Concentrating on breathing

[Shelly15]

I have a pain in my back when I breath in it feels tight doctor told me it's an inflamed muscle I didn't believe him so I stupidly googled it and it came up with blood clot and one of the symptoms is shortness of breath and ever since I read that 3 weeks ago I am aware of my breathing to the point I think I'm just about to take my last breath then I think I'm going to faint I keep getting panic attacks because I think I'm dying, does anyone else have this problem and is just anxiety? I've had panic attacks before where I can't breath but this time I feel like I constantly can't breath

[Gary A]

You're conciously breathing, this is focusing your mind on how you breathe. When we breathe, we do it unconsciously, without thinking about it. At the minute, every breath you take is on your mind, and since you've saw that shortness of breath can be a symptom of a blood clot, your mind is actually looking for it. This is a lethal cocktail. You're conciously breathing, which is always uncomfortable, you're noticing how uncomfortable it is and starting to panic. This, of course, will only make your breathing more laboured and you'll panic more and more.

It's called a negative feedback loop, and it is anxiety personified. You don't have a blood clot, you're just looking for the symptoms of it and forcing yourself down the wrong path.

[swajj]

Add difficulty breathing to the list of problems most commonly experienced by HA sufferers. I think Gary explained it pretty well. Try to stop thinking about your breathing. Easy to say bu hard to do. However, it is the solution.

[dittarco]

Yes... when you are focused on something your body should be doing naturally, without thinking (i..e breathing) you can get yourself to the point of feeling faint.

My doctor explained it as a simple unbalance of carbon dioxide vs. oxygen.

You need to reset yourself ... try the 4-7-8 breathing exercise. You breathe in over the course of 4 seconds, hold it for 7 and release for 8. If it's not perfect and it feels funny, no worries.. just keep doing it.

It may take some time to break the habit. You're used to shallow breaths.. which will in turn cause panic.. becomes a very vicious cycle.

What helped me overcome this (yet I still have bad days with it) was running and taking an anti-anxiety med when I felt panic was about to spring up on me...