Can anxiety cause physical symptoms? When should you get checked?

The World Health Organization includes palpitations, sweating, trembling and nausea or abdominal discomfort among possible anxiety symptoms. The NHS also describes dizziness, breathlessness and a more noticeable heartbeat. A person may notice these feelings together with worry, or notice the body first and only later realise they feel anxious.

A symptom's timing can help a clinician understand it, but it cannot prove the cause. For example, note whether the feeling begins suddenly or builds up, how long it lasts, what you were doing, and whether it settles. Record any chest pain, shortness of breath, faintness, medicines or caffeine as well as the worrying thoughts, if any. You need not decide whether it was a panic attack before asking for advice.

A noticeable or irregular heartbeat can also have other causes. The NHS names medicines, iron deficiency anaemia, thyroid problems and heart rhythm problems among possibilities. A clinician may ask about your health history, examine you and decide whether tests such as an ECG are useful. The same physical feeling can have different explanations in different people.

Arrange a medical assessment if palpitations keep returning, happen more often or last longer than a few minutes, especially if you have a heart condition or a family history of heart problems. Also seek help if anxiety or its physical effects are making work, family life or sleep hard to manage. You can discuss both the bodily symptoms and the worry in one appointment.

If palpitations do not go away, or occur with chest pain, shortness of breath, feeling faint or fainting, seek emergency medical help now. If these symptoms have stopped, seek prompt medical advice rather than waiting for the next episode. In India, contact local emergency services or a nearby emergency department; UK telephone numbers in the NHS source are not Indian services.

Our seven-question anxiety symptoms check asks about the past two weeks. It may help you describe a pattern of worry to a clinician, but its score cannot explain a racing heart, rule out a physical condition or decide whether an urgent symptom is safe. Seek medical help first when a warning sign is present.