What does everybody's shortness of breath feel like? I even feel really really out of breath even when I talk which worries the c**p out of me!
I wake up with it and go to sleep with it every night, I feel I have got to catch my breath every few minutes just to make sure I can get air into my lungs I have this like pulling sensation in the middle of my chest that makes me want to catch it every few minutes which dosnt go away at all which drives me barmy! Also feels like I have something lodged right in the middle of my chest that I'm breathing around awful feeling.
This all started after I had 2 full blown panic attacks 10 months ago and I woke up with all these crazy Symtoms the day after I had them is this normal?
Im on medication mitrazpine and propanolol which I'm thinking of changing the mitrazpine because I was on this while I had these attacks they put me on propanolol the day after I had these attacks 3 a day 40mg and I'm having CBT therapy.
My therapist says I should stop trying to catch my breath all the time as I'm feeding my anxiety but even when I try and stop doing it it will catch itself so I can't win which makes me think there is something wrong with my breathing!
I have tried breathing exercises which don't help. I have had a X-ray which was all good and 3 ECGs which were good and chest lisend to and oxygen levels tested to everytime I'm are the doctors which is always good, I just just can't take this no more!
I feel I'm on the brink here I can't live like this another day😢 Is this ever going to go away? or am I going to feel like this forever I feel trapped in my own body.
I posted this about ten minutes ago but I think it has been deleted for some reason nevermind.
Hi Luke
Breathing issues are common with anxiety and panic attacks.
Rest assured if you have all the tests it isnt your heart.
I have had it and it can be very scary but i try to breathe through my nose as it isnt as gasping.
Also if you think about it when your asleep you continue breathing in a relaxed way.
Mindful meditation is good to help breathing as it calms your mind and body.
Try doing some reasearch from medical universities on anxiety. readily available on the net.
It helps knowing how the body works with your mind causing these physical symptoms.
I dont leave anything to chance and i start and end my day with 10 mins mindful meditation and body scan.
I do progresive muscle relaxtions and listen to positive affirmations.
All together 30 mins max and you dont have to get out of bed ..
I thought i didnt have time to fit this kind of stuff in , but i dont set off to work without it doing them.
I also added an app on my phone incase it happened at work.
Good luck and dont give up be strong there is life after panic and anxiety xx
I have a real battle with shortness of breath. Sometimes in bed I get focused on it and feel I can't empty my lungs properly. I do have reactive airways and use inhalers but they aren't helping much at all which makes me worry its something more sinister. My doctor can't hear wheezing and wonders if I'm just not exercising enough.
He wanted to think my cough and shortness of breath are from a cold but they're not. When I carry laundry upstairs I'm winded and umcomfortable. I've also had pressure in my chest.
And I know how it feels to be trapped in my body. It's a horrible feeling. I find being busy helps. Keep me from focusing on my breathing so much.
Hi Luke
Im with you on this one, it's really really horrible. It just seems to start out of nowhere. I have had anxiety from a health scare since November and am on citalopram and diazepam as and when needed. Even when I don't feel anxious, which is towards the end of the day, I still get shortness of breath! Pees me right off and makes me more worried which in turn feeds the anxiety. Vicous circle! I've had all the tests and there is nothing wrong with me but can't get the anxiety to go away.
It feels to me like I have to take a deep breath but can't always get the air in. I guess that's what you're feeling too? Somehow we need to stop our anxiety. It's all in our heads and completely ridiculous but try telling our heads that!
Im going to try positive affirmations and mindfullness. No idea if I will be able to concentrate enough on it, especially when angsty but it's worth a go. I might also increase my citalopram, can't get any worse I guess.
youre not alone here, lots of people get the shortness of breath and chest pain. I often think if that would go away, I'd be fine!!! X
I have a real battle with it to I ant get my head round it I just can't grasp the fact that anxiety can do this to a person without there been a physical illness causing the shortness of breath if you catch my drift.
I also have a inhaler to use for it to sulbutomol or something which it doesn't really help to be fair.
Arghhh it's so annoying I wish it would just go away I was normal this time last year and I took it all for granted I did.
Hi Debbie thanks for your reply🙂
It's awful isn't it with me it's so strong 24/7 I'm constantly focused on my breathing I feel where as before all this it was on auto pilot where as now I feel as though breathing is more of a chore rather than the body's automatic response to just get on with it and breathe if you understand me I feel like I will never get relief from this I fear I am going to be stuck with it forever.
I have started exercising to recently to try and conquer my anxiety which scares me a lot because of this breathing thing going on I can't win😢
Yeah you mentioned mindfullness there in already doing this I do 3 ten mins sit ins a day morning afternoon and before I go to bed to try and slow my breathing because it's all over the place.
