Please reply to me....feeling terrible

Can someone please explain why health anxiety causes numbness and pain in the body. Would really appreciate some good replies. Thank you

[Hellandheaven-91]

That's because during anxiety you hyperventilate, that causes firstly low levels of carbon dioxide and then high levels of oxigen.. that condiTion, for our Brain means ''don't breathe' so oxigen levels go down and that's way you feel pain in your muscles like spasmS, chest pain..also dizziness,paresthesia..The Key is in controlling your breath and trying to breathe deeply and slow😕

[Carmen4u28-]

I get numb sensations in my hands and legs. My stomach gets butterflies and I feel like I have to throw up and use the bathroom the same time gross! Eating ice works wonders for me try it!

[Jeff1943]

Megan, health anxiety means that your nervous system has become super sensitive due to a period of stress, worry, over work or major disappointment. Your nerves decide they've had enough and they go on the blink causing all sorts of sensations. Most often these symptoms mimic 'real' organic illness and we think we've got a heart problem, cancer, going blind etc.

The reason you get numbness in the body, Megan, is that our nervous system runs through our entire body with the exception of hair and finger nails. So that's why you can feel numbness. If you haven't gone to see your doctor to confirm there's no physical cause then it's worth doing, it will give you reassurance.

So how do you deal with the numbness? The same way you deal with any other symptom - you tackle the cause which is anxiety, not the symptom. Because the numbness isn't an organic illness and you can't cure an illness you don't have!

So how do you deal with the anxiety? You do that by accepting the symptoms for the moment as calmly as you can with the least amount of fear. That's because if you react with fear to your symptoms you generate fear hormones that continue to sensitise your nervous system. Your not going to recover like that in a hurry.

You turn off the fear by accepting the symptoms temporarily, utterly accept them, not for just a few hours but for days and weeks if need be. Frame your mind to coexist with the numbness, let it accompany you throughout the day without constantly testing for it or obsessing about it. If you can accept it then with practice and persistance your symptoms, and the same goes for all other symptoms, will disperse because your nervous system will have lost its sensitivity - because you are no longer fuelling it with fear.

The acceptance method for recovery from anxiety disorder was first set out by Doctor Claire Weekes many years ago in her first book 'Self help for your nerves' (u.k. edition) and 'Hope and help for your nerves' (u.s. edition) both available from Amazon where you will find that 90% of the hundreds of reviewers rate it Very Good or Excellent.

Everybody experiencing health anxiety or anxiety disorder will find a road plan for recovery based on the power of acceptance within this book.