Constant shortness of breath

[Tt1]

Hello all,

For the past 6-7 weeks I have been living through my own personal version of hell. I will give a little backstory before coming to the present. Basically I had a massive panic attack about 2.5 years ago and that sent me into a spiral of anxiety and panic, I was having almost daily panic attacks for months before docs finally found out I had hyperparathyroidism. A month after surgery I was cured, no more anxiety, no more panic attacks nothing for a whole 2 years.

This brings me to the present, 6-7 weeks ago I was showering and washing my face and I got water down my nose which gave me horrible post nasal drip for a few days before turning into an upper respiratory infection. While I had the infection, I felt like I was suffocating, I expected the symptom to go away after I got better but it didn't. At the same time as the illness, I also got a mysterious stomach illness which caused me pain everytime I ate anything so I stopped eating often and lost 20 pounds in one month, it also caused my GERD to return. So for the past 6-7 weeks I have had a constant feeling of suffocation. I always feel like I am lacking oxygen all the time. I am absolutely drained of energy as well. I also occationally feel a sort of resistance in my throat when I breathe and this all started at the same time.

What bothers me the most is that when I had anxiety 2 years ago, I also was constantly short of breath, except I was constantly controlling my breathing and taking deep breaths. This time I am not doing any of that and still always feel like I am being suffocated. Multiple xrays, a ct scan, blood work, pulminary function test, echo cradiogram, arterial blood gasses, 30 ER visits have all shown up normal and in some cases better than normal. Cardiologist says not heart, pulmonologist says not lungs or heart. I know anxiety can cause this, but this time I am not even taking deep breaths and nor am I controlling it nearly as much a before, is it really just anxiety and how can I get over it?

So now I am freaking out about having lyme disease (very very rare here), not sure if this is GERD causing it, or if anxiety. I feel trapped and alone. Family doesn't get why I keep running to the hospital, doctors at ER keep telling me they see nothing and suggest I go on anxiety medication. My best friend is no longer as supportive as she was before (I don't blame her, I bombard her daily with anxious texts). I feel very paralyzed by fear, I am scared to go out because I don't want to suffocate, I am scared to do any physical activity or get out of breath for fear I won't be able to catch it.

I appear perfectly normal and even have an average breathing rate of 10-14 breaths a minute as per ER diagnostics machines. So what gives?


I have only one request, that members who have "had this for years" please refrain from mentioning that in your responses. I can't explain how frustrating and disheartening it is to see people who have had this for X YEARS. I can't imagine living like this for that long, I would soon much rather die.


Thank you

[worrywart29]

I get this too...allllll the time. I'm certain for me it's anxiety. I think in your case the respiratory infection that left you with shortness of breath caused you to panic, whether consciously or subconsciously. By you panicking over the feeling it caused your brain to fear the feeling, so now even though you no longer have the infection your brain still remember the feeling and it's causing you to still feel as if it is there. One way to test if it's anxiety is to get over your fear of exertion. If you exert yourself by either walking fast or doing exercise and you find that you are still able to breathe then it is indeed anxiety. A true breathing problem would only get worse with exertion. I find that when I'm sitting down I feel the suffocating feeling worse than when I'm moving around. The feeling is there whether I'm moving or not but it's far worse when I'm relaxing, that was the reassurance I needed to let me know that it was anxiety as breathing problem usually get better with rest yet mines get worse. I realized the reason it get worse with rest is because I have more time to let my mind wonder and focus on every sensation as opposed to when I'm active and not thinking as much. you had every test and it's normal so rest assured it's not a serious illness, now it's just a matter of convincing your brain that it's not a serious illness and that unfortunately is the hard part.

[Tt1]

I get this too...allllll the time. I'm certain for me it's anxiety. I think in your case the respiratory infection that left you with shortness of breath caused you to panic, whether consciously or subconsciously. By you panicking over the feeling it caused your brain to fear the feeling, so now even though you no longer have the infection your brain still remember the feeling and it's causing you to still feel as if it is there. One way to test if it's anxiety is to get over your fear of exertion. If you exert yourself by either walking fast or doing exercise and you find that you are still able to breathe then it is indeed anxiety. A true breathing problem would only get worse with exertion. I find that when I'm sitting down I feel the suffocating feeling worse than when I'm moving around. The feeling is there whether I'm moving or not but it's far worse when I'm relaxing, that was the reassurance I needed to let me know that it was anxiety as breathing problem usually get better with rest yet mines get worse. I realized the reason it get worse with rest is because I have more time to let my mind wonder and focus on every sensation as opposed to when I'm active and not thinking as much. you had every test and it's normal so rest assured it's not a serious illness, now it's just a matter of convincing your brain that it's not a serious illness and that unfortunately is the hard part.

