Can't Stop Thinking About My Breathing

[zacman777]

Does anybody else experience this? I think it is leading to a lot of my anxiety problems, and naturally my real fear is that I'm getting my CO2 and Oxygen levels so out of whack I am doing serious harm to my body. It's hard to explain to people because they just say "well focus on something else, you won't stop breathing". It's so hard to explain to them that it just isn't that easy. Literally feels like if I don't think about my breathing, then I won't breath, as unrealistic as that sounds.

[vegetabletarian]

Sometimes I get the feeling like if I don't feel my breathing I'm not doing it right. Simply thinking about your breathing isn't necessarily dangerous. Regardless of whether you think about it or not, you will continue to breathe. It becomes a bit more of an issue if you start breathing too fast for too long because of this. Normal breathing rates for humans is around 12-20 breaths per minute. However most people cant comfortably keep breathing much faster than this for very long and your body will adapt as necessary if your O2 or CO2 levels go out of whack.

I don't know if you have already tried this but when it happens to me I force myself to do something else even for just 1 minute (or 15 or 30 seconds), and then think back, ok so I managed for 1 minute without thinking about it and nothing bad happened. I recognize you said this was a struggle. Even 15 seconds at a time gradually building up may help. Most people can hold their breath for more than 15 seconds so it wont do any damage. I don't know if this is your thing, but things like Sudoku work for me because it engages me visually and gives me something to focus on.

Sometimes this works for me and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I just continue on my day and then suddenly notice hey I stopped thinking about it eventually.

I hope things start to improve for you :)

[HarleyMarshall]

Mate I feel you I’ve had this for a year now it’s a scary ocd, sometimes I feel like I’m going to forget how to breath, feels like I’m Not breathing properly either and it’s really hard to be distracted also I dunno what to do

[Panic Stations]

I am suffering with this too. Annoyingly a relapse as it seemed to get better for a few weeks but i have caught a cold and its started it up again.
I literally started just thinking 'oh well, if i stop breathing i will pass out and die, and by then i wont know about it anyway'
Sounds depressing but I found it the only way to really get rid of my fear about not being able to breathe properly.

[HarleyMarshall]

no offence that’s a stupid response if you pass out you brain will just automatically breath like we do when we are asleep

[zacman777]

Sometimes I get the feeling like if I don't feel my breathing I'm not doing it right. Simply thinking about your breathing isn't necessarily dangerous. Regardless of whether you think about it or not, you will continue to breathe. It becomes a bit more of an issue if you start breathing too fast for too long because of this. Normal breathing rates for humans is around 12-20 breaths per minute. However most people cant comfortably keep breathing much faster than this for very long and your body will adapt as necessary if your O2 or CO2 levels go out of whack.

I don't know if you have already tried this but when it happens to me I force myself to do something else even for just 1 minute (or 15 or 30 seconds), and then think back, ok so I managed for 1 minute without thinking about it and nothing bad happened. I recognize you said this was a struggle. Even 15 seconds at a time gradually building up may help. Most people can hold their breath for more than 15 seconds so it wont do any damage. I don't know if this is your thing, but things like Sudoku work for me because it engages me visually and gives me something to focus on.

Sometimes this works for me and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I just continue on my day and then suddenly notice hey I stopped thinking about it eventually.

I hope things start to improve for you :)

Thank you so much for your reply! No matter how hard this seems, I'm going to try it and keep at it. I've been training my brain to be anxious for over ten years now, so I'm assuming it's going to take time for it to be trained to be calm. I hope you are doing well! :)

---------- Post added at 11:33 ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 ----------


Mate I feel you I’ve had this for a year now it’s a scary ocd, sometimes I feel like I’m going to forget how to breath, feels like I’m Not breathing properly either and it’s really hard to be distracted also I dunno what to do


I'm right in that same boat. I guess it's one of those things where I have to remind myself that my body's main goal is to be alive, and i'm not going to forget how to breath, as hard as that is to tell my self in a moment of sensitization. Thank you for your response, I hope you are doing well!

[HarleyMarshall]

I know right it sucks not sure if I’ll ever get over it, are you able to leave the house I can’t

[Panic Stations]

no offence that’s a stupid response if you pass out you brain will just automatically breath like we do when we are asleep

That stupid response lessens my fear of not being able to breathe and I've actually been without it for weeks until I got a cold and had a relapse.... Different things work for different people. Recovery is counter intuitive - you take away your fear your anxiety has nothing fueling it.

[HarleyMarshall]

Scaring people for no apparent reason pathetic

[zacman777]

I know right it sucks not sure if I’ll ever get over it, are you able to leave the house I can’t

I am able to leave the house but some days it can be a struggle for sure. My least favorite part is when it gets in the way of something fun I’m doing. Just this weekend I went to a festival, and was thinking about it basically the whole time. Then later when I was relaxed and not worried, I was wishing I could have a do over. I guess the best option is to just realize that it doesn’t have to happen and practice being in the moment more. I hope everyone is doing well!

[LiveAboveIt]

I'm going through this right now, too.

Is this really an OCD thing, or just anxiety?

[Barnabas75]

I'm going through this right now, too.

Is this really an OCD thing, or just anxiety?

I wish I knew. I have had it for over 4 years now. Dont know how much longer I can take it. It started when I stopped taking diazapam. It can trigger severe panic attacks for me. Having this problem has caused me to be severely depressed and to nearly lose hope. I feels like my throat is closing and I get a sudden rush of fear. It can cause me to have bad hyperventilation. If this does not go away soon I dont know what I am going to do. I feel for anyone going through this.

