It’s always hard to break down anxiety symptoms into a small group of just 5 or 10 or, in this case, 7 symptoms, because as we know, the list of anxiety symptoms is far more extensive than that.
In this post, however, I wanted to focus specifically on the symptoms that I found the most unsettling when they came up.
I am sure you will agree!
No rambly intro this time, let’s just get right into it!
I’ll share a little about how these symptoms showed up for me, a quick tip for instant relief, as well as more in-depth resources on each symptom to help guide you in the right direction.
Feeling weirdly off-balance 24/7, even when sitting or lying down
I have to say that I was amazed at just how many other people related to my experience with this symptom when I first spoke about it in our community on Instagram.
Dizziness was a symptom that was constant for me, but I wouldn’t have even always described it as dizziness the way most people may think of dizziness.
Sure, sometimes it did feel like the room was spinning around me, like I was tipsy when I was completely sober.
Add symptoms like brain fog and dpdr to the mix and it only intensifies that feeling that you’re drunk or high when you are stone cold sober, which is incredibly unsettling and can quickly lead to panic.
Most of the time I just felt weirdly light-headed. In fact, many people emphasize the fact that they feel extremely weird in their head, which leads to a feeling of instability on their feet (more on this in the next symptom).
It would manifest differently according to the day and my level of anxiety, but that unsettling feeling of never feeling fully stable never left me.
Most people actually describe it as feeling like the floor is moving beneath their feet.
I had a hard time accepting that anxiety could truly cause me to feel permanently off-balance, but now, years later, after much research, connecting with others, and of course, coming as far as I have in my own anxiety journey, I can confirm it is an extremely common symptom, one of the most common, in fact!
Quick tip:
Shallow breathing is just one contributing factor to dizziness, but it’s a big one. One of my top tips is to breathe in and out through your nose only when dizziness strikes or to try alternate nostril breathing. I also love straw breathing, which involves breathing out through pursed lips (as if you are breathing out through a straw) to drastically slow your exhale versus your inhale, which is so helpful for calming a frazzled nervous system).
Resources:
Have a listen to episode 6 of my podcast where I go into detail on dizziness and everything I learned about this uncomfortable and scary symptom.
Here’s the blog if you’d prefer to read.
In episode 25 I focus specifically on all the possible causes of your dizziness and what can help.
Extreme head pressure and ear fullness, like something is squeezing your skull
Ugh, the head pressure drove me crazy!
It made me obsess over my blood pressure, as I worried that it was too high.
White coat syndrome (an extremely high reading when blood pressure is taken in medical settings) certainly didn’t alleviate my fears.
My head would feel so tight, that it would feel like it was going to explode; that’s how I’d always describe it.
I’d get pressure and a feeling of fullness in my ears too, which made for a very uncomfortable and unsettling combination that also made me feel very off balance.
This head pressure, paired with the racing heart and dizziness and blurry vision made me never want to leave my home. One day I got back from a particularly panicky grocery trip and all of my symptoms (including this extreme head pressure) were so severe that I frantically gulped down Tulsi tea along with magnesium glycinate, praying for relief.
Quick tip:
This common yet terrifying sensation often starts in the neck and shoulders when we are constantly tensing up without even realizing it. Jaw tension plays a huge role here too, especially with the ear symptoms, ringing included!
Be consciously aware of relaxing tight muscles throughout your day. Unclench that jaw, let your shoulders drop from where they may currently be hunched around your ears and indulge in a gentle self-massage, as well as apply a topical magnesium gel for fast relief.
Here’s a quick yoga flow for the neck and shoulders that you can do daily for tension and pain that may be contributing to head pressure and tension headaches.
Resources:
Have a listen to episode 14 of my podcast.
My head tension and tension headaches blog post
Facial twitching, numbness, tension and tingling that won’t stop
I sneezed so hard recently that I hurt a muscle in my neck and it led to facial tingling and numbness on the side I had hurt it.
Despite the fact that I have dealt with facial symptoms many times before (many, many times!) this feeling reminded me again how unsettling and scary facial symptoms truly are.
I have lost count the number of times in my life I frantically ran to the mirror to check for signs of dropping, as my face pricked and tingled and I went into full-blown panic that perhaps this time it’s a stroke!
The numbness and tingling screamed stroke fears for me, but I’d also get this weird tightness in my face, along with twitching that really freaked me out.
Another facial symptom I have dealt with is redness and burning. In fact, in a few panic-inducing moments in my life, I went into full freeze mode and my face and neck turned blood-red and burned like my skin was on fire.
I learned that this is a common manifestation of extreme anxiety, but man, it’s really uncomfortable and unsettling when it happens.
Resources:
Instead of a quick tip here, I’d like to share this blog post where I talk more on each scary facial symptom and some things that may help.
