Getting out of breath quicker? Anyone else?

[Hypo]

Last week I went upstairs and ended up having a panic attack. Now every time I go up the stairs I get out of breath and can't breathe very well.

A few nights ago I turned over in bed and the same happened, a panic attack. The last few nights I started feeling out of breath when I moved in bed.

Previously I could move in bed with no ill feelings at all and while I'm not exactly fit walking up the stairs (two lots in my house) would make my heart beat a bit faster but not to the extent I was worried or trying to catch my breath.

Husband says this is common in anxiety? That because I had panic attacks on those occasions I'm now panicking when doing either of those things which is causing me feeling out of breath and my heart rate going high.

I do notice I keep holding my breath a lot.

I was worrying about heart attacks so the fears all go together but until this anxiety spell I had no concerns about my heart. I know I am unfit but now I don't dare exercise at all incase I end up out of breath and worry.

At work last night I kept getting out of breath when I was talking but I noticed I was holding my breath for too long before speaking.

I asked GP to put me back on my beta blockers but I might have to wait until I see him in two weeks until he OKs it. I have tried to keep away from the GP but I feel I need to get back on them and increase my citalopram which I decreased about a year ago.

---------- Post added at 20:20 ---------- Previous post was at 18:35 ----------

Anyone?

It seems like most of my threads are being ignored lately. I try to offer support when I can but I really need some myself.

[Holds1325]

Have you undergone an EKG? How about your blood oxygen level? Do you smoke? Any exercise? How are you sleeping?

Have you had this happen before and it was most likely your mind? I used to take this supplement, I can't remember what it was, for sleep. Pretty common supplement, anyhow, It would cause me to super focus on my breathing and then obsess over it. Eventually I would be so obsessed about it.

What fixed it? Walking, exercise, I can tell you that very mild exercising is not going to induce a heart attack and NO doctor in their right mind would say that, infact it strengthens the cardio vascular system by stimulating it. You can't make a muscle strong if you don't use it, think of it that way.

However, it could also just be a breathing obsession. Either way get your Blood oxy levels checked, perhaps an EKG, in the meantime, eat more fiber, make sure to ALWAYS hydrate, and perhaps some walking around the block daily might help ya out?

[Hypo]

I have had this before yes, a few times.

Oxygen levels are fine, checked them at work last night. I don't smoke, not sleeping great don't exercise much but have a physical job and do a fair amount of walking.

Never had an EKG, never had no need to really. Mostly I'm good at realising this is anxiety and it goes. This time the anxiety has got me good. When I'm doing something fun or I'm just busy at work I don't seem to get out of breath so logically it probably is anxiety. In the middle of an attack it doesn't feel that way though.


Thank you for taking the time to reply to me :) I have calmed down a bit now I've had a good cry.

[Carnation]

Hypo, I think you may have touched on something when you said that you might be holding your breath. Have you tried the breathing exercises through the nose only?
If you close your right nostril with your finger and just breath through the left nostril by breathing in counting 4, hold for 4 and then release and count, you may find the count is twice as long; like an 8? This exercise also helps with panic and slows the heat beat down a tad. I do these quite often as I have this out of breath feeling and fast heartbeat that pounds sometimes. I'm not a fan of having my BP done, because it tends to panic me more and I made the mistake of taking it during a panic attack and was horrified with the results. But, I would give it a try.
It's strange because I can go up and down the stairs 4 or 5 times and not be out of breath, but on occasions find I am struggling with a few steps when I am like this. So, I am relating this to anxiety/panic rather than a medical problem. :shrug:

[Hypo]

I just tried the breathing thing, I counted to 4 but it definitely lasted about 8 seconds!

I seem to be getting out of breath just sitting here now. I know I'm not that unfit, so I'm either about to drop down dead or this really is anxiety.

I am pretty sure even someone with heart disease can watch TV and move a leg without a pounding heart so it has to be anxiety right? At my last test the GP said I have a 1% risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years which reassures me some. I managed a long shift last night on my feet and didn't get out of breath but now I can't even watch TV? :huh: I did get out of breath at work but only when speaking to people and I know for a fact that I was holding my breath then. When I was busy and doing more physical work my breathing was ok.

I haven't felt this horrible for a long time.

[Holds1325]

Yeah I never really did the breathing exercises during my breathing obsession period, although they help some people. It just kept me focused on my breathing which made me obsess even more.

Since your oxygen levels are normal I'm willing to guess its just anxiety. Do you get dizzy, your skin get pale? Could be from just too much focus on your breath.

Just keep at it, dont focus on it. My brain to this day still tries to but its much easier to just forget it. If there was something wrong with my breathing I'd already be in the hospital or dead from it, I'm still here? Obviously nothings wrong.