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it. When I had an upper respiratory infection in february I was also suffocating and somewhat freaked out, but I had university so I had no choice but to get better and get over it. But now that I had it again, I also felt really sick for a few weeks which gave me time to dwell on it. I started biting on to the fear and allowing it to really germinate and grow within me when I should have known better.

A heart condition or lung condition won't develop in one day and the conditions that would develop have been cleared. My blood is fully normal as well.

I was at the ER today and they asked me to walk vigourously to see if I had excersize induced asthma and lf course negative. But I chose to walk as hard as I could and as soon as I got dizzy or slightly breathless, I kept going and going and was surprised that I wasn't even breathing hard even though I thought I would. My issue is that after physical activity, it takes a while for the heavy needing oxygen feeling to go away. So it scares me to continue. Even though I bought a pulse oximeter and my oxygen is clearly at 97-99% during this feeling.


Oh anxiety, you sneaky stupid little devil.

[Tt1]

I was feeling somewhat ok earlier today but now freaking out again. The suffocation sensation has become so strong and I am so scared. I have been to the ER too many times to count this month and I know if I go they won't help or do anything. My family is starting to get mad at me for going to the ER so often. I don't know what to do anymore to calm down. I feel like I am dying yet I don't breathe any faster or harder, I look mostly normal on the outside and my pulse ox numbers are very good so I do have air. My peak flow numbers are also very good.

This is scaring me so much and driving me insane. I have had this for over a month, if I was going to die, I would have done so already or something would have shown up in the very least. Is GERD really capable of this? I know it can't be anything truly life threatening yet it really does scare me. Breathing excersizes do nothing for me except make it worse. I feel like I am in one of those insane asylum movies where I feel like I am going mad and everyone around me doesn't realize it.

I mean really, the chance of me suddenly developing some disease or illness that hasn't been picked up already is stupid and impossible. I felt this before, why am I unable to understand that and get over it. When I was so short of breath before, I also had reflux, as soon as I had my hypercalcemia condition resolved, the reflux also resolved and before I even realized it, it was gone.

I need some support or help please.

[percythetrain]

I'm so sorry you're going through this Tt1, I have the exact same issue. Was at the ER recently because of it, needless to say my lungs are ok and so is my heart according to the doctors. I just started seeing a CB therapist to see if it brings some relief. I have found that the less attention I pay to it, the less intense it is so it does seem like anxiety plays a role.

I have GERD and I read that sometimes esophagitis can create the sensation of breathlessness when there is no actual lack of oxygen but none of the doctors i saw seem to believe this is connected to GERD.

Sometimes going for a walk seems to help, just a leisurely walk or watching a movie or show that entertains me :)

[Tt1]

I'm so sorry you're going through this Tt1, I have the exact same issue. Was at the ER recently because of it, needless to say my lungs are ok and so is my heart according to the doctors. I just started seeing a CB therapist to see if it brings some relief. I have found that the less attention I pay to it, the less intense it is so it does seem like anxiety plays a role.

I have GERD and I read that sometimes esophagitis can create the sensation of breathlessness when there is no actual lack of oxygen but none of the doctors i saw seem to believe this is connected to GERD.

Sometimes going for a walk seems to help, just a leisurely walk or watching a movie or show that entertains me :)


I am so sorry that you have to go through this too. It is extremely difficult, I had so many tests and of course all come back clear, I then used dr google and freaked myself out with a few illnesses that are extremely rare where I live and just very very unlikely for me.

The good news is it will go away and can go away.I had it for a few months 2 years ago and I was absolutely devastated. I even took a whole year off school, I only needed to take off one semester but took both off to just relax and focus on healing. I strongly believe that reflux is a huge component of it. Is it a shock that as soon as my reflux went away last time that the breathing issues also went away and that now that it has returned after 2 YEARS that I have reflux again.

You have to realize that true breathing issues do not manifest in one day like that, they take time and a gradual build up. Things that do manifest in one day are easily picked up by the ER via Xray, ecg, and blood tests. Asthma does not happen in one day, neither does COPD or any of the above. All other illnesses manifest in other ways.

My only wish is that I had a surfire method of getting over it, the only method I can think of is to go for walks and excersize. Accept it as anxiety, stop trying to find true medical causes because there is none. My advice for you is really also advice for myself. Take it easy and try to relax. Don't listen to those people who had it for years, you don't know them and you don't know what they have or don't have. I honestly believe that many anxiety drug medication companies fabricate fake accounts in order to come onto forums and scare people. When you lose your hope, you will do anything and that includes taking drugs to feel normal again.

