Tingly like icy hot: Is this my anxiety? Is... - Anxiety Support

Anxiety Support

53,073 members49,185 posts

Tingly like icy hot

MermaidMomma profile image
5 Replies

Is this my anxiety? Is this real? I think it's real because my husband can feel how cold I am. Specifically my hands and feet. And random other spots. The only way I can describe it is I feel like I have icy hot all over me. Or just took a bath in a vat of peppermint oil. Which I have been using peppermint oil, but none today. And none on my feet.

I went to the ER for this already earlier and they basically told me to get with my primary care dr, psych and therapist. Sooooo😔

I've had anxiety my whole life and never had this happen before. Whaaaaaat is going on?!

Written by
MermaidMomma profile image
MermaidMomma
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
5 Replies
Dogmom123 profile image
Dogmom123

I get cold and sweaty when I have really bad anxiety. So it could be apart of it. But better to go to your doctor to make sure ! Dont let Doctors dismiss you ! I had 2 doctors tell me my troubles with breathing was bc of my anxiety but it was asthma.

blackcat64013 profile image
blackcat64013

Cold Flashes Anxiety Symptoms Descriptions:

•You experience a sudden cold flash, episode, or spell.

•You break into a seemingly uncontrollable cold or chilled sweat.

•You also might experience a brief moment or moments of feeling unusually cold or chilly.

•It seems like your body is freezing even though there is no reason for it.

•No matter what you do, you can’t warm up even with more clothes, a heater, or blankets.

•You feel unusually cold even though your environment is normal temperature.

Cold flashes can occur on or in your arms, hands, fingers, toes, legs, feet, head, face, stomach, anywhere on or in your body, or encompass your entire body.

Cold flashes anxiety symptoms can persistently affect one area of the body only, can shift and affect another area or areas, and can migrate all over and affect many and/or all areas of the body over and over again.

Cold flashes anxiety symptoms can come and go rarely, occur frequently, or persist indefinitely. For example, you may have a cold flash once and a while and not that often, have them off and on, or have them all the time.

Cold flashes anxiety symptoms may precede, accompany, or follow an escalation of other anxiety sensations and symptoms, or occur by itself.

Cold flashes anxiety symptoms can precede, accompany, or follow an episode of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and elevated stress, or occur ‘out of the blue’ and for no apparent reason.

Cold flashes anxiety symptoms can range in intensity from slight, to moderate, to severe. It can also come in waves, where it’s strong one moment and eases off the next.

Cold flashes can last for a brief moment, a few moments, a few minutes, ten to twenty minutes or more, or for hours at a time.

Cold flashes anxiety symptoms can change from day to day, and/or from moment to moment.

All of the above combinations and variations are common.

What causes cold flashes anxiety symptoms?

Behaving apprehensively (anxiously) activates the body’s stress response, which secretes stress hormones into the bloodstream where they travel to targeted spots in the body to bring about specific physiological, psychological, and emotional changes that enhance the body’s ability to deal with a threat—to either fight with or flee from it—which is the reason this response is often referred to as the fight or flight response or the emergency response.

Part of the emergency response changes include constricting blood vessels and shunting blood around so that the body is better prepared to deal with a perceived threat. These changes alone can cause the body to feel cold – blood is warm and with less blood being available near the skin, this can make the body feel cold. There are other changes that occur, too, that can cause the body to feel cold. Having a cold flash is a common symptom of anxiety and the changes behaving anxiously can cause.

When stress responses occur infrequently, the body can recover relatively quickly from the physiological, psychological, and emotional changes the stress response brings about. When stress responses occur too frequently and/or dramatically, however, the body has a more difficult time recovering, which can result in the body remaining in a semi hyperstimulated state, since stress hormones are stimulants. A body that becomes stress-response hyperstimulated can exhibit similar sensations and symptoms to that of an active emergency response..and many more, including causing involuntary cold flashes.

How to get rid of cold flashes anxiety symptoms?

When cold flashes are caused by apprehensive behavior and the accompanying stress response changes, calming yourself down will bring an end to the response and its changes. As your body recovers from an active stress response, this cold flashes feeling will end. Keep in mind that it can take up to 20 minutes or more for the body to recover from a major response. But this is normal and shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

When cold flashes are caused by persistent stress, such as from stress-response hyperstimulation, it may take a lot more time for the body to eliminate its hyperstimulated state, and to the point where cold flashes anxiety symptoms subside.

Nevertheless, when the body has fully recovered from the stress of being anxious, anxiety caused cold flashes will completely disappear. Therefore, they needn’t be a cause for concern.

You can speed up the recovery process by reducing your stress, practicing relaxed breathing, increasing your rest and relaxation, and not worrying about your cold flashes anxiety symptom. Sure, cold flashes can be bothersome and annoying, but again, when your body has recovered from an active stress response and/or sustained stress, this symptom will completely disappear.

anxietycentre.com/anxiety-s...

Until the core causes of anxiety are addressed - we call these core causes the underlying factors of anxiety - a struggle with anxiety unwellness can return again and again. Dealing with the underlying factors of anxiety is the best way to address problematic anxiety.

Fitz8675309 profile image
Fitz8675309

I’ve started getting this recently. Feels like a slightly burny, yet cold tingle. Mostly on my palms and feet, like you said, but sometimes it passes over the rest of my body too.

I have found many instances of people complaining of chills/burning from anxiety, I think our symptom might just be another iteration. It’s comforting to know I’m not the only one experiencing effervescence!

MermaidMomma profile image
MermaidMomma in reply to Fitz8675309

More comfort for you -- I actually went to the ER after I posted this. Because Google said I had MS. ER said it was anxiety. So in trying to trust the medical professionals, I'm going with anxiety.

Sorry you're having this. It's annoying and definitely concerning. But it's just anxiety. Stupid anxiety.

Fitz8675309 profile image
Fitz8675309

Thanks for updating! I keep vacillating between diagnosing myself with MS, diabetes or a brain tumor *eye roll.* Good for you putting your trust in the pros, you got this!

You may also like...

Crippled By Hot Flashes

I get a horrible surge of anxiety, feel sick and then am soaked. This can happen 20 to 25 times a...

Tingly legs with anxiety?

legs (mainly the feet or ankles start having a wierd sensation?..like a tingling feeling?..i dont...

Hot Liquid Feeling In Head (Left Side)

crawling/slithering sensation that is a very awful feeling and it feels like hot liquid is in my...

Hate feeling like this! :-(

am like my head is in water and nothing feels real, this feeling only lasts about 40 seconds but...

Feeling hot all time

if anyone is on citropram and feeling hot all time no matter how cold it is outside as I'm...