Stress Center Peer Support

I keep reading all this stuff about how to just go with your body symptoms, accept them, and they will pass. I was just wondering how long your body symptoms last.

When I'm going through an anxiety phase, from the time I start feeling the symptoms, they last for weeks. That knot in my stomach is there from the time I wake up until I go to sleep at night.

I hear people talk about how their physical symptoms go away in a half hour or that their attacks only last for 15 minutes but I feel like when I'm having anxiety, I feel it for weeks.

Does any one else feel this way?

Your symptoms could last for months if you give them enough attention and fear. Anxiety lives because we focus on it and we are afraid of it. You have to focus on other things and tell yourself that it's no big deal, even if you don't believe it. The more you do this the more you will believe that it's no big deal. Then the symptoms will go away. The difference between us and people without anxiety disorder is not that they don't get strange feelings, the difference is that they don't take them all so serious.

My symptoms are muscle spasms skin numbness, and overall fear that can last as long as I continue to be afraid of them. However if I calm myself down or I do not make a big deal about them ( stop being afraid ) they will go away and it then becomes easy to stay in the moment.

Tony

Originally posted by Tony M:
However if I calm myself down or I do not make a big deal about them ( stop being afraid ) they will go away and it then becomes easy to stay in the moment.

Tony

Have you been through the program?

I have had strange symptoms that lasted for months....like stomach pain. It was caused from the stress chemicals that I had releasing in my body. No tests showed anything wrong with me....the only thing that took it away was quitting a job that made me very stressed and anxious. You can have a panic attack that last for 15 min. but you can also have physical symptoms that are caused by anxiety and depression (not specifically a panic attack) that can last much longer. I've had numerous symptoms over the years, like headaches, thirst, fatigue...and many more. When I deal with my stresses they go away. When I get stressed they appear again.

In all of this, do not forget to try to cut loose of coffee drinking. I thought I would not be able to do it. But I reduced my coffee intake gradually until I was able to stop it. It makes a lot of difference as your body relaxes at night, you get enough sleep, you "wash" your mind of things that clog it, like negative thoughts (this is the purpose of the relaxation tape); the muscle spasms and all begin to go away for "practically" ever.

Initially, when we are told to track our thinking on paper so we can see how the aches are caused, I did not pay much attention. When I began to really document my daily DO's, it was so easy to sense the thinking that leads to anxiousness and the body symptoms. This program actually tells us how to overcome these patterns of bad thoughts - just tell yourself "STOP IT!" and refocus.

Hello!My anxiety does the same thing.Once I get into the spiral it lasts awhile. Just keep pushing forward and as hard as it is let your body relax and let the symptoms come and go.Don't focus on them and they will slow down.This is the hardest part in recovery but it's either we do this or let the anxiety win.We can get through this!You're not alone.I've been going through pretty high anxiety going on two weeks now.Before that I had about three awesome weeks! Take care and God bless!

Some of the other people have rightfully pointed out that it is actually the focus you have on the symptoms that keep making them a priority rather than the symptom itself.

It is also my understanding that some symptoms such as numbness, feeling imbalanced etc... are actually caused due to chemical imbalance within the body that has been created as a result of severe stress and anxiety.

Also keep in mind that some symptoms such as shortness of breath can be repeated due to the very reason people pick on them and try to analyze them (ie: more stress more shortness of breath cycle)

If you have done medical checks and it came out clean and also you have experienced the same symptoms for a while without something bad happening then ask yourself why does it matter so much how long you experience them for?

I remember back in the days when I had panic attacks and while I was seeing the therapist she mentioned to me one of her patients who was obsessed over her body symptoms takes the results of all her medical tests to a professor and after carefully analyzing them the professor states there is nothing wrong with her. Being the overly concerned patient she then asks "Are you sure? Have you done this before?" The look on that professor's face must have been priceless. I mean there is always something money can't buy...

Hope that helps