Hi everyone. For the past few months now I have noticed that when I try to go to bed, I have shortness of breath and when I try to get a deep breath, it seems like my chest isn't expanding as much as it needs to. I have to yawn to get a full breath and I have to lay down with my arms above my head. Eve sitting up doesn't get rid of the feeling. My doctor prescribed me a short dose of Temazepam 15 mg to take once before bed. I started taking it and I'd wake up 4 hours later being jolted awake kind of like when you have a dream that you are falling. My doctor suggested I take 2 pills before bed which was knocking me out but I've quickly grown tolerant to it. Also, when I wake up in the morning to pee or a sound wakes me up, I can no longer go back to sleep because I get that shortness of breath feeling again. Even if I try my hardest, I cannot get a full enough breath and it will not allow me to fall asleep. my doctor said it is caused by anxiety and my worrisome thinking is exacerbating it. he prescribed me Zoloft as well but I have not been able to start taking it yet due to another medication I am on right now that could have potential interactions. I have had an EKG which came back normal and am due for more tests next week. I don't understand why this is happening. I have had shortness of breath in the past but never this bad and not for this long . Has anyone else had this problem? It is keeping me up all night so I am more anxious and irritable during the day. I want to start the Zoloft as soon as possible to see if that helps my symptoms but I am starting to lose hope. Thanks.
Alexandra, I’m sorry you are going through this. I’ve been through this also many many times and I know what it’s like.
But first of all never ever give up hope because there’s always something that can help.
have you had anxiety for a long time?
If there’s something in your life that is causing it, the best thing you can do is address that and it may take visiting a counselor every week or so to help you sort all of this out. Anxiety is difficult to manage alone. I’ve had it for over 30 years.
sounds like you are generally healthy. The shortness of breath is a symptom of anxiety and it is not harmful. Basically when we get symptoms of anxiety, our body is telling us there’s too much stress.
What I find very helpful when I’m laying down to sleep is to listen to some meditations on YouTube for anxiety, or relaxation meditations, etc. I fall asleep before they are even over. There are hundreds of them. if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night I will just play another one because there’s nothing worse than laying there with shortness of breath when something can help.
IF do you want immediate breathing relief, there are excellent short meditations for that also. There is one in particular that calms me down but you might like different types. The one is called stop panic attacks now. You don’t have to be having a panic attack to get benefit from this. Scroll down to one called don’t panic . it’s in black bold letters. She will guide you through it and it’s very effective. Because proper breathing is the key!
you can also find great mindfulness breathing exercises on there too. Maybe between those and some medication you will sleep easier. I hope you feel better soon