Focused on my breathing

[Paul87]

This all started when I would feel like air I breath in my nose is cold and I would feel it around my nose and back of throat and mouth

Then I started to notice my deep breaths was a cold feeling around back of throat and tongue

As its a weird feeling and unusual for me my mind picked up on it and focused on it now because I had this feeling for a few days

I know fully focus on my breathing totally now and creates bigger anxiety which creates worse feeling for me it's hard for me not to focus on it all day

For example yesterday it got a lot worse due to waking up with sore upper shoulder blades and chest for some reason I do suffer from GERD so I thought maybe it was that but my anxiety didn't and my anxiety made me take deep breaths at random times to make sure I can breath okay

Now today is 7:32am and I've spent good half hour to hour with butterflies and focused on breathing and if I don't take a deep breath or a full breath through the nose I feel like I'm not breathing

And it obviously makes me anxious but not just that the cold feeling makes me more anxious it's just horrible I just want go back to being okay and normal

Has anyone experienced this or the cold feeling in throat and mouth? And how do I overcome this?

[hanshan]

Hi Paul87,

Hypersensitivity to bodily sensations is one aspect of health anxiety. Often it's something that you may not have noticed before, or may be due to a change in the weather, etc. But your mind seizes on it, you start to obsess that it could be a sign of something worse, and soon you have a full-blown health anxiety episode going on.

First, reassurance. With the cooler weather coming on, I can feel colder air at the back of my nose and throat when I breathe, so I'd say it's normal.

Next you need to learn to accept that occasionally your body will throw up some blips and static, but in most cases it is normal and nothing to worry about. Of course, you should still see a doctor to check out unusual symptoms - it's a matter of getting the right balance.

[Paul87]

Is it really as simple as clear sinuses for once and cold weather change?

[hanshan]

I'd say it is much more likely to be that (or something similar) than a sign of something serious. Try not to focus on moment to moment bodily sensations.

[Paul87]

I guess your right even thought I'm laid in bed right now and I'm not even feeling cold or focusing on this strange symptom that's created anxiety which is very irrational

Somehow I can still feel it, seems to me mainly my nose breathing each breath I can feel a cold sensation around my Adam's apple like I've been eating mints for example

I just don't know how I can switch off this feeling and just relax and be normal again considering it's happening while I'm writing, texting and checking things on my phone so I'm not actively focusing on it on purpose now