Left side of body feels weird?

Posted , 25 users are following.

So I started having panic attacks and severe anxiety about 3 months ago. After I started having my panic attacks I noticed a weird sensation on the left side of my body. My elbow constantly feels like it was bumped against something and my lower leg muscles and lower arm muscles always feel sore/tired. I also sometimes get slight tingles on the left side of my body. They do not effect my head. My chiropractor says it is muscle tension so I keep going in for adjustments. I have been checked for autoimmune diseases and everything is clear. I was scared to death that it may be MS but MS don't present themselves in such a way. I've gotten into the habit of going to the gym and working it out but it just bothers me. Everyone says it is anxiety as I have been suffering from severely. It's hard to over come the anxiety when your body doesn't feel right. My therapist doesn't think going in for more tests is a good idea as going to the docs has become an addiction of some sort (reassurance) I have had two ekgs and a cat scan of my head. All fine. Does anyone else experience one sided body sensations in the muscle and joints?

0 likes, 47 replies

47 Replies

Prev Next
  • Edited

    I'm suffering the same thing and I'm freaking out.  It started at the beginning of summer, around the end of May.  I had stayed up late and woke up at 4am to dizziness and a pounding heart. I thought it was a heart attack, but I felt no symptoms afterwards. 

    Fast-forward to the end of August and I have another one after eating heavily the night before and staying up late again.  This happened right as I was getting in the door to work, though my stomach was flipping out right beforehand, followed by a rapid heartbeat and dizziness.  I had symptoms after, ones that lasted for a week and a half: discomfort in my left arm and right shoulder, discomfort scattered around my chest, racing thoughts, but no pain whatsoever or shortness of breath.  I went to the doctor a bit after and had an ECG done, they said it was good, and the cardiologist I went to said it was a panic attack. 

    Now fast forward to almost 4 months down the line and I'm still having symptoms, though I've made lifestyle changes including: Sleeping better, eating better and less, and trying to exercise.

    My symptoms are: Racing thoughts, chest discomfort in the middle and left side of my chest and on my left arm, though it jumps sides sometimes.  I have not had a single panic attack since, as far as I know, and I've been very concerned with my overall heart health as a result, but the symptoms come with no pain, racing thoughts, dizziness or vomiting.  I keep thinking it's a heart attack in the making, but the symptoms go down or away completely randomly. 

    If anyone else has been having the same symptoms I have, please let me know.  I need some closure on this. I'm scared that my previous eating habits and sleep habits are going to end me.

    • Posted

      So, I noticed that you posted this reply not too late by ago. It is crazy that I am having the same problems. All started in May and have been ongoing since. I get a lot of discomfort on my left side and odd sensations in the center. Random dizziness, but unlike most my chest and upper abdomen tightens and my heart rate slows down. As a mental health professional I didn’t recognize what was going on and I have struggled with comprehending how to fight through. 

      I have found relief with a warm rice bag, stretching/yoga, good sleep, and distraction. It also helps to focus on deep breathing through meditation. I know this is said a lot, but it can help. 

    • Posted

      I totally understand this! I have health anxiety as well... all the things you've mentioned and then some. I get hot flashes, and I feel as if I am going to pass out sometimes especially when I am out in public and this is in recent development for me I think because I'm so scared of having another panic attack and losing control in public. And just like you said I get the pains in my left side my left chest and I always think that again it's a heart attack in the making but I cannot tell you how many times I have been to the emergency room the most recent one in January and they tell me that it's all anxiety-related which is so hard to wrap my head around. I know I have GAD with panic disorder. But in the "moment" that is of little comfort when your mind plays tricks on your body.

      Keep up the eating and sleeping better, that's a great thing to do. Wishing you all the best.

    • Edited

      I completely understand and know exactly what you are talking about. Gosh reading these actually help me to be at ease with what I'm feeling. I have hypothyroidism which causes me to have anxiety. I recently went a month without my thyroid medicine and boy did that mess me up...I can handle the anxiety when my levels are good but since I didn't take medicine for a month my body went crazy. I feel like I'm going to go crazy sometimes but I know I'll get back to myself as the days go on. But yes I've been dealing with severe anxiety and depression. I am experiencing the tingling sensation as we speak. It just goes an comes so in was looking it up to see if it's something I need to be worries about. But I'm seeing it comes with everything else I'm experiencing. I just got all my lab work and the only thing that is not good is my thyroid which was expected. But the sensation to my left side was new to me. I also went through thinking I was having a heart attack, stroke and whatever else my mind can dream up. The key I'm finding is relaxation and meditation. Soaking in a hot Epsom salt bath, which is high in magnesium ,helps your muscles to relax, doing it at night will also help you sleep. I've also downloaded a meditation app that walks me through meditating exercises everyday. Also what we eat effects our anxiety as well...look up foods that help anxiety and incorporate more of those. Bananas, blueberries, oranges, pistachios, celery and carrots are just a few. Hope this helps as much as reading y'alls comments have helped me.

    • Posted

      Have you ever looked into POTS?   I have it and your symptoms sound similar!  
  • Posted

    I'm suffering the same thing and I'm freaking out.  It started at the beginning of summer, around the end of May.  I had stayed up late and woke up at 4am to dizziness and a pounding heart. I thought it was a heart attack, but I felt no symptoms afterwards. 

    Fast-forward to the end of August and I have another one after eating heavily the night before and staying up late again.  This happened right as I was getting in the door to work, though my stomach was flipping out right beforehand, followed by a rapid heartbeat and dizziness.  I had symptoms after, ones that lasted for a week and a half: discomfort in my left arm and right shoulder, discomfort scattered around my chest, racing thoughts, but no pain whatsoever or shortness of breath.  I went to the doctor a bit after and had an ECG done, they said it was good, and the cardiologist I went to said it was a panic attack. 

