shallow breathing
Posted , 8 users are following.
For weeks now I have been shallow breathing leading to tight chest, panic. I constantly yawn, sigh any try to take deep breaths. Any tips
2 likes, 97 replies
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Notes on shallow breathing
Peach104839 moira43918
Posted
I had this for about two months straight. Literally 24/7, it was awful. I only stopped now because I developed really bad jaw pain & it physically hurts me now to open my mouth wide to yawn. I try to just not think about my breathing too much & breath through your nose
david65294 moira43918
Posted
moira43918 david65294
Posted
david65294 moira43918
Posted
I'm doing ok - not great, not terrible. I'll take that for now. How have you been? I saw a counselor this week and liked him, so going to stick with that.
Miranda123 moira43918
Posted
I could've written this myself. I'm constantly shallow breathing and think I'm running out of air. All day every day, non stop. So fed up
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
Hi I am from Scotland as well.
I decided to reply to you as I feel maybe my story will help you. I also went through panic attacks. From first panic attack to my cure - about 5 or 6 months. I'm not a mum yet but will be one day hopefully but I'm glad I went through this before having kids smile because I know what it is and I know now that it is nothing, it is not even an illness. You need to get psychotherapist and read books about anxiety. I won the battle with panic attacks by understanding the reason of it happening and that we are all in control of it. The fear comes to you because of your irrational thoughts of what if I have serious illness, what if the feeling I have I will die from it , or so on so forth with infinity different type of fears that goes through your head before your panic attack occur. It first starts with how I call it trigger. It could be either thought of fear or "symptom"(for example lump in throat, high pulse, etc). We ask ourselves what is it, why am I feeling this lump in throat? What if it is serious? Because your brain doesn't know the answer it starts to panic and your fear grows , therefore your body releases adrenaline which cause the symptoms to become worse and fear become even bigger. Or if thr trigger is the thought it follows the same scenario but the difference is that it starts with thought and not a "symptom". Example you are in a traffic jam and your thought is what if I feel bad now and won't be able to leave this queue quick? Again your fear starts to grow, adrenaline is released and your symptoms occur with the fear becoming worse and worse. Then at some point the panic attack finishes because it can never lasts forever. However you are still emotionally overwhelmed , tired, stressed and feel down and even feel anxiety all day long (just worry for no apparent reason). Of course you will feel like that as every panic attack is the response of the body to fight or flight. It uses a lot of your energy therefore after it you will be tired. You feel tensed all day with low mood.
However in order to brake the cycle - usually people get medicine however I only feel it is needed if In really bad circumstances and in very beginning. The main help will come with changing the thinking process through cognitive behavioural therapy. It sounds all nice and sophisticated but the main idea is to understand that:
1. No one ever died from panic attacks
2. It is not an illness
3. When we don't know something we tend to imagine worst case scenario and get afraid because our brain works that way to protect us from dying. For example let's assume we don't know what the consequences of pneumonia is. And if we weren't get afraid of unknown consequences we wouldn't even go to doctor and as a result we would die from it. But because we are afraid of unknown - it motivates us doing something about it, go to doctor, find out what it is . So fear is a good thing.
4. However we need to understand that panic attack and " symptoms " do not themselves have an underlying condition - we are not ill! Symptoms are just physical reaction to fear . Adrenaline raises our hear beat, develop shallow breathing, etc.
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
?2 ThatGirl1988 stella58218
a day ago
So to break this vicious cycle you need to change your thinking. For example, started to have a "symptom"? It's because you are tensed and usually what helps is just to relax. I had 5 symptoms and I worked with each separately. Lump in throat or tensed muscle inthroat - I used to lie down and just relaxed every muscle in the body, didn't move, just the goal was not to tense any part of the body. It helped a lot right away. So I was doing every time I had it in my throat. After a month it just went away completely. I just knew the reason of it happening is being tensed or stressed.
Tensed tongue smile I just used to hold my tongue with teeth for it to relax. I know sounds stupid but it helped and eventually went away completely. Heartbeat and high pulse - used to just take valerian extract and it would go away. It's because I had anxiety all day - so basically as soon as I stopped worrying it went away.
