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Does this sound like anxiety? Any help appreciated!
amylane523 posted:
Hi all. I am new here. So I apologize if I ramble. I am a 27 year old female. Negative past medical history, except overweight some, and depression. I recently took myself off Celexa 20 mg daily ( 2 weeks ago got off the medication). I did not wean myself off, I just stopped cold turkey, which I know I shouldn't have done. Anyways, within a few days I felt dizzy and lightheaded, which I know can be a symptom of withdrawl of antidepressants. Two weeks later I was still having it, and called my doctor and asked if this is still common and he said yes. However, I did not talk to him about something else that occurred. A couple of days ago, out of nowhere, I got a tingling/warm/maybe slightly numbness sensation across my shoulders/and high upper back area. No pain, just almost like a flushed feeling over my shoulders, hard to describe. Along with it sweating a bit, not much, just a little forehead sweating, because I think I got anxious? Anyways, went away within an hour I would say, and sometimes when I think about it, I can almost feel the sensation creeping back on me in the same area, but it never fully comes back and then I don't notice it. This happened to me once before a few months ago, while I was still on Celexa, and along with it I also had to run to the bathroom, and had diarrhea. Since then had no other issues up until a few days ago. I am a BIG worrier, especially when it comes to health issues. My husband and I want to try to start to have a family soon, which is the reason why I got off the Celexa in the first place. But I worry so much! I worry that I have all these health issues and then get afraid to get checked out. I google symptoms and it makes it worse. Reading about shoulder numbness and sweating of course brought up heart attack (of course it listed other symptoms-shoulder pain/shoulder blade pain), so now of course I worry about that. I know I should just go to the doctors and ask, because I truly feel that I may have an anxiety disorder of some sorts, but I am just afraid. In October I went to a local MedExpress because I thought I had bronchitis, which turned out to be a mild case of pneumonia, but my blood pressure and pulse were up because I get so anxious when getting checked out by the doctor. It like naturally goes up because of the fear. So I feel the need to tell them, I am scared. My husband is an RN and I have him check my pulse at home a lot and blood pressure and it's usually pretty much within the normal, only elevated when I'm worrying about something.
So sorry to ramble. I guess I was just looking for some advice. If anyone else has ever felt that weird sensation across their shoulders of tingly/warm/numbness? If it sounds like it could be anxiety, if it sounds like I do have anxiety...just in general what anyone might think. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
So sorry to ramble. I guess I was just looking for some advice. If anyone else has ever felt that weird sensation across their shoulders of tingly/warm/numbness? If it sounds like it could be anxiety, if it sounds like I do have anxiety...just in general what anyone might think. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
4 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Does this sound like anxiety? Any help appreciated!Hi all. I am new here. So I apologize if I ramble. I am a 27 year old female. Negative past medical history, except overweight some, and depression. I recently took myself off Celexa 20 mg daily ( 2 weeks ago got off the medication). I did not wean myself off, I just stopped cold turkey, which I know I shouldn't have done. Anyways, within a few days I felt dizzy and lightheaded, which I know can be a symptom of withdrawl of antidepressants. Two weeks later I was still having it, and called my doctor and asked if this is still common and he said yes. However, I did not talk to him about something else that occurred. A couple of days ago, out of nowhere, I got a tingling/warm/maybe slightly numbness sensation across my shoulders/and high upper back area. No pain, just almost like a flushed feeling over my shoulders, hard to describe. Along with it sweating a bit, not much, just a little forehead sweating, because I think I got anxious? Anyways, went away within an hour I would say, and sometimes when I think about it, I can almost feel the sensation creeping back on me in the same area, but it never fully comes back and then I don't notice it. This happened to me once before a few months ago, while I was still on Celexa, and along with it I also had to run to the bathroom, and had diarrhea. Since then had no other issues up until a few days ago. I am a BIG worrier, especially when it comes to health issues. My husband and I want to try to start to have a family soon, which is the reason why I got off the Celexa in the first place. But I worry so much! I worry that I have all these health issues and then get afraid to get checked out. I google symptoms and it makes it worse. Reading about shoulder numbness and sweating of course brought up heart attack (of course it listed other symptoms-shoulder pain/shoulder blade pain), so now of course I worry about that. I know I should just go to the doctors and ask, because I truly feel that I may have an anxiety disorder of some sorts, but I am just afraid. In October I went to a local MedExpress because I thought I had bronchitis, which turned out to be a mild case of pneumonia, but my blood pressure and pulse were up because I get so anxious when getting checked out by the doctor. It like naturally goes up because of the fear. So I feel the need to tell them, I am scared. My husband is an RN and I have him check my pulse at home a lot and blood pressure and it's usually pretty much within the normal, only elevated when I'm worrying about something. <br />So sorry to ramble. I guess I was just looking for some advice. If anyone else has ever felt that weird sensation across their shoulders of tingly/warm/numbness? If it sounds like it could be anxiety, if it sounds like I do have anxiety...just in general what anyone might think. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
amylane523 responded:
can someone please post any advice?
