Automatic breathing stopped
Posted , 67 users are following.
First it started with chest tightness then 2 days later the problem began...I've been having this breathing problem for about two weeks now where my body isn't automatically breathing on its own. All day I constantly have to inhale and exhale all on my own if I don't I just don't breathe at all. I went through a CT scan, Chest X-ray, got a lot of blood drawn to check my oxygen levels etc everything has come back fine the doctors told me I'm a very healthy person. My doctor claims this is anxiety and has me taking 1mg of Clonazapam twice a day which hasn't worked so now I'm starting to take Citalopram. Could this really be anxiety ? I'm starting to think other wise I have spoke to people that have anxiety and that dealt with this but for them it's only for a short period of time. this has been and on going constant thing for way toooo long I don't know what to do at this point. I can't even do simple things like watching tv. It's tooken such a toll on my life.
3 likes, 98 replies
hajra62287 nathalia69401
Edited
hello! ive been suffering the same issue for about 2 months now.. Can you tell me if youre better now and if its gone away? thank you
john85275 nathalia69401
Posted
I have been dealing with this for two years. it has never gone away from. i too have seen many Doctors and they all say stress/anxiety. I have a ton of stress i have to live with every single day. My Daughter died 2-20-10 at 8 years old. She had Spina Bifida and went through so much. it not only affected her but my Wife has this same thing. I can tell you when I can get distracted it doesn't bother me. For instance we just had the flu so breathing was normal but as soon as we get feeling better it;s right back to it. I hate it as well. It has limited me in what I am willing to do. I mean who wants to go on a trip and manual breathe right? I don't know if we will ever be "normal" again. i have just been trying to learn to deal with it. I only take Lorazepam for anxiety and my shrink had never heard of manual breathing nor have any Doctors i have seen. I wish i could help you more but I'm in the same boat. I do however believe it is anxiety and stress related.
Shanny1997 nathalia69401
Posted
Hi. I had this happen to me before and my heart would start pounding like crazy. It's very terrifying where I feel like I might die. My panic attacks happen mostly at night but now they happen a lot. I hope you're feeling better now and watching meditation videos to help you. Usually I will tell myself that I'm okay to calm myself down and end up falling asleep afterwards after dealing with a serious panic attack. I'm still dealing with them to this day and it had been making me so fatigue and barely makes me want to do anything. But I hope you found the help you need.
jimmy79692 nathalia69401
Posted
I have thought the same thing but I realized when I slept I was still breathing and alive when I awoke. If this is the case for you then I would imagine you don't have the problem you think you do. If you don't exercise, at least walk a mile or so, try it, this will strengthen your lungs and take care of your problem.
best of luck
jimmy79692 nathalia69401
Posted
I have thought the same thing but I realized when I slept I was still breathing and alive when I awoke. If this is the case for you then I would imagine you don't have the problem you think you do. If you don't exercise, at least walk a mile or so, try it, this will strengthen your lungs and take care of your problem.
best of luck
Brandonelr nathalia69401
Posted
im feeling the same with the manual breathing and i cant sleep because of it. i cant fall asleep because i can feel myself stop breathing when i do and its driving me insane havent slept more than an hour in 3 months
michael69256 Brandonelr
Posted
are you better i have the same thing
dave00515 nathalia69401
Posted
omg im the same way! its been atleast a year for me i cant breathe normally. i have to think how to breathe. bloodworks ekg etc all fine to ots so frusterating. im leaning towars anxiety. its 24/7 for me to its brutal. msg me and keep on touch ! hope we can figure it out!
Brandonelr dave00515
Posted
EXACTLY I THOUGH I WAS THE ONLY ONE FOR SOOOO LONG AND I THOUGHT I HAD A SERIOUS CONDITION but no, its anxiety. its 24/7 for me too so I know exactly how you feel. We will overcome this!
Charless555 Brandonelr
Posted
Hi brandon, how is your condition right now?
I'm also suffering from the same thing and today I can't get any sleep at all. It makes me scared.
I tried to google it last night but it was a bad decision bcs it makes me even more scared (i found about ondine curse/cchs). Yesterday, I can get enough sleep eventho I keep thinking about my breath all day (90% of the time when I'm awake). But today with the same thing happen during the day which is breathing manually, I couldn't get any sleep at all...
I'll post an update later about this.
I hope i can get some sleep later even if it only 1 hour.
Pls tell me anything if you find a solution about this
dominika20801 nathalia69401
Posted
Hi,
I have had this on and off since may. Your body can definitely breathe without you having to think about it. You've just become so fixated on your breathing that it's hard not to notice it. The more you tell yourself to not think about it the more you're going to think about it (the human mind is a strange thing). You just need to accept the feeling and try and go on with your day. Tell yourself its ok to think about it and don't freak yourself out, just accept it. You'll find that eventually you forget about it because your mind will become desensitized to it. Kind of like reserve psychology if that makes sense.
Trust me when it first started in May for me it really bothered me but I cope with it better now with that train of thought.
Charless555 dominika20801
Posted
Hi.
How about at night when you're going to sleep, does it trouble you?
I have this since a year ago and everynight is like a battle. Last night is one of the worsts and I didn't get any sleep at all eventho 2 days ago I could sleep for about 7 hours (woke up twice before going back to sleep again)
and right now it's still evening and i'm struggling just to take a nap. I got to take a nap for less than 1 hour right now (i just woke up right now and checking my phone and saw a notification)
john85275 Charless555
Edited
I get it awake but most every single night at bed i start to manual breathe and hold my breath. the longer it goes on the more it feels like i can't breathe. I've been dealing with this two years and no Doctor has ever heard of it. I have had so much stress my body can't cope with it so I manual breathe as does my Wife. Last night was horrible for me laying there manual breathing feeling like I can't breath. Fell asleep and woke up to go to the bathroom, lay back down and manual breath. It is anxiety and stress i know but it is a nightmare to not even want to go to bed. here is a link the talks about all of that.
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roxanne39297 john85275
Edited
hi John,
I understand you.
i am sorry for what you've been through.
i have had anxiety my whole life due to my parents, and partners later on. stressful events have caused panic attacks at first and now I am stuck since 5 years with the breathing obsession. when I realise I don't think in it, I think in it again. When I feel relaxed at times, I RUIN the anxiety by changing the breath. Every day struggle with rapid heartbeat following. i guess getting used to it and doing exhale exercises and gym is the only way to reduce the ocd. i have tried different meds, they didn't help. only ourselves can change it. the power of now from ECKHART TOLLE is also an interesting book. going out of your head into your body. It is a real struggle. Hang in there.
dominika20801 Charless555
Posted
Hi Charles,
Yes I do get it at night sometimes. Mostly it comes about when I'm stressed though (like as of lately it has started to annoy me again).
It has affected my sleep at times for sure. I'm not sure about you but for me it stems from the feeling that I have a lack of control. I've been dealing with some chronic fatigue since getting mono 2 years ago and of has caused me a lot of stress about not being able to do much about it. So I guess that stress has manifested in the manual breathing.
It can be tricky to manage but if you realize why you are doing it then it might be easier to overcome it. Now I just tell myself I don't need to be thinking about it because it serves no purpose other than to annoy me. And somehow that has worked for me. I don't know, everyone has different ways of dealing with it