A squeezing sensation around your ribcage and a feeling like you are never getting enough air
I think we can agree that any chest and heart symptoms are an immediate cause for panic, as our health anxiety will always make us think the absolute worst.
Most ER trips due to anxiety are thanks to symptoms that mimic a heart attack, so it’s not really any surprise and try not to be hard on yourself if this has happened to you; anxiety symptoms are extremely intense!
Shortness of breath/air hunger is another awful anxiety symptom, especially when paired with this squeezing around the ribs!
I have dealt with shortness of breath since I was just 6 years old and even though I have had it so many times it still scares me to this day.
Quick tip:
Most of the time this squeezing sensation is due to tensing up our muscles so finding ways to consciously unclench tightmuscles can be really helpful. I like those meditations that encourage you to release one body part at a time, and I actually recorded one a while back that you may enjoy 🙂
Resources:
For heart and chest symptoms I recommend episode 7 of my podcast.
Extreme heart flutters
Heart palpitations are not only extremely uncomfortable, they are absolutely terrifying and it’s hard to try to convince ourselves all is okay when our heart is fluttering like a trapped bird in our chests!
You may feel the urge to cough, which is your body naturally trying to regulate your heartbeat so let it happen, it’s completely normal.
I have dealt with this one far too many times to even count, but like with air hunger, they still scare me at times today, especially when they are frequent and intense.
They tend to get worse for me when I don’t sleep, am extremely stressed and during hormonal changes, especially ovulation. To be honest, sometimes my ovulation symptoms are even more intense than my pre-period symptoms.
Of course, caffeine and alcohol contribute too, which is why I no longer drink it.
Quick tip:
Finding ways to stimulate your vagus nerve can help with heart palps in the moment. Coughing, humming, bearing down (as if you are going to the toilet) can help to slow your heart and regulate your heartbeat. I also love magnesium glycinate, as it’s helped me with more than just frequent heart palpitations!
Resources:
Here’s the blog where I share everything that you need to know about heart palpitations.
Feeling like there is a lump in your throat (globus sensation) and that scary air-bubble type feeling in the throat
How on earth are you supposed to get through your day and enjoy your meals when it feels like you have something permanently lodged in your throat and you fear choking due to this awful feeling?
Globus sensation is harmless and you can still eat, but it’s a really horrible feeling that is hard to not focus on.
Of course anxiety also causes us to put major focus on sensations to the point where they now feel more intense than ever, even strange; swallowing and breathing being two good examples here.
These are things we do automatically without giving them much thought, but once you start to become aware of automatic sensations they suddenly feel really weird. It’s like they’re nervous that you’re watching them and are now acting strangely.
Swallowing and breathing suddenly feel like something you have to make yourself do.
When you hyper-focus on your throat, you are going to be aware of every single sensation.
There’s also something called aerophagia that is due to shallow breathing or eating in a very stressed out state. It can cause a multitude of symptoms, with this awful air bubble type feeling in the throat being one of them.
Other symptoms may include bloating, stomach pain, gas, belching, heartburn and acid reflux.
Quick tip:
Try breathing through your nose and taking 5 deep breaths before every meal.
Resources:
Here’s my blog post where I focus specifically on scary throat sensations.
Any tummy sensations
I used to believe that I just had an anxious stomach and that I’d have to deal with uncomfortable stomach symptoms for the rest of my life, every day, yes really.
Until I started digging deep into untangling my anxiety story and all the ways anxiety was contributing to awful symptoms for me, constant tummy issues included!
I am not exaggerating when I say my stomach used to be unhappy every single day of my life. I had so much pain, sometimes where I couldn’t even stand up straight, and a lot of this was due to extremely shallow breathing that resulted in wind-type pains that I felt in my chest too.
Stress hormones can also increase acid in the stomach and this can reflux into the chest and throat causing burning that may make you fear a heart attack or flu; it may seem like the fears never end!
Resources:
I go deep into tummy woes from when I was a child in this blog post.
I hope this brings some relief, as well as support if you deal with any of this.
Have a read through the rest of my blog, browse my podcast episodes and, of course, check out my books where I share everything in one place with you!
For a book you will use daily, I recommend my Anxiety A to Z Encyclopedia that includes over 600 pages of information from coping skills and calming methods to every anxiety symptom to supplement recommendations to much needed pep talks on the extra hard days!
Learn more about the ebook here!
Sending love, as always. You are so much stronger than you could ever possibly imagine and I am so grateful that you are here, whether you just stumbled upon this blog or have been part of our beautiful online community for a while now <3
Disclaimer: We have different bodies and present a unique set of anxiety symptoms that may occur in varying intensities and duration. You do not have to have all of the symptoms discussed on this website to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. You should also not use the symptoms discussed to self-diagnose. Please consult with your doctor who can differentiate between the symptoms being solely anxiety-related and other medical conditions.
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