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Shortages of breath and squeezing in my chest. Please help?

Posted , 3 users are following.

hazem_40195
hazem_40195

About 3 weeks ago i suffered a lump in my throat that made me feel like chocking, vomiting and i couldn't breath properly. I went to the doctoor and told me it's anxiety and i have to try to forget about it and i will gradually start to forget it until i can't feel it anymore. Thankfully i don't feel the lump anymore but recently (4-5 days ago) i started suffering sudden shortages of breath and i felt squeezing in the middle of my chest, not always but regularly and sometimes i feel it's getting really worse and i can't breath at all. At this point i start panicking and i feel my heart beats increase and i try to search for breath and my parents are talking to me but i can't concentrate as if my brain is taking control over me and in about 1-2 mins i feel much better. The thing thats worrying me is the fear my heart may stop although i don't even know what im suffering from. I've been told by my father (a doctor) it's a change of hormones as i grow and he told me i may be suffering from panic attacks same as my doc that i visit told me but that was before it got this bad. Pls help! (IM 15 YEARS OLD).

2 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • nick21824
    nick21824 hazem_40195

    Posted

    Sounding like anxiety, you need some distractions, like walking (the dog) ,cycling, swimming, start with 20 min sessions and then build up monthly. Aim to join a club, something you like, My son done boxing training, which is safer than rugby, which he also played. You will forget about your health, and feel more confident

    Good luck, 

    • nick21824
      nick21824 hazem_40195

      Posted

      No problem, make a plan, keep it basic, to start with, stick with it, 3 months from now, you will feel great, and look forward to getting out and training, and summer's on the way, so thats a bonus, straight away

      Good Luck, you'll be fine

  • Rainboy
    Rainboy hazem_40195

    Posted

    Nick has made an excellent point.

    There is little room for doubt that these symptoms, although distressing for you, are anxietal in nature. Apart from similar experiencesmyself, thereare many posts on this site indicating a lot of people suffer from similar symptoms.

    There is no objective reason to accept the thought that your heart is going to stop. The fact that your father is a Doctor leads me to believe he knows you well enough to dismiss this view and rush you to hospital, or, agree you are not in danger.

    Has he rushed you to hospital? If not, why not?

    Your brain is the Mothership of the body. Under stress, anxiety and fear, it releasesall manner of chemical thatcause people in some cases to be convinced they are dying, but physically, they are perfectly well. The problem is in the mind.

    I think the best way for you to deal with this, is to focus less on the symptoms, and more on the reason you are in such a state of acute anxiety. Do you know why? Are you being bullied, experiencing problems with family/siblings, struggling with feelings that are too personal to discuss?

    Only you know the answer to these questions.

     

    • hazem_40195
      hazem_40195 Rainboy

      Posted

      Once again thanx, my father never rushes me to the hospital i'm the one who always worries and wants to go to the hospital, he just listens to my heartbeats and says it's alright and no need to worry and it will pass (my father is a urologist) so he knows about these things but isn't an expert. No i'm not bullied at school, i'm acctually quite popular and have a perfect relationship with my family. And anything unusual i feel i discuss it with others as it makes me feel quite better. I just feel it's not anxiety! 
  • Rainboy
    Rainboy hazem_40195

    Posted

    "I just feel it's not anxiety"! 

    Given that is the way you "feel" hazem, and that the majority of replies to your posts have supported this, can you tell us what you feel it is please? Think about your answer as objectively as you can, and imagine yourself giving advice to a close friend who has approached you with the same feelings.

     

    • hazem_40195
      hazem_40195 Rainboy

      Posted

      I really don't know but I hope it is anxiety, as some days I'm fine but most are just nightmares, my brother used to suffer from panic attacks and he used to complain from the same things I complain from, I thought it was something to do with my heart, but it seems like my brain is again tricking me into thinking I have something I don't really have.
  • Rainboy
    Rainboy hazem_40195

    Posted

    You are absolutely right. That is exactly what your brain is doing. The only person that can help you now, though it may sound harsh, is you!

    We can give you all the advice in the world, and in your various threads you have hears in detail from people that have the same or similar symptoms and have tried hard to reassure you that this is anxiety.

    What needs to happen now is for you to do some work on yourself and begin to listen not with your ears, but with your mind, and start to accept the logic and objective data.

    You have a blessing that few have. You live at home with a caring family and your Father is a Medical Practitioner. He has examined you and reassured you, but unless you are prepared to let go of these thoughts, then you are going to enjoy feeling this way for the rest of your hopefully very long life.

    Nothing is going to change until your thinking does. for that you CAN get help, but you still have to do the work!

    Tough words - sorry. But, oh so true.  :-)

    • hazem_40195
      hazem_40195 Rainboy

      Posted

      But how can i change my thinking? I try to think about other things or concentate on studying, have fun while playing football or on my Ps4 or out with my friends, and try to think as if i never suffered from these feelings and that they won't bother me. I always try to overcome them but they just come and worse than the day before (sometimes).
  • Rainboy
    Rainboy hazem_40195

    Posted

    Ask your Dad or your GP if Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) might be a good approach to start with. A really good therapist will teach you some very simple techniques to alter your perception about your physical symptoms. But, as I said before, they can only describe the techniques, give you some 'homework', and the rest is up to you. It's certainly worth asking, as we have ruled out every other alternative, including physical illness.
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