Hey everyone, welcome back to another daily senior
safety advice podcast. This is Esther Cain, retired
occupational therapist and certified dementia
care specialist. I'm so glad that you're here
with me today and we're going to talk about when
anxiety feels physical because this is February
26th and This month, we're focusing on heart
health and emotional resilience topics. So the
reason I wanted to talk about this topic when
anxiety feels physical is because the majority
of people from my experience don't understand
that anxiety can actually manifest in physical
symptoms. And I'm going to give you an example.
My husband suffered greatly from anxiety. And
the last three years before he passed away, he
had a terrible sinus. what seemed to be a sonnus
problem. I mean, he was constantly blowing his
nose. He had constant headaches. It was really
quite awful. And we did everything. We changed,
we removed all the carpeting in the house. We
added filters throughout the house. We changed
pillows and bed sheets and made everything anti
-allergenic. He went and got all kinds of allergy
shots and testing. all kinds of medication and
nothing worked. Now he was also on anti -anxiety
medicine and anti -depression medicine and if
you are not aware he did take his own life but
what we found out was that several weeks before
he passed away he had stopped all his medication
and Usually when someone who takes their life
does that it's because they've been decided that
that's what they're gonna do. That's at least
the norm and wouldn't you know it that it was
three weeks it was at that same time that all
his sinus problems went away and you might think
well that medication was causing it but no because
a lot of that medication. He had only been taken
for the few months before he passed away because
he was seeing all kinds of different doctors
for his anxiety and depression. So, no, it wasn't
the medication he was taken. It was because his
anxiety had risen to a point where it began manifesting
and the way it manifested for him was in this
horrible sinus issue where he was constantly
snorting and blowing and headaches and I mean,
it was ridiculous, really. My heart went out
to him. But anyway, anxiety can absolutely, definitely
100 % present itself in a physical way. It can
show up as a tight chest, racing heart, shortness
of breath, dizziness, upset stomach, muscle tension.
And people begin to think, oh, my God, I'm having
a heart attack. I have a brain tumor. I'm getting
sick. I mean, even in my patients as an occupational
therapist, I would see it over and over again.
And I want to say this right away. It's not your
imagination. Anxiety is not your imagination.
It's not in your head. It's very, very physical.
I do look forward to the day when what are deemed
today as mental illnesses such as bipolar and
schizophrenia and depression and anxiety, when
those can actually be listed as medical conditions
because they truly are. has been my experience.
All right, anxiety lives in the nervous system.
When your body senses stress, even emotional
stress, it prepares for danger. Your heart rate
increases, your breathing changes, your muscles
tighten, and that's your body trying to protect
you, not to hurt you. But when it happens often
or without an obvious reason or significant precursor,
it can feel overwhelming and scary. I've worked
with many people who say, I don't feel anxious
at all. I don't have anxiety. I don't have anxiety.
But yet they were demonstrating all the physical
signs of anxiety. So here's something important
to understand. Anxiety doesn't always come up
with anxious thoughts sometimes it shows up as
fatigue a lump in your throat pressure in your
chest a sense of restlessness and people then
start chasing physical answers it makes sense
because you feel it physically so you go to doctor
visits and if you go to your you know your regular
doctor, then he's going to check you out physically
because that's what he knows. They're going to
do tests on you physically and appointments and
on another doctor and another doctor. And all
of those are important because you want to rule
out what it's not. But oftentimes the tests will
come back. You're normal. Everything is fine.
And you're sitting there at the doctor's office
thinking, well, I'm not fine. I know I don't
feel fine. I'm not fine. And especially for women,
if you're going through menopause, a lot of women
going through menopause will experience anxiety
for the very first time in their life and they
have no idea what's happening. And of course
you want to rule out any other physical issues,
but don't discount the fact that it could be
anxiety. Anxiety is your body staying on high
alert even when there's no immediate threat.
