Tight Upper Stomach Daily

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Hi everyone.
I'm 23 and suffer from anxiety & initially put this down to the cause of my upper stomach feeling very tight/ discomfort. Upon waking up it all feels very heavy and I have difficulty breathing outwards as I feel like there's a stone or something lodged and it's makes me retch. I spoke to a doctor about it and she said stress is the cause, however I feel this way even without an anxiety attack. I went to bed with this feeling in my stomach and have woken up with it too.
I had blood tests done in October 2020 and all came back normal. Kidneys, liver fine. No infections present. White blood cells fine. No signs of coeliac disease.
The only way I can describe the feeling is a tight bloated feeling in the upper half of my tummy, and when I breathe out I feel a pressure pushing on something. I know you're not doctors but just wandered if anyone else has experienced this? I'm going back to the doctors next Wednesday to speak to them and also have another blood test and will demand they examine my stomach.
Im the definition of worry and worry myself sick that it's something awful like cancer, and then obsess over it.
Thanks in advance.

I can't offer any solutions but I read your post and this is also happening to me. I have had an ultrasound to double check by the doctor has just said it is stress induced and nothing physical.
It's like my stomach has turned solid. I can feel it all the time - no matter if I have eaten, not eaten, just woken up etc. I completely understand this.

The only thing that has helped (in hindsight) is when I was really being proactive with mindful breathing and really taking time for myself. About 20 mins a day. The trouble is, it's hard to get yourself to slow down and, with things the way they are in the world right now, everyone is having a tough time. But it really is important when we start feeling the stress physically. Maybe look into mindfulness and mediation and give that a go? You have nothing to lose

Thank you for the reply! I will give meditation a go, like you said I have nothing to loose!
I find myself feeling my stomach and it feels hard. Did the doctor do the ultrasound for you at yoir surgery or did you have to go to hospital for it?
I feel like if this feeling would go away it would stop my stress completely, but obviously I know its a vicious circle x

Hi OP,

I have anxiety and discovered a few years ago that I basically wasn’t breathing properly. I was breathing really shallowly and it was leading to all sorts of symptoms, including a tight stomach like you describe but also dizziness and fatigue and so on.

Physio taught me some breathing exercises and I had to practise really hard but eventually I got there, and the tightness mostly went and my other symptoms cleared up. When I get stressed I notice it immediately now because my stomach tenses and other physical stuff comes in.

I suggest finding someone to teach you breathing (like, I basically had to relearn it!) exercises and also the meditation/relaxation exercises you’ve already mentioned, and you might well find it really helps. To be honest though the thing that most helped me was going on sertraline but the exercises and mental discipline definitely helped especially once the edge was taken off my anxiety by the pills.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your reply.
Yes, I think I breathe really shallow too almost like I'm not breathing at all?! And I think to myself, jeez breathe deeper! 😅 Sounds strange I know. It's almost like when I inhale I do it upwards towards my shoulders rather than my belly going outwards. Doing that now feels very forced and uncomfortable. I must be really tense! I'll look into breathing techniques and actually stick with them. Along with meditation as the other user recommended.

Yep that sounds exactly like me. You need to learn how to breathe into your belly, really push your diaphragm down. Also one other thing that really helped me was singing lessons, because again you have to learn how to breathe properly! Not much use atm but you could always look for singing exercises on youtube I guess?

This is exactly what happens to me! I also have anxiety so that explains a lot!

Me too, it hurts! I’m convinced mine is stressed because, well... I’m so stressed.

Hi has this improved for anyone? I suffer with anxiety too (mainly health anxiety) and for the past couple of days iv had the exact feeling you have all described like a bloated feeling but upper abdomen and I can't shift it. It feels tight but not painful x

Me too!

Hi how are you now? I’ve got the exact same feeling it’s been months now :/ I suffer from health anxiety too wondering if it’s that contributing to it