Just looking for some reasurrance.

[xJust_Sarahx]

Hi
Im just wondering if anyone experiences the same or anything similiar.
I have always had this thing about my breathing and i constanly monitor it, noticing that i breathe fast constantly ect.
If i have done a small walk up a hill or a few walks up and down the stairs i really feel it, my chest feels wheezy and i always feel the need to cough. I genuinly feel i cant breathe ect. This stops me from doing a lot and i tend to stay in. (i have 3 kids so this isnt good, and im 23)
However the doctors relate it to a mind over matter thing, without doin any tests ect (i feel that its asthma) how is that fair or reassuring?

That aside, i was wondering if anyone has gone through a whole day where they feel they are struggling to breathe, like they get breatheless dead easy? and the fact you notice this can it make your breathing worse?Can we die from this? Could your body let you suffer like this for days without it been harmless, and how would i know if i was having an asthma attack? seems i feel that it is asthma.

I know this doesnt make sense but i am just confused between asthma and anxiety attack, and i find it hard to believe that anxiety can cause you to have suck symptoms like breathing problems?

[xJust_Sarahx]

*such i mean

[debs71]

Hi Sarah,

This is really, really common with anxiety. Really noticing your breathing, and feeling breathless. The thing is it is a vicious circle as the more you notice your breathing, the more anxious you get, so the more (apparently) breathless you get, but what you think is breathlessness is usually hyperventilation, because you are anxious. It is not that you are losing your breath, or unwell in a respiratory sense, it is just that your anxiety is causing your breathing to be irregular.

You can't die from this, please believe that. At the extreme end of things you could faint, purely because of the hyperventilation, but you will not die.

From your point of view though, you say you become breathless walking up the stairs, etc. and coughing, that is a bit different due to the fact you are coughing and describe a wheeze. This is where the asthma thing comes in. With asthma, there is a wheeze. You can have an 'audible' wheeze (where you can hear the wheeze as you breathe in) and you can have a wheeze that is silent, that the doctor can hear through a stethoscope. Either way, you will feel breathless AND tight across the chest. You may also cough upon exertion.

So asthma is very different to breathlessness caused by anxiety.

I have has asthma since childhood, and I can tell when I am just hyperventilating rather than having an asthma attack, but then I would do! I think it is really hard though to differentiate between the two without the benefit of experience, and when really anxious, as your mind goes into overdrive which makes the breathing worse.

When you go to the doc do they listen to your chest for a wheeze? Do they do a peak flow reading? Or do they just assume it is anxiety? Have you told them about the breathlessness with exercise and the cough? All those things are important when they are sussing out whether it is anxiety caused or an actual respiratory problem.

If things continue I would go back and just get them to clarify it.

It is really hard to think that it is anxiety, but honestly, it really can have that effect on us. You are not alone.xxx:hugs:

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi Sarah I am sorry you are suffering with hyperventilation by the sound of it, and maybe thinking its asthma is making it worse big time, I can tell you now that your doc would know if it was and yes anxiety can be bloody awfull were your breathing is concerned, I have spent litterally years being conscious of my breathing and still we keep doing it, the breathing LOL


That aside, i was wondering if anyone has gone through a whole day where they feel they are struggling to breathe
HOW ABOUT A WHOLE WEEK AND LONGER
like they get breatheless dead easy?
YEP JUST BY TALKING SOMETIMES WHEN STRESSED OR ANXIOUS
and the fact you notice this can it make your breathing worse?
YES IT CAN MAKE 20 TIMES WORSE
Can we die from this?
NOPE NOT UNLESS YOU THROW YOURSELF OF A BRIDGE BECAUSE YOU ARE SO SCARED OF IT BUT YOU WOULDNT DO THAT ANY WAY BECAUSE THATS YOUR FEAR DYING
Could your body let you suffer like this for days without it been harmless,
I THINK YOU MEAN HARMFULL AND NO PANIC ANXIETY DOESNT KILL YOU AND ITS NOT YOU BODY THATS CAUSING IT ITS YOUR MIND AND YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS
and how would i know if i was having an asthma attack? MY MOTHER IN LAW MY DAUGHTER IN LAW ALL HAVE ASTHMA YOUR DOC WOULD KNOW I PROMISE
seems i feel that it is asthma.YES OF COURSE YOU DO BECAUSE ITS BREATHING RELATED AND ASTHMA IS ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE THINK ITS GOING TO BE.
I did that in capitals so you see where I was answering not shouting at you LOL

Have just reread your post and see your doc didnt examine you but have you been examined before for same issues?

[xJust_Sarahx]

Thankyou both very much for your replies. I just can be relaxing (well as relaxed as i can be like watchin tv ect) and il have to couch to get something off my chest and just wheezes in general. Yes i have mentioned all this to the doctor but just relate it to anxiety, he listened to my chest but that was it.
I just wanted to know when to call help type thing, because i get to the stage where i feel i need to call for help all the time, and a sudden rush of panic and really breathless because i cant talk, but it makes me think im having an asthma attack.

I mean for someone who has been diagnosed with asthma and knows about it, what are your chances of having an asthma attack a few times a day everday? Im looking at it from that point of view, my mam says people who have asthma and famous people such as david beckham learn to control there asthma but just because they have it.. they could never really experience a life threatenin attack?
Does that make sense?

[debs71]

Hi Sarah...

The chances that you will have attacks like that are pretty slim hun. Not that it cannot happen, but usually with someone who has chronic, brittle asthma all their lives, where they are literally in and out of hospital constantly. Asthma can be exacerbated by being unwell with things like viral infections (a cold) that turns into a chest infection.

Yes, there are degrees of severity with asthma. If you have it mildly, meaning only when there is a trigger like a cold or hayfever for example, you can control it just with a reliever inhaler and the majority of the time you don't need any meds. Then there are people who need to regualrly take their meds daily with both a reliever (blue inhaler) and a preventer (a steroid to stop attacks), but to be honest, even those people can go months without attacks as they are regularly taking meds, so even taking meds doesn't necessarly mean you are going to have more attacks than someone with mild asthma, it is just that the doctor had deemed that you require more than just the blue inhaler going on your medical history and assessment.

Please try not to worry too much hun. I have had asthma since I was 5 and there is a family history of it, I take two inhalers (which I don't need regularly now) and I have only ever been hospitalised once, where I contracted bronchitis which caused an attack (so there was a good reason, it wasn't just breathing probs)

Try if you can to put all that to one side until a doctor gives you a direct diagnosis. Deep breathing exercises are very good for anxiety breathing probs. Distraction is also good, as your brain focuses elsewhere and not on your breathing. It can be done, honestly.xxxxx