I don't know if you believe in God, but pray and ask him to help you. Things happen for a reason and I realize my recent anxiety spell has shown me I need to appreciate my mom and dad more. I need to be more thankful for what I do have and that I perhaps would have been somewhere else doing something else had I not had this to bring me back down.

We never used to worry about breathing, we never used to think if we will have enough air. These thoughts will change the way we breath and honestly we normally breath at a VERY slow rate, but when we watch it, we think thoughts like "why hasn't it happened yet" so even if we do not take deep breaths, we are still altering the breathing pattern. Excersize helps because we then have no control over it, if you try and hold your breath, you will, then your body tells you to back off and forces a breath. If we had no air, we would be panting all day long and I know we don't do that. I honestly feel that the burning GERD sensations in my throat are sending false signals telling me it is lack of air when in reality it is just irritation.

Pulse ox does not lie, xrays do not lie, we feel like we are smothering but we are surely not or else we would be dead.

---------- Post added at 02:12 ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 ----------

My biggest set back is that I am scared to go out for walks for fear something will happen, I know I have no physical problems but yet I am still too scared to challenge it. I am horrified to get into a situation where I need more air and won't be able to get it.

[Tt1]

Ugh still going through this. Still feeling very scared and nervous.

Heart was ruled out
Lungs are ruled out
Adrenals ruled out
Blood ruled out (a.k.a iron levels good and hemoglobin good)
Pulse ox looks good
Thyroid good

I don't know what to do anymore. Feeling very stressed and scared from this. I don't want to die from this. I tried taking paxil for the first time and I became a zombie and my heart rate kept climbing and falling for a coulple hours so went to the er where it settled. Had 4 good days with controlled anxiety but still symptomatic and today I am in the ER again because of it.

I don't know if anxiety causes it or if it is causing anxiety. I was 100% anxiety free for a whole 2 years. Why is this happening again and is it anxiety or am I dying?

[rsanchez]

You've been checked and cleared of all the really bad things, so in my not professional opinion you're not dying.

Read over this thread again. You've given very good advice to yourself and to others. Whenever you're feeling down, just read it again. Print it out even, that way you'll have it when you need it.

Infections like you had take time to recover, both mentally and physically. If you couldn't breathe correctly while you had the upper respiratory infection, you may need some practice to breathe correctly now. Practice breathing exercises. Set times every day when you will do them, and don't try to get out of your scheduled exercises. Every day right after waking up and before going to sleep would be good for breathing exercises. Then, when you feel like you're suffocating, do the breathing exercises again. Just keep doing them over and over and over.

You can also try buying a breathing trainer or breathing muscle trainer online, and use that to train your diaphragm to breathe correctly. Even athletes use these to improve their breathing and get better athletic performance from their bodies. Which goes back to what you said about walking. The more fit your lungs are, the easier it will be to go out and walk and exercise. Like you said for yourself, walking and exercise eliminated the anxiety for you, and if you get your breathing up to where you can walk and exercise, you are well on your way to recovering again.

You can recover again. They fixed your hyperthyroidism and you lost the anxiety. They fixed your latest round of infections, and you can lose the anxiety again. Just know that this can't hurt you or kill you. Work on improving your breathing and on starting exercise again.

If you've been going to the ER so often, see if you can't get an appointment with a doctor and talk about getting a benzo. Give your doctor your plan to get over the anxiety (breathing and exercise), but tell your doctor that you need something to calm you down in the meantime so you can work on yourself.

You're not dying.

[Tt1]

You've been checked and cleared of all the really bad things, so in my not professional opinion you're not dying.

Read over this thread again. You've given very good advice to yourself and to others. Whenever you're feeling down, just read it again. Print it out even, that way you'll have it when you need it.

Infections like you had take time to recover, both mentally and physically. If you couldn't breathe correctly while you had the upper respiratory infection, you may need some practice to breathe correctly now. Practice breathing exercises. Set times every day when you will do them, and don't try to get out of your scheduled exercises. Every day right after waking up and before going to sleep would be good for breathing exercises. Then, when you feel like you're suffocating, do the breathing exercises again. Just keep doing them over and over and over.

You can also try buying a breathing trainer or breathing muscle trainer online, and use that to train your diaphragm to breathe correctly. Even athletes use these to improve their breathing and get better athletic performance from their bodies. Which goes back to what you said about walking. The more fit your lungs are, the easier it will be to go out and walk and exercise. Like you said for yourself, walking and exercise eliminated the anxiety for you, and if you get your breathing up to where you can walk and exercise, you are well on your way to recovering again.

