Feel like I can't breath... Again!
Posted , 7 users are following.
When my anxiety is pretty bad, I always get the same symptoms. One of them being the feeling that I can't breathe, my body isn't breathing on its own and I have to take each breath consciously. If I don't it feels like I'm suffocating.
Anyways I've been doing really well lately with my anxiety but suddenly it's like boom, it's back. Worse than ever. I constantly feel like I can't breathe properly, I'm getting dull chest pains all the time and I just can't cope.
Does anyone have any advice? I've mentioned this to 2 different doctors the last time I was like this and they both looked at me like I was crazy and said it was probably just my asthma. My asthma has NEVER bothered me, like ever. I never take my reliever anymore either so I know it's not that.
I'm at my wits end here, please help :'(
0 likes, 14 replies
LFCste clr1166
Posted
I guarantee that if you stop thinking about it
IT WILL GO AWAY
clr1166 LFCste
Posted
Thank you for this, it really helps.
And I guess I know deep down that this isn't going to kill me, but when anxiety really takes hold it makes me think the worst
But like you say anxiety is a c**t :D
cia42277 clr1166
Posted
Unfortunately, too many doctors don't have a clue, so...they look at us like we are crazy. That happens waaaaay too often. I was a counselor for 43 years and had no idea whatsoever what anxiety was like...intil it got me. Now I know.
The breathing thing is common to us all here to some degree. Sometimes I find myself gasping for breath. I blow out as hard as I can then deliberately breath in as much as I can, hold it a moment and blow out through my mouth. keeping this up for a short time, until breath is back to normal. I often have to do this many times in a day. Don't be scared. You are not alone.
As to the chest pain, this type of thing is also common with anxiety. The raging adrenaline and cortisol that pour through the body with anxiety play tricks with the mind. Adrenaline usually happens with something like...a car almost hitting you, your kid falling off something high, etc. Normally, this flood of "fight or flight" drains off. With anxiety it doesn't...so we are in fight or flight mode all the time. The mind then tells the body something is very wrong...and it keeps on telling it. So, the body then tries to get our attention be producing physical symptoms...and round and round.
For most people, including me, it is so bad we can't do anything about it by ourselves. We are too far into panic, so help is needed. An anti anxiety drug. In my case I was so bad I could hardly get to urgent care. I was one of the lucky ones. My doctor looked at me, listened to me and prescribed an anti anxiety. (He still doesn't get acute anxiety at all, but he did recognize an anxiety attack when he saw it.) Within a day, I saw improvement. In less than a week, with one increase in dosage I was able to think clearly again, Then I came across this forum and learned all the other things I can do to help myself. You have come to the right place.
I would recommend that you find an anxiety therapist or psychiatrist that can recognize acute anxiety and prescribe the right thing.
(For your information, No one can truly understand anxiety unless they have been there, unless that is their field of practice.)
Stay with this forum, you will get a lot of help and encouragement from these lovely people who have all been where you are. We card!!
clr1166 cia42277
Posted
Thanks, this helped me understand the sort of science behind anxiety if you like. I did actually get referred to a therapist, I had one session with her and she decided that she couldn't help me in the long run so referred me to cognitive behaviour therapy. Of course I'm still waiting to hear when I'll be starting that
As for medication, my doctor refuses to prescribe anything. Because I'm 17, he claims he does not have the power to prescribe for such a young age and I'd have to get a psych specialist to agree to give me something, which sucks. I feel like I'm stuck in limbo because not many medical professionals actually understand anxiety, like you said
cia42277 clr1166
Posted
Happyguy clr1166
Posted
This is completely normal for anxiety. I have same exact problem. If your doctors excluded any organic problem then don't worry. There is nothing to be scared about. When you get panic attack focus on breathing. Be sure to not over breath and try to inhale through nose and exhale through mouth. Also try some breathing techniques to help yourself. Try to breath slowly with stomach and not chest (check online for more info). Also check "The Relationship between breathing and anxiety". This is a video that might help you.
Focus on good and stay strong
It is pretty scary but normal for anxiety. If doctors said that you are organically healthy then dont worry. Yeah I know I do same mistake... Im through the same thing but we got this 
clr1166 Happyguy
Posted
The silly thing is I can have as many doctors tell me I'm fit and well as possible, and yet my brain would still find a way to make me believe otherwise!
Thanks for the reminder of the stomach breathing, I heard of it a while back but completely forgot to look into so thanks for bringing that up
sabrina93468 clr1166
Posted
I feel the same like I have to consciously make myself breath. I'm breathing a lot they my mouth which makes the dry mouth so much worse.
clr1166 sabrina93468
Posted
Ugh it's awful isn't it. And I've got a blocked nose at the moment so I have no option but to sit with my mouth open and breathe deeply, which is making the dry mouth problem even worse
sabrina93468 clr1166
Posted
Ironically I've noticed when I get severe dry mouth my anxiety is worse most likely because I'm short of breath
cia42277 sabrina93468
Posted
Even when someone is not dealing with anxiety, a stressful event dries up the mouth. Years ago I went out to go to work and my car was gone. My mouth immediately got so dry I could not unstick it enough to talk to the police on the phone. I had to hang up until i could get enough saliva back to call again. That was many years before this anxiety hit.
i have been backstage when singers and speakers were spraying their mouths before going on stage.
It's unfomfortable and annoying but won't hurt you. I suck on lemon drops, which helps.
nick62653 clr1166
Posted
It sounds like you may have a form Obsessive Compulsive Disorder like I do. It's nothing to be afraid of, and my symptoms have been in remission for 6-7 years. I saw several doctors too before someone recognized what it was. This is a form of obsession know as somatic, or sometimes sensorimotor, obsessions. A really good physiatrist could help you find medication to lower the symptoms while you work on a variety of therapies. For me it was a combination of an SSRI and seizure medication, but everyone is different. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure Prevention Response (EPR), and Mindfulness have all been proven to work in patient studies. One key note on mindfulness: since you're obsession are on breathing you'll instead focus on "noticing you're noticing" your breath, or your chest movement and nostril flairs. This keep's you from reinforcing the breathing obsession (a mistake I made). Lastly meditation or any group support can be very benifical. But a licensed therapist could help you much more than I can. I wish you all the best in your recovery and a long happy life... hang in there
OCDBREATHING nick62653
Posted
Hi nick62653, Can you please elaborate more on how you did EPR for breathing obsession?
I have been to many psychs over many years already and they aren't good at this side of things and at moment am trying to do this without them However, although I know how to do ERP for other stuff I am not 100% sure how to effectively do it for breathing obsession without risking making it worse.
Thanks
nick62653 OCDBREATHING
Posted
My sincer apologies for not checking back. To be completely honest, my doctors encourage me to limit the amount of time searching the internet about our condition... as it could periodically trigger symptoms by becoming hyper focused.
But I do sincerly feel compelled to help, and will certainly try to answer your question. I've been working with my therapist here who specializes in anxiety, ocd and ptsd. however, I am by no means a doctor... I actually work in the work in the alcohol industry after moving on from a profession in acadamia
Once your feeling stable (that is you're asymtopmatic or very mild usally, assisted by medication), you can work with a train therapist to induce situations to agrivate the condition and return to normal. I would give more examples but I wouldn't want to agrivate your conditions online. Maybe something very relaxing that would draw your attention to your breath, and then you had the therapist and phych med to help you recover would be a good example of gaining that initial confidence. Then build from there.
I'll give you the combonation that has worked for me and my phyciatritrist over the past 7 years. But please bear in mind this is different for every person. I just don't want people to feel alone or that medication makes them different. Lexapro (antidepressant), Topamax (stopped obsessions), Klonopin (1-2 times weekly if spike in obessions, e.g. good for ERP)... There's people on a lot more and that ok too if the phycatrist is good and they need them.
Good luck & Wishing you much peace and happiness