Air Hunger

[jillmarion]

Hi All,
I also have this horrible air hunger, it is so good to have found this forum and to relise I am not alone.
I started with terrible anxiety just shortly after my father died, during this time I was also in the process of making big changes in my life which included packing up my whole house, leaving my family and friends and moving to New York as my partner's job is based there.
I left for New York early January and as I was on the plane heading for New York I developed a very bad back ache which is not uncommon for me as I do suffer with back ache every so often but unfortunately this back ache stayed with me for three weeks whilst in New York, my anxiety because of this just went through the roof, I started thinking bad thoughts that perhaps my back ache was something much more serious and that I had some deadly decease !! I also felt that perhaps I was missing home and in the end I could stand the anxiety no longer and returned to England at the end of January.
My first port of call was my doctor who assured me all was ok with my back and the pain would subside, I mentioned to him that I was having bad thoughts and he did many blood tests which I had to wait a week for the results to come back, during this week my mind was alll over the place I could not relax for one minute, eventually I got the results and all was clear, it took a couple of days for my brain to register the fact that all was ok but eventually the anxiety did stop but only to return a couple of day's later with this terrible air hunger I was absolutely terrified as I had never experienced anything like this before and really thought I was going to die, I went back to see my doctor who prescribed citropram 10mg these made me feel worse and after a couple of day's I came off them and the doctor gave me diazpem to calm me down which had very little effect, by this time I was beginning to think there must be some thing wrong with my heart or lungs I was in such a state I did not know what to think, eventually I went to see another doctor and he told me to come off all medication and try and deal with it myself he checked my heart and lungs and he said all was ok, he told me to surround myself with family and friends and try breathing excercises easier said than done but I thought I would give it a try, a couple of days later I went away with my mum and sister for a few days and it was a disaster my anxiety and air hunger just got worse !!! I could stand it no longer without medication so I went back to see the doctor and told him I would like to try citropram again as I had heard that when you first take it you can have some bad side effects but if you stick with it they are good, so he prescribed 10mg again and after a week my air hunger was still very bad so off to the doctors again and he upped my dosage to 20mg and also he give me beta blockers but I only took them for a couple of days as they made my breathing worse.
I stilll wake up every morning with that terrible anxious feeeling and if I just lie there it just gets worse so no matter what time I wake I just have to get up and busy myself which seems to help with the anxiety slightly but the air hunger seems to be always there, sometimes I can feel quite relaxed and it just creeps up on me does anyone else have feeling? I am seeing the doctor again tomorrow and asking him if he thinks I should try upping my meds to 30mg im really just at the end of tether and don't know what else to do
I have so much sympathy for each and everyone of you who are having this air hunger problem it's the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life infact I said to my partner the other day I would rather go through childbirth ten times over then have this terrible debilating air hunger !!!
If anyone had any advice on what has helped them I would really appreciate it. Im so sorry this so long but once I started typing I could not stop, It helps to get things off my chest and to know that there are other people who are going through the same thing. Thank you x

[lesleya]

Aw Jill honey i know exactly how your feeling ive suffered with air hunger for years. But saying that it does get better..believe me. I find i do it more when im anxious and so i try to busy myself when i feel it creeping up behind me again. Mine starts to when i wake up and realise im relaxed....stupid eh? so i home in on my breathing or i can be sitting watching tv or on my laptop relaxed and all of a sudden i realise im relaxed and panic that im not over breathing...and start myself off again... how stupid is that?
Its a vicous circle thats hard to get out of, but it can be done. I was free of it for nearly 10 years and it only seemed to come back when i started getting panicy and anxious with the peri-menopause. I was offered citalopram too but refused to taKke it because of the side effects..like making you feel worse etc, so im just trying to work through it on my own without meds. i wish there was some easy answer to it but there isnt, i find its just a case of when i find myself starting to feel anxious i know i need to find something to do to distract myself and it does ease it, and i find that it doesnt last as long now. Something else thats helped me is writing a diary of how i feel every day on my laptop and ive noticed that reading it back im not as bad as i was when i first started it and that makes me feel better.
I really hope you start to feel better soon, and things get better for you.
xxx

[jillmarion]

Hi Lesley,

Thank you so much for your reply like I said it really helps knowing that there are other people out there who also have this terrible air hunger as when I first got it I thought I was dying then when I went to see the doctor and he said it was air hunger which was something I had never heard of.
I do try and busy myself when I feel it coming on but sometimes it just gets out of control and nothing seems to shift it, although I must say it has improved slightly.
It must be hard for you having had it for so long, I have only had it for a couple of month's and it drives me crazy I just want to wake up and feel normal !!
You are very brave dealing with it without meds and you should be very proud of yourself
Im back to see the doctor tomorrow so I will let you know how I get on.
Take care x

