Breathing problems

[Angie]

Guys Hi,

Just wanted to canvass opinion about breathing problems.

Last night whilst attempting to go to sleep I had the feeling as if I couldn't breathe. I could feel my heart racing so assumed it was all part of anxiety but this is a new symptom for me. It was almost as if I couldn't breathe in enough air and then possibly because I began to over compensate my breathing pattern went absolutely haywire.

Now strangely enough I did manage to sleep so obviously it is not life threatening (scary though it was), is this common for anyone else?

To be honest I really am sick of bothering my doctor...!

[nomore]

I can definitely relate to that. Every now and then I have the problem of not being able to take a nice deep breath, at times it can get pretty scary, when I try to get a good breath a couple of times and am not successful. This would also make you yawn more, in an attempt to take more air in.

Recently, this started being prevalent while I am trying to go to sleep, just like in your case. In some instances, as I am about to fall asleep, I wake up suddenly with the feeling that I am not berthing. Can be pretty scary and disruptive to sleep. After I actually go to sleep, I am usually fine.

The not being able to take a good breath feeling is associated with anxiety. The chest muscles just tighten up, although you may not even realize it, and cannot expand fully when you try to breathe in. This is a normal reaction to anxiety.

[milly jones]

hi hun i get this before im fighting a pa. its sort of like a warning to me to try to relax. i can only alike it to having asthma, which i dont have, but have a partner who struggles with asthma attacks at times.

i also get the sensation that i cannot breathe in from the depths of my lungs, like when you have a chesty cough, and the gap betwen breaths seems so long.

ive always put all of this down to anxiety

hope this helps

milly xx

[Angie]

Thanks Guys,

Nice to know it's not just me - thought I had got a handle on these anxiety symptons but they just seem to keep morphing into something else....is it me?!?!

[shiv]

That's my classic thing- as soon as I accept a symptom as a SYMPTOM of anxiety then WHAM! another weird and wonderful one starts. Clever little sucker this anxiety is!

Siobhan x