You can recover again. They fixed your hyperthyroidism and you lost the anxiety. They fixed your latest round of infections, and you can lose the anxiety again. Just know that this can't hurt you or kill you. Work on improving your breathing and on starting exercise again.

If you've been going to the ER so often, see if you can't get an appointment with a doctor and talk about getting a benzo. Give your doctor your plan to get over the anxiety (breathing and exercise), but tell your doctor that you need something to calm you down in the meantime so you can work on yourself.

You're not dying.

Thank you so much for this. I highly highly appreciate it. I just do not know where this all came from or where it started and can't help but feel that the docs are chucking me into the anxiety bin because they do not know what is wrong.

I feel that I am in this hard position where I fear letting go because I fear that it won't be anxiety and turn out to have been something all along. I should take comfort in knowing that all the emergent crap has been checked out and looked at and yet I do not feel any comfort whatsoever. I should know that heart conditions and lung conditions do not manifest in one night. I should know that GERD is 100% capable of causing these symptoms and that when I had these symptoms 2 years ago, I also had Gerd and that spontaneously as soon as the GERD was gone, so was the breathing issue (I kid you not, my hypercalcemia due to hyperparathyroidism caused GERD and as soon as I had the surgery, my GERD subsided within a month and so did the breathing difficulties).

Knowing all this, I should find absolute solace. But I do not. I have allowed myself to spiral into this huge web of fear where I am always scared of my breathing and where I am in constant fear that I am going to die at any minute. Why can't I believe these words that I am writing on here?

I am only 20, I have no history of anything. My parents are mostly very healthy as well thank god (well dad has diabetes but he is 65). For me, if the shortness of breath EVER stopped, I would be ok. But it never does, it is all day everyday and I have convinced myself that I will suffocate from excersize and even when talking, the second I think about my breathing, suddenly it all closes up and I get out of breath.

What is really throwing me off is that I do not feel that I am hyperventilating at all. When I had this issue 2 years ago, I was hyperventilating non stop but I know I am not hyperventilating this time. I had blood gasses taken and my co2 and oxygen and everything was perfect, further indicative that I am not hyperventilating. I naturally belly breath as when I stop paying attention to the breathing and then pay attention again, I catch myself halfway through a belly breath.

So I bring myself to the present. All cleared of all imminent danger, won't kill me right now. Which leaves only minor things to go on. I am getting enough oxygen (because I am still alive and because the pulse ox says so). This is only a sensation - but happens to be the damn most scary sensation known to man.

I always say that it could have been ANYTHING else and I would have had no care in the world. But this to me is a massive fear. I do not know how to overcome it. Ignoring it simply isn't working for me and highly difficult. I tried paxil for the first time a few days ago (only 5 mg) and was a dead zombie and then heart rate kept climbing and falling for 2 hours as well a few hours after taking it. Benzos scare the hell out of me due to their addictive nature, however ativan works very well for me with very very minimum side effects. I know it is a short term thing, but I just feel meds are a bandaid (no offense intended) and not a cure.

You tell me "when I am having symptoms" to do the breathing excersizes, but my issue is that I ALWAYS have symptoms. Not sometimes, but always. It continues to scare the hell out of me and I hate that about myself. I hate that I let this thing control every last fibre of my being. I hate that I let 0.1% of my mind control 99.9% of my life. I hate feeling weak and unable to control my life.

[damianjmcgrath]

I know this post is old, but it describes perfectly the feelings I'm getting at the moment. I've had anxieties for years but over the last month, I've had this breathless all the time feeling. It's gradually got worse over the last month from intermittent to constant. It's like a heavy chest feeling that makes me not able to take a deep breath. My chest muscles, arms and fingers are tingling, and it feels like my body isn't being enough oxygen.

Exercise does remove that feeling but I get out of breath quicker than I used to.

I genuinely feel this is a serious concern, more than my other anxiety symptoms. I've been to the GPs a few times and they checked my pulse, pressure, oxygen levels and listened to my heart and lungs, and did an ECG and all was fine.

I did consider it might be GERD but I get it constantly, not just when or after eating.

It is on my mind so I think I do make it worse but when you can't properly breathe, I don't know how to ignore that!

The one thing that's leading me towards anxiety is that I suffer from other anxiety symptoms and when I distract myself, the feelings of breathlessness go away a bit.

It's still incredibly annoying and scary and I want to stop it!

[Hypo]

I get the same.

It stops when my anxiety is better. You aren't alone with this symptom :)

[hi]

very similar problems here.the only thing that a doctor diagnosed in me was gerd.no large meals and no carbonated sodas.i feel 80% better.