Shallow breathing and hyperventilating syndrome was my worst and most difficult to work with- I tried so much starting from different herbs to counting how to breathe. But what helped was ( not strangely) burps . Sounds silly but when worrying we are tend to breath in more than breath out . Feels like not enough air but it is other way around- too much oxygen. Soundless burps helped me to release oxygen from lungs in the amount needed. And as a result it calmed me down as well. That's how I stopped having problems with breathing. It was the best cure ever! As I was ready to take any medication to stop having problems with breathing! It really damaged my life, I couldn't work, I was depressed because of it. I was a new person!!!!!! I loved my life after that!
Panic attacks - as I said I beat them by changing thoughts , if I was afraid of something, I knew that my brain imagines worst case scenario but it is not true and nothing would happen - and my fear wouldn't grow, it just disappear. So my panic attack used to grow and then just the wave would go away half way through. I was so happy the first time I beat it! Next times were the same. And then they just stopped appearing as I wasn't afraid of them anymore.
Now 2 years past. Within this period As any other normal person I was stressed, and sometimes you feel like anxiety come back as you are stressed but I know it is nothing and I just think : I need to just lie down and relax my muscles. And that's it. I never had any panic attacks anymore and I know they won't happen as I know how it works and that they are nothing.
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
For example I found out that my friend was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I started reading about it and started to freak out that it can happen to me. I lied down last night couldn't sleep, thinking about it and felt like worry started growing. Obviously I knew why! Because my brain was imagining that it could happen to me , that it is horrible as the details of this illness is really bad and I'm not going to mention it here as I know the audience here can freak out as well
) the reasons of illness are not known for sure so that made me feel even worse.
Coming back to panic attacks/anxiety: I wasn't afraid of it at all and knew why the fear inside me was growing. Then I was like I don't want to feel worried and not being able to sleep that's why I just need to change my thinking. Either find solution to the "problem" (why will I not get ill with that mental illness) or shift my thoughts and not think about that mental illness. First I thought it is unlikely I get ill, and then there are medicine that helps so why worry? Then I thought what's the point worrying and wasting my time now thinking about it if I am healthy now and life is amazing so why should I ruin it thinking about stupid things? And I agreed with myself and the wave of anxiety started to go away. I calmed down and slept.
Usually it is better to deal with the worry - then it goes away.
There were examples given here saying they are afraid of anxiety/panic attack - so it is vicious circle. I agree as I had the same issue. I used to think : I feel ok today, very strange , what if anxiety comes back? And it does come back in that very minutes as we are afraid of feeling of anxiety. It is basically your mind thought about it, got afraid , and then you started having anxiety. To break this cycle we need to stop getting afraid of anxiety. Ask yourself a question : why are you afraid of anxiety? Probably because you feel crap if you have it that's why. But the reason you are afraid of it because you think it appears out of the blue/you don't know why it is happening. However it doesn't happen by itself. You make it happen. With the thought that scares you.
Usually to get rid of panic attack /anxiety and all other "symptoms " - you need some time. It won't just disappear right away. It will come but you will learn how to deal with it. In my case I had to deal with it several times until it completely stopped appearing (however it could happen again but it is natural response to when we are afraid of something). It will never get to panic attack let's put it that way. And the reason is because you won't be afraid of it.
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
But you might have anxiety and worry - as I had last night.
Going back to example of being afraid of having anxiety/panic attack. Next time you start feeling anxious - remind yourself that your own thoughts (fear of anxiety/panic attack) lead to anxiety/panic attack. Tell yourself : I am not afraid of anxiety/panic attack. So what if it happens ? No one dies from it, nothing bad is going to happen, it is just physical response to fear , and this fear I create myself and I am in control of reversing it back so that my anxiety will vanish. The reason I started to have anxiety if because I thought about it oh strange I didn't feel bad today, what if it appears again? I just got scared of it that's why it actually appeared. That's why i have the answer now why it is happening.
