Obsessing over breathing?

[jessicalittler79]

I've suffered with This most of 2009 and it's awfull my chest would burn bad from breathing so much .,, it's not like fast breathing it's more over breathing I couldn't think of anything else but my breathing scared me bad ... I got chest pain with it also .. I'll tell u mine just wet away .. But I do have it ATM again alittle and only thing that's helped is to cuff ur hands over ur nose and mouth and breath that way for a few mins try to relax as much as possible it's hard belive me I know ... Do u gt any other symptoms with this. ?

[AjayKaushik]

Sorry to learn about what you're going through, buddy. Your post is very old but if you haven't yet found the solution for this dreaded condition, I hope you have, here are a few tips.

1. Taking your mind off breathing when sitting idle: Tap the ground with your foot, in a continuous pattern, with a gap of 1-2 seconds between each tap; or tap your knuckles with your index finger; or tap your lower teeth on the inside of your upper teeth; or chew a gum and tap the ground with you foot simultaneously. It'll help if you think something pleasant while doing all this.

These things worked for me. You'll have to try them yourself to know if they work for you. The idea is to break the pattern of breathing with another pattern.

2. Taking your mind off breathing when trying to sleep: You need utmost calmness when trying to sleep. Therefore, you must not allow any pattern to occupy your mind when you try to sleep. Go to the bed when you are very sleepy and just allow the urge to sleep take over your mind and body. And while you're allowing urge to sleep take over, imagine something glorious. For example, imagine yourself becoming the president of your country, or a superhero, or a star sportsperson, or a celebrity. Do not argue or debate in your imagination, just achieve everything you want to achieve. Don't think anything real because if you do that you'll start arguing with yourself.

I don't know how to deal with it if you wake up in the middle of your sleep. You can try imagining again. But to be honest, this never worked for me when I woke up in the middle of the night.

[Abeechx]

I have this obsession which so far no one else in the world seems to have! I've read countless forums and searched on different websites to see if I can relate to anyone but so far only me!! I FEEL SO ALONE :-(
My obsession is with breathing and it's not that I think I'm going to run out of air or I can't breathe ..... it's the fact that I have to do it to stay alive all day everyday 24/7 and I can constantly feel my chest rising and falling and there is no escape. I dont like it and I'm scared of my own breathing I want it to stop.
I have moments when I think I just dont like this sensation! I am trapped and no one can stop it and I can't stop it.
Constantly feeling air going in and out of my body is making me have severe panic attacks!! So severe that I think of sucide as the only escape. I've had many suicidal thoughts but I don't want to do it as I have my daughter who needs me. The only reason I keep going is for her. This is causing me massive depression and I cry all day. I am seeing a cbt therapist and I don't want to take medication as I'm scared I will have to relie on that constantly as I'm always panicking. It seams like I'm scared and panicky every second of the day and I have about 10-15 attacks a day with my heart pounding and trembling. Please someone help me I'm loosing my mind over this. I just want to be happy with my baby girl. I thought it was ocd but how can it be when I'm forced to breath and have no choice. I can't do exposure response therapy when I'm constantly exposed.

[introvert92]

Hi, yes I have been having the exact same problem. I'm not sure how it started but I have struggled with my anxiety for a few years now. As a teen I was so worry free and never had any kind of anxiety but once I got into my twenties it began to bother me. I have trouble focusing on my breathing but I have learned that it is caused mostly by anxiety but being focused on it like that gives me more anxiety than I had before. It can be very frustrating. Usually as long as I'm distracted from it by doing something, it's not as bad. For me, keeping a song in my head helps a lot. I recite the words to myself in my mind but I move my lips doing it. This seems to let my body breathe for me again. Hopefully that little tip will help. Good luck.

[nightfall4147]

I see these are fairly old posts. But I just need to...I guess get this off my chest a little. I don't think my issue is related to anxiety. And I don't have a problem with over breathing or hyperventilating. But I do (at times) have to remind myself to breathe. Ill be lying down, mind wandering and after some time goes by, I realize, I haven't been breathing for I don't know how long. Then I'll take a small gasp of air and I'm fine. Or I can doze off for awhile, wake up not breathing, realize it then start breathing again. Once I realize it, I tend to breath a slight bit harder because I haven't been breathing. Once I catch my breath in a few seconds, I'm back to normal. I first noticed​this when I was in the hospital some years back. It was after a surgery and everything was a success. I was I'm the hospital bed wide awake watching television. I was zoned out on whatever I was watching. I realized I wasn't breathing but I chose to keep it that way in my mind to see how long I could go. Seemed like forever until the nurse came in them I started back normally. This scares me at times, especially in the beginning. Not to sound selfish but it's nice to know I'm not the only one.

[mjh74]

Damn this breathing thing sucks the big one. I'm breathing really hard in fear that I'll stop and am constantly pulling my back and chest muscles doing so.
Like others it came from no where, had an ECG and check up at the docs who says it's anxiety. 3 months in and I'm still getting really bad days but do manage distractions sometimes. :/