Anxiety and tension in chest/back
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi,
Does anyone else hold all their anxiety tension in their back/ chest? I have got to the point that I only feel comfortable when I hold my back and chest muscles tight, when I relax them I get pains which makes me panic (thinking it's a heart problem) so I tense up again, sometimes I don't even realise I am tensing them. I now think it could be affecting my breathing. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get out if the habit of being tense all the time?
0 likes, 5 replies
Abi77 lindsey82824
Posted
I had this as i was tense all the time and held myself in the same way. When i saw my Psychologist he said let the tension go or it will get worse, the feelings in the chest are from the muscles relaxing, it can make you feel like you are having a heart attack but if you say to yourself this is my muscles relaxing, i use to give myself a time of 10 minutes to let the pain ride out and think to myself if i am still here in 10 minutes i am not having a heart attack. (as from what i have had explained to me you certainly would not cope for 10 minutes if it was a heart attack) its hard to begin with but over time the pain goes and you start to feel so much better, start with sitting down, laying on your front or which ever position works for you, set a timer for 10 mins, relax your body and let it all out, do that everyday for a week and it will stop being so painful, your mind will get use to the feelings and help you to know its not your heart, once all the tension has released you will be at the stage i am now, when if i feel myself tensing up i quickly relax my body and my chest, neck and back pains only come once every now and then and last for a few seconds.
I used ibuprofen at times to help the muscles fully relax and assist with the pain.
I know its hard as the physical feelings play havoc with your mind however if you keep tense it will get worse and could effect you in lots of other places, a tense body is not healthy.
Give it a go and let me know how you get on x
lindsey82824 Abi77
Posted
Thank you for your reply Abi77, it's good to know I'm not the only one who has/had this symptom. I will give your suggestion a go. I think I do a lot if the tensing subconsciously, I also think I have had anxiety for that long that I have forgotten how to relax or what it feels like to be completely relaxed. I don't know, I get control over one symptom only for another to take it's place, having anxiety sucks!
Abi77 lindsey82824
Posted
I really do understand just how you feel, i started with one symptom of health anxiety and then work my way through worries i did not even know i could have, i wont tell you my latest as i know sometimes it can put fear into already anxious people but i am fighting with my mind all the time and i feel that each week i have a new health symptom to overcome, sometimes i go a few weeks without a certain symptom and then its back, I spent hours thinking was this the same as last time and so on.....I am sure you get where i am coming from.
I have never suffered with anxiety for this amount of time but 4 months now and my life has been ruined by it x
lindsey82824 Abi77
Posted
I do the same thing, over think things. Sometimes I wish I could just switch my brain off from thinking for a few minutes just to get some peace. At the moment by back/chest tension is interfering with my sleep which isn't helping. I would love to wake up on a morning feeling 'normal' instead of worrying about about how I feel as soon as I wake up. 😕
james63103 lindsey82824
Posted
During states of panic my entire body is tense. I don't even notice most of the time until I end up with sore muscles.