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
So fundamentally, anxiety/panic attacks and symptoms come from thoughts that scares you. But I don't recommend you try to avoid thoughts that scares you as it is impossible. It is the same as if I tell you don't think about elephant. Of course you will think about it. Your mind will always come back to those things that are not dealt, problems that are not solved, fears that are not dealt with. That's why I recommend dealing with fears. Someone wrote about paramedic neighbor and his car. To deal with this fear ask yourself and come to rational conclusion: Why aam I afraid that he is not at home? In case i won't be able to get his help? Why do i need his help? In case i have heart attack? But what i experience is not heart attack but just panic attack. People don't die from panic attacks. It is just fear that causes it. I won't have heart attack as the symptoms of it are completely different. That's why I don't need paramedic neighbour to be at home as I don't need his help as there is nothing to help with as I'm not dying. - your thought process should be something like this.
Hopefully it will help. Sorry for really long posts. If you are still reading it - well done, you do really want to get better and actually trying.
Miranda123 ThatGirl1988
Posted
I read it all, thank you there's some really good advice In there. I am struggling with the breathing obsession and i agree that it's by far the worst and most difficult symptom I have dealt with. I'm praying for dizziness, feeling sick, headaches, fast heart rate, pins and needles to come back and replace it! But I know the reason they aren't coming back is because I am not scared of them so why would they? Just desperately trying to get rid of the fear associated with this symptom, it's really hard to deal with.
ThatGirl1988 Miranda123
Posted
Georgina,
I understand you very well as I had the same breathing problem for few months. The worst was when I had to fly for 7 hours and the thought of feeling bad on the plan made my breathing of course worse as I was so afraid of it happening. I couldn't sleep on the plane, I didn't watch any movies, I sat down with the mug in my hands trying to breathe in and out into it so that I get less oxygen (remember in films they always show how they breathe into the bag to stop hyperventilating). It helped a little bit, but because I was constantly worried it just didn't go away. There was one solution for me. To stop being afraid of it. But our minds are very smart, and without convincing and proving why we shouldn't be afraid of it - we won't stop being afraid. So I decided to physically prove my mind that I shouldn't be afraid (I did the same with other symptoms for example tensed tongue). I just physically held it with teeth so that it gets relaxed
) I know sounds stupid but it worked and as soon as it helped I stopped being afraid of it and as a result it stopped happening.
With shallow breathing I knew the physical side of it: we breathe in too much oxygen because we breathe too often and not giving ourselves enough time to breathe out as we keep breathing in too much - and that's why you feel you can't breathe in deeply (because physically it is impossible as you have oxygen already in your lungs!!!). So I decided to burp soundless and then breath out what is left in lungs (sorry sound silly but it works). With it you release the air you have in your lungs and while you are doing it you are postponing your next quick breathe in of oxygen / reducing the frequency of breathing in as it is impossible to breathe in while you are releasing air
then you will discover you can actually breathe in deeply as you always wanted. And that's when your mind will think: it is actually working! And then you prove your mind that you shouldn't be afraid of shallow breathing as you can always deal with it. As fear goes away your shallow breathing will go away as well. You can use the technique every time it is happening but eventually it will go away completely.
ThatGirl1988 Miranda123
Posted
I'm trying to say that fundamentally to stop being afraid of anything is to prove your mind why you shouldn't be afraid. But the tools are all different. I found mine. For some it could be just to breathe slower. It didn't help me as it didn't prove my mind as it didn't work instantly.. however it might work for you . Make sure you breath out fully every time. Or do like me: burp a bit and breathe out the air you have .
moira43918 ThatGirl1988
Posted
Thanks for responding. That was some epic post. I've been feeling a bit better with the tight chest recently.bi used to always wake up through the night and not be able to back to sleep cos of it. I'm now walking up and not thinking about. It's only later that it will hit. What I've started to do is when it starts say to myself over and over "on u go do ur worst". I think I've changed my mind set. I've been listening to stuff online by a Scottish psychologist called Jim white. He used to run a group called stresscontol and there are breathing exercises etc on this. It has definitely helped me after 30 years of this crap
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
Moira
When you are saying it is only later that it hits - you mean later when you get up in the morning? I also had tight chest I forgot to mention. tight chest is just chest muscles being sore because of shallow breathing (and we just get tensed). I used to research a lot about this and found explanations in books about anxiety.
Are you afraid of shallow breathing or tight chest? As tight chest is usually only after shallow breathing..
It looks to me you do understand that it is not going to kill you right. As you changed your mind set "do your worst" that means you understand it is not dangerous , however I think in your case you are just afraid of the unpleasant feeling itself.
However before actually thinking "do your worst", you had a thought "What if I have this again?". Then it kicks in of course. And then you think "do your worst". When you say it - does it go away? If not, these words are just said but you are not convinced as your fear is stronger than acceptance of it (do your worst).
Correct me if I am wrong.
Miranda123 ThatGirl1988
Posted
Thank you That Girl
I am feeling less afraid of the feeling definitely. I had a better day yesterday and today I'd say 70% if the day I actually completely forgot about the symptom and it hasn't even been there. Now im home I suddenly realised I wasn't thinking about it, now I'm thinking about it again 😬 lol. Guess I just need to get to the point where I don't even notice whether it's there or not!
moira43918 ThatGirl1988
Posted
You are so right. I've been trying all week to get rid of this tight chest. Not happening. Think i may have to go to docs tomorrow. What my head keeps telling me is 'ok uve had this before and survived but what if this is the time u don't get help and something bad happens"
Miranda123 moira43918
Posted
Hi Moira, let us know how you get on at the doctor's tomorrow. Hopefully it will give you the final push you need to ease the tight chest and help you get back to normal
moira43918 Miranda123
Posted
Thanks Georgina. I'll try to get an app tomorrow but in guarantees. Anxiety is the pits
moira43918 Miranda123
Posted
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
Moira,
Believe me it is not going to as you think "be bad this time and no one will help". You still don't fully understand that it is your fear that triggers sore chest! I will try to prove you. When you sleep - chest is not sore is it? It only gets sore when you are awake. That's because you are conscious and get scared of it as soon as you wake up.
I don't think doctor is going to do much as you are hoping. But maybe he/will refer you to a good psychotherapist. Psychotherapist will definitely help. I can tell you the details of the psychotherapist I went to (as you are in Scotland as far as I remember). I don't know if it suits you but she works in Edinburgh .
Let us know how it went with doctor.
moira43918 ThatGirl1988
Posted
Nope. I don't even have a sore chest. It is tight. When I'm going to sleep i always jerk awake as if I've stopped breathing. This happens every night from about 4am until i have to get up for work. I even dream about having this
ThatGirl1988
Posted
Sorry forgot to finish. Because the tight chest is only and I repeat ONLY is due to your fear, it is not a medical condition, it is not a physical illness, and NOTHING bad is going to happen as tight chest is only a physical REACTION to fear and does not lead to any illnesses or death or anything else.
As soon as you understand it your reaction (tight chest) will be less intense and as soon as you stop being afraid of it it will go away completely.
moira43918 ThatGirl1988
Posted
God. Don't u think i dont no it's a physical reaction to anxiety.
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
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moira43918 ThatGirl1988
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Sorry for being a pain. I'm just totally p****d of with feeling like this. I know why i have the tight chest and breathing problems but my head is telling me there is something not right
ThatGirl1988 moira43918
Posted
No it's fine I understand. I used to be angry as well and used to cry all the time. I used to ask why why why it is happening to me, what if it is going to be there forever. I'm not saying it went away in 1 day. I worked really hard, , I had a diary writing everytime it happened , what I thought , what I was afraid of, why it happened and what can I change next time. Me too I understood Anxiety doesn't lead to anything bad but I still had it again and again.
Sorry I did mistake not sore chest but tight chest.
My thinking still in this case that although you know it , you are still getting scared. It is fine to get scared, but you can deal with it!! Think about it this way (and please convince yourself): "it just anxiety causing it, but it is not serious at all, nothing is going to happen, this stupid breathing issue and tight chest is felt crap I agree with myself but it is an illusion that it can lead to anything, it just feels bad but it is not anything serious". As soon as you believe in this , your breathing and tight chest will ease.
