View Full Version : Constant Breathlessness,very scared. Help me please.
I don't know where to start. I am so completely freaked out with what's been happenning to me lately that I'm at the end of my tether. For the last few weeks I have been suffering from extreme breathlessness. I wake up in the mornings and I am so scared that I am going to have another episode of struggling to breathe that I set it off anyway. The minute my jaw feels tight and I can't catch a full breath I have this moment of panic. This then goes on for hours. The more I think about it the worse it gets. I get dizzy and my face and chest tingles. It has affected my personal life that I am scared to go to places where I could end up feeling worse. My work life is suffering from this as well. I can't seem to speak too long when I am with customers as I feel that I am going to suffocate. I don't know what's happenning to me. I have had two lung function tests in the last 8 months and both have been fine. It seems the more I am aware of my breathing the worse that I feel. If I dwell deep within me I would say that I am terrified of having a dreadful disease and this worry is setting off the panic. Has anyone else felt this way? Has anyone been so aware of their breathing that they hyperventilate for days/weeks? I have had times where I forget about my breathing and I seem to be ok but out of no-where this breathlessness will start again. I'm sorry if I don't make sense, I am so distressed now that I can't think straight. Thank you for reading my post.
Hi angelique
Sorry you're feeling rotten at the moment. Feeling breathless as a prt of anxiety is very common. If you have had lung function tests, that should pick up that there isn't anything abnormal happening in your lungs, although when you're anxious, it isn't much comfort!
I get this occasionally (although at the moment, as I'm stressing about when anxiety does to my stomach, I haven't had any problems with it :wacko:) and I've found that the best thing to do is to wait for it to subside and then do something that distracts me from it.
Anxious_gal
22-11-10, 13:28
how do feel when your distracted and not focused on your breathing?
learning how to breath the right way can help with hyperventilation, my problem is if i focus on my breathing i feel like i'm suffocating.......
do you suffer from heart palpitations as that can make you feel breathless.
it's reassuring that your tests were ok!
I'm thinking CBT may help.
the dizziness and tingling is because your breathing too fast and are getting too much oxygen.
Hi angelique
Sorry you're feeling rotten at the moment. Feeling breathless as a prt of anxiety is very common. If you have had lung function tests, that should pick up that there isn't anything abnormal happening in your lungs, although when you're anxious, it isn't much comfort!
I get this occasionally (although at the moment, as I'm stressing about when anxiety does to my stomach, I haven't had any problems with it :wacko:) and I've found that the best thing to do is to wait for it to subside and then do something that distracts me from it.
Thank you Blueangel for your reply. This is such an awful feeling. Yes true, both lung function tests (I had to blow in this tube) were very good, but for some reason my mind seems to think otherwise. It's so scary because it is now happenning on a daily basis and I don't know when it's going to hit me next. For most part, I don't think I actually feel anxious and then it will take one breath that I can't take, or a yawn that doesn't completely satisfy me and then it's on again. Has this happened to you as well?
I hope you are ok as well and recover from the anxiety that you have with your stomach. xx
how do feel when your distracted and not focused on your breathing?
learning how to breath the right way can help with hyperventilation, my problem is if i focus on my breathing i feel like i'm suffocating.......
do you suffer from heart palpitations as that can make you feel breathless.
it's reassuring that your tests were ok!
I'm thinking CBT may help.
the dizziness and tingling is because your breathing too fast and are getting too much oxygen.
Hello mishel. Thank you for your reply. It's not often these days that I am not distracted. I sort of had a good day today and then I went to pick up the cat, I felt breathless again and then I became so aware of my breathing that the vicious cycle started again. I had another incident a couple of days ago and I tried to fight it by just staying calm and taking shallow breaths. It was ok for a while and then I went off again.
I know this sounds crazy (and maybe I am slowly getting there) but I have noticed that when I get in the shower I hyperventilate or when I get ready to go to work it happens again. Walking to the office becomes such a task as I am scared that I am going to pass out or suffocate.
I drive around without locking my doors incase I pass out. I am typing this now and I am taking these deep breaths.
I guess my fear of actually having a lung disease is really behind all of this. Yes I am a smoker and my doctor has been telling me to quit (like they all do and rightly so) but I am really struggling to actually quit.
I have booked in to see a psychologist but I am on a waiting list so god knows when I will see him or her and hopefully I can do some CBT that will help me. xx
I'm completely freaked out now. I am experiencing breathlessness as I write this message. I made the dreadful mistake of googling 'Breathlessness' and I came across a site that mentioned that some people with advanced cancer experience breathlessness. I'm at my wits end now. Reading that has just set off my worst fear. If I've had two lung function tests where I had my breathing tested and both were fine do I need to worry? I'm so scared to go to my doctor incase he makes me have a chest xray. So upset now.
Nooooooooooooooooo Dr Googles no good! :frown:
Breathlessness MAY be a symptom of advanced cancer but it's DEFINATLEY a sytmpom of anxiety. I imagine people with advanced cancer would be extremely ill already too. You don't need to worry, just try to slow your breathing down and keep calm, you're fine! :) xx
Pokerface is right no more dr google he really should be struck off! I get the breathlessness alot! Try not to panic honey you'll be fine, you can get through this! Remember our brains are automatically trained to breathe for us don't focus on it let it come naturally!
I'm around all day if you want to chat
xxxxx
Thank you so much Clairalou and Pokerface. True, if it was advanced cancer I would have been very ill and more than likely bed ridden. I need to start thinking logically - very hard though when I get into one of these states.
Again, thank you for your support :-) x
I know how hard it is to think logically when you really feel the symptoms! I'm a classic person who can't take my own advice I know how to beat this anxiety but I just can't do it, I know not to dr google but I do it I did it before as for some reason I think I'm having a Aotic aneurysm (heart problems) when I know and I'm being treated for gastritis ( inflammation of the stomach lining) after having a sickness bug!! I know all this but why do I revert back to dr google, I think it's because it's easier to reasure myself that to face that it's bloody anxiety again!!
I'm a work in progress I'm hopeing I'll be able to take my own advice one day hopefully soon!
Anxiety is horrible but sometimes we are our own worst enemy! My pact for today is absolutely no more dr google!!!!
Xxxxx
Another breathing-related thing I've noticed with anxiety is yawning. I can get bouts of yawning constantly and I think it's that we're doing it as we think we're short of air (we're not, as we're wired up to breathe automatically!).
Another breathing-related thing I've noticed with anxiety is yawning. I can get bouts of yawning constantly and I think it's that we're doing it as we think we're short of air (we're not, as we're wired up to breathe automatically!).
I do the same as well blueangel. I too yawn constantly trying to get some more air in. This is so awful :-(
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