What Do I Call This Sensation?

[Sandstone]

I'm tingly in my arms and chest, a bit light headed, feeling something sort of panicky, my jaw is stiff and my lips feel odd. But to look at I appear normal, I'm not hyperventilating. No-one except me would know. So it's not a panic attack. If I wanted to report it to someone, what would I say?

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

To me it sounds like what happens below "panic attack level".
I tend to get a bit light-headed and very clenched (clenched in the jaw and shoulders mostly). Don´t know if it compares?

I call it "tension", just the kind of tension that creeps up to your neck and ends up making you foggy. Physical exercise tends to help (me) with it. But I don´t know if people who don´t have PTSD experience "tension" the same way and thus would understand what you mean.

 

[The Albatross]

I was thinking something along Rad's lines too... the only way I ever described that kind of thing was a "precursor cue"... when I was a child/teen/younger woman... I'd get body cues that would be aware of or rather learned how to be aware of before a more serious event... so I could take evasive action or make accommodation for myself should the event occur. I have a lot less of these now, but I'd get the imminent cueing and could get myself to safety or withdraw from a stressor or trigger and even sometimes prevent the fainting/passing out/black outs or lost time.

 

[MesaRock]

sounds to me like early indications of anxiety, as your body prepares for stress with fight or flight arousal. If you were to describe it to someone, it would be the early indications of anxiety response building in your body and psyche...There are the classic advanced severe panic attacks (hot flashes, hyperventilation, etc) but it's not all-or-nothing - there's a range. I usually keep track of mine on a 1-10 scale.

It's good that you are so in touch with your body that you can notice it! I get it too, and what really helps is to start doing my grounding and calming exercises immediately - sitting down with both feet on the floor really feeling the floor, and breathing in very deeply and evenly and counting breaths til 10 then starting over until the feeling passes. There are a lot of somatic experiencing and other grounding techniques that can help - mostly by becoming aware of your senses and reassuring yourself of your safety. People here have suggested things like washing your face, sitting in front of a fan, holding a frozen orange or a rock that has an interesting texture, that sort of thing.

 

[digger]

I'm tingly in my arms and chest, a bit light headed, feeling something sort of panicky, my jaw is stiff and my lips feel odd. But to look at I appear normal, I'm not hyperventilating.

I get all those symptoms before I am noticeably hyperventilating - either to myself or others - doesn't always develop into a full blown panic attack. If I'm aware enough I take it as a warning that I'm heading that way and need to take evasive action. My guess is that even though there are no really obvious changes to my breathing, it has probably already started to change subtly to cause the tingling.

How I would report it to someone else? I'd probably just describe the symptoms in the way you have done here.

 

[barefoot]

Sounds like heightened anxiety. Rising panic, but it hasn't yet gone to full blown panic attack.

So if I were describing it to someone else...I'd probably say I'm feeling really anxious. Because anxiety isn't just thoughts in your head ("I'm anxious about this, worried about that, can't stop thinking about the other" etc) - it's also about really feeling it physically.

It's good that you can recognise these feelings as then you can use them to regulate yourself. It took me a long time to begin to realise that I could actually feel anxiety in my body.

 

[Sandstone]

Thanks everybody. As it seems it's just emoting, I shall ignore it.