Are you saying that you have it when you are sleeping??!
moira43918 ThatGirl1988
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david65294 moira43918
Posted
Moira - you don't have to applogize to anyone for the anxiety!! I hope it goes well with the doctor. Keep up the good fight.
moira43918 david65294
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david65294 moira43918
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david65294 moira43918
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Wanted to check in to see how you were feeling. Were you able to see the doctor? Take care - David
moira43918 david65294
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Hi David. Thanks for asking. Chest tightness and breathing has been horrendous. Managed to get doc app this morning and have to go for ecg tomorrow at A&E. She is pretty convinced it's anxiety as she actually suffers from panic attacks herself but obviously wants to rule out any heart problems. Actually nice to speak to a doc who knows how u r feeling. How are you doing? Still avoiding the nasty weather the US has been getting? Moira
david65294 moira43918
Posted
Moira,
I'm sorry to hear that it's been rough! I'm happy to hear you got a doc that understands your feelings....that's pretty amazing. Will be thinking of you tomorrow, I hope it goes well. I am doing ok....just trying to cope with ongoing pain, etc. that is freaking me out. I like the therapist I am seeing, so that's good. And luckily we missed all of the bad weather where I live!
moira43918 david65294
Posted
That's great u have missed the storms. Seen the news reports here. We r on the west side of scotland so always seem to get the tail end of these storms when they head out over the Atlantic . We've been hit with torrential rain and winds up to 70 miles an hour definitely not as bad as the US. That's good u like ur new therapist. When r u seeing him/her again. I've been put on the NHS waiting list for counselling but can be up to 9 months waiting. Think i might have to bite the bullet and go private. Which can be £70-£100 per hour. Anyway hope u feel better soon. It's a long haul
moira43918 david65294
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moira43918 david65294
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david65294 moira43918
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Hey Moira - sorry, I'm been slow responding! I'm doing ok, better but still not totally back to my normal self. How have you been? How did your appointment go?
moira43918 david65294
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Hi just in from work. Oh the usual. Ecg was fine. Nothing wrong with me. The chest tightness went away for a few days funnily enough but now back again. So of course there must be some underlying illness!!! You doing ok? How's the new therapist?
david65294 moira43918
Posted
Well I'm glad to hear the tests were normal. Trust those results. I know, easier said than done! I like my new therapist, but just found out my insurance won't cover as much as I had initially thought. So, I may need to switch.....ah, good old terrible health coverage in the US!!
moira43918 david65294
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I don't understand how insurance works in the US but it sounds awful. I'm ok just finished work and been for a few drinks with work mates so feeling alright just now. I keep forgetting about the time differences. The last message u send me it was 2 am here. I think u r probably about 5/6 hours behind us. So when i wake up and see ur message it's about 2 am ur time.. Am i right? What time r u just now? We've got a long weekend so no work Monday. Yeh
moira43918 david65294
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moira43918
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david65294 moira43918
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Hey there! I've been having trouble accessing this site lately. Tried to get on yesterday to respond but couldn't. I'm doing ok. I've been under the weather with a cold and sore throat the last could of days. In a weird way it's been sort of nice, because actually being sick, I haven't had the time or energy to focus on the physical sensations that give me anxiety (sore muscles, heart palps, etc.). I started going to a meetup group for people with anxiety, and that's helped a bit. Still just trying to get my life back to normal. How have you been? Things going ok?
moira43918 david65294
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Great ur feeling better. I'm doing ok apart from the fact my last 3 lots of bloods have come back a abnormal. High red and high white cells which is apparently unusual. The high red is a thing called polycythemia but having the high white cells too indicates a thing called polycythemia rubra vera which is an uncurable but treatable blood cancer. This is me not googling. I go to see. My Haemotologist on 16th oct to c what's going on. Funnily enough I've been quite calm about it all.
david65294 moira43918
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I/we will be thinking of you for sure. Hang in there. I'll definitely check in again soon. How's the weather there? It's finally starting to cool off here after a long, hot summer.
moira43918 david65294
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Lucky u . The temp here is 11 raining, windy not nice. But that's scotland. This is what it'll until march. Had probably about 10 days of nice weather over the summer. That's scotland for u