    Now fast forward to almost 4 months down the line and I'm still having symptoms, though I've made lifestyle changes including: Sleeping better, eating better and less, and trying to exercise.

    My symptoms are: Racing thoughts, chest discomfort in the middle and left side of my chest and on my left arm, though it jumps sides sometimes, and firm or bloated stomach, which has remained constant.  I have not had a single panic attack since, as far as I know, and I've been very concerned with my overall heart health as a result, but the symptoms come with no pain, racing thoughts, dizziness or vomiting.  I keep thinking it's a heart attack in the making, but the symptoms go down or away completely randomly. 

    If anyone else has been having the same symptoms I have, please let me know.  I need some closure on this. I'm scared that my previous eating habits and sleep habits are going to end me.

  • Posted

    Hey, sorry youre having to go thru all of that....

    Ivr been to the hospital suffering from pretty much the same symptoms....felt like i was having a heart attack...all test results came out fine.....the physicians have made a conclusion i have Costochondritis, which is inflammation in the chest

  • Posted

    Hello,my name is Aubrey and I'm going thru Symptoms That you are you are describing, I see that this was posted 9 months ago did you ever recover does it ever leave, that feeling Of half your body feeling numb please let me know,every test came back normal but I know what I'm feeling, thanks

  • Posted

    Can you update me on how you are feeling now? I am also having this problem.
  • Posted

    I know the left side of my body is connected to anxiety somehow. It's extremely unfortunate in one sense because it seems the medical field has not caught up to the things we are experiencing. Please respond to this message if you feel the same way.  

    1) When I do deep breathing exercises it feels as if it's the first time the left side of my brain is getting oxygen and I also feel a strange feeling in my heart area...something unidentified is definitely going on.

  • Posted

    Hi, I am feeling the same. It started with dizziness and continued to feeling weird feelings in my lower part of left leg, it started then in the left arm- lower part and I didn’t worry too much, when after a week I had the worst panic attack before sleep. I haven’t slept for a minute that night. My heart was pounding, my head was feeling like it wasn’t being part of my body, my left arm and chest, enourmous pain. I felt I was dying. It was like that twice in 3 days and I was so desperate and exhausted. I went to see a doctor and they ran ECG on me and checked pressure, all normal, she said I was probably anxious and it was a panic attack. I went to see neurologist also.. He said nothing strange, all normal . I had MR last week and I am still waiting for the results, I am so afraid to have either autoimmune disease or MS.. panic attacks I am aware of them now and try to control them when they come but these strange numb feelings on my left side of the body..they are really bothering me and I am going out of my mind because of them. Sometimes I can not fall asleep because I feel like I am not feeling my left side organs and I am breathing differently on my left side and the list goes on.. Please if you could tell me if the simptoms have stopped with you it would really encourage also me. Thank you and all the best!

     

    • Posted

      Yes I still have these symptoms. I can't shake the fact that the left side of my body feels weird.  My anxiety sometimes feels like lava running down my spine. I don't have faith that doctors will ever figure out  what is off about my body but I hope I'm wrong.  Doctors are clueless and apathetic about the true nature of what we are going through. 

    • Posted

      Anna,

      In the same boat as you. Going to get an MRI myself. Also worried it could be something serious. Please let me know your results.

    • Posted

      I feel the same way. I just want someone to listen to me. Doctors seem like they know they want to just give me some different anxiety medicine before they even here me out.
    • Posted

      Hi Michael,

      Yesterday I received my MRI results and all good! I was so relieved! Also I had my 1st appointment with my therapist this morning and He said all the symptoms I have are connected to my anxiety and nothing else.

      I don’t want to take any ADs so we decided to go from here and to really focus on finding the cause for my “problems” that my subconscious is feeling and where all my physical symptoms are coming from. I can tell you that today I feel the same as yesterday, weird feeling on the left side of my face, arm and leg, also little numb feelings in my body, especially when I breathe it feels strange like I don’t breathe equally on both sides, the left side feels less present, less intense..but I am sure now it has nothing to do with MS or any other diseases I was afraid I have. And I am sure if your symptoms are the same that you have nothing to worry about. But I would recommend that you go to MRI just to calm yourself and then start making some changes in your life, day to day activities, start focucing on your health and things that make you feel better, I walk a lot, 1h per day, run, play tennis, before sleep I do etf therapy ( tapping its called) it helps me, basically I try to find things that make me feel better. The therapist said that the pain and weird feelings I am feeling on my left side might go away soon or not so soon, but just to not pay too much attention to it. So just don’t panic, I know everything will work out well for you too! Please stay in touch! Ana

    • Posted

      Hi anna, I'm experiencing the same symptoms! I used to concerned and have terrible anxiety about my health but it gets better until 3 days ago when I'm working on my laptop and I have exactly the same thing like you! Numbness in my left body especially my leg and feeling sudden dizziness and feeling weird in the centre of my body. But I think because I was sitting for too long and impact my nerves. I go to check my Blood Pressure but everything seems fine cause I was thinking i have a stroke! Sometimes I got muscle twitching all over my body. I also have heart palpitation for 2 years and going to cardiologist for 3 ECGs but everything seems fine. Until my palpitation has been relieved 3 months ago.

      I think this is caused by anxiety, Try to sleep enough, limit stress, change your posture especially while sitting for too long, avoid to thinking about the feelings. I feel a lot better. Hope this helps!

    • Posted

      Hi anna, I am very late to find this post, but I feel like you have described exactly what happened to me 3 years back. Wanted to know how are you doing now? My symptoms come and go, and at the moment I have to take bp medication to help me with my chest discomfort.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.