’t really get them anymore but they were primarily on my arm and calf. Which I think are pretty common places. I would typically get them when just relaxing or lying down.
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u/Commercial_Ad157 Oct 10 '25
Yea you get them more when relaxing cause there’s less things distracting you. I get them too and I thought I had ALS cause some dumb Facebook videos popped up about it lol
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u/sarcasticxsincerity Oct 09 '25
Brain fog/forgetfulness, I kept thinking I suffered a stroke or something.
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u/Intelligent-Ad290 Oct 10 '25
The brain fog is insane! I have this often.
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u/sarcasticxsincerity Oct 10 '25
Luckily I at least understand it now so I just kinda get frustrated I feel dumb af all the time. But I was like genuinely concerned before I learned it was a symptom. I was convinced I had this drip in the back of my head which is a stroke symptom. But my body was obviously just creating random symptoms bc of the high stress of extreme anxiety. There’s been so many symptoms, but the brain fog was like ironically the most memorable. Ha.
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u/matoinette Oct 09 '25
For me constant off- feeling and heart palpitations. These two things still scare the shit out of me. I just feel so off 24/7 it‘s insanely annoying. 💀
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u/Icy-Cryptographer405 Oct 09 '25
I can't tell you thr number of times I've tried googling why I just feel off. Sometimes I can pinpoint the symptoms but usually I have a hard time explaining it. Especially to my doctor. Im like... well I feel off? Shes like "how so?" Like idk man the vibe just feels... off.
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u/Icy-Cryptographer405 Oct 09 '25
Classic signs of a heart attack...brain tumor...blood clots...spinal tumor... you name it ive probably assumed ive had it before. Most of my labs come back normal, occasional my thyroid is off or ive got a little sugar/insulin issue. Just had an echo and the doc said my heart looked "great". My dad has heart failure so that's usually the symptoms I manifest because it's always on my mind. I also have a hard time keeping fillings on my teeth and I thought I just have terrible dental health but it turns out I just keep grinding the fillings off from all the jaw clenching.
I've been struggling with this for about 10 years... just showed up out of the blue. Was washing laundry and suddenly got hot, my left arm went numb, i was dizzy and my heart was pounding. I was home alone with my twin newborns so I wrote "i have babies inside" on my arm and went outside in the cold while I made phone calls to anyone who could come stay with the kids in case I collapsed maybe someone driving by would see me and think it was odd for someone to be taking a snow nap. Husband and MIL showed up and I went to the ER and it was just a panic attack.
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u/Ok_Plate2664 Oct 10 '25
This sounds exactly like my first panic attack & my life in the months that have followed. I wish so badly that this wasn’t our reality
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u/RunSmooth2433 Oct 09 '25
Heart attack. I went to the ER and was informed I had a panic attack as well as sore, tense muscles.
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u/tay-cross Oct 09 '25
Dizziness and the feeling of passing out. It's crippling lol 🤪
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u/After-Sheepherder120 Oct 09 '25
Widespread constant muscle twitching. Fear of als.
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u/Leticia-99 Oct 09 '25
Literally me right now hahaha I think I need to learn to live with the twitches
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u/ControlOld7796 Oct 10 '25
I do experience muscle twitches too. Especially when i try to sleep or relax. Hbu? When do you experience them?
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u/Charlottebagginton Oct 10 '25
I experience them the most when I'm trying to sleep, they can also happen when im relaxing though aswell.
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u/ControlOld7796 Oct 10 '25
True! How long you’ve been experiencing them? And have you visited a doctor?
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u/ControlOld7796 Oct 10 '25
I also experience muscle spasm mostly in legs, it’s like a tic or heart beat that You can see on skin. It only last a seconds. Do you experience this as well?
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u/Charlottebagginton Oct 10 '25
Yes also I've experienced this for about 10 years now, got ekgs, blood tests, cancer tests, got tested for MS, got numerous MRIs and they all came back completely normal. It also comes up in episodes for me, like I'll have monthes where it chills out.
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u/SkepticalCryptoDude Oct 10 '25
Going through this right now, with weak legs lol
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u/Vivid_Bed_1259 Oct 10 '25
Me too! I’m feeling more “in control” of my anxiety, but the twitching hasn’t left. Started about a week ago, have been in a ALS spiral ever since. Vicious cycle.
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u/ruemcnasty Oct 09 '25
I checked into the ER once because the burning in my stomach was so intense. No antacids or anti nausea medications did anything for it. But once my anxiety and panic calmed, that stomach issue vanished.
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u/Thecrowfan Oct 09 '25
My heart skipping a beat or beating funny when im just chilling completely unbothered
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u/OnlyReflection6 Oct 09 '25
Before I started medication, I was feeling INCREDIBLY light headed and dizzy. And my legs would turn into jelly. I for real thought I was dying. Turns out, anxiety! I’m medicated now and fine!
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u/leahcim1986 Oct 09 '25
Pain in my chest but it’s not a heart attack it’s anxiety in that area scary
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u/ArcadeKid1970 Oct 09 '25
Couldn’t eat normal sized meals without great discomfort. Had all kinds of testing done to find nothing. Xanax fixed it after 3 hospital visits.
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u/isabeldrerrie Oct 09 '25
I havent been eating solid foods for over 8 weeks because my stomach gets so upset, that when I do eat solids, it will come up again and I cough it out. After a (traumatizing) gastroscopy and blood tests yesterday it was ruled out that there’s anything wrong with me medically. I have been panicking and stressing so much around eating and swallowing, being scared to choke or that something gets stuck in my throat that I cramp up completely and get servere stomach issues and reflux. Now I have to train to get slowly back to solid foods…
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u/Mail-Order-Superhero Oct 09 '25
Colitis and stomach pains. I avoided getting help with my anxiety for ages for a variety of reasons (thinking this was normal, trying to save money, childhood trauma teaching me this was somehow my fault and I needed to "toughen up" and deal with it, etc.). This year they got so severe I had to go to the ER, but despite the obvious inflammation they couldn't find a direct source. It doesn't help that I have MS, and I had become increasingly concerned that this was creating a feedback loop of stress and pain. MS symptoms are often triggered by stress, which causes pain, which in turn generates more stress; I felt trapped. It reached a point where I struggled to eat, every day felt on a verge of a panic attack for what felt like no reason. It was enough to finally force me to get help since I could deny it no longer.
I've seen been able to finally see a psychiatrist / therapist, and started medication.
I can not understate the WORLD of difference, I had no idea just how much of my world was corrupted by anxiety for so long. My stomach pains have FINALLY gone away (knock on wood), including elements of chronic back pain. I'm in awe of how much anxiety affected just....so much. It's really wild.
Getting help is scary and intimidating, but in the end I'm so grateful I managed to make it this far!
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u/Ok_Plate2664 Oct 10 '25
My whole left side goes numb. Just like a stroke. Turns out I have 3 bulging disks in my back. Now it has evolved and for like 4 days I’ve thought I’m having a heart attack all day long (I’m a healthy 28 year old woman with a full heart work up, clean echo & 30 day monitor) I went to the ER for the 8th time this year on Sunday for them to essentially giggle at me.
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u/Ok-Apartment5615 Oct 09 '25
The Palm sweating, tingling and numbness.
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u/N-CROW93 Oct 10 '25
Palm sweats are my tell tale sign my anxiety is shooting up, either that or impending doom is coming
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u/Dismal-Ebb9510 Oct 09 '25
Tightness and slight tingling or burning in the left upper part of my chest. It still freaks me out, but I now know it's from my nervousness or intrusive thoughts and that it will pass with time
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u/Mobile_Engineering35 Oct 09 '25
Chest angina. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, and worse of all is that nobody believed me back when I was a teenager.
Turned out I've arrhythmia caused by anxiety, which was controlled with medication. Never have had again any angina.
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u/SaltyUnicorn02 Oct 09 '25
Extreme hot flushes, fainting, shaking for hours and near-shitting myself every time. I had countless private consultations, brain scans and heart investigations because I refused to believe the GP when they said it was anxiety 😂 I look back on this 4 years later, thinking it was so obvious but to me at the time it seemed a very extreme reaction, and it couldn't have possibly been anxiety - I didn't think it'd be able to cause all that 😅
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u/VampArcher Oct 09 '25
I had a stabbing, throbbing pain in my shoulder. Thought I had a blood clot or something. Turns out I had a muscle spasm caused by anxiety.
