Shortness of breath even when im not having an anxiety attack!

I'm now 34 years old and I’ve been battling severe anxiety and panic disorder since I was 19 years old. I also have depression. I’ve been on many different medications to help over the years. I didn’t start taking medication until around 6-7 years ago. One day I started getting short of breath for no reason why watching tv and then it continued to get worse and worse. After a few days i opted to go to the emergency room because I was worried about the shortness of breath so much. My mother went with me and I drove. On the way to the hospital, I had what was my first horrible panic attack. Everywhere from my waist up, started tingling and went numb. Even my stomach. I couldn’t breath… I pulled over and my mom called 911, by the time the emt’s came I was unable to speak and my hands were stuck in a claw shape. I couldn’t move my fingers. My mother thought I was having a stroke, I thought I was dying…. At the hospital they gave me some medicine that help Alleviate the anxiety and attack… I found out what that medication was and had my primary prescribe it for me. It was, Ativan. I was on Ativan for a year… it worked great. However my doctor took me off of it because she didn’t want me to be dependent on it. That sucked…. I’ve been other meds since then, Prozac, Viibryd, merazipam (or something like that), buspirone, vistaril… just a ton of stuff. Im currently on 3 of those now and they do not work at all. I can’t drive anymore. I have terrible attacks. It all starts with shortness of breath. It’s awful. Even being in a car now makes me short of breath and I start panicking. I have a full time job… and a wife (who at the moment went back home to be with family and friends… we are having a trial separation and that doesn’t help either). A few days ago I had a terrible panic attack driving home… an ambulance came and checked me out, all okay vitals. My parents came and picked me up and drove me home… that night I went online and found a new mental doctor that does online visits. They told me the medicine regime I’m on is out dated and they don’t really work well together…. So I’m starting new stuff as soon as they come in the mail. I’ll be on Lexapro and propanol and ween off my mertazapin, vistaril, and buspirone. I haven’t had a quality day since I can remember. But the shortness of breath has been the worse every single day. This is no quality of life. And my heart goes out to anyone else that has to deal with this. I wish I could go back on the benzodiazepines… that was the only thing that helped truly.

Helloo dear,yes we have thesame situation.it's not easy to overcome this..but i know we can.it's all in your mind...this is not real.just think about that we have our family who loves us.support us.

it seems like an email written by me. all u wrote there isn't anything new for me. i feel what u feel. you are not alone. it is you and millions more, including me.

omg I cannot believe I've found this forum! I was suffering with these symptoms a few years back and they use to last for a week or more at a time. I remember going to ER for them to do tests on my I had blood, xray! other tests for it all to be clear and told I suffer from anxiety. I also suffer with other anxiety symptoms where I get blurred Vision and I feel like I'm in a dream sometimes? my surroundings don't feel real. Also get numbness on my body. all of these symptoms are so frightening but nothing like the not being able to breath symptom! the only way I can describe it is.. I feel there's a band going around my chest and I can't get a satisfied breath! I remember last time I had it I was going insane with it. After a while it just subsided when I got a new job and was occupied. This horrible feeling has returned this last week. I had a week's annual leave and then I started getting dizzy uneasy and all the horrible symptoms from anxiety. i then got covid which is now negative but since I've had this horrible breathing issue again? literally can't get a deep satisfied breath like I feel like I'm suffocating. I'm thinking is this covid doing this? am I ignoring a massive health issue here? but deep down I know I've had this years ago and I Still get the classic anxiety symptoms. But it's got my brain going there's something wrong with you. I hate this feeling! it's lasted for over a week now and I'm back to work tomorrow and I'm so worried thinking I won't be able to breath 😞

hi G.mommy , i am going through the exact same thing. ive had anxiety for around 14 years mostly fairly controlled. ive developed panic dosorder/attacks out of nowhere in the last month or two. i was on citalipram which has recently been changed to sertraline. im struggling to get used to the change and my anxiety is at an all time high! im the same as you suffering from breathlessness for what i feel is no reason!its making me miserabke and upset. i panic and feel horrible. do you do anything to help with your breathing? im trying but feel nothing helping. you are not alone!

it is currently 1:33 am and I am scouring the internet looking for answers or guidance. I am a 22 year old female who struggles tremendously with anxiety, depression, and panic disorder. The last few months I was having panic disorders 2+ times a day everyday. I am currently taking time off from work to go to therapy twice a week to try and find solutions to help me work through my panic attacks. All of my panic is centered around the thought that I am going to 1. Stop breathing and drop dead and no one will be able to save me or 2. I am going to have some freak medical situation happen to me (aneurysm, blood clot, etc.) and die. Its been 2 weeks since ive been off of work and therapy is helping a lot. I have been accomplishing goals i have set for myself trying to work through places, situations, and scenarios I fear. the panic attacks led to agorraphobia where I will want to avoid places or things I had a panic attack at or doing in fear of it happening again. Tonight i was in bed and for no reason at all my chest felt like a weight was on it and i freaked out assuming i was dying. Like many of you I focus too much on my breathing. I hyperfocus on my breath and getting enough oxygen and i use a pulse ox all the time to check myself to prove im okay - if i cant get a "good" full breath i will spend a lot of time trying to get one until it happens. does anyone have any tips for working through the breathing focus? I am on medication (buspar and wellbutrin) and just want to feel better. i was not like this early 2020 pre covid. 😦

hello i am glad i found this thread.. i am having extreme shortness of breath.. like my breathing just feels weird and not comfortable.. i cant get that last comforting gasp of air which makes you relax unless i yawn .. i have had this for over 15 days now i am very worried.. i went to a doctor who checked my chest and said all is normal i also did a blood test which he did not order, it also appeared normal.. the doctor said i might have anxiety and went through a difficult situation recently which i did but im confused to how it could last this long. i also had severe headaches which got better now... i am looking on google at possible causes of shortness of breath and they all seem very serious nightmares which makes me worry more about my health. Do i need to do a chest xray ??? would the doctor have spotted something wrong in my chest while checking ? yesterday while inhaling i felt a slight wheeze sound which seems to be gone today.. but when researching causes of this wheez sound again they look very serious... i donno what to do.. only time i can breathe without fear is when i workout at the gym.. other times i need to yawn to be able to take that last comforting gasp of air.. i need to be in yawning mode to be able to breath comfortable.. sounds strange but i feel scared to actually breath like im expecting to feel pain or something bad which isnt the case, what is going on please help me out guys im so nervous could this be heart failure or anything else i am only 34 and regular gym goer. healthy diet. how do i know this is anxiety and not anything else.. on google shortness of breath seems to be a symptom of very serious issues

as much as it sucks to hear everyone is suffering I’m also glad to know that I’m not alone in this. The past couple of days I’ve been having trouble breathing and it came out of nowhere. it’s really only when I think about breathing that I’m having trouble. Reading everyones messages took my mind off it and made me feel better knowing that I am okay. I was really considering going to the ER but after reading this I think I’m going to do some meditation and breathing exercises to help me. I hope everything works out well for you!

i have the same thing going on with me now, it made me think i was dying and left me in fear. im afraid to take my medicine cause im thinking it will do something bad to me...**

Hello again everyone. I commented a few weeks ago on a different account (I can't remember the log in info and got locked out for an hour).

Again, I just want to expresses how fortunate we all are for finding each other. It's comforting to know others are dealing with this as well.

Although I’m sorry you all have to deal with this as well. I started my new meds last Monday. It’s been one week. I am now taking a generic version of Lexapro and also I’m taking propranolol too. Immediately on Monday after taking the new meds, I felt better and was able to drive home from work without having a full blown panic attack. I did have to stop once. Then Tuesday got better and Wednesday was good as well. Peopronoal works pretty fast to help physically symptoms of anxiety according to my new mental health worker. However, Thursday… at work I got a little short of breath, then nauseous, threw up a few times, shaky, pain in my arms and chest (I got that a lot with my anxiety) and I had to lie down at work for an hour. I felt a little better, made it home; and then it happened again at night. Friday I stayed like from work and it happened once or twice more. Saturday I was okay. No issues… today, I started getting short of breath tonight for no reason. I couldn’t make it stop for a while. I did all I could think of. After a warm shower I laid down and came back to this thread and read the new comments. I feel a little better now. Thank you everyone.

However now I’m saddened, I though the new medications was working wonders, however the last few days has been bad. It’s now 4am and I have work in 5 hours and I can’t stay home again. I’m at a loss.

All of this is happening while I’m in the middle of a separation from my wife, now three weeks long… and she isn’t coming back either. So now my marriage is over and I’m still battling that too… being all alone at home is hard. Especially for my anxiety and panic disorder… It feeds my anxiety. Anyway… Again I am glad I found this thread. If anyone wants to talk together, let me know… I’ve never personally talked with someone else who was dealing with this type of severity shortness of breath from anxiety. No one understands what it’s like that I know.

Hi, i have been struggling with the shortness of breath for the past two weeks. i have been diagnosed with anxiety a few months ago and i feel like it is taking over my life.

At first i was obsessed with anything to do with my heart and now this has switched onto my lungs and my breathing. Just like yourself i feel short of breath from when i wake up until i go back to sleep. i feel like i am going crazy and cant function like a normal human being. How long did it take for your meds to start working ? i have just been prescribed citalopram but my health anxiety is making me paranoid about taking it 😦

i have had anxiety for almost all my life.I am 34 now.I used to get panic attacks but its been a while now.Ive been having lot of stress lately.But last month was on a different level all together.

15th of last month i was at my vets clinic when i suddenly had a one sided headache and couldn't breath.After 10 mins had another attack with partial blackout and slurred speech, pale lips and couldnt breathe or swollow.Then another more intense attack after 10 mins.

People around me thought i am having a stroke.Rushed to the ER.They did all the investigation and while in ER I had 4 more attacks.My pulse went to 30 during the attack.They did MRI, halter test for hearth, EGG of Brain and all was ok.And eventually i was told that it was a silent anxiety attack.

I have never had such an attack.Too be honest I wasnt even convinced when they told.I had a mild attack 20 mins before and thats how I landed on this site.

A little stress and a little shortness or breath or even when i am wearing a mask, I get dizzy and breathless.

I dont know what kind of an anxity attack is this.