[LiveAboveIt]

I wish I knew. I have had it for over 4 years now. Dont know how much longer I can take it. It started when I stopped taking diazapam. It can trigger severe panic attacks for me. Having this problem has caused me to be severely depressed and to nearly lose hope. I feels like my throat is closing and I get a sudden rush of fear. It can cause me to have bad hyperventilation. If this does not go away soon I dont know what I am going to do. I feel for anyone going through this.

Are you currently on any medication? And has it been constant for all 4 years?

[Barnabas75]

Yes its been constant. I am on meds. Sertraline in the morning. Mirtazipine at night with seroquel to sleep. I could not sleep because I could not stop thinking about the breathing. Since my panic attacks occurred when I was asleep I have anxiety they will happen again. I have always felt there was something other than gad or pd causing this. I had a sleep apnea test, mri, lung function and the showed up fine. I never had these problems before I stopped diazapam abruptly. My Doctor did not warn me to taper. I only took them for seve month. Started them after my mom had a heart attack in my arms taking diazapam was the worst decision I made. Should of just taken them for a week or 2. Or when needed. Shaĺlow breathing is a side effect of stopping diazapam. But its supposed to go after time. If I could just breathe normally I would not need meds. Having to take meds is depressing for me as they dont seem to have much effect. The Mirt and Seroquel help with sleep though.

Did something happen that triggerd this for you,?

[LiveAboveIt]

Honestly, yes. I'm currently going through benzo withdrawal. Cold turkeyed Clonazepam because I was going through severe tolerance withdrawal and did not want to increase the dose.

[Barnabas75]

Good luck with the withdrawal. I had severe insomnia when I stopped diaz . Are you managing to sleep?

[LiveAboveIt]

Yes its been constant. I am on meds. Sertraline in the morning. Mirtazipine at night with seroquel to sleep. I could not sleep because I could not stop thinking about the breathing. Since my panic attacks occurred when I was asleep I have anxiety they will happen again. I have always felt there was something other than gad or pd causing this. I had a sleep apnea test, mri, lung function and the showed up fine. I never had these problems before I stopped diazapam abruptly. My Doctor did not warn me to taper. I only took them for seve month. Started them after my mom had a heart attack in my arms taking diazapam was the worst decision I made. Should of just taken them for a week or 2. Or when needed. Shaĺlow breathing is a side effect of stopping diazapam. But its supposed to go after time. If I could just breathe normally I would not need meds. Having to take meds is depressing for me as they dont seem to have much effect. The Mirt and Seroquel help with sleep though.

Did something happen that triggerd this for you,?

I can assure you that this is all mental and anxiety related.. Its just yet another way that anxiety manifests itself in us and makes us feel crazy.

[Bry]

Hi,

I had the same issue. I read an article which was so helpfull for me:
.steveseay.com/sensorimotor-body-focused-obsessions-ocd
After that I was already feeling better and had hope again. There is treatment and it's not an uncommon symptom. I start an ERP treatment without med and it's really great. I hope it can help you too.

Take care

[LiveAboveIt]

Hi,

I had the same issue. I read an article which was so helpfull for me:
.steveseay.com/sensorimotor-body-focused-obsessions-ocd
After that I was already feeling better and had hope again. There is treatment and it's not an uncommon symptom. I start an ERP treatment without med and it's really great. I hope it can help you too.

Take care

Thank you, Bry. Have you had any success in making this go away or having it happen less? Right now it's all consuming and pretty much all day.

[zacman777]

I'm going to try what Bry just posted thank you! It's coming back with a vengeance now, but I feel like it's still been every day. It is maddening because like I said before I think that it is the basis of a lot of my anxiety issues because I'm constantly thinking of my breathing and I'm taking control away from my natural rhythm. It was a lot better when I was on Sertraline, but I don't want to go back on the medication. I was on it for about 8 years and finally was able to get off. It's bee 8 months of sheer struggle, but I want to push through with this.

[Starryeyed]

Hi,

I had the same issue. I read an article which was so helpfull for me:
.steveseay.com/sensorimotor-body-focused-obsessions-ocd
After that I was already feeling better and had hope again. There is treatment and it's not an uncommon symptom. I start an ERP treatment without med and it's really great. I hope it can help you too.

Take care

What did you do in the ERP treatment? Do you still have it or have you got rid of the feeling? Any tips would be greatly appreciated

[DevilFocus]

Having this too, so tired of this. I don't understand why this is a thing or how to combat it. I just ignore it as much as I can and live my life, but it just doesn't seem to stop, unless I am really distracted, but even that is not as frequent these days.

[Starryeyed]

How do we get rid of it. Doing CBT but fed up of feeling every sensation in my body it is tiring me out.

[Starryeyed]

How can you apply CBT to this?

[mjh74]

I'm going through this now and have been for 6 months or so, on and off. It's causing me to pull my upper chest and back muscles and is leaving me really tired all the time. I've been to see 2 different doctors who were happy that I'm ok physically. I've concinced myself that when I sit in a certain position, I feel like I've got someone's foot standing on my chest making it hard for me to inhale. This of course makes me feel even more anxious and makes everything worse. I find if I keep myself busy enough that it does die down. When I'm sitting down playing a computer game or watching tv/a film though, I'm constantly watching every breath. I've just purchased a book about breathing that I think was recommended on this forum so I'm going to see if I can get anything out of that.