What are your anxiety symptoms?

[melissarene]

When you look up online, there are literally hundreds of side effects one may feel from panic attacks. I know it varies by person and I'm wondering what each of you go through.

I'll start:

- Heart racing/palpitations
- Dry mouth
- Nausea / upset stomach
- Face flushing / a feeling of blood rushing to my face
- The need to move about, whether or not that is making fists and pounding lightly on my thighs or just moving around my limbs a bit, as if trying to shake it off.
- Sometimes I have the urgent need to escape -- run outside for fresh air.

After an attack: I feel EXHAUSTED. Depending on how bad the attack is, I may have more later while I worry about it. That day and into the next I'm sometimes just missing any and all energy. Which makes me worry about whether or not I'm sick and may send me into another attack. I go through cycles...

Any one else feel the same, or are there other things you feel you go through? My husband's gma actually DOES v* sometimes from anxiety and I'm wondering, as emets we avoid that side effect or if any of you have it?

[Hay]

Yes, symptoms really do vary massively from each individual.
In my typical anxiety/panic attack, I would have:

- fast paced heart
- nausea
- tight throat and chest
- loss of appetite
- fidgety, I also need to move about, like scratch my head or hands
- feeling of doom

Usually after an attack, I suddenly feel relieved and fine like I have overcome a horrible moment and everything is normal again.
My attacks usually vary in severity, depending on the trigger.

I think it is unlikely for an emet to actually v* from anxiety as the anxiety would be from fear of actually v*. If you know what I mean! So we try everything in our power to avoid v* so we probably wouldn't v*.

I like your question, it really links everyone together!

Also, do you suffer from IBS also as I do as a result of this phobia and general anxiety and stress? (damn this phobia!)

[melissarene]

I used to suffer from IBS ALL THE TIME. Now I do when I go through days of feeling constantly anxious and stressed. I either am constipated or have a cramping stomach. Thank goodness no d* or anything. That would also drive the phobia NUTS.

[Hay]

Lucky you! I get the d* symptoms with my ibs which is a pain as it causes me paranoid anxiety that i have caught something or have food p*.

[Murder-my-soul]

I get:
-Heart racing
-Weird breathing problems
-Nausea
-I wave my hands infront of my face like a mad women (looks like I am trying to fan myself)
-Sometimes I try running from my emotions

For me the only quick cure is to make myself cry. I literally make myself cry and feel better.

[melissarene]

That used to happen to me a lot about 5 years ago. It was so terrible. I'm not even sure why I no longer deal with d*, but sometimes the things I used to deal with come back so I hope it stays away! I'm going through a super stressful time and I'm just waiting to have an episode, lol....

[Hay]

I usually notice a pattern or trigger for ibs d*: chocolate, dried fruit, rich food or anxiety or stress. If you do get a d* ibs episode, don't panic about it as your mega stress would be the cause of it! Psychological stress affects the digestive system sensitively with ibs people!

[jennjt]

Melissarene, you describe my panic attacks to a T! I am coming down from one now, unfortunately, so it's super fresh in my mind The overall feeling of heat and nausea, of course, freak me out the worst. I get super tired, too, afterwards-- like physically exhausted & mentally drained, but not necessarily sleepy. It was also comforting in a weird way to read Murder-my-soul's post about flapping her hands in front of her face... I flap my hands, too when I'm panicking! My husband pointed it out recently, and sure enough... I think I do it because my arms / hands get all numb-ish & tingly but also because I want to "shake it off," too...

[out_of_order]

Depending on the severity of my attacks, my symptoms vary. Some panic attacks tend to last all day long (one will finish and a short time later another one starts) and while those are exhausting for obvious reasons, they're less intense than the ones that last an hour or two. I've never had a quickie 10 - 20 minute attack that so many sites describing them talk about. My symptoms are many.

Lightheadedness
Feelings of unreality
Blurry vision
Dry mouth
My ears (one or both) feel like they're full of water
Choking sensation - sometimes a lump in my throat
Racing heart
Feeling like I can't breathe
Nausea (of course!!!). Sometimes I gag but usually not. But never vomit (thank God!!!)
Diarrhea
Shaking like I'm cold even though I'm always hot as hell during an attack
Tingling in my hands (like when your hand falls asleep)
Wobbly legs, like they're made of jelly but this might be because of the lightheadedness and not a separate symptom?
A terrifying feeling of something awful is happening to me - like a medical emergency
Can't sit still - have to "run" away or at the very least move around, get away from people if I'm not alone, go outside or somewhere cool

After it's over, I almost instantly feel normal again but I'm beyond exhausted - like I've run a marathon. And, of course, because I'm an emetophobic nut job, even though I've had literally thousands of panic attacks, my brain doesn't want to believe that's "all it was" so I start worrying "What was that? What's wrong with me? Am I sick? Was that REALLY just a panic attack?" This is when I distract myself and eventually my mind calms down and the scary thoughts stop and everything is fine again........... until the next one.