And here's where this really matters. The body
doesn't know the difference between emotional
danger and physical danger. You could be stressed
out about caregiving. You could be stressed out
about aging, about your family, about the economy,
about politics. Stop watching the news. That'll
decrease your anxiety greatly. You can be stressed
out about being alone, about thinking about the
future and regretting things in the past. There's
so many things you could be anxious about without
even realizing that you're anxious about them.
I've seen anxiety feel exactly like heart trouble.
It can even feel like you're having a stroke.
That feeling is very, very scary. And it's why
it's so important not to dismiss the symptoms,
but also not to panic. Getting checked. is smart.
And once the serious issues are ruled out, yes,
you're not having a heart attack, yes, you haven't
had a stroke, yes, you're okay, then consider
that it may be anxiety because anxiety, I am
telling you, feeds physical symptoms. The cycle
is exhausting. Another thing I want to talk about
related to this is hyper awareness. When anxiety
is present, People start monitoring their bodies
very closely. That's very common. Every sensation,
every beat, every breath, that constant scanning
keeps the nervous system activated. I've seen
people say, I can't stop noticing my heart. And
that attention alone can increase your symptoms.
Not because something is wrong, but because the
nervous system has now been put on guard. Another
physical symptom that's very common with anxiety
is muscle tension. Clenching your jaw, neck pain,
shoulder tightness, back pain, leg pain, any
kind of muscle tension. People don't even realize
that they're holding their bodies rigid. How
many times have you found yourself with your
shoulders pushed up and you don't even realize
it and you have to physically think about it
to push your shoulders back down. That tension
creates of course discomfort and discomfort creates
worry and the loop continues. breathing also
changes with anxiety. You tend to breathe more
shallow, high up in the chest. And that can easily
cause dizziness or tingling or shortness of breath,
which then increases your fear because you're
like, why am I dizzy? What's happening? You know,
am I having a stroke? Am I, you know, do I have
a brain tumor or cancer? I mean, all these thoughts,
these negative, what's the word? catastrophic
thoughts come through in your head. And that's
very common with anxiety, of course, because
then you start going through the loop of constantly
thinking of those catastrophic types of scenarios.
So here's the good news though. Because anxiety
does live in the nervous system, it can be calmed
through the body, not just the mind. Slow breathing
helps, you know, like the kind of breathing you
do with meditation. yoga, gentle movement helps,
you know, the kind that you can do with, you
know, just walking outdoors, um, yoga or Tai
Chi and grounding helps. And that's again, meditation,
you know, listening to med meditation tapes,
yoga, placing your feet on the floor, noticing
what you can see, feeling something solid. Those
things tell the body I'm safe. I'm safe right
now. And when the body feels safer, anxiety symptoms
tend to ease. Another thing that I've noticed
is that anxiety often shows up when people feel
out of control. And these days, it's very easy
to feel out of control. Everything is changing
so quickly. And as, you know, not only outside
of ourselves with the economy, with you know,
politics with our finances, because everything
is going up. And then also, you know, the introduction
of AI and all the smart home appliances, everything
is constantly changing. But what's also changing
as we're getting older is our bodies. Our bodies
are changing. Our health is changing. We may
be losing some independence or realizing that
we can't do things as easily as we used to. When
was the last time you were able to get up the
floor without any help? Caregiving stress, your
lifestyle may be changing because you're caring
for a senior loved one. All those situations
create uncertainty because what was routine is
no longer routine anymore. Now your lifestyle
has changed, everything around you is changing
and you're trying to control and get back some
of that control. So creating predictability can
help you to reduce anxiety. creating some kind
of a routine, small rituals, knowing what comes
next. That's why planning is so very important.
Planning as much as you possibly can, you know,
within the parameters of whatever your lifestyle.
Getting help, getting respite help if you're
a caregiver is extremely important. That kind
of steadiness can calm your nervous system. I've
also seen anxiety improve greatly when people
stop fighting the sensation Once you know what
anxiety feel likes in your body Then you know
that it will go away anxiety does not last Usually
it does not last for hours and days and weeks
and years it comes and goes in waves So when
you feel it once you know what it feels like
When you feel it, then you know that it's time
to maybe sit down, meditate, relax, do some yoga,
take a walk, whatever. Whatever it is that you
need to do to relax, watch a comedy show, anything,
whatever it is that you find. A lot of times
just talking to yourself. This is uncomfortable.
