Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The Signs and Symptoms

Before I had ever heard the term GAD, I spent years living with a bunch of very physical symptoms that simply did not make sense. 

Even after I was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder, I still couldn’t understand why I dealt with certain symptoms every single day of my life. 

My heart raced non-stop, and while I could kind of understand that a racing heart can go hand in hand with anxiety, I couldn’t understand why it never stopped racing, even when I was sitting or lying down or attempting to bring it down with slow, deep breaths. 

My heart was something I obsessed over constantly, it was my entire life. 

I was scared to shower, to go buy groceries, to even just get out of bed, because any kind of exertion made it shoot up, higher than it already was. 

Do you know how it feels when your heart constantly races? 

Okay, so to be fair, if you’re reading this then you likely have anxiety and know exactly how it feels, but in case you’re reading this to get a deeper insight into gad and anxiety symptoms, perhaps as support for someone suffering in your life, then let me just tell you that it is hell. 

You are physically uncomfortable all the time, always aware of your heartbeat that you often feel in various parts of your body.

You feel your blood pulsing in your ears with each beat and you always fear that you’re going to pass out. 

You’re told you have anxiety, but you’re not told just how physical it actually is or how to deal with the symptoms naturally.

Heart symptoms were just one side of my GAD

It’s bad enough dealing with a galloping, pounding and fluttering heart, but that was just one of my very many daily symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

Another symptom that truly baffled me, not to mention left me in a constant state of fear; one, due to the feeling of it, and two, because my health anxiety told me that this simply had to be a symptom of something serious, yet still undetected was…

Can you guess?

If you said dizziness then congratulations or rather, I am so sorry that you have dealt with it too. 

When I say dizziness I don’t necessarily mean a feeling like the room is spinning around you, you know that feeling when you are tipsy or well past that stage?

Instead, I felt this permanent sense of being weirdly off-balance and like I was never walking straight or even like my body was never really fully upright. 

Many people describe it as feeling like the floor is always moving beneath their feet, which I think sums it up pretty well. 

This was another symptom that made me never want to go anywhere and, in fact, it was one of the symptoms that contributed to agoraphobia during the height of my anxiety. 

Things got so bad for me at one point that just the thought of stepping outside of my front door or even just walking to the mailbox resulted in a full-blown panic attack.

I share my entire story with you in my first book, “Help! Why Am I So Anxious?!”

Common symptoms of GAD

If my racing heart and dizziness weren’t bad enough, I also dealt with other daily (yes, really) symptoms that made life feel really hard. 

Shortness of breath, DPDR episodes, muscle twitching, allergy-type symptoms and feeling constantly run-down. 

I was tired all the time, my tummy never felt right and I was nauseous a lot. I also had other symptoms that freaked me out like spots in my vision and this feeling of something stuck in my throat. 

I mean how you can not obsess over your health when you have such real and intense physical symptoms every day of your life? 

Keep in mind too that GAD is not only physical, it’s also mental and emotional and the combination takes a real toll. 

You can see a list of over 100 generalized anxiety symptoms here. 

I list out every symptom, along with coping methods, calming skills, supplement and nutrition tips and recommendations, little pep talks and so much more in my Anxiety A to Z Encyclopedia.

GAD versus Panic

Many people are confused as to the difference between GAD and panic disorder, thinking that symptoms only happen during panic attacks (you know now that isn’t the case) or that if you have gad then you have panic disorder too (again, this isn’t always the case and many people just have gad or vice versa).

Also, many people are so confused as to why their symptoms stay long after a panic attack, but again, this is the biggest characteristic of generalized anxiety; constant and daily symptoms, with or without panic disorder. 

I had undiagnosed GAD for years without panic attacks, until one day my first panic attack hit and boom, I now had panic disorder too, yay. 

Here are some key differences between the two:

Another common sign of GAD

Okay, so by now you know that GAD causes a heap of physical symptoms that can stick with you every single day and, if you have panic disorder, they can linger long after the adrenaline buzz of panic subsides. 

But there is another major sign of GAD that I actually wrote a whole blog post on, as well as recorded a podcast episode on, as I truly believe it’s one that needs to be spoken of more.

It’s this feeling of anticipation in your gut that makes you believe that something is coming. Your brain takes this as a “sign” or bad omen and if you give into the feeling and the scary thoughts connected to it then you can very quickly spiral into a dark place. 

That feeling of impending doom that people often talk about during a panic attack, it can linger like an unwelcome guest every minute of every day if you have GAD, I promise you that.

Is it possible to actually enjoy a good, anxiety-free day?

Yes, if you drop all expectations and allow yourself to feel how you feel. 

When I felt good, my brain just kept going on a loop: 

“How long is this going to last”

“What if my anxiety comes back while I am out” and on and on.

Of course these thoughts quickly brought my anxiety on because I hadn’t allowed myself to enjoy feeling good and I was putting pressure on myself and trying to control it. 

You need to say, “You know what? I feel good right now and I am going to enjoy it. If I feel anxious later or in the next minute, that is okay, I will deal with it then.”

When we try to push it away it likes to creep in, but when we accept how we feel moment to moment, we let our body know that we are safe and you’ll start to experience less intense symptoms. 

You may still feel a knot of anticipation in your gut on those anxious-free days, but try to let it be okay that it’s there, don’t try to force it away.

Your comfort zone has become feeling on edge and dealing with physical symptoms so on days they get better, your brain may take this as a sign of danger and you’ll feel that in your gut. 

The more you let yourself exist side by side with your anxiety, rather than fighting against it, the better you will start to feel as you are signaling to your brain that you are safe.

There is hope

I know that feeling of not believing that you could ever possibly move past the claustrophobic hold that severe anxiety has on you, as it becomes your entire life. 

Trust me, I was there. 

I was you. 

All you need is a big enough desire to feel better and enjoy life again, that is truly where you need to begin. 

You need to be so fed up that you refuse to continue this way. 

The next step is then starting to get curious, real curious, as you delve into research about gad and your possible triggers.

You need to understand your anxiety first. 

If you’re trying to help someone close to you then you need to understand what they are going through first, otherwise how will you know how to give them what they need? 

So take it day by day, and don’t ever stop advocating for yourself. 

Dig into my blog, my podcast, my posts on social media, and if it feels right then dig into my books too. 

I share everything I wish had been readily available to me during my darkest days to hopefully help make the transition to a calmer life a little easier for you. 

You deserve a life free from crippling anxiety, you just need to believe it.