stopped breathing? ??

[bingjam]

Ive just been sitting here watching tv then all of a sudden it felt like I stopped breathing and had to take a huge breath and struggled abit afterwards

Has anyone else had this before as it kinda freaked me out a little. .

Literally feel on the verge of a panic attack now.

My chest feels abit tight and im all shakey.

It wasnt a panic attack it just felt like I stopped breathing

---------- Post added at 21:30 ---------- Previous post was at 21:22 ----------

I know its silly but I now feel as though my throat is closing up....

Im so close to ringing an ambulance thats how scared I am!!!

WHATS WRONG WITH ME :(

I was doing so good

[jayware33]

Hi Bingjam,

Did you end up calling an ambulance? You say it wasn't a panic attack however; I would disagree. What you describe sounds very much like anxiety induced symptoms.

You're now panicking about not being able to breath and then bringing on the symptoms of anxiety. Just calm down, seriously, take a breath and sit down.

Have you had this before? Do you have any medical issues such as asthma or anything else you think would be useful to me?

John

[bingjam]

No I havent called one I can kind of breath now..

But honestly it wasnt a panic attack.

I was sitting watching tv the I had to take a huge gulp of air to breath then after I felt weird I staryed to shake and thats when I felt a panic attack coming on..

Ive had panic attacks for years and years I know the breathing bit wasnt a panic attavk. It was like I stopped breathing...

And now my throat feels tight and im shaking...

I havent got asthma though

[jayware33]

No I havent called one I can kind of breath now..

But honestly it wasnt a panic attack.

I was sitting watching tv the I had to take a huge gulp of air to breath then after I felt weird I staryed to shake and thats when I felt a panic attack coming on..

Ive had panic attacks for years and years I know the breathing bit wasnt a panic attavk. It was like I stopped breathing...

And now my throat feels tight and im shaking...

I havent got asthma though


Ok, so you don't have asthma. There really isn't much that would bring this on apart from an allergic reaction or allergy. I still argue your case, it may not be a full panic attack but I very confident it was anxiety related.

Lets just say it was something awful and not anxiety, do you think you would be sitting here reading this? I think you would be dead by now :)

The fact you say it's getting slightly better adds evidence to suggest it was a mild anxiety episode. It can happen without warning and without reason which makes it even more scary and hard to believe. You have to trust it was anxiety. You can see your GP or call NHS 24 but I'm positive they would say the same thing.

And a fact now we're on the subject of breathing. Did you know that drinking coffee can help with symptoms of asthma and difficulty breathing? Strange but true. There is a flip side, coffee can spike anxiety due to it's caffeine content lol so .... bad idea for us anxiety dudes but just thought I'd share that.

John

[bingjam]

So if it was serious I wouldnt beable to write this then??

Ive just fount out that ive become funny with dairy (could it be something to do woth that) since having my little girl 7 months ago so what you have juat said has freaked me out a little :(

I just had a cup of coffee like 10 mins before it happened but I always drink coffee so I cant see it being that...

Ive been freaking out alot about my heart at the minute to is there anyway it could be related to what happened. .

What happened after the breathing episode definitely feltblike a mild panic attack cause I was saying I need an ambulance and I always say that when I have a panic attack, I even called on once as I was so sure it wasn't one, but I got fully xhecked over and everything was fine (that was 4 years ago) I remember that being the worst one ive ever had it was horrendous and lasted over an hour..

Im feeling more calm now but cant get over how tight my throat feels

And sorry I just ramble on when im very edgey and feelblike this

---------- Post added at 21:59 ---------- Previous post was at 21:57 ----------

Abput 5 mins before it happened though I got a tickle in my throat which made me cough

---------- Post added at 22:31 ---------- Previous post was at 21:59 ----------

anyone else experienced this feeling before???

[Tanner40]

Bingham, it certainly sounds like anxiety, followed by irrational thoughts that then led to a small panic attack. I've read quite a number of posts of yours, all heart and breathing related. Definitely posting on an anxiety forum, so it seems like a forgone conclusion that it is anxiety related.

I'm truly sorry that you're going through a rough period right now, but the question begs: what are you doing to help your anxiety? You have to learn acceptance -acceptance that this is anxiety. CBT can help change the irrational thoughts that you are having and you can retrain your brain to think positively about symptoms.

How about medication, therapy, mindfulness, relaxation, distraction. What is your game plan for helping yourself, surrounding your anxiety?

[HalfJack]

Yeah I have, I go through a similar thing when I panic sometimes. All of a sudden I feel like I can't breathe. I begin to panic, but my boyfriend often points out that if I couldn't breathe I wouldn't be talking about it, or well, alive. Then I realise I am breathing, it just doesn't feel like I'm getting enough air, and that's because I'm panicking.
It's happened to me a lot now so I try to remind myself it's panic straight away, slow down my breaths and focus on something else to calm me down like the tv, anything relaxing/distracting. Hugs help too. It feels horrible and painful but it's all part of the panic. That's just my experience of it though, if you really don't think it's panic consult your Dr and see what they have to say.

Do you mean Dairy intolerance? That's not the same as an allergy. Dairy intolerance is common, and the side effects of it aren't nice (gas, diarrhea, digestive discomfort etc) but they can be so mild people go their whole lives with no idea they have it lol.
If you ever decide to cut out or reduce your dairy intake and struggle with it you can PM me, I've been doing it for years :) I cut out dairy to begin with but now I let myself have some... no will in the world could make me give up ice cream and cheese lol
Take care xx

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah, had this as well. I've had quite a lot of issues with manual breathing because being asthmatic, my anxiety used it for a while.

The problem with panic is that it will start from an event, that event will often be something which isn't normal to you like this. So, a new symptom can make HA people assume the worst or for people like myself with GAD, whilst we won't attach it what you may have, it's still a scary moment and you panic because you don't feel in control of it.

[bingjam]

I feel alot better now its morning and ive had some sleep

Ive had it before but ive been asleep and it wakes me up ...

Im certain now it was anxiety otherwise I wouldn't be feeling so great right now I guess :)

Thank you all for replying your comments have really helped :)

X

[Lilharry]

It does sound like some sort of allergic reaction. I get like that if I eat something I'm intolerant to. Keeping a food diary can help work out what it is that causes you feel like that.