COPD and panic/anxiety

[Davosity]

I'm a 71 year old married male with Emphysema tagged as very severe. I was a heavy smoker and worked in extremely dirty old buildings so my lungs were doubly insulted. A year after quitting eight years ago I found myself having to go for emergency surgery on my colon; I had never needed medical attention before in my life.

The next several years involved more gut problems and I was becoming more sedentary and more short of breath with accompanying panic and anxiety issues. I've managed it with Pulmonary Rehab, conscious breathing, meditation, medications, and other methods. I've always favored non-medical approaches, but medications have helped tremendously.

I came to this site after Googling "Fear of breathing" and I think it offers a great resource. I plan to hang around here

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya Davosity and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[Mark13]

Hello and welcome to the site. I'm sure you'll find lots of help and support here.

[MentalState]

Hi Davosity,

I'm new here like you and your health problem strikes a chord with me. I was brought up by my mum and dad who were both heavy smokers from a young age and still to this day smoke. My dad is 50 and my mum is 54.

My dad is a different story but my mum has what you have. Borderline COPD. I'm really concerned for her as I hear her struggling to breathe at night and she wakes up often in shortness of breathe. She's prescribed various inhalers for it but both my parents still smoke.

Being borderline, I know there's still hope that she can prevent it from becoming full blown. I'm sure it's a debilitating illness. Recently through my own downward spiral of depression and anxiety I've began smoking heavily alongside a variety of other things so the same fate could lay in store for me if I continue.

The medical term used is dyspnea. It's documented to be extremely anxiety inducing. opioids are very effective at mitigating the anxiety associated with dyspnea as they act on the CNS to reduce respiratory output essentially making it feel comfortable to breathe more shallow, not to mention the anxiolytic properties of opioids. Unfortunately they are severely addictive and come with horrific withdrawals when stopped. So a legitimate prescription would be essential.

Apart from that I don't know much about what is effective for Anxiety induced by COPD. I'd love to hear more about what's been the most effective for you as I do believe I will have a full time job caring for my mum if she continues to smoke and develop full COPD.

Take care buddy and thanks for your story.