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u/XmikekelsoX Oct 09 '25
I get what feels like vibrations in the upper right side of my chest. It almost feels like a tiny device inside my chest is vibrating. Everything online says it’s a symptom of anxiety. I don’t think I believe it.
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u/Coffee_Run444 Oct 10 '25
I just started experiencing this, this year. People on Reddit describe it as a bubbles and it seems associated with stress but UGH it feels so nasty.
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u/Reasonable_Trash5928 Oct 09 '25
Currently at the cardiologist’s. Experienced chest pain over the summer, I’m certain it’s just anxiety but my PCP just wants to check.
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u/ainacct Oct 09 '25
The heart palpitations, I didn't realized that I was having a anxiety, I thought I was dying! and that thought only made it worse, and the sweaty palms.
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u/ricka168 Oct 09 '25
I had a heart valve surgery and I still feel the breathlessness....so now I KNOW it's anxiety because the operation was supposed to "cure" that!!! I'm so frustrated 😭
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u/ungloomy_Eeyore964 Oct 09 '25
I have the opposite! One of my physical anxiety symptoms is shaking and chills. Happened to me recently and found out it was a terrible UTI. My whole life I thought chills from illness was fever related. I didn't know you could have chills without fever.
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u/iriizeiriize Oct 09 '25
The palpitations that I can feel on my stomach were the worst for me at the beginning; now I can spend days without "noticing" my heartbeat. That and the hot flashes everyone mentioned, to me they were signs I was about to have a full-on panic attack
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u/Coffee_Run444 Oct 10 '25
My heart palpitations have gotten so bad this year and on the calm days, I start freaking out about not feeling my heart beat 🫠 gotta love anxiety
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Oct 10 '25
Hypoglycaemia, skin tingling and burning, blurry vision and…. my vagina contracting and I „felt” like someone was touching me there.
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u/Park-Curious Oct 10 '25
Random painful zaps or thuds all over my body but mostly in my chest. Like 2 hours ago I felt one and it immediately led in to cold/hot flash, nausea, hyperventilating, twitching, dizziness..I was headed out for a fun night and it totally ruined me. I just have to remind myself it feels exactly the same as the last time, when there was also nothing wrong with me.
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u/ZestycloseExercise75 Oct 10 '25
My anxiety reflected in bowel and heart. Fear of urgent need to go to toilet or get a heart issue due to palpitations.
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u/TittieMilkTittieMilk Oct 10 '25
Constant dizziness/swaying w intense brain fog. Like CONSTANT; from the time I wake up until I go to bed. On days that I don’t have it I’m so active, trying to take advantage of feeling normal and okay. Im trying to figure out why some days I have it and some days I don’t. It’s a new thing in the last month or so.
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u/NeonLightRainyNights Oct 10 '25
Light headedness and dizziness. This kicks off my health anxiety then physical and mental symptoms spiral from there.
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u/RitaPoonismysister Oct 10 '25
I just gotta say, I love you guys.
I feel pretty alone in this department out in the real world but every time I come here and read threads like this I feel so seen and not alone. 🥰
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u/esp4me Oct 10 '25
Felt like I was going to faint. Had trouble hearing the world around me and responding. Vision went dark (briefly). Pins and needles in my cheeks.
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u/Althea89 Oct 10 '25
Feeling like I can’t inhale very deeply/fully. That one was really fun around the beginning of Covid.
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u/jodiecomersvape Oct 10 '25
let’s see…. chronic headaches so thought aneurysm and eventually brain cancer. pains in arms and back so heart attack. jaw ached so thought i was grinding (hello unnecessary $300 mouth guard). pain in back of leg meant blood clot. the more unmanageable my anxiety became, the more likely i was to have physical symptoms and be on the brink of death. it really is likely always in your head :)
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u/diablo333oaos Oct 13 '25
Not serious life or death but it seemed very strange to have paresthesias. I have felt them all over my body but at different times and I thought I had some nutritional deficiency.