[lesleya]

I hope the doctor can give you some more help hun.
Yes your so right it does help to know your not alone and that someone else understands how you feel, thats the best thing about this site...people who understand you and dont judge you for being anxious..
I dont think of myself as being brave i suppose i think of it as the norm now ...even though its not, but as i say it gets more manageable as time goes on and you learn how to control it better. Maybe your gp might suggest some sort of therapy or counselling as that did help me. Let me now how your getting on and what your gp says tomorrow.
Good luck
xxx

[jillmarion]

Hi Lesley,
Went to see the doctor today and he has upped my meds to 30mg but im thinking of just trying 25mg and just see how I get on with that.
My chest xray came back normal which is reassuring, so I will now just try and take one day at a time and hopefully one day my anxiety and air hunger will disappear and I then can begin to feel normal again. Hope things are well with you. Take care xx

[lesleya]

Hi Jill
Im so pleased for you that your x-ray came back normal, you must have felt so relieved. And as you say at least you now know theres nothing sinister going on there that hopefully with the increase in your meds too it might be just the boost you need to help you recover very soon. I found it easier not to expect too much of myself too soon...and like you say just take each day as it comes.
Let us know how your doing and take care.
All the best
xxx

[tanzi]

Hello everyone, this is my first post, I have been on the forum for a few weeks reading and have found it so helpful, I can't believe that there are so many people just like me, I thought I was going mad but I realise that anxiety is a very powerful condition and that it can cause so many different sensations in your body, anyway sorry for babbling, right at this moment I am really struggling with my breating it is making me feel so down, I even found myself sobbing in the middle of the night as I just couldn't sleep due to this really heavy sensation in my chest and palpatations, I find that I am trying to control ny breathing all the time evry breath in and out, I feel dizzy sometimes and keep sighing taking in deep breathes then watching all the time letting it out, it's driving me insane, I have tried making myself think of something else but as its almost all day long it's impossible, I don't know how to stop thinking about my breathing all the time...

[Maybe_Baby]

I also suffer really bad panic/anxiety.
There's no a single day goes by where im not anxious... and as night comes, my anxiety goes sky high!!
shortly after being diagnosed with anxiety i developed 'air hunger' - 1 of he worst things ever if you ask me.. theres nothing i can seem to do to get rid of it, im always over aware of my breathing, which makes my heart beat irregular.. Its horrible.

- Tanzi - i can totally relate to what your saying, i feel exactly the same.

[jillmarion]

Hi all,

I agree with you it is the worst thing ever this terrible air hunger, I wake up every morning with terrible anxiety and find if I just lie there it gets out of control so not matter what time it is I get up and started busying myself and then I go for an hours swim which seems to help.
The anxiety is a horrible thing but its the air hunger that is so debiltating and very scary, I have just started to feel slightly better but I have had to resort to medication which I didn't want to do.
I have been on 20mg of Citropram and I know there are some scary stories out there about the side efffects but I personally did not have too many they just take a while to get into your system but fingers crossed they seem to be working, I still get the air hunger slightly through out the day but nothing like it was before I was on medication.
I don't know how you feel about medication but if you are still suffering which you seem to be, and i really do feel for you because when you first get you do think you are going mad or that you might be dying its a horrible horrible to have.
I would go and see your GP and ask for some help.
Take care and I hope things start to look up for you very soon.

[tanzi]

Maybe_Baby I don't know about you but I am so grateful for this forum as before I found it I thought I was really starting to go mad and I can't believe that so many of us suffer all the same symptoms, as for taking medication I sometimes wish I could, but my panic attacks started a few days after I was given medication to help with my anxiety so now I am petrified to take any medication at all, I know that sounds so stupid, I have been suffering with sinusitis ( I bet I spelt it wrong) for about 10 months now it is very painful, I have awful headaches, neck pain, my doctor has given me antibiotics to take but I just can't bring myself to take them as I know that any sensations that I feel will start off panic attacks again, I am petrified that it will affect my breathing as this is the one thing that frightens me so very much that I only have to think of anything that affects it and I get so anxious it's unbelievable, I dare not run or walk too fast as this makes me starts me to panic so much, once I start to get the least bit out of breath my chest goes so tight then I can't breathe properly the BANG panic panic, stupid isn't it but I just don't know what else to do other than make sure I don't get out of breath....