obsessing about breathing

[anxietysufferer1]

Does anybody else have health anxiety asscoiated with breathing? I keep having horrible thoughts that my brain will just stop my breathing because i'm worrying about it too much or if i keep thinking about it it will become unautomatic.It's really unnerving and anxiety provoking. I just don't know how to switch off these intrusive thoughts

has anyone else had this problem? i'd love to hear your experiences and how you coped with it and recovered!! :yesyes:

lots of love to all xxxxxxx

[imissnotworrying]

i haven't worried about my breathing since i was told that even if you were to stop your breathing on purpose (by holding your breath for a long time) you'd just pass out and start breathing again. also during times of worry we tend to 'over breathe' rather than not breathe at all, anxiety can make you feel like you're breathing manually though rather than automatic, that's only because once we're aware of it we have more control, so in a sense we can do it manually, but its a built-in mechanism. same with blinking, we can do that manually too, but if you stare at something long enough your eyes will blink themselves because it's in-built :) try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth if you can, slow breaths, that usually sets my breathing back into rhythm because i feel the need to breathe in through the nose again after each out breath through the mouth. that kind of breathing is also supposed to lessen any anxiety, so it may help you calm down enough to relinquish control over your breathing so your system can do it for you again.

[xJust_Sarahx]

Hi
that is me all over, that is my main problem and what i suffer from the most, everday all day for the past how many years.. i have been struggling to breathe, i feel like i cant breathe all my air out, like its stuck in my stomach and then i feel where i cant take a deep breath in and then also feel like i cant catch my breathe. There is always something with my breathing!!
No matter how slow i take it... im short of breath, i cant complete sentences and i cant eat sometimes with out feeling like i cant breathe, even when trying to settle down for bed... i just cant breathe!!
I also feel like i have to force my self to breathe, like im not doing it naturally and that is laboured breathing,i get the sensation that i have forgot to breath and need to gasp for air and if i bend down say to get the washing out of washer i feel completely winded!

I have totally forgotton how to breathe naturally or how to let myself just breathe and go with the flow type thing, as i feel i am forcing myself. See now im sittin here and i can still have my mind on breathing, my throat feels tight and i am breathing fast.

This is what convinces me that there is something wrong, because i think that if breathing is natural etc and we cant control it then how comes its bought to my attention that my breathings affected, if it was fine.. i wldnt notice it.

So yeah i am completely obsessed with it. Its stopped me from doing anything and im housebound because of it. All i try and do is say to myself i feel like this all the time and nothing bad has happened, i have felt what i have felt is my worst and i got through it, and i think to my self the worse case would be i would pass out and then know nothing else of what goes on.

[anxietysufferer1]

Thanks imissnotworrying and Sarah for your replies. Imissnotworrying that message has really helped rationalise my thoughts a bit and its true all that would happen is I'd pass out so in a way whats the point of worrying about it. And it is so true that its just because I'm focussed on it that it gows weird. Thanks hun! I'm gonna try and look at your post everytime i fell anxious :) lol.

Sarah it sounds as if you've got it really bad. Thanks for your post, its nice to know you're not alone. I have had CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) before and i should prob start using the tools i learnt again for this obsession as well. Have you had CBT before? I rekon it could really help you and I lol. Imissnotworrying's post has really helped as well. Keep me updated on how everything is going.

Lots of love, laura xxxx

[thevamp24]

Hi
Its been about a month since i had my first panic attack, i had about 3-4 a day for about 4 days then the doc put me on diazepam and propopanal. This has helped with my attacks unless i dont take tablets i had one on saturday just gone cause i forgot to take tablets and was rushing about the house and got out of breathe so started to panic that i was going to stop breathing so i got onto my paper bag straight away, i have them scattered all over the house. I understand where you are all coming from with the obsession over breathing as im the same, i feel my lungs arent filling up to their full capacity and im now convinced ive got lung cancer or something else wrong with me, but when you are gasping for breath you are convinced you are going to die. I can wake up in the morning get out of bed in the morning and go to the loo and come back and be gasping for breathe like ive just run a marathon and then i feel the panic come on.
I dont like leaving the house if i can help it for fear of having a panic attack while im out and im nervous about xwllowing liquids in case it goes down the wrong way and causes me to choke, im glad im not alone with the breathing obsession. x