help breathing problem.....

[emzywright]

hi i emma age 23, healthy. fir the last seven months i have had a constant awareness of my breathing in and out all the time, i have had three xrays, numerous ecgs , a ct of my head and loads of blood tests but they cnt find anything. it makes me anxious that i will stop and drop down dead as a door nail, i end up calling ambulances alot and have been up to a and e many times , i was on a psychatric ward last year and have been dianosed with boderline personality disorder but is this breathing obession physical or not. If i think about it too much i stop breahting and then force myself to breeath again, it worsed when laying in bed or with nothing to do i have given up hope what is causing this and does any1 have the same issue help me.......:winks:

[emzywright]

also had a gastric reflux in the past my heart is lways fast too......

[iamspartacus]

i have breathing issues too. i am asthmatic and so i do already have geniune breathing probs, but i have been measuring my peak flow readings and they are normal when i am most breathless. i am putting this down to anxiety as the airways actually expand when were anxious causing us to hyperventilate. the over-riding symptom of anxiety is being sure that the docs have missed something and we are really ill, when, in fact, its just stress biology. concentrating on your breathing will ultimately make it worse. you will be ok.

[emzywright]

thanx for that, i am, it makes me anxious all the time :-(

[paula lynne]

Hi Emzy, a lot of people with anxiety experience breathing problems like feeling like they cant get enough air etc. You will breathe, its involuntary and something you dont have control over. Are you still in touch with the psychiatric team?

You seem to notice it a lot when you are laying in bed as you are concentrating on it.....try reading a book whilst listening to some calming music...it will help you distract yourself. I know its scary (Ive sat in front of a fan because I thought I wasnt getting enough air...I was though)...but I promise you that you will be ok. Maybe have a read up about breathing techniques...theres lots of info out there in the form of books and cds etc.

Youve had lots of tests and the good news is that you have been given the all clear. Learning about correct breathing now is the way forward ok. Take care, best wishes, Paula x:)

[emzywright]

thanx paula

emma x

[Lizzyg]

Hi Emma
I too have suffered with the breathing difficulties due to anxiety for years. I become conscience and almost obsessed with my breathing and feel there isnt enough air in the world for me! I bought a book by Dinah Bradley called Hyperventilation Syndrome. It really did help and was very easy to read and it has really helped. I understand it a lot better now and know what to do if I feel it starting before it gets out of hand. The fear of it makes all the symptoms so much worse.
Do the abdominal breathing and try meditation relaxing each part of your body it really does help.
Good luck xxxxx

[emzywright]

ok , i have been to the doctors so many times to no avial , i get sooo depressed its unbearable :-(, the worst is when laying in bed . do you get it all the time, breathing in and out, fast heart, etc.... thanx for that i will have a look

emma x

[rainbow dreamer]

hi emma

i get this aswell.... i know hoe much it scares and panics you ...

signs that i over breathe are
yawning
sniffing

im suffering with it right now... its true though that the more you concentrate on it the worse it becomes.. i feel like the majority of breaths i take i cant take a deep satisfying one... my body feels like it is being starved of oxygen ...but i know its not... distraction is the best method for me ..people around me notice that when i am properly distracted my breathing eases....

its a problem that i face every day and to be honest ruins meals out and day trips and basicaly most things i do ... but i do find comfort in the fact that this is common with anxiety sufferers ...a good way to test if your body is overbreathing is to hold your breath ....if you can only do it for a few seconds without feeling air hunger then its a good sign your breathing pattern is use to overbreathing (hyperventilating...
i was refered to a breathing specialist ...it didnt take it away but it made me understand what my body was doing ...so in the end i feared it less