Worried about breathing

[paranoidbone]

I have suffered from severe anxiety for 5 or so years and have just been prescribed citalopram 10 mg (I am currently on day 2). Recently I have been worrying about my breathing and now feel that i need to control it in order for it to happen (I know this not true since i studied the medulla oblongata in school but i still can't get the thought out of my head). I have been breathing frequently and deeply for the past few days and am slighly worried since this evening (at around 6pm) I felt really tired and fell asleep in my bed for around an hour or two. Does this mean I collapsed due to lack of oxygen? Or that I had an abundance of co2 in my system? Could I have brain damage from this? I know the tiredness could be a side effect of the meds.

Thanks

[Elle-Kay]

I think it's most likely that you were sleepy, for an innocent reason, and your body needed to recharge. Most people don't have enough notice of an imminent collapse to get up to their bedroom and lay down ready on the bed :)

[Stormsky]

You know yourself that while you've slept your body has been breathing just fine without your help....trying to interfere with what the body does naturally will cause all sorts if anx symptoms..
You were probably exhausted and the minute you laid down in a relaxing position, you just fell asleep...

[paranoidbone]

Please can someone else help. I am convinced i have damaged my brain

[Elle-Kay]

I'm sorry, but no-one here could possibly tell you anything for certain about your health. All we can do is tell you what is rationally likely/unlikely, and reassure/support you based on our experiences of anxiety (as the posts above, which doesn't seem to have helped you). If you need more firm reassurance then all you can do is make an appointment with your GP first thing tomorrow.

It is highly LIKELY that you were tired, and fell asleep naturally to recharge your body's batteries. It is highly UNlikely that you have "brain damage" of any kind - even people with sleep apnoea (where they do actually stop breathing for a moment or two during sleep) start breathing again, because the body's natural habit is to breathe/not put itself in danger.