9 Physical Symptoms of Anxiety People Often Mistake for Something Else

Today, anxiety is understood more now than it ever was. It used to be that people would tell you that it is all in your head, or to just get over it. Actual, real anxiety can be an unprompted, physical or mental response to stressors, or to absolutely nothing.

Have you ever wondered if perhaps your symptoms may be related to anxiety? Here are nine physical anxiety symptoms that might be mistaken for something else.

Headaches

First off, the classic headache. This can come from so many things, and you’d be surprised how much is related to anxiety. Being overwhelmed can cause a rise in blood pressure, thus leading to a headache. Clenching your jaw, as described in this post by JS Dental Lab, can cause additional stress on your mandibles, which shoots directly into the nerve clusters surrounding the muscles in your head. Voilà, another headache!

Upset Stomach

Do you have a business meeting coming up and an upset stomach that you just can’t control? There’s the correlation that you may be looking for. An upset stomach occurs in many ways, but most of the time it’s a convulsion of the stomach when something, especially emotions, is out of whack.

Constipation

On the same spectrum is constipation. You can have a reaction where your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, and both of those modes tell your body to either evacuate the system or not evacuate at all. This is where anxiety and constipation are often related. You can also have the evacuate option locked in to your system, leaving you running to the restroom constantly.

Dizziness

While not the most prevalent for some, a dizzy spell can be related to either a drop or an increase in blood pressure. For some people, even a slight change in their blood pressure can cause dizziness. This dizziness is also a potential sign of anxiety that is running rampant without proper treatment. Always talk to your doctor if you feel that you are getting dizzy spells regularly.

Muscle Cramps

What often shows up as stress in people of all ages, is muscle cramps. Sometimes, if you aren’t getting enough potassium, that can be the cause. However, when we are stressed, our muscles tense up sometimes without us even realizing it.

This is often tied to a specific muscle group where you carry your stress, or it can be tied to your jaw. Bruxism, the act of grinding or clenching your teeth while sleeping, is often paired with a sore neck and shoulders when related to anxiety.

Feeling Dehydrated

Do you ever feel like you just need a big drink of water or a sports drink and everything will be okay? Anxiety is the body’s natural response to something going on in your system. If your minerals are out of balance and your body is out of balance, that is only going to make your anxiety worse. Whether or not you have already been diagnosed with anxiety, this condition can quickly get your body out of balance. Leaving you feeling dehydrated and sometimes even hungry.

Tightness

This is definitely different than muscle cramps because this tightness of muscle can show up in any muscle group. It feels like working out, but you haven’t! Some people even experience tightness in their throat (almost like you are about to cry) that can sometimes cause difficulty breathing. Tightness in your back, legs, and shoulders is often a sign that you have been holding onto stress and potentially anxiety.

New Allergies

Believe it or not, anxiety can do some wild things to your system. In some cases, it can create physical aversions to food and even allergies. Generally speaking, the allergies to foods can go away. In other cases, they stay as a symptom of anxiety or as a result of periods of high stress and anxiety.

Brain Fog

There are many different conditions that have brain fog as a symptom. This can make it hard to tell if your brain fog is from anxiety or not. When this is the case, you have to stop and think about what is going on with the rest of your life. What is bringing you peace? What is bringing you stress? Have you been sleeping? Have you been working too hard? All of these are questions that you need to ask yourself because that brain fog could be a result of situational anxiety.

Talk to Your Doctor

With anything related to medical or mental health, you need to talk to your doctor or a therapist. Both are able to help you parse apart the daily routine, your balance of life, and what may be going on. From there, they are able to determine if you have anxiety or if you need to change your diet or add in activity.