Anxiety can stem from various underlying medical conditions, including thyroid issues (hyper/hypothyroidism), heart disease, diabetes, respiratory problems (COPD, asthma), neurological disorders (head trauma, MS), and certain autoimmune diseases (lupus, fibromyalgia). Additionally, substance withdrawal, chronic pain, and even vitamin deficiencies (like B12) can trigger anxiety, so a doctor's evaluation is crucial to find the root cause.
Examples of medical problems that can be linked to anxiety include:
Things you can try to help with anxiety, fear and panic
Conditions That Look Like Anxiety
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is another autoimmune disease known to have neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction, and psychosis with a prevalence of 21–95% of patients.
If you are nervous or anxious, you may feel like: • There is a knot in your stomach or your stomach is upset a lot. Your muscles seem tight or stiff. You get a lot of headaches. You're “on edge” a lot of the time.
Common Autoimmune Disease Symptoms
Many neurological conditions, including strokes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, and dementia, can directly cause anxiety and depression.
You may have health anxiety if you: constantly worry about your health. frequently check your body for signs of illness, such as lumps, tingling or pain. are always asking people for reassurance that you're not ill.
Hyperthyroidism may present with symptoms that mimic anxiety disorders. Such physical symptoms as increased sensitivity to heat, weight loss, restlessness, difficulty sleeping, and tremor suggest a physical cause for the anxiety-like symptoms. In some women, estrogen can produce anxiety symptoms.
A panic attack is an episode of severe anxiety. It usually causes symptoms such as shortness of breath, racing heart, sweating and nausea. Infrequent panic attacks can be normal. But repeated panic attacks that happen for no obvious reason are more likely a sign of an anxiety disorder.
To diagnose an anxiety disorder, a doctor performs a physical exam, asks about your symptoms, and recommends a blood test, which helps the doctor determine if another condition, such as hypothyroidism, may be causing your symptoms. The doctor may also ask about any medications you are taking.
A number of medical conditions are known to include anxiety as a symptom, including: Endocrine diseases (i.e., hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia) Cardiovascular disorders (i.e., congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation) Respiratory illnesses (i.e., asthma, pneumonia)
Heart palpitations or abnormal heart rhythms. Females may experience constipation or other digestive problems due to low potassium levels. Low potassium can also affect a person's mood, leading to irritability, depression, or anxiety.
Low self-esteem, family history of depression, female sex, childhood sexual abuse, White race, years of education, number of traumatic experiences, and disturbed family environment increased the risk of anxiety disorders and MDD through their effect on the latent factor.
People with illness anxiety disorder, sometimes known as hypochondria or hypochondriasis, fear that they have a serious medical condition or that they're at high risk of becoming ill. They may also misinterpret typical body functions as signs of illness.
Move your body gently
Movement helps burn off those stress hormones and restore balance. Gentle exercise works best for a dysregulated nervous system so if you're not used to intense exercise, that's OK. Walking, stretching, yoga or dancing to your favorite song can all help regulate your body's stress response.
Possible medical reasons for anxiety
H (hormones): Thyroid problems are among the most common medical causes of anxiety, either because the gland is overactive (hyperthyroidism) or underactive (hypothyroidism). Parathyroid and adrenal gland conditions can trigger anxiety, too.
Neurologists can also diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
Vasovagal syncope occurs when a vagus nerve to your heart overreacts to certain situations like extreme heat, anxiety, hunger, pain or stress.
Early warning signs of lupus often include extreme fatigue, unexplained fever, joint pain/swelling, skin rashes (especially a butterfly-shaped one on the face), hair loss, mouth sores, and Raynaud's phenomenon (fingers/toes turning white or blue in the cold). Because these symptoms mimic other conditions, lupus can be hard to diagnose early, but they often come in waves (flares) and affect various body systems.
If you have a positive ANA test, an ENA test can check the blood for the presence of antinuclear antibodies that are known to be markers of certain diseases. The ENA test can help your health care team and your rheumatologist diagnose autoimmune diseases such as: Lupus.
The "worst" autoimmune diseases are subjective but often cited for severity, impact on life expectancy, or organ damage, with top contenders including Giant Cell Myocarditis (highly fatal), Vasculitis (damages blood vessels), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus) (multi-organ), Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (nervous system), and Type 1 Diabetes (pancreas, life-long management). Other severe conditions include Scleroderma and Myasthenia Gravis.