Report This| Share this:Does this sound like anxiety? Any help appreciated!can someone please post any advice?
Rohvannyn responded:
Hi there!
I've seen a whole lot of physical symptoms be traced to anxiety. The human brain is an amazing thing and it can make you feel all kinds of things from minor sensations to major pain or pleasure, all with no traceable physical cause. I get a warmth across my shoulders at times but it isn't linkable to any particular mental state, it just happens occasionally. It isn't uncomfortable so I don't worry about it.
It can be hard to calm down when your body keeps telling you something is wrong. I've started to find that behavior can control my mood. If I have something warm in my belly and am breathing slowly and deeply, it's harder to be anxious.
Good luck!
I've seen a whole lot of physical symptoms be traced to anxiety. The human brain is an amazing thing and it can make you feel all kinds of things from minor sensations to major pain or pleasure, all with no traceable physical cause. I get a warmth across my shoulders at times but it isn't linkable to any particular mental state, it just happens occasionally. It isn't uncomfortable so I don't worry about it.
It can be hard to calm down when your body keeps telling you something is wrong. I've started to find that behavior can control my mood. If I have something warm in my belly and am breathing slowly and deeply, it's harder to be anxious.
Good luck!
Report This| Share this:Does this sound like anxiety? Any help appreciated!Hi there! <br /> <br />I've seen a whole lot of physical symptoms be traced to anxiety. The human brain is an amazing thing and it can make you feel all kinds of things from minor sensations to major pain or pleasure, all with no traceable physical cause. I get a warmth across my shoulders at times but it isn't linkable to any particular mental state, it just happens occasionally. It isn't uncomfortable so I don't worry about it.<br /> <br />It can be hard to calm down when your body keeps telling you something is wrong. I've started to find that behavior can control my mood. If I have something warm in my belly and am breathing slowly and deeply, it's harder to be anxious.<br /> <br />Good luck!
amylane523 replied to Rohvannyn's response:
Hi thanks for your post. I agree with you that the brain can make you feel all kinds of things. However, of course, when it comes to myself, I find it hard to believe. I automatically think it's something worse or detrimental. I actually ended up seeing my doctor today because I was getting tired of worrying about it, and I am leaving on vacation on Friday. I told him about the Celexa, the tingling across my shoulders, how anxious I've been feeling, the tension I feel in my left upper back/almost neck area. He seems to think that I do in fact suffer from anxiety and put me on Wellbutrin, because apparently that drug is considered safe in pregnancy, and my husband and I were planning on trying to get pregnant soon. He said the tingling can definetly be caused by anxiety and that anxiety in fact is very real and can make you feel all sorts of things, and lectured me to stop googling things online. My blood pressure when I went in was 140/82, pulse was 112, and I knew it would be up, because I was anxious. However, checked again before I left and it went back down into the 70s. He listened to my heart, said was fine. Said he is not worried about heart because of my age (27), although he knows it is possible, he doesn't believe to be my case. And I quote he said "Trust me, if I was worried, then YOU SHOULD be worried. And if I thought it had anything to do with your heart, I would be sending you for a stress test." So I hope he is right : / Ugh, I just want to stop worrying, and see if some of these "symptoms" go away when I can relax.
Report This| Share this:Does this sound like anxiety? Any help appreciated!Hi thanks for your post. I agree with you that the brain can make you feel all kinds of things. However, of course, when it comes to myself, I find it hard to believe. I automatically think it's something worse or detrimental. I actually ended up seeing my doctor today because I was getting tired of worrying about it, and I am leaving on vacation on Friday. I told him about the Celexa, the tingling across my shoulders, how anxious I've been feeling, the tension I feel in my left upper back/almost neck area. He seems to think that I do in fact suffer from anxiety and put me on Wellbutrin, because apparently that drug is considered safe in pregnancy, and my husband and I were planning on trying to get pregnant soon. He said the tingling can definetly be caused by anxiety and that anxiety in fact is very real and can make you feel all sorts of things, and lectured me to stop googling things online. My blood pressure when I went in was 140/82, pulse was 112, and I knew it would be up, because I was anxious. However, checked again before I left and it went back down into the 70s. He listened to my heart, said was fine. Said he is not worried about heart because of my age (27), although he knows it is possible, he doesn't believe to be my case. And I quote he said "Trust me, if I was worried, then YOU SHOULD be worried. And if I thought it had anything to do with your heart, I would be sending you for a stress test." So I hope he is right : / Ugh, I just want to stop worrying, and see if some of these "symptoms" go away when I can relax.
Patricia Farrell, PhD responded:
Anxiety takes many forms and one of them can be a sensation of sudden warmth along with the anxiety. Remember, anxiety is your body natural reaction to danger and it's getting ready to escape from danger. There may be no physical danger, but there may be a perception of psychological danger on your part. What should you do if you are medically ok? Try one bit of self-help which we have in our Tips column; relaxation breathing. Watch the video and begin to use it regularly.
Coming off the med you were taking can take a few weeks or even months for the withdrawal to go completely away. Some meds store in the body fat and bones and gradually leach out over time. No one can actually tell you how long that can last.
Self-talk is probably something you should do regularly in order to help yourself calm down and you can do it out loud. Yes, out loud. Let yourself hear how you are offering calming words to you.
Do you exercise? Research indicates it's one of the best new things that must be in any treatment for psychological disorders. No one said you had to run a marathon or lift weights, but walking in place, using the stairs and things like that are going to really benefit you. Muscles have a previously unknown effect on the body's ability to release mood enhancing, anxiety alleviating substances, so exercise is simple, non-prescription and helps the body and the mind.
Coming off the med you were taking can take a few weeks or even months for the withdrawal to go completely away. Some meds store in the body fat and bones and gradually leach out over time. No one can actually tell you how long that can last.
Self-talk is probably something you should do regularly in order to help yourself calm down and you can do it out loud. Yes, out loud. Let yourself hear how you are offering calming words to you.
Do you exercise? Research indicates it's one of the best new things that must be in any treatment for psychological disorders. No one said you had to run a marathon or lift weights, but walking in place, using the stairs and things like that are going to really benefit you. Muscles have a previously unknown effect on the body's ability to release mood enhancing, anxiety alleviating substances, so exercise is simple, non-prescription and helps the body and the mind.
Report This| Share this:Does this sound like anxiety? Any help appreciated!Anxiety takes many forms and one of them can be a sensation of sudden warmth along with the anxiety. Remember, anxiety is your body natural reaction to danger and it's getting ready to escape from danger. There may be no physical danger, but there may be a perception of psychological danger on your part. What should you do if you are medically ok? Try one bit of self-help which we have in our Tips column; relaxation breathing. Watch the video and begin to use it regularly.<br /><br />Coming off the med you were taking can take a few weeks or even months for the withdrawal to go completely away. Some meds store in the body fat and bones and gradually leach out over time. No one can actually tell you how long that can last.<br /><br />Self-talk is probably something you should do regularly in order to help yourself calm down and you can do it out loud. Yes, out loud. Let yourself hear how you are offering calming words to you. <br /><br />Do you exercise? Research indicates it's one of the best new things that must be in any treatment for psychological disorders. No one said you had to run a marathon or lift weights, but walking in place, using the stairs and things like that are going to really benefit you. Muscles have a previously unknown effect on the body's ability to release mood enhancing, anxiety alleviating substances, so exercise is simple, non-prescription and helps the body and the mind.
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