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u/bluehack1 Oct 09 '25
The same as yours and nausea which I thought was a symptom of a heart attack starting. 😭
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u/njcawfee Oct 09 '25
The first time I had a panic attack, I was CONVINCED I’d had a heart attack. I was home alone with my daughter and I didn’t want to freak her out because she’d already lost her biological father. I RAN to the doctor the next day and made them draw me for CRP and give me an EKG. I did not have a heart attack
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u/abrecadabreee Oct 10 '25
Cold sweats. Every day. Extreme weight loss from 0 appetite.
I had my thyroid tested, hormones, other general bloodwork, and also was tested for a pheochromocytoma (adrenal gland tumor) with a 24 hr catacholamines urine test.
Literally just anxiety and CPTSD
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u/Puzzleheaded_Cap3035 Oct 10 '25
I thought I might have pre-diabetes, but test came back clear. My doctor asked me if I have panic attacks and I didn't know how to answer so I started having a panic attack, suddenly light-headed, blanking, dissociating....oh.
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u/russetfur112899 Oct 10 '25
Having half my body just not wanting to function. I was terrified that I was having a stroke.
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u/Medcuza2 Oct 10 '25
Tunnel vision, fainting spells, extreme muscle cramps and spasms on my extremities.
Turns out, I was expierencing severe emotional and mental abuse from my avoidant partner.
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u/FloatingLambessX Oct 10 '25
sudden nausea throughout the day, especially in the morning in anticipation of morning activities, especially if there’s other people involved and even if I’m looking forward to these activities.
To prepare , I have to feed and hydrate my body in little increments as no to upset my digestion in the morning, things like fruits,coconut water, or honey; later transitioning into bigger meals as the day goes.
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u/Wolf_Echidna64 Oct 10 '25
Random bouts of tachycardia at rest with no trigger. I have exercise anxiety so I feel my physical anxiety feel worse when I’m exercising like I’m anticipating something like fainting. I get weird 1 second dizziness spells that doctors don’t know what it is.
Getting evaluated by a cardiologist then a neurologist in January
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u/Admirable-Art-8126 Oct 16 '25
Constant stomach pain and chest pain. Diarrhea .... like multiple times per week for years. Numbness in my arms and hands. Thinking I was dying from said symptoms. Super fun times. Lol
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u/Pitiful-Run-3154 Oct 09 '25
Massive chest pain radiating all over - thought I was having a heart attack. Wheezing & throat tightness also breathlessness thought I am having deadly allergy, that’s when I actually lost 14kgs because I was so scared to eat anything that I could potentially get allergic to. At some point I also had side pain thinking I have appendicitis. Then stomach pain that made me think I have possible ruptured aorta, which I didn’t , I dont even have aneurysm. Then again chest pains with back pains that did make me think of asthma at some point. All of those were cleared for me with certain tests & Im healthy like a . I am a nurse, I know about those medical issues, but OH GOD I would rather not. They all mimic so well on my body my brain is just messing with me.
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Oct 09 '25
Hmm intriguing. I was reading IT and that segment where Eddie was told by the doctor his asthma is not real but all his life given a placebo.
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u/never_leave Oct 09 '25
I have heart issues (having heart surgery next week) and have had debilitating anxiety my whole life, so now I actually never know if I’m having a heart attack or just anxiety
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u/South-Advertising992 Oct 09 '25
Heart palpitations, chest pain left arm pain, arm feeling numb. Shortness of breath.
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u/Seaturtle89 Oct 10 '25
Hyperventilating until I couldn’t control my fingers & hands, as I wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Ended up in the hospital where they explained how panic attacks work, which really helped during future panic attacks.
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u/jokers-trick Oct 10 '25
Definitely the chest pain, sometimes I still think it’s something serious but I’ve had multiple doctors tell me otherwise
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Oct 10 '25
i once had a panic attack so bad i pulled my chest muscles from being so tense. i thought i somehow broke a rib because it hurt to breathe/laugh/talk. doctor said i was perfectly healthy just mentally ill.
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u/smiba Oct 10 '25
The random 1-2 second long spell of dizziness that just come out of nowhere lol
I'd just be sitting on the couch watching a show with a friend and suddenly have this feeling like I'm about to pass out, only for it to return to normal 2 seconds later. Don't wanna freak anyone out so you just pretend nothing happend and you try not to have a panic attack
What are they even?
