Are Heart Palpitations, Shortness Of Breath And Numbness In My Hands And Feet Due To Anxiety?

Posted on Tue, 22 May 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 22 May 2018 Answered on

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 Last reviewed on

Question : i think i am having anxiety. my symptoms are heart palputations, shortness of breath and numbness in my hands and feet. my legs fell heavy and i am really light headed but i have been having these symptoms for about a week. is there something else that may be going on?

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (49 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
The symptoms are due to anxiety most likely.

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

I can understand your problem. The symptoms you have mentioned are of anxiety most likely but other causes especially cardiac cause should be ruled out. An ECG can help to grossly rule out cardiac cause. Though we should also rule out respiratory cause but the symptoms are pointing more towards anxiety.

If you have some ongoing stress and these symptoms are not persistent then most likely these symptoms are due to anxiety.

So please consider consulting a psychiatrist if these symptoms are resulting in impairment in your functioning. Relaxation exercises can also help to treat the symptoms.

Thanks

Please let me know if you need more assistance.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy