Do You Shake When You're Nervous, Excited or Anxious?

Updated on October 22, 2011
E.D. asks from Olympia, WA
14 answers

'Cause I do. Terribly so. This is something I really want to find a solution to because I am like a darn leaf in the wind when ever I feel amped and/or anxious (which is a lot of the time). Mostly I just go about my life and do what ever it is that I'm terrified of doing / excited about, all the while shaking a way. My hands, body and voice shake and I become ten times more nervous or just self conscious because I already move around a lot when ever I'm talking or thinking or existing.

Guess I'm a mover and a shaker. HA HA HA HA HA (cracking myself up with that one)!.

I've researched this a bit and it seems like trying to force it away just makes it worse. So, I try to breath and accept/acknowledge the way I'm feeling and the way my body is reacting. Still, I shake. Have you found a way to alleviate this in your own life?

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L.V.

answers from Dallas on

I shake when I am super stressed. Like when my dad was in the ICU a couple years ago and I was hundreds of miles away.

Or when my husband passed out in the recovery room after my daughter had her tonsils out. That shaking could have been due to extreme embarrassment though! LOL

It doesn't happen often, but I know that something is SERIOUSLY wrong in my life when it does.

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E.B.

answers from Seattle on

Oh my god If I could stop shaking.

I will get them around 7 pm every night. That is when my Panic attack happens...and it lasts for about two hours...thanks to the Wonderful World of PTSD....Anything that sets off anxiety during the day...comes out with a Panic attack at night... it is exhausting and sometime embarrassing ...because there is no stopping it....and if I am in public or have company I look like I am having withdrawals from crack(at least it is what i would think it looks like in my mind)

I was given the steps to make it less painful...and less scary...and that it is better to ride it out then to force it to stop. Tea.... Lavender. and a fan(my body has issues regulating body temp due to eating disorder...It maybe this way for ever...I fired my circuit board so to speak) help ward off the yucks that can sometimes follow it.

No matter what happens during the day...I still get up with the facts of my life...And sadly there is not enough counseling in the world that will rid me of these facts. ..So the attack is not avoidable.

Maybe someday they will stop. But I can settle for now with them as just apart of my day...It is a small price to pay for the freedom I feel from guilt.

Breathing and praying help keep me focused on the end of the attack. i know relief is coming...sometimes it just takes its time...I take something out of each attack that builds a foundation for getting over the next one that comes.

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M.R.

answers from Phoenix on

Yes, I have really bad jitters before performing...my hands shake uncontrollably, which is terrible at the piano....I've played songs that I don't even recognize listening to the recording due to my nerves...

Then I found EFT....Emotional Freedom Technique.....I'm not fond of the 'name'....It is basically self guided, accu-tapping. There is a specific sequence to the tapping, specific, self-loving phrases you speak to yourself....and VOILA!! no shaking, no headaches post shaking, my nerves calm way down, etc.

Please YouTube EFT and find a reputable video, not someone who learned a little bit then uploaded their 2 cents.

Honestly, it's FREE and it truly works.

Please tell TAT2D...mom too.

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

.

2 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Jacksonville on

Yes, and I have an interview tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be quaking in my boots. Nobody is as bad as my mom though, she looks like a crack queen looking for her next fix whenever she is nervous. :) Poor mom.

Added: Sorry, I haven't found a cure, but I know lots of caffeine makes it worse.

2 moms found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

2 weeks ago we had a birthday party for my grandma. It was a roast, so we were supposed to share funny stories of her, if we had one. I told a story, but it wasn't until I finished and went to hand the microphone back to my aunt that I noticed my hands were REALLY shaking.

Public speaking or singing do it to me, unless I am very comfortable with my audience. When I was in high school I could sing solos quite confidently, but when I went to college and tried out for the chorus, my voice and hands were shaking. Thank God I could still sing through it, but it was certainly not how I prefer to sound.

For speaking--I try to have a prop in my hand, be it notecards, a laser pointer, chalk (when teaching a lesson), or to unleash myself from the podium and meander around the stage/front of the room.

For singing--I just don't look at anyone else, and envision myself singing the song back in my high school chorus room or church.

ETA: I met my husband on CatholicSingles.com, and the first time we met in person, after about a month of phone calls and emails, I hugged him and (he told me a few months later) I was shaking.

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T.W.

answers from Syracuse on

Glad I'm not alone, my hands shake when I'm real nervous about something and my voice shakes if I'm angry. Back in college, I used to have to give a lot of presentations in front of an audience, it was so embarrassing for me (the shaking) and awful then. After working in the real world, it did get better because I became more and more confident. I don't do it nearly as much today as I used to but it does still come back at times, and it's even worse when someone points it out to me. What helps me when I'm real nervous about something (like an interview) is to practice over and over what I'm going to say and do several mock interviews. I also keep telling myself to stay calm and focused.

It's funny but the shaking is so much less and my confidence has increased since becoming a mom. I think I used to be more passive and now I'm so much more assertive...maybe it's that mama bear thing!

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R.J.

answers from Salt Lake City on

I do I shake when I am anxious or angry I dont know how to stop it other than just breathing and locking my self in my bathroom for 10 minutes

1 mom found this helpful
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L..

answers from Roanoke on

I don't shake, but I do flush red or turn splotchy. I haven't found a remedy for it either.

1 mom found this helpful

✤.J.

answers from Dover on

I do not shake, but I wiggle as in it's something that happens on its own, but if I realize I'm doing it I have the control to make it stop. I'm guessing with your particular brand of shaking that you can't make it stop, right? That's got to suck & unfortunately I don't have any ideas for you.

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A.C.

answers from Savannah on

Not yet. When I was younger and more angry I NEVER shook, but then when I was angry I acted out. Not proud of it, but I did: knock holes in walls, punch out glass panes, kick the car door, attack someone that I thought was either a threat or just a stark raving idiot. No shaking. NOW: I behave myself. I have little boys to think about. I don't want to be a bad example for them, I don't want to put myself (or them!) in a dangerous or bad situation, I don't want them to see me treat someone badly or cursing, and I've also learned to just handle myself differently. HOWEVER when I get really mad or upset now, I start shaking really bad because I still get all of the adrenaline, but don't know what to do as an outlet to spend some of that energy up.....so I shake. Which makes me angry because I feel I might be looking wimpy or scared. Which doesn't help the situation. Fortunately, I don't get mad like that very often these days----my focus has changed so much that my mom has even recently said she doesn't know me anymore. I do tend to let stupid things roll off my back, and come back and handle things that anger me in a more controlled and mature manner now. With age and being in a better place in life, I also have the confidence to be more assertive; when I wasn't sure of myself and felt small or trapped, I was MUCH more angry much more easily.
When I first started dating my husband, he'd shake when we were together. So cute. :)

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J.D.

answers from Cincinnati on

Yep. thats me. I try to breathe in and hold it then breathe out and repeat this 10 times. Sometimes I have to get up and walk for awhile.

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K.L.

answers from Lafayette on

yes, when I am upset.

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K.G.

answers from Fort Wayne on

I do also I think it has to do with the endorphines just bing released to quickly and your CNS cant handle it. Its the fight/flight mechinisem (sp). When I get super pissed I get that way. I just have to really focus and tell myself to stay calm and just focus on what I need to do and say.

I also will start to laugh when I get very nervous. My 1st hubby got pulled over by a statey and I just about died, he had to explain that when I get nervous I laugh. The statey did not find humor in it and he got the ticket.

just roll with it, its how you are, if trying to control it makes it worse; dont. gl

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