how do you know if you have Anxiety?

Anxiety is when you are nervous your heart will race you willl want to run and hide, it upsets you physically like with stomach issues, you feel weak and are just scared to be around people, some people feel discomfort in there chest when they are anxious 

look up anxiety and read about it 

I feel scared, heart rate is fast or slow, difficulty swallowing, lump feeling in my throat, insomnia. 

Hi I know when I have anxiety my heart will race I will feel like I can't breathe I can feel shaky they are many signs and symptoms but that is usually what happens to me so I have to tell myself it's anxiety and I will be ok a lot of self talk

I think this is what i'm feeling now. I know i have suffered with panic attacks before due to my fear of open spaces but it seems to have upped a notch and i think what i'm feeling now is anxiety. It feels like a fear of something horrible is about to happen, everyday situations seem such a big deal like going to the shops etc. I think anxiety is also where you wake in the morning and dont want to face the day. That there is some kind of knot in your stomach, even with my panic attacks before i felt normal between them but now i feel anxious waiting what feels like an impending doom. I hope this passes like all the other a-z symptoms i have experienced!!!

Hello Shelly

Anxiety is when you feel emotionally upset at doing things or being in places that you've done before, let alone trying anything new. It manifests as physiological symtoms - as Elizabeth says - heart racing, feeling sick, lacking energy - the desperate desire to run but you feel rooted to the spot. Your emotions are interlinked with your thoughts so your mind is racing also - constant questions - what if? Nothing is working for you, every thing appears to be working against you. Look up Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - learn strategies to quieten the mind. When this is quitened through postive or challenging self-talk, the body can slow down its fight, flight or freeze response. We have to master ourselves - b which I mean practice this but it can work. I've recently had 2 'suspected heart attack' admissions to A & E - no, it was chostochondritis - and that's being dealt with. Yesterday, same horrendous symtoms, alone in my offiice I steadied my breathing and talked myself out of it. Doesn't mean it's not scary, it is! You, however, are not powerless Wishing you well Shelly

When I get anxious, I get palpitations and sometimes breathless.  I used to get a rash and once I got a pulsing sensation in my forehead. I have always suffered from anxiety because I have Aspergers Syndrome.  Now I have IBS which was brought on by stress.  Any unpleasant situation, big or small  can bring on stomach pains which can be severe at times.

My heart races really badly, ironically what I thought was panic attacks sometimes are not, my therapist said I feel overwhelmed. I am not sure if that is a panic attack or not, I know I have them BIG time when I drive or if I am in complete darkness like when my husband turns off all the lights, I freak out and have really bad anxiety

Anxiety due to perimenopause, is a stress feeling, if you have ever had PMS, then thats exactly what it feels like, you feel tense, your tum bloats, headache, aches generally, tired, and anxious, you worry more, and feel that you cant cope, your fears and phobias come out more, and when this happens you are prone then to a panic attack, you will then get other symptoms like, cold sweaty palms, needing to pee a lot, shaky nervous, irratibility, a feeling of dread, or, doom and gloom comes over you, and then it passes, problem is, that, a panic attack makes you even more anxious, because you dont know whats happening to you, so, you actually make your panic  attack worse, but anyone can suffer with stress and anxiety, some more than others, and some dont cope with it as well as others, but its a very common early sign of peri, and if you suffered with PMS before your menpause, it becomes much worse during, a sign your in early peri.   Long term stress can be bad for your health, it can cause heart disease for one, along with other health problems.

Hi Shelly,

I didn't know what it was to be able to put a name to until I read some of the posts on this site.

I would describe it when it first started it was as if I had forgotten to do something, like I needed to go somewhere, that feeling you have 15 minutes before you need to leave for an appointment.

Then it became like panic attacks where I didn't know if it was heart palpitations that made me feel that way or the way I was feeling that gave me the palpitations.

Then just a feeling of dread and fear like (well I'm scared of the dentist) so like that but all the time.

I don't think I realised just how bad it was until a few days of taking HRT and I suddenly began to relax again.

Now I feel it occasionally like when it first began rather than all the time.

If feel really scared,feelings of  dread when I'm anxious, have heart palpitations, sweat hot flush feel like I'm going to faint.just want to lie down in bed.

anxiety is the basis of all other symptoms

it manifests as heart palpitations/ flutterings/poundings - also as sweat, nausea, shortness of breath,stomach problems, pee problems etc etc

for anyone who is wanting to know about how to deal with peri menopause symptoms then practising breathing techniques, attention distraction methods is very important

once the anxiety is conquered 90 % of the battle is over