Anyone with anxiety, what are your symptoms?

I have anxiety and whenever I get a symptom, particularly if it's different to usual or more severe and it's really difficult to know whether they are due to the anxiety, another health condition I have or something else, which makes me worry more. One of my friends is calm and she says just ignore it but I do find it difficult. I should probably go back to the doctors, I think I'm avoiding it but I don't want to go unless I have to really. Anybody else's experience/advice would be helpful, thank you :smile:

My main worry at the moment is lightheadedness, although I do feel tired a lot or get easily tired too. I have other symptoms but it can be hard to tell what they are. For example, I have a weird feeling in my chest a lot like I've trapped something there and I'm holding my breath and it just feels worry-full and possibly I'm tense but it can be hard to tell. Thing is my anxiety has reduced after cbt, yet I'm feeling more lightheaded. I also feel dizzy sometimes. I have ibs and I think the anxiety makes it worse, at least sometimes anyway.

Also, does anyone ever have to force themselves to do things? There are things I want to do in my free time, as well as more worky things but I either feel anxious and stressed about them or just 'can't be bothered' and find it really hard to do things even though deep down I want to or I will enjoy it. My concentration has become awful so even if I get something ready, I can easily drop it and give up and get distracted. I rarely ever used to procrastinate either and now i'm awful at it. Any help?

I have some relaxation exercises that sometimes help but I just can't be bothered with them a lot of the time and I feel anxious about it sometimes.

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Also, I don't feel like I'm always anxious when I become lightheaded?

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

I used to get the lightheadedness and your symptoms too, and after I went to the doctor I found out it was because I had low iron levels, and that can have an impact on your mental health. I have IBS too and I've learnt how to manage it better. For example, there are certain foods which trigger a flare up of my IBS, and for me, its dairy products, excess sugar and (this sounds odd) but white wheat products (like white bread, pasta etc). Also, caffeinated products are known to be bad for both IBS and anxiety.
Anxiety and depression unfortunately can be a symptom of IBS. Some of your mood symptoms will likely be caused by the IBS. I have had the concentration and procrastination problems too. They were again due to my low iron levels, which was caused by the IBS.
I wasn't even anaemic, I just had slightly lower than average iron levels, and that had quite a big impact on me. I went to the doctor when I was depressed, and they did some blood tests and found out about the iron, then prescribed me iron tablets.
If you know you have IBS, you could do some research to find out how to help yourself. There may or may not be certain foods which make you worse. Also, I'm not going to tell you to "avoid stress" like all the websites do, because thats unlikely! It helped my anxiety when I organised everything, so I made timetables, made routines, did homework on time. Simple stuff like that helped me.
I hope you feel a bit better soon.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

Thank you for your reply! :smile:

I've had blood tests before which I think included iron, they've always come back normal apart from a couple of times my vitamin D has been low but they only put me on tablets for like a month each time. I'm due to have a blood test for coeliac because apparently they didn't do that before but I don't think I have it. I do really struggle to find what my triggers are because it seems like anything and everything can trigger my symptoms! Every dinner I try can make me feel ill and I feel ill every morning. The anxiety makes this worse which is especially annoying when going to uni. I'm starting to think that maybe I'm having panic attacks. In CBT my depression score was severe like my anxiety and I found out that I also have OCD which makes the anxiety worse. However, I can now challenge the anxious thoughts better but I think I'm still tense and anxious to an extent? I'm wondering if relaxation will help any of my symptoms because of being tense but it's so hard to relax enough! Plus, I also worry if some symptoms are due to something else and if I am relaxed and my IBS plays up that just makes me feel rubbish but there seems to be no clear pattern with it. With the concentration, I just don't know, I always seem to be giving up things quite quickly rather than sitting and getting through them or I just think that I can't be bothered and I'm fed up of forcing myself to do things. I just wish that I could feel relax and enjoy things and not think so much, I stress about things when if I just made myself do them for a bit they would be done but I hate having to force myself to do things, hobbies or work-related and that makes me more tense. Plus I'm really indecisive which probably makes me tense as I can't decide what to do when and lots of things come into my mind and it's hard to pick between them, I often end up ignoring some things.

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Oh and I'm also really indecisive about buying things and I spend ages thinking about it and just can't decide and I can't concentrate on much else!

Reply 5

EloiseStar

I can be just suffering from anxiety, when straight forward I'll be worrying and maybe a pacing heart beat. When it gets worse and I guess is an anxiety attack, I feel like my chest is tight and I can only take short breaths. I have an ache in my chest that never subsides and is worse during the attacks. I feel sick and at its worse, I will be sick. Pacing thoughts, stomach upset, sometimes tears

Reply 6

EloiseStar

I feel like I can't do the simplest of things, as if it would cause me physical pain (I guess this is from chest tightness).

Reply 7

Anonymous #1

Original post by EloiseStar

I feel like I can't do the simplest of things, as if it would cause me physical pain (I guess this is from chest tightness).

Hi Eloise, thank you for commenting! That sounds awful, are you undergoing any treatment/therapy? I have a weird feeling in my chest a lot but I can't really explain what it is. After having CBT I can now understand a lot of my thoughts but I still feel anxious and tense almost all the time, I get stressed just at the idea of things, especially worky things, I want to condition myself to spend more time doing my hobbies and to not freak out about everything but I'm still not quite sure how to get there yet. When I started university I was doing way too much work and every time I would do something nice I felt like I couldn't do it for long as I had to get back to my work which I think has exaggerated itself into where I have to force myself to do things when I feel depressed and I get stressed easily and I'm always anxious and when I relax say on a game I sometimes think 'what is the point?' or I get stressed about the fact that I have to spend time working. I spend so much time thinking too. I wish I could just get on with the work without feeling stressed and anxious about it and to be able to get it done quickly and then relax. I hope you feel a bit better soon

Reply 8

EllainKahlo

Chest pain, hyperventilating, rapid heart beat, loss of appetite, feeling cold/sweating, crying etc.

Reply 9

Anonymous #1

Original post by EllainKahlo

Chest pain, hyperventilating, rapid heart beat, loss of appetite, feeling cold/sweating, crying etc.

Ellain, I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing anxiety too, do you have any strategies to tackle it yet?

Reply 10

EllainKahlo

Original post by Anonymous

Ellain, I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing anxiety too, do you have any strategies to tackle it yet?

Sadly not. I'm not sure there's anything that would ever changed my anxiety other than learning to live with it to be honest.

Reply 11

Vikingninja

Multiple OCD's, easily stressed, loss of appetite when I do, gag reflex and panic attacks when it gets too bad, low self esteem.

Quite a few are also tied to my Asperger's syndrome.

Reply 12

Sabertooth

Nausea sometimes to the extent of vomiting, shaking, heart-rate increased, sweating, panic attacks if it's something extremely anxiety-inducing.

After the anxiety passes, I usually end up in bed crying and hating myself for being such a loser.