Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety

It’s common for an anxiety sufferer to search for escapes, or temporary relief through things such as alcohol, fatty comfort foods and smoking. We are perhaps lead to eating drastically more or considerably less and our water intake maybe differs from our usual consumption. Diet factors, stress, medication and dehydration can all make differences to our blood pressure, which in turn causes further noticeable changes in our bodies including changes in the rhythm of the heart. Our electrolyte levels are altered by the physical symptoms of anxiety, physical exertion, lack of nutrients from our diet and dehydration. An electrolyte imbalance is often a cause for palpitations to occur, which can be fixed with an improved diet and adequate hydration. Then of course the most common cause of heart palpitations in anxiety sufferers are the surges of adrenaline that seem to occur at any time of day. An adrenal and hormonal imbalance directly affects the heart rate, but is actually harmless and becomes less frequent when the sufferer comes to terms with the condition. Chest flutters aren’t always linked with the heart and are often misinterpreted as the heart ’fluttering’ or beating quickly. Acid reflux, trapped wind, I.B.S and indigestion often release gastrointestinal gases and create excess stomach acid, which can apply pressure to the chest and sternum area causing a fluttering affect. Flutters can also be mistaken for spasms in the chest muscles, which are another very common symptom of anxiety. Anxiety can often cause the victim to feel various pains that can occur in and across the chest area.

Point Blank

Unfortunately, the pains are often mistaken for something worse than what they actually are and because they can vary in terms of the type of pain, the location on the chest and the time of day they can strike, they can often cause the anxiety victim to assume the worst about them. There are several reasons why chest pains occur as a result of an anxiety problem. The first and primarily the most common reason is muscle tension. These areas are mainly the chest, back, shoulders and abdomen. When we’re dealing with a lot of adrenaline, our muscles tense up to provide an outlet for it all. As a result this causes all sorts of muscles to be expanded and contracted almost entirely against our will. The muscle tensing process is harmless in the long term, however in the short term all the scrunching, tensing and contracting will cause all sorts of pain that can differ from muscle to muscle. Our digestion cycle can be affected by anxiety, due to our body focusing on dealing with the adrenaline and other bodily chemicals that are released during periods of high anxiety. The stomach can often produce excessive acid and gases which push up against the chest causing pressure against the sternum and chest muscles. An observation of the digestive cycle is usually required to identify this as the cause, as well as noting what you’ve eaten prior to chest pains occurring. During periods of anxiety we may become prone to scanning our bodies for signs of an anomaly or trying to find something that’s wrong. For example, we may think that an odd pain we experience is a sign of something serious, perhaps we become irrationally fearful of something in our environment, or a sense of derealisation indicates that we’re potentially going insane.

Everybody Needs Somebody

Unfortunately, hypersensitivity seems to work hand in hand with anxiety. Our reasoning may tell us that the shortness of breath and the rapid heart beat are the culprits for this anxiety, when in fact it is quite the opposite. If you find yourself constantly scanning your body then I’m afraid that you’re already anxious! It is common for most people to experience palpitations and differences in breathing and often passes unnoticed. However, when we are hypersensitive, we often clock on to every twinge and difference we spot within us which just adds to the worry pile. The breathing becomes a serious issue and the heart palpitation is suddenly something severe. Hypersensitivity occurs as a direct result of adrenaline being released into the system, but is unfortunately intensified through repetitive habit. When our body activates our fight or flight response, we immediately enter a mode of hyperawareness, something that’s sandy in times of danger and is part of our genetic makeup. However, when an anxious episode strikes the same process happens, except that confusion often follows because there is often no identifiable cause/danger in front of us. The hyperawareness can then become channeled into hypersensitivity and we begin to analyse ourselves. After all, if there’s no danger in front of us, or an easy explanation, then it must be our bodies that are the cause of the problem. We begin to search for things that simply are not there. The simple process of body checking causes a lot of unnecessary stress for the body to handle.

Climbing Up The Walls

A panic attack is when an intense feeling of fear, dread, loss of control and entrapment overwhelm a person. Accompanying these feelings are thoughts of an imminent disaster, impending doom and even the fear of sudden death. A panic attack is often unexplainable and can appear to strike without an identifiable trigger. Panic attacks are often responsible for unnecessary trips to the hospital and can often mask themselves as a heart attack, stroke or mental breakdown. The most prominent effect of a panic attack is its unbelievable ability to make somebody believe the most irrational and unlikeliest of scenarios and outcomes. Sufferers can often find the experience so terrifying that they fear it will happen again. A panic attack happens when the body releases a large amount of unexpected adrenaline into the bloodstream. Adrenaline can cause all sorts of changes both physically and mentally, the most prominent change being the stimulation of our nervous system. If we’re unprepared or caught off guard by a newly released dump of adrenaline, then it could be expected of us to panic about this sudden change in our body.