Fight or Flight Induced Symptoms

BODY (fight or flight symptoms associated with the body in general):

• Aches, pains, and tense muscles
• Allergies and environmental sensitivity 
• Back pain, stiffness, tension, spasms, immobility in the back 
• Blood sugar levels unbalanced
• Body aches or soreness, feels like your body and muscles are bruised
• Body temperature increase or decrease 
• Buzzing sensation in the feet, hands, fingers
• Cardiovascular Disease 
• Chills
• Clumsiness
• Cold or sweaty hands and feet
• Colds and infections
• Chronic Inflammation
• Dizziness
• Extreme fatigue
• Feel like you are going to pass out 
• Fertility problems
• Fibromyalgia 
• Flu-like symptoms
• Food cravings
• Frequent urination
• High cholesterol 
• High blood pressure
• Hyperactivity, excess nervous energy
• Hyperglycaemia and Reactive Hypoglycaemia
• Impaired immune response
• Increased symptoms of PMS
• Increased menopausal side effects 
• Insulin resistance
• Joint pain
• Light headiness
• Loss of sex drive or ability
• Low blood sugar with irritability when hungry 
• Muscle weakness 
• Neck, back, shoulder pain, tightness/stiffness
• Night sweats
• Osteoporosis
• Pain sensitivity
• Prone to infections 
• Slower healing and cell regeneration 
• Shaky hands or legs 
• Sweating
• Sugar Craving
• Trembling, twitching, shaking, tremors, jolts
• Weakness 

CHEST (fight or flight symptoms associated with the chest area):

• Chest discomfort
• Find it hard to breathe, shortness of breath 
• Frequent yawning trying to catch your breath
• Palpitations, flutters or ‘skipped’ heart beats 
• Pounding heart, heart feels like it is beating too hard or fast
• Shallow breathing
• Tightness in the ribs like a tight band around the ribs

HEAD (fight or flight symptoms associated with the head):

• Feeling like there is a tight band around your head
• Hair thinning
• Migraines, headaches
• Scalp ache
• Shooting pains, and odd pressures in the head or face

SIGHT (fight or flight symptoms commonly associated with sight):

• Dilation of pupils 
• Distorted, foggy, or blurred vision
• Dry, watery or itchy eyes
• Eyes sensitive to light
• Tunnel vision (loss of peripheral vision)

HEARING/EARS (fight or flight symptoms associated with hearing):

• Hypersensitive hearing 
• Tinnitus, noises in the ears 
• Balance problems

MOUTH/STOMACH (fight or flight symptoms associated with the mouth and stomach):

• Clenched jaw and grinding teeth
• Digestive problems
• Difficulty talking, or slurred speech
• Feeling like you can’t swallow properly
• IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome 
• Motion sickness
• Nausea
• Salt craving
• Suddenly feel extremely hungry
• Tight throat 
• Upset stomach, which may include diarrhea, constipation, gas, belching, bloating
• Ulcers of stomach and intestine

SKIN (fight or flight symptoms commonly associated with the skin):

• Numbness and tingling, pins and needles feelings
• Paling or flushed face
• Skin sensitivity
• Skin sensations such as burning, itchy, “crawly,” prickly
• Skin problems, acne, infections, rashes
• Feeling cold or chilled
• Sweating

SLEEP (fight or flight symptoms commonly associated with sleep):

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Nightmares or strange dreams
• Insomnia, or waking up in the middle of the night 
• Jolting awake in a panic attack
• Wake up early feeling groggy and unrefreshed

MOOD/EMOTIONS (fight or flight induced symptoms associated with mood, emotions, feelings):

• Agitation, inability to relax
• Anxiety, apprehension, or fear
• Avoiding others
• Depression
• Defensive
• Detached and emotionally disconnected
• Dread
• Dull
• Dwelling on the negative 
• Easily startled
• Emotionally flat, or numb
• Fear and apprehension
• Feeling of overwhelm
• Feeling grouchy
• Feelings of disassociation
• Feeling stressed 
• Frustration
• Feel like crying for no apparent reason
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Hopelessness
• Inability to relax
• Irritability and lack of patience
• Jittery
• Lack of motivation or focus
• Lack of confidence / low self esteem
• Lack enthusiasm 
• Mood swings (anger and irritability)
• Nervousness
• Overly sensitive
• Restlessness
• Sense of loneliness and isolation

BEHAVIOURAL EFFECTS (fight or flight induced symptoms associated with behavior):

• Avoiding people, inability to handle interactions with others
• Being expressively hypersensitive 
• Bed bound, or house bound 
• Bite off more than you can chew
• Controlling
• General lack of interest in normal activities
• Judging yourself and others 
• Panicky in social situations or in crowds
• Nervous habits 
• Procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities
• Overdoing activities (e.g. exercising, work) 
• Overreacting
• Social withdrawal
• Sensitive to or dependent on stimulants like coffee, alcohol, chocolate, sugar
• Sleeping too much or too little 
• Suppression
• Tongue tied during conversations
• Using alcohol or drugs to relax 
• Perfectionism: This can be very corrosive and strip the joy from everything you do, because you are expecting too much from yourself and life. 

FEARS (fight or flight induced symptoms commonly associated with fear):

• Assuming others are thinking negatively of you 
• Fear of being in public or social situations
• Fear of losing control
• Fear of making mistakes
• Fear of passing out
• Fear of change
• Fears about irrational things, circumstances, or situations
• Frightening thoughts or feelings
• Obsessive compulsive behaviour
• Fear of having a serious undetected illness
• Fears of the future

MIND (fight or flight induced symptoms associated with the mind and thinking):

• All or nothing thinking
• Brain Fog
• Catastrophic thinking and blowing things out of proportion
• Confusion
• Constant worrying
• Criticising
• Difficulty thinking, forming thoughts
• Difficulty following conversations
• Disorientation
• Distorted thinking through focusing on the negative detail of a problem 
• Globalising or assuming continuation of a problem based on one event 
• Hyper-vigilant
• Hazard checking
• Ignoring the positive and not giving yourself credit for your achievements 
• Incessant ‘mind chatter’
• Indecisiveness
• Inflexibility
• Judging yourself or others
• Jumping to conclusions
• Lack of concentration/focus
• Loss of verbal memory (words, names, and numbers)
• Memory and learning impairment
• Negative Thoughts 
• Not living in the present 
• Over thinking/analysing
• Overcautious
• Perfectionistic thinking
• Pessimism or seeing only the negative side
• Poor memory and concentration
• Replaying past negative memories
• Racing thoughts
• Spaced out feelings,
• "Stuck" thoughts, mental images, that "stick" in your mind and replay over and over again
• Thinking people are thinking negatively of you
• Thinking you are responsible for events that are out of your control 

Also watch out for repeatedly thinking/saying: 

“I should…/ I ought to…/ I have to.../ I must…/ I always…/ I never… “

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