breathing is awful

[anx mum]

Been bk to my gp today have felt awful last few days told her my breathing felt different and i was scared she examied me and said my chest sounded fine i hate feeling like this just want my life back:weep:

[Mark801]

Hey Bev, I was feeling like you last night. My reflux has been driving me crazy and making me have pains in my chest which makes me hyperventilate.

I was pacing my apartment last night cuz I couldn't calm down. I drank I nice warm cup of milk with coco and somehow managed to fall asleep and slept for about 9 hours.

I woke up this morning and all my chest muscles are so sore due to the overbreathing from last night.

Why don't you try to watch a movie, It's almost halloween here in the US and I'm indulging myself with Michael Myers movies :yesyes:

[anx mum]

Thanks mark its awful isnt it been really anxious been to gps 3 times this week. My kids have got computer on at mo so i dont get a look in

[Mark801]

I just went to my gp last week and she said I'm healthy and I worry too much, but with school and work it causes anxiety which causes acid reflux to act up for me which causes physical symptoms which causes health anxiety, its a viscous circle unfortunately. :weep:

[anx mum]

I suffer with acid relex too its painful just hate feeling like i cant breath scares me hence running to docs. Just wish this anxiety would leave me alone for abit.

[eva82]

Hey Bev..I have reflux/gerd too and I know one of the symptoms can be the feeling of shortness of breath or not getting enough air in. Are you on any meds for your reflux? I'm on a waiting list to get an endoscopy done as my reflux has gotten really bad lately. Has your doctor mentioned that your GERD may be causing the awful breathing sensations? I went to the ER once because of chest pain and breathlessness ... Of course I thought heart attack. They ran a bunch of tests and even a chest x-ray and all was clear. The doctor explained that when reflux acts up really badly it can give you those worrisome sensations, after that I felt much better and now if I feel those symptoms I try to eat small meals and avoid my trigger foods...chocolate, tomatoes, anything fatty or fried. This seems to help some. Xx

[anx mum]

Thanks hun yeah im on a med for acid reflex its good cant think of name had a camera put down my thoat not nice.

[lucy devine]

hiya,
the way you describe your symptoms sounds exactly like me and what i have suffered with for quite a while now.
In terms of health anxiety, I think we both seem to have a fixation on our breathing. This presents problems because the more you think about breathing, the worse it becomes as breathing becomes manual and laboured. I got to the point where I was analysing each and every breath I took...was it too long? too short? it became a really really bad habit and i understand how scary it is. When you notice a change in your breathing, this is your anxiety picking up on every tiny change within your body...anxiety grabs onto this as we start to panic about our breathing which in turn affects our breathing more and makes us feel worse.
I think the best thing that can be done with this is to overtime accept it as anxiety. I have found that once I managed to accept it as anxiety (which is extremely hard and took me years to do), I was able to manage it a lot better by keeping calm within the situation and repeatedly telling myself it will pass. I find distraction helps huge aswell...do something to take your mind off the pattern of your breathing. I've found singing, counting back in 3's from a 100 in your head, playing an online game or any form of mental stimulation to help and within around 10 minutes you are suprised at how your focus quickly shifts off your breathing. This is also helpful in showing you that it is only anxiety as if you had a genuine breathing issue, it would be there ALL the time, i assume you are able to sleep/ take part in some daily activities which shows you this is a mental health problem, not a physical issue. As a health anxiety sufferer myself, I can almost guarantee you are now thinking of all the things that your breathing issue is stopping you doing and thinking that it is there all the time...this is classic of health anxiety to pick up on this so I thought I'd mention it so you don't start panicking..many of replies to me have always included 'but make sure you get checked by the doctor' and I always focused on that aspect of the reply as oppose to the other parts which heavily suggested it was just my anxiety.
I hope this helps a bit..if you would like to PM me then feel free to do so...I am currently getting over this breathing anxiety and would love to provide any help I can to help your recovery process.
Lots of love and lucy hugs
xxxx