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Number one is headaches tension in the suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull can cause anxiety headaches. See my video on anxiety and headaches for more information.
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Number two blurred vision. When the body thinks it’s in danger it releases a lot of adrenaline. This causes the pupils to dilate to see the danger better but paradoxically it can actually cause blurred vision. Number three is ringing in the ears. The cause of tinnitus is a bit of a mystery even to the ear specialists but changes in pressure and blood flow in the ears are popular theories.
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Number four is concentration problems or brain fog. The release of adrenaline and cortisol have an effect on how the brain operates. This may be an evolutionary response where your brain shuts down unnecessary thinking processes to focus on functions to deal with the perceived danger. Number five. Dizziness and feeling faint are common symptoms during a panic attack. Changes in blood flow in the ears and hyperventilation can both cause dizziness. However as I explained in my video ‘will a panic attack caused me to faint ‘ fainting is unlikely in most people as blood pressure increases during a panic attack and fainting occurs due to a drop in blood pressure.
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Number six. A feeling of a lump in the throat difficulty swallowing or a choking feeling are all caused by the glottis expanding to allow more air into the lungs because your body thinks it has to run or fight. I have a whole video on this subject so if you want to know more click the link in the top right.
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7. Breathing difficulties. Some people who suffer with panic disorder are abnormally aware of their breathing ironically it can be the constant checking if their breathing is normal that triggers the panic attack and when a panic attack begins the surge of adrenaline causes faster breathing. This then leads to more panic and a greater attempt to control their breathing, but this often results in fast and shallow breathing from the thorax instead of the abdomen. This hyperventilation causes levels of carbon dioxide in the blood to drop which can cause all sorts of other symptoms which we will talk about later. Number eight. Chest pain or tightness in the chest is another subject I’ve made a whole video about but the two most common causes are muscle tension and the arteries or blood vessels in the heart constricting. And why does this happen? It’s because as mentioned hyperventilation causes blood carbon dioxide levels to drop which makes the blood more alkaline which in turn causes constriction of the arteries and blood vessels. Although this can be quite painful it is not dangerous for most people.
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Nine is palpitations which may be felt in the chest or throat. The reason you get them is simply because your heart is pumping much stronger to deal with a perceived danger that is not there and the reason you feel it in your throat is simply because that’s where your carotid artery is and an increase in blood volume and speed through this artery is very noticeable.
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10. The feeling of skipped heartbeats. It’s not easy to explain this briefly so if this is something you experience I recommend you watch my video on ectopic heartbeats and anxiety but suffice to say they are generally harmless. Number 11 nausea or the feeling of butterflies in the stomach. When the body senses danger digesting food is not a priority so it diverts blood from the stomach to the arms and legs to fight or run and that can upset the stomach. It can also affect the stomach in other ways like causing acid indigestion so 12 is GERD. 13. Bowel changes. Anxiety can cause digested food to move through the bowel quicker leading to loose bowels. There is also a link between anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome which can cause diarrhea or constipation as well as abdominal cramps and bloating and yes you guessed it I have a video on that also.
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14. Overactive bladder. An increase in the need to urinate is a little understood anxiety symptom. Tense muscles squeezing the bladder is a fairly simple explanation but there are more complicated theories about the serotonin system and the effect of cortisol on the bladder. One thing is sure is there is definitely a correlation between anxiety and frequent urination and by the way a type of social anxiety called pauresis could cause the bladder to completely lock and I have a whole series of videos on that subject. 15 is tremors and twitches. To deal with danger the nervous system sends more blood to certain areas ,tightens muscles ready for action, increases blood sugar and primes the whole body ready to fight or run. Any of these can cause twitches or tremors sometimes even in unusual places like the eye. Oh and hyperventilation can also cause twitching. 16 is one of the strangest symptoms of anxiety. The feeling of your skin crawling or burning can be caused by changes in blood flow. When anxious the release of cortisol can also make the skin sensitive to allergens chemicals or even sweat.
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17. Derealization or depersonalization. In derealization you feel the world around is unreal. People and things around you may seem lifeless or foggy. With depersonalization you feel disconnected from yourself. This is mainly caused by hyperventilation and the effect of alkaline blood that I mentioned earlier, only this time it affects your brain causing these strange sensations 18 is heat. The reason you get hot when anxious is simple. Your circulation increases just like when you exercise 19. Weakness or fatigue. In a panic attack or a prolonged period of anxiety your body is called on all its resources to protect you from a perceived threat. Afterwards it needs to replace those resources so it shuts down for a while to do that. 20 Aches and pains. If you suffer anxiety every day it’s like your body is fighting a tiger every day or running for its life so it’s not surprising the aches and pains can appear pretty much anywhere.
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But you may ask how do I treat each of these symptoms? The answer is you don’t. These symptoms are signs that your body is doing exactly what it’s designed to do only it’s doing it at the wrong time because there is no danger.
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If you try to suppress these symptoms not only will it not work but the part of the brain that deals with danger will think the symptoms are dangerous and activate the fight or flight response causing even more symptoms.
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To make all these symptoms go away you have to retrain your anxious brain not to go into fight or flight mode at the wrong time and that’s what I teach you to do in many of my videos so check out the playlist for whichever anxiety disorder you have.