I know I don't like this, but it's going to be
okay. Sort of like the kind of thing you would
say if you don't like flying and as soon as you
sit in the airplane seat, you start talking to
yourself, telling yourself that it's going to
be okay. It's the same kind of thing. It doesn't
make the symptoms appear. you know disappear
completely instantly but it does stop the escalation
and it does make it more controllable so that
you can live with it just like anything else
it's like a needle it doesn't it's like a needle
in your skin you know like a splinter in your
skin you just learn to live with it as long as
you learn the techniques on how to take care
of it anxiety does however grow oftentimes in
isolation. So talking to someone, being reassured,
feeling seen, all of those things calm the body
down. Now, for some people, going into large
events, you know, parties with a lot of people
and all that increases your anxiety. So be aware
of what calms you down. If just being with one
or two people to lunch or dinner or breakfast
or just coffee, whatever. If that calms you down,
if that helps you, then do that and avoid the
large events. But you have to know yourself.
And most seniors and caregivers tend to hold
everything inside. Worry, fear, exhaustion. and
that only feeds anxiety and your body's end up
carrying it. You know, chest tightness, headaches,
GI issues, all of those are stress signals and
anxiety. It's not a failure, you just haven't
yet learned how to cope with those issues. Anxiety
can definitely come and go. You might feel fine
one moment, and awful the very next moment. That
unpredictability is part of anxiety. It can happen
at any time. You could be sitting watching a
movie calmly and all of a sudden you get a rush.
You can get a rush that feels like a heat wave
inside your body. Your hands start shaking. I
mean, all kinds of things can start happening
and nothing caused it. It just comes. And it
goes. And it doesn't mean that you're getting
worse. It just means your nervous system, for
whatever reason, is sensitive right now. And
I want to say this very clearly. If physical
symptoms are new, if they're severe, if they're
changing, always, always, always go talk to a
health care provider. The conversation is not
about ignoring symptoms. It's about understanding
what could be the cause. But again, do not dismiss
the fact that it could be anxiety. Taking a small,
tiny little pill of anxiety, an anti -anxiety
pill can definitely help and it will... give
you at least the ability to begin managing it.
Sometimes it is too difficult, it has gone on
for too long or it's too severe to manage completely
with meditation, yoga, walking, tai chi, whatever.
Those things are great and they can really help
but sometimes you need the medication in order
to get to the place that you can do those things.
so that they help you. So don't be shy about
taking anything like that. All right. Once serious
issues are ruled out, then learning how anxiety
shows up in your body now that you know what
it feels like is very empowering because now
you have the tools. Now you understand what it
feels like and you can begin working on, you
know, dealing with it. All right. All of those
things, medication and everything that I've mentioned
already, meditation, yoga, tai chi, walking,
you know, restful music, getting respect, care,
all of that can help you. And they all add up.
The trick is that you need to find what works
for you. And it may take a while. It may take
a while for you to figure that out. But in the
meantime, I think it's always easier to, it takes
away the fear of that it might be something severe
once you know what it feels like. At least that's
been my experience. Well, that's all that I have
for you today. I want to thank you so much for
being here with me today on this very important
topic. I've lived through years and years of
watching my husband deal with this horrible illness,
this horrible disease. So I know what it looks
like from the outside and I have an inkling of
what it feels like. After his passing, I myself
went through some terrible anxiety. Obviously,
anyone who's lived through anything like that
is going to have a little anxiety. But It affects
people quite differently. Some people have it
horribly and some people just have a little smidge
of it. Either way, take care of it because you
deserve to live the rest of your days as happy
as you can and also you want the people around
you to be as happy as they can. All right, if
today's episode gave you some useful insights
or some new ideas, then please share it with
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