[Carnation]

I' m not a Doctor, but I do think it is anxiety and panic.
For one thing, I know that I am generally fit and this feeling happens when I think about the heart or my breathing.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Think, if you had something serious that caused this by walking up stairs - wouldn't a panic attack be a) not the outcome of a serious issue or at least would be alongside the correct physiological reaction and b) a panic attack would likely make it worse, but nothing happened.

So, doesn't that say anxiety or panic?

I have asthma and I've also had this issue walking up stairs. It bothered me so much I wouldn't move from one floor to the other unless it was time to get up or time to go to bed. Going upstairs between those times brought on the panic. For some time this bothered me with thoughts of my asthma but the thing is, like I said above, a panic attack wouldn't the outcome of a developing asthma attack and even if I had a panic attack on top of it, it would only make the situation worse, it wouldn't prevent the attack that was coming.

Add in the fears about going up those stairs because of the memory of those panic attacks and it all sounds like anxiety/panic to me.

We have a habit of misinterpreting symptoms that are normal in a situation and associating them with panic or anxiety developing so bring on more of them.

[Hypo]

Thank you all :)

Terry, you are always a wealth of calming information. The three of you really have helped me out so much. Sometimes it is just good to talk to others who understand.

When I went to bed last night I got out of breath again, but to be fair I had to walk up the two lots of stairs four times and even my weight lifting fit husband gets a bit out of breath doing that. That set off a bit of a panic attack but when I got in bed dh distracted me by looking at funny videos and I completely forgot I couldn't breathe.

I was fine this morning. I now need to go upstairs and get ready and I can feel the panic setting in already. I am so scared it will happen when I go upstairs that I'm getting anxious before I've even moved.

This tells me though that it has to be panic and I managed to move around in bed fine last night. I am also trying to remember all the others time this happened when I was anxious but went away as soon as my anxiety got better.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I know what you mean, I wish I had been on here when I went through things like that as they made no sense to me and people on here would have been able to explain it all...I knew nothing about anxiety back then.

Stair climbing is good exercise, remember Rocky running up those steps? It's just like walking up bank, it will tax your cardiovascular system more and the response is in the breathing, increased heart rate and blood pumping.

The problem with being on alert for any physical sensation means we now notice these things and start wondering what they are rather than not caring like before anxiety. To get through some of this my therapist had me doing what I now understand to be Behavioural Experiments. She had me doing short sprints to get my heart rate up and asked me to acknowledge how I felt and think about what it meant but also to notice how long it lasted, why it happened and how it decreased. I found this tricky at first but when I had done it a few times it made more sense and I found myself wanting to run more instinctively.

Things like this tend to be a matter of learning it's ok to feel the way we do and to trust our bodies. So, it's a matter of repetition and not building up avoidance, all things you will already know. It just goes eventually.

I also found that carrying things up and down stairs did something similar to me. But I would mistake my core tensing for muscular tension. The core does that, it's just as you add more weight it will work harder to stabilise the body...your husband will know all this stuff from his weight lifting. So, I had to tell myself that if I could lift & carry it, it wasn't too much and if something was, my body would respond to it without me consciously thinking about it.

I'm glad you feel a bit better about this and some distraction helped (I daren't ask about the videos in bed :winks::biggrin:). The anticipation is bound to happen at the moment. Try and just do it without building it up in your mind. Go upstairs randomly, don't have a reason that becomes a target, goal or deadline of some kind so as to add a bit more pressure - just get up and do it, no prior thinking. See what happens when you do. Just go up part way and see how you feel and if you feel ok, go a bit further. There is no reason it can't be an exposure exercise like that if it helps you relearn it's normal to feel a certain way.

You know what to say to yourself about this only being normal sensation being blown up into something more. The more you accept the sensations and not fight against them, this should be getting easier. You have the example of last night where you overcame it too.

But I know it's hard, people really wouldn't understand how such basic things they take for granted become like a trip to the dentist for most people.

[Carnation]

Probably one of those 'Carry On' films Terry. :D
........Carry on Nurse...........
........Carry on Matron........
........Carry on Doctor.............
........Carry on again Doctor..........
........Carry on Emmanuelle..............:blush:

---------- Post added at 09:57 ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 ----------

On a more sensible note. Terry is absolutely right.
It's the thought process that makes us feel worse.
Once you start to brush it aside and not worry so much about being a little out of breath and that you capable of climbing stairs and long walks, the feelings subside. :)

[Hypo]

Hahaha it really was funny videos of cats! :D

I just had a derm appointment for acne and had a panic attack in the room. He had to look at a few things on my face, all just moles, all harmless but while he was looking at my acne he wanted to look at my facial moles. That put the wind up me a bit. I have a small benign growth on my nose and my husband turned around and said 'Oh, you just have the kind of face and skin that grows weird things' that made me laugh and calmness resumed.

GP OKed my beta blockers, I'm going to enjoy the sun with my mum and try to focus my mind elsewhere for a bit.

Thanks again for all your support and advice :)

[Holds1325]

Glad things are working out for you :) and I hope that these types of things don't bother you as much anymore.