Breathing: feel like have to catch breath

[Tink]

Does anyone else sometimes feel like they have to force themselves to breathe? I feel like I am having to catch my breath and get a funny feeling in my chest.
Also sometimes when I focus on this, I find it hard to talk and breath at same time and then get myself more worked up. This is one of the feelings that really worries me.

Please let me know if you feel like this? xxx

[belle]

Yes.

At the moment i feel as if i have just run a mile although i am sitting still. It's even worse when i climb the stairs, i feel so out of breath.

It's just another wonderful symptom of anxiety!

x

[lauren6]

I went through a 4 month program for anxiety with a wonderful counselor. She told me that focusing on breathing is THE most common symptom. It's about controlling something because we feel out of control. It's very disturbing, I know, when we find ourselves doing this. It made me feel crazy and will this go on forever.

Her advice to me was that our autonomic nervous system takes care of itself, breathing being part of it. Just like a dog or any animal, our breathing knows what to do just fine. We can change it for a while if we focus and we can hyperventilate and cause even more anxiety but it will regulate itself. Please try to not think about it, get busy with things. The more you think why is this happening, the worse you'll feel about yourself. It's happening because we do these zany things to ourself. The less you worry...it will just stop. For me, I just distract myself and try to love myself with all of my imperfections, even these odd focuses.

[Tink]

The different symptoms seem to be never ending but I think this one is the worst for me as like u say it comes on when even sitting which is when it freaks me out! U then start to think about it then and constantly montioring breathing.
Do u ever sometimes feel like it is really hard to swallow and u feel like u cannot breathe and swallow? such a weird feeling.
Try to explain it to my boyfriend but he just thinks I am being weird!

[lauren6]

Hi Tink, Yup...anything that is automatic, that, blinking, even walking, I start focusing on that and my legs feel heavy. A bit of advice I can give to you is that whoever created us created cats and dogs and every other living creature...do they think about their breathing and all this? No, they just live. Try to think this way...the body just takes care of itself with these automatic functions. It is our heads that imagine something will get knocked out if we don't monitor it. It WON'T. Please try hard to focus on something else...yes, the thoughts will come in your head from time to time and I know I get angry at "it" but the "it" is my own head just coming to bug me.

A lot of the books say to replace the "what ifs' with "So what if?" and this is really true. Try to have a light and accepting attitude toward it, the less importance you give these thoughts, the faster they will go away. Why do we do this to ourselves? I have never figured it out but I have gotten better about it by telling it go take a hike and let me live.

[wiskersonkittens]

I've gotten this at night sometimes . . it's like I suddenly awake feeling like my breath is being sucked out of me. I then have to catch my breath and then I lie awake in panic over it, which doesn't help. It is anxiety - related. Oddly, though, what has helped me .. and I can thank a CT scan and MRI for this . .is if I hold my breath for a few seconds and let it out, and do this a few times, I feel so much better. I never thought that would really work, but it does. Why not give it a whirl and see if it helps you. Now, I do that when I start feeling stress or anxiety coming on and I feel more relaxed. :) Hugs, Wiskers ~

[Tink]

Thankyou for your replies.
I have been doing quite well recently with anxiety mainly as accepted that it is anxiety but today its has been quite bad. Mainy as been diagnosed as having IBS and was looking at something about it and was a link to bowel cancer which in turn made me anxious then out come the symptoms!
But as you say Lauren as soon as distract myself with something I totally forgot about breathing. My therapist that seen a few times told me to sing when start to feel anxious and it does seem to work.
I know half of my problem is I need to deal with the negative thoughts that often take over. I like your thought of telling it to take a hike, I am going to try that.

Wiskersonkittens, this is when first started for me at night. What u say is exactly what was like for me. would be falling asleep or be asleep and suddenly wake feeling like gasping for air then also lie awake in panic and can't back to sleep. not happened much lately.
I will give your technique a try and let u know how get on.

Thank you everyone xxx