Can’t breath feel weird in chest and neck help

first of all you’re going to be OK! Now take a long slow deep breath counting into five in breathing out to six. When you start to feel this anxious and panicked, there’s a really short great help on YouTube for this exact thing!

right now Search YouTube for something called stop panic attacks now. Then scroll down to one called don’t panic. It’s in black bold letters. She will guide you through this anxiety attack! it’s very effective and I’ve used it many times and still do! So please also know that you’re not going to have a heart attack. No anxiety symptoms can do that.

OK I’m going to let you go now so you can go listen to that. It really calms everything right down! let us know how you did please.

HI Nicole. I feel your distress but , believe me, this is all very normal for anxiety. God knows how many times I have been to ER or called an ambulance thinking I was having a heart attack only to be told all my readings were normal and there was nothing wrong with me.

These are very normal and common symptoms of anxiety. The heaviness in the chest (your chest muscles are tight), the feeling that you can't breath (you can or you would black out and your body would start breathing again, you are not in control of your breath, your body is, thank god, and it will always ensure that you can breath no matter what you think), The neck and throat closing (it isn't, it's just the muscles in your neck are tight). Most of the things you are feeling are what happens when the body is flooded with adrenaline and cortisol. They are disturbing and very uncomfortable but will do you no harm whatsoever. They will calm down if you stop adding fuel to the fire by obsessing over it. There is nothing wrong with you apart from a bit of nervous arousal. I am not trying to dismiss the level of your distress, which I know can seem overwhelming, but this is the truth of it.

The more you can accept it and not fight it, the more you can see that this is not some terrible thing that has happened to you, the more you can see that exactly what you are feeling happens to hundreds of thousands of people every day (and they all survive), the more your anxiety will ease and you will come out of this. You will be okay.

It might be worth seeing your doctor and sharing this with them to see what support might be available for you in your area. I am on anti-depressants and propranalol (which lowers your heart rate) and I take magnesium citrate every day (helps relax muscles) all of which helps but there is no 'cure' for anxiety as it is not a disease. You are not ill and there is nothing wrong with you. This is just your body naturally responding to stress and it feels very uncomfortable.

Best wishes xxx

hey! god i am so glad you have wrote this! nearly every day sometimes multipul times a day i get this heaviness in my chest as if someone is sat on my chest and i can take a deep breath! i also get this horrible sensation in my throat and i struggle to swallow, its like someone is trying to squeeze my throat. it puts me off eating alot aswell. i havent noticed a pattern or any triggers yet. i have been to the doctors and they said its anxiety and panic attacks, she felt my throat and watched me swallow and there was nothing odd so she wasnt concerned. its honestly driving me INSANE!! if i cry it makes me worse so when i have a panic attack i have to tey to smile as weird as it sounds. the only thing that makes it go away is sleep.

Hi Nicole

Not only an anxiety make you feel this way, it is a very, very common symptom of anxiety. Be assured that nothing bad is going to happen to you. I have thought I was having a heart attack more times than I can remember and always told by the doctors, after having tests, that there was nothing wrong with me which, of course, because of the anxiety, I didn't believe. I always thought they must have missed something ha ha. These are all very common symptoms of anxiety. You are suffering from anxiety and that's all!. I know it feels horrible and can be very convincing but please believe me there is nothing wrong with you. It feels very uncomfortable in our body and our anxious mind convinces us that something really awful is happening, but it is not! It is just anxiety and many hundreds of thousands of people are feeling exactly the same thing as you right at this moment. Anxiety cannot hurt you in any way. You will be perfectly okay. It just feels as if you won't. The more you believe it and obsess over it, the more anxious you become, but it still won't do you any harm. It is just your own protective 'fight or flight' system stuck on hyper alert and filling your body with adrenaline and cortisol which gives you all these weird body sensations. You are in a state of nervous arousal, that's all. Try to accept and allow it to be there as much as you are able and this will gradually reduce your anxiety. Fighting it only increases your nervous arousal and the sense that there is something terribly 'wrong' with you. There isn't! This is just what anxiety feels like and what it does to us. You will not die and you will not go mad, no matter what your thoughts tell you. They are just thoughts. You will be okay and in fact you are okay. It just feels very uncomfortable for a while. Best wishes xx

thank you all so much its a never ending cycle ... today my neck feels tiggt and i feel like a rush or palpitation where my neck and chest meet.. im struggling so much and its been horrible after covid .. my andiety is extreme .. i dont understand why now its worse .. like im always scared .. i went walking the past couple days and im trying to change my diet but its been hard .. i feel like this is never going to end .. and i cant take it much longer .. it helps knowing im not alone but .. i dont have people who are supportive .. stress is whats doing it most and my counselor said i need to get ny stress down and im trying to but it seems like something always happens .. but thnak you all so much... its so hard