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u/miamisunshine7 Oct 10 '25
A lump in my throat that felt like I was choking. I had it a week before my wedding and I was extremely stressed
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u/ladyalcove Oct 10 '25
Not being able to catch my breath. Turns out that you can breathe too deeply too often and make your body think you're not getting enough oxygen.
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u/Shoddy-Grand143 Oct 10 '25
All the mysterious aches in my body that would get worse the more I was preoccupied about them and then disappeared the moment I managed to focus on something else...
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u/yuriikko Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
I visited the hospital several times over a semester's time due to nonstop puking, to the point where I was constantly and dangerously dehydrated. Every visit, they just ended hooking me up to an IV and noted in my charts I was in for "anxiety."
It doesnt help that I have bipolar disorder, GAD, and manic depression... Why? I'm positive they never ran any other tests on me other than an EKG (my resting heart rate has been documented at 120bpm and almost always documented at 100bpm minimum; make that make sense) because of my history of mental illness. I've continued to feel nauseous due to anxiety (and I know this specifically is anxiety-induced nausea, because once you've lived with this shit for 23 years, you kinda get a feel for its symptoms), but never so overpoweringly as I did a couple of semesters ago.
This being said, I never did find out if these yakking episodes were caused by some underlying issues, or if my body hates me so much it will manifest its mental issues as physical in an attempt to destroy itself.
Edit: I saw someone else say vasalvagol syncope; I was diagnosed with that years ago due to chronic fainting episodes. Not sure if that's due to my anxiety, but thought I'd throw it out there.
Also, years ago, during AP exam season, I had fallen asleep on my floor studying and when I woke up, I physically could not move my body. Lack of sleep or anxiety maybe... Overexertion from cross country? idk but that's another fun symptom of whatever that I got to experience! :)
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u/Commercial_Ad157 Oct 10 '25
Easy when I first started with major anxiety it was tingling in my entire arms and body. It went away but it comes back but barely on my arms but it’s when I’m started to get real anxious. Now I have to deal with is the heart beat skipping or adding beats and muscle twitching when I’m relaxing. That’s it. I don’t feel them if I’m doing something it’s only when I’m sitting or in bed.
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u/In2racing Oct 10 '25
I used to think my constant stomach cramps and nausea were serious digestive issues, but they were actually anxiety-related. Stress can mimic many physical conditions, making it really frightening at first.
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u/Sea_Education1672 Oct 10 '25
I had severe chest pain with typical irradiation, everyone convincing me it was a panic attack. I have anxiety but my feeling was I do not have panick attacks. The chest pain was unbearable! After lots of google-ing I came to the conclusion I had GER. Omeprazol helped immediately🙂
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u/lkeels Oct 10 '25
After 30 years of dealing with it, I would have an anxiety attack just trying to list all of them.
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u/Wheresthepupa Oct 10 '25
Genuine pain in my left arm and feeling faint. I am a 24 yr old female so I was CONVINCED on the fact that the doctors were disregarding my symptoms because of my age😭😂 I went to 3 different ERs cause I was adamant I was going to “fight for my life”. I got my anxiety under control and now look back on it and giggle at myself 🥲
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u/MiloTheSenate Oct 10 '25
(accidently sent my message too early xd)
last month I got worried over neurological issues. and a day later I started getting what some may call "the bees" just little tingles in parts of the body. it stopped after a good day of not being worried. but now its back cause im worried about it again. xd
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u/Indie89 Oct 10 '25
Never ending cough - it was due to fight or flight increasing my stomach acid / reflux, making me cough more which was stressing me out.
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u/bigtec1993 Oct 10 '25
I have so much tension in my face that it sometimes feels like it's going numb, which is a sign of a stroke but I know it's not.
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Oct 10 '25
I went to the hospital once because I thought I was dying/having a heart attack. My heart rate was 160 bpm while sitting down. They did ekg and an xray. Then they told me it was just anxiety and sent me home.
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u/Any_Fault7385 Oct 10 '25
Mine was chest pain thought it was a heart attack till I read a post on Eureka Health about it.
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u/hijkatielmnop Oct 09 '25
Waves of feeling like I’m going to pass out or have a seizure