Really struggling please Help!!!

Hi I'm really struggling with my body symptoms like. I have recently been through a lot of stress. I'm now feeling so weak, my legs and arms feel tired and weak my hands and fingers go numb I get pins and needles in my feet and hands. My muscles twitch all over my body. I can't accept all this is due to anxiety and stress. How can it causes all these symptoms. I'm worried sick everyday thinking there's something wrong with me. Please if anyone has a similar experience please share or advice. Thank you can't wait to feel normal again 😣😣😣

[Samisfree]

You aren't alone. I've always struggled with anxiety, usually manageable but NEVER this bad. The last 2 years have been the worst of my life and I guess things have just snowballed up to this point. I'm going through the same thing right now. It's awful . I feel like I'm in a daze and have had terrible brain fog for months . Weird vision, constant head, jaw and neck tension, headaches, feeling off balance, ears ringing, weak left hand, muscle twitching, tingling legs, weird sense of smell and trouble swallowing at times.

I go to sleep every night hoping to feel better in the morning and I never do, so the cycle begins again day after day. My doctor says it's anxiety. It's so hard to believe that. I've had bloodwork done, everything is normal besides a slight Vitamin D deficiency that I'm working on. I've had an MRI done that was "normal" aside from a few tiny spots that have possibly been caused by migraines, my doctor has tried to reassure me that it's normal and nothing to worry about, but guess what - PANIC!!! I've got appointments with specialists lined up that I'm hoping will put my mind at ease.

[noemikahle in reply to Samisfree]

Have u tried any meds or counseling? I have been going through this for five months, can't imagine. 2 years! I also have migraines so I wonder if there is a component of symptoms ( head pressure, pain) associated with the migraines, could all be tension headaches I guess.

[Samisfree in reply to noemikahle]

Oh, no! Sorry, I meant I've been under an incredible amount of stress for the past 2 years and have been having these awful symptoms since January.

My doctor prescribed fluoxetine (which made my anxiety worse) Buspirone and Xanax as needed. I'd really like to eventually be off of all of them. I haven't tried counseling yet, but I am very interested and that will be my next step.

I've always thought my headaches were just tension headaches. I've only had one or two that I thought could have possibly been a migraine.

[noemikahle]

I know exactly how u feel! I have never felt this weak in my life if I am not sick and I have not been sick for a while. I don't know if I remember what it feels like to be normal but it would be nice just to feel relaxed and happy even for a short while! Lots of people on here say to continue with normal activities and try to see the positive but it is so hard when u feel so crappy I am trying new meds and hopefully counseling at some point, I will do anything to try to feel better I have 2 younger kids so this shit is really interfering with my life

[gemfire]

I don't have any answers for you but I feel the same way you do. Finding this forum has helped me just knowing that I'm not the only one that is going through this. Sometimes my muscles are so weak I have a hard time just taking a shower. I'm pretty sure it's because I've been tensing them up from anxiety so much that it causes the weakness. I keep catching myself with tensed up muscles for no reason and have to keep telling myself to relax the muscles. Usually in my shoulders and arms but sometimes just all over muscle tensing. It's ridiculous because there's absolutely no reason for me to be tensing those muscles. SMH

[Mrworrymaster]

Your muscles are weak because you are surging them with adrenaline and cortisol (the stress chemical). Fear and worry (anxiety) puts your body into the "fight or flight" mode.

That drop in your stomach, that pit feeling of dread and doom, that's the chemicals being released.

Your body doesn't know why you are so worried or scared, so it does what it's designed to do. It floods your system with chemicals to help you fight or run from whatever is causing you the trouble.

The problem is, there is nothing to fight or run from. You're just hypersensitive.

Your body doesn't know the difference between a real or paper tiger. It reacts just the same either way. It's trying to keep you safe.

So why the long-standing effect afterwards? Why the numbness, shakiness, and weakness? Because you didn't expel those chemicals. They weren't really needed, so you have no way to get rid of them and this leaves your muscles and nerves taxed.

Now consider the cycle you've been putting your body through for the past months and the build up of chemicals and stressed muscles you must have.

Getting better isn't going to happen quickly. It can take months to re-regulate your body back to a state where it's not overwhelmed with stress chemicals.

To start, you have to stop fighting and thinking about the anxiety. You need to view anxiety as what it's true purpose is (to help you stay alive) and welcome it. Adopt a "so what" attitude.

Read the book "Dare". You can start a free trial on audible and listen to it for free.

I still struggle, and I'm on medication currently. But, i'm in a better place now than I have been for over 15 months.

Take care.

[Hidden in reply to Mrworrymaster]

I'm sick of feeling this way. I'm currently on amitriptyline and it's causing me a lot of side effects. Especially muscle twitching. Is this a normal??? I'm worried

[Mrworrymaster in reply to Hidden]

You should go to your doctor for concerns about side effects and other possible causes of twitching. But, many people who struggle with anxiety twitch.