Hi Luke.
one thing I was told to try was always breath through you nose, just normal short breaths and when you feel like you need to take a deep breath try and resist as much as possible. When I tried it, it was damn hard as I just wanted to fill my lungs up. I managed a few times and the feeling went away. I just forget to do it and before I know it, I've gone for that big breath in!!! X
Yeah I've been told that also but like you say there I find it really really hard not to take a big deep breath to try and fill my lungs up and when I don't donut my breath will catch it self it's so annoying my breathing is all over I don't know what normal breathing is anymore me☹
So somehow we have to retrain the brain. I've been googling all sorts to try and sort this but you get too much mixed information and with me, it goes in one ear and out of the other!!! Googling is not good!!!
i need to have a good swear but not sure it's appropriate on here!! If anyone ever comes up with a sure fire way of dealing with this, they are going to be a billionaire!!! X
Hi Debbie,
Its best to watch a video or guided breathing relaxation ... Then you dont have to worry about knowing what to donas it guides you through.
Type in mindful meditation and breathing on the net... The site that you can watch video's on 😉
Yes we certainly don't have been told that countless times of my therapist but how do you retrain your brain on How to breath properly it's a tricky one isn't it, She also tells me I have to retrain my brain to try and tell it in not in constant danger all the Time hense all the panic but I don't know I just can't get my head around it and yes I need a good swear to sometimes lol!
Head around all this it bewilders me how anxiety can do all this
Yeah your also right about googling I also try and not to do that either because it just heightens my anxiety but it's hard not to with all these Symtoms I have araaaghhh I hate it I do!
Wow I'm going through the same tonight pain in middle of chest and breathlessness everyday there's a new pain I'm taking settraline but feel they are not working anymore hope u feel better soon x
Hi Louise thanks for your reply how do you cope with your shortness of breath it's really scary with me like I feel out of breath at times just when in talking and about setraline i have a appointment with my doctor
Tomorrow I'm asking him to put me on them in on mitrazpine now and propanolol I want to swap the mitrazpine for setraline is it any good I've heard mixed reviews about it? x
Hi Gill just seen your reply there,
Is it common to have a breathing issue all the time 24/7 with anxiety though? Just I feel as if though my breathing is on manual like
It's a pure struggle with it like a chore almost where as before all this panic and anxiety it was on auto pilot I woudnt even think about breathing.
I didn't meen to send that there I sent it to early by mistake lol
Yeah I have looked loads things up about anxiety on the net although I try to most of he times as it just makes me 100% worse I always stumble across stories and of people been stuck like this for years I don't think I could handle that long I'm on the brink now with it👎
Yeah you mention meditation in your post its mindfullness im
Doing in doing 3 20 mins a day sometimes I just do the one when I get up and one before bet I sometimes miss one I really shouldn't but hey I suppose it helps a bit but even when I'm doing it in thinking about my breathing and my breath will still catch on its own while in doing it it's a nightmare this breathing thing I took my breathing for granted as mad as that sounds.
Thanks for your kind words and advice🙂
Hi Luke!
I, too, have been suffering from the awful shortness of breath for a few weeks now, so I can definitely relate. I've had anxiety for a few years and over the summer it progressed into health anxiety. First I convinced myself I had a brain tumor, now it's my heart. I've had echos once a year since I was 2 weeks old (I actually had heart surgery as a baby to correct a defect with my aorta). And even having those echos and tests every single year still never reassures me. My shortness of breath lately feels like a pulling/pressure right in the middle of my chest along with a burning sensation that runs through my chest and up my neck. It is terrifying and uncomfortable. I know it's awful right now, but it does get better! My brain tumor fear lasted for about 6 months and slowly it just started to go away. Sadly it's been replaced now by heart fears lol
Hi Emily
Thanks for your reply wow sounds like you have been through it when your where little like I feel for you.
I've always had anxiety but these panic attacks I had last year have just blew me out of the water they have nocked me sideways the day after I had them I woke up with all these crazy Symtoms going on literally thought I was dying I just can't grasp it how anxiety can do all this to a person bewilders me.
My shortness of breath is everyday which is so annoying to live with but I've had chest X-rays and ecgs and they say everything is fine so must be anxiety I suppose.
I know, right? I hate that you are going through this. It is absolutely crazy how anxiety can just hit you out of the blue and stay for as long as it wants to. I'm in the same boat as you with all the tests saying everything is fine, and still offering no reassurance. I went to the cardiologist in September and also went to the hospital because of a panic attack that I thought was a heart attack. They did ecg, Ct scan of my heart with contrast dye, everything! Still did not call my nerves. Health anxiety has got to be one of the worst versions anxiety has to offer lol I just keep telling myself that if there were something wrong with my heart, they would've seen it on all the scans. And for something to come up in as short of a period as five months is highly unlikely. But even telling myself that over and over again doesn't help half the time lol