Pls help me :-(

[musse]

Im really scared, im a smoker, ( only 5-6 daily) and I have become a couch potato and less active than ever before. ( brita143 also wrote this ) and it just sound like me …. It seems to happen to me daily, with or without anxiety.
I was made an ECG 3 months ago and it was ok.
But I can not breathe and are short of breath all day, every day of the week, all year. I´ve had anxiety for 4 years now, and im 39, and really scared of dying from heart disease or blood congestion. Im also getting palps, even when I never had soffer from that before. Im not hyperventilating, so thats not why i get it.
Are there other than me who feel this way ? And will I never get rid of this anxiety more ? L
I have been in therapy, tried medications, and made breathing exercises, and nothing seems to help !

[musse]

Nobody can recognize this ? :weep:

[gypsywomen]

anxiety can cause it in fact .i think we all suffer from this from time to time xxx

[missykat]

maybe quitting altogether the smoking mite help ure anxiety? and getting more exercise? it wud make u feel so much better. easily said than done i know but u will only continue to feel like this if u dont make changes

[Whatsgoinon]

Hi musse,

I would say firstly do not over worry about smoking, i'm not going to lie to you and tell it is good for you, but there is a lot media reporting on it that makes it sound like if you smoke its a done deal, your chances are increased certainly but it is not as simple as saying two people in a room and the smoking of them is going to die from smoking (i know because i have studied the research in the area). What smoking is really bad for is the lifestyle changes it invokes - i.e. makes you feel like not being active, poor diet etc.. it all comes together and it is what we call co-morbidity which is a spiral of negative health behaviours that totalled up are bad for people.

BUT firstly the human body is an incredibly resiliant thing, it can repair itself and keep itself going in lots of extreme circumstances so don't scare yourself to death before you have given yourself the chance to have a go getting things sorted. Work in steps - you say you smoke 5-6 daily (i know people that smoke 40 a day in there 60's and they are still standing) how about cutting that down to 3 a day, how about telling yourself i'm really going to enjoy those 3 cigs rather than those 6, try and challenge yourself for waiting longer between cigs and then really enjoy that one when you have waited for it - another trick that can help with this is changing your environment when you have that cig go into your garden or somewhere else as this can help break the habitual cycle. then try this again with the 3 cigs a day.

Your symptoms sound to me like anxiety which can cause the palps and the shortness of breath (the smoking is not going to help) and this can be really helped by becoming more active, again try and take it in steps find your threshold of what you can do and try and do it once everyday. Don't pay attention to the pain or discomfort while you are doing it and try and spend more attention to benefits you feel after doing it (this could be the fact that after 3 days the next time you do it is easier). Then build on this again from here in steps, the trick is to not give up, NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF that is the number 1 golden rule. You can beat this and you can do it in a way that works for you, think about what your going to do when you master all this and your anxiety has decreased, focus on that, visualise it and give yourself a chance.

Something else that might be useful in the short term is to try some mediation and guided imagery you can get some off youtube if you search - i know it may feel funny at first but get yourself relaxed turned the lights of and just go with it. Do this 3-4 times over a week and see if it makes any difference.

Hope this helps :)

[musse]

Hello

Thanks for your reply :-) I do not feel I can exercise because I get so many palps when I try. I work as a nurse, so it's a little crazy I suffer from health anxiety
Tomorrow I'll try hypnosis, otherwise I dont know what to do. :blush:

[Whatsgoinon]

Well i am a health psychologist that suffered with health anxiety so you can't get much more ironic than that :doh:

I think the palps will come in the initial stages of exercise so take it easy, maybe try some swimming first as you get fitter then you will feel better able to control these things and you'll be suprised how it quickly fittest returns with a bit of consistency (remember just do as much as you feel is enough then work from there). try the hypnosis too tackle it from all angles.

best of luck!

[musse]

yes that's ironic! :) my doctor said I knew too much. Maybe she is right? :roflmao: I'll try your suggestions :flowers: