Air hunger all the time!
Posted , 21 users are following.
Im going to try to make this short, august 2017 I had my first panic attack and everything went downhill from that point on. My anxiety has gotten much better but since that episode I have been left with this air hunger feeling that happens all day every minute of everyday. The only time I dont feel it is when im busy doing something and dont have my mind stuck on it. The air hunger feeling feels heavy in my chest up until i have to force a deep breath otherwise I will yawn in order to get that satisfying breath. Most of the time I feel like ive been holding my breath and have to breath deep to feel a bit better before I need to take another deep breath within a few seconds/minutes. I take sertraline 50mg, also started to take a few natural pills from an holistic doctor which has been helping a little bit but still having this problem. Just purchased Chrysanthemum Floral Tea which I heard is good for this air hunger and hope to get some relief but any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
1 like, 37 replies
leanne51754 rigena
Posted
hi did you ever get to the bottom of this im going crazy at the moment iv had loads of tests i just want my breath back x
jivemonkey rigena
Edited
Hi, I have had this now for about 6 years! It comes and goes, sometimes gone got half the year or longer, other times bad much of the year. It frequently wakes me after 4 to 6 hours sleep.
I would. describe it as air hunger or a feeling of lack of air/suffocation but don't breathe fast or have any other notable symptoms other than sore eyes and irritated nasal passage when I wake at night sometimes. Exercise not affected. Did about 20 miles on the bike yesterday chatting with my housemate up and down hills and breathing fine, then wake at 4am with the feeling.
Had lots of tests to date including lung function tests, endoscopy (camera down throat) , xray of chest, ecg, echocardiogram twice, 48 hour ecg Holter and a loop recorder implant in chest for a year to monitor heart for rhythm abnormalities which uploaded daily. when I slept. Also saw EMT and had allergy tests and saw a chiropractor for a year. All normal apart from weak stomach valve and told acid reflux which I control with diet and mild dust allergy.
I had an ablation for AF 7 years ago but seen nhs and private cardiologists who all think my heart is working fine.
Found GPS pretty useless (mine failed to diagnose my leg was broken prescribing steroid cream and in the end I paid for private scan which immediately identified the issue so I do not have much faith in GPs
I am now shortly seeing a private respitory specialist and will no doubt have more tests. Will see what that brings. Like you I find the whole thing very distressing and have googled a lot which points to heart or lung disease which only increases my anxiety!
kamran83020 jivemonkey
Posted
any update on your research?
jivemonkey kamran83020
Posted
Hi, yes. Respitory consultant did dye injected lung CT scan and lung function tests. These lung function tests were much more complex than what the gp did... bigger machines and equipment and longer with more extensive tests. End result is that I have asthma and Gerd. Now taking an inhaler, daily x 2 first one not massively effective, second inhaler has resulted in pretty much no day symptoms and improved but not gone at night. Told if lose weight may go completely at night on top of daily inhaler use. So for me I would say go to a private respitory consultant for tests if possible. GP was pretty useless and said not asthma... respitory specilist disagreed and following treatment my peak flow has increased from around 600 to 730... gp simply said 600 is in normal range for a bloke of your age and height.. specilist said in his opinion the normal. is what is normal for you... not what a chart says and my peak flow would not increase like that if not asthma /inflammation. I now feel much better about 80% of the time and day symptoms almost entirely gone. not had any at all for a good few weeks
jivemonkey
Posted
also... private cost me about £1400 for CT scan and lung function tests including nitric oxide (tests for allergies) in South East UK and even in pandemic took a couple of months. told outside pandemic a few weeks is normal.. nhs seems to take much much longer. In my opinion it's worth the money as nhs pretty much triage patch you up and chuck you back out now or you can wait a very long time and I am told uncontrolled asthma can be harder to treat if left a long time. I really hope this helps. Good to know my GP view it was anxiety was nonsense as I thought
amandarozew rigena
Posted
Hi ! I am currently 19 years old and going through this constant issue... it has been 4 years since you posted this.. have u had any relief or figured out what it could be??