Could my shortness of breath be caused by anxiety?

[Brian19]

I'm a 19yr old male, I weigh 165lbs and 5'11. I've been in shape my whole life, and have played soccer and other sports since I was 5yrs old. When I was 13, I started noticing that I was having trouble keeping up with other players when playing soccer. I would always run out of breath faster than anyone else who wasn't overweight. I saw a pulmonologist, who gave me an inhaler, which did not really help. Six years later it has been slowly getting worse each year. Of course I've tried conditioning a lot, which hasn't really helped. To give you some perspective, when I ran the mile in gym class when I was 13, I got 7:26. Now my time is about 9 minutes, even though I exercise and condition a lot more than before, I eat a lot healthier than before, and physically I am much stronger. During these six years I've seen many doctors and had many tests done, which include: spirometry, methacholine challenge, treadmill stress tests, EKG, and a chest x-ray. From those we've found that I have a very healthy heart, and strong lungs.

Some people think that I'm just outta shape, that I should run more. It's very hard for me to believe that when I compare myself to other people. A year ago when I was playing soccer, I would play for a few minutes, usually consisting of a sprint down the field, then I would have to sit out for ten minutes to catch my breath. My legs are not tired at all, I just get shortness of breath. I have friends on my team that can play an entire half without rest, yet they weigh more than me, are physically weaker than me in lower and upper body, and I know for a fact that they have not conditioned themselves like I have. This has been a very frustrating problem for me, as I love sports and I was never able to make any high school team because of this problem. I know there are a lot of causes of shortness of breath so it's hard for me to believe that the problem is conditioning.

Do you think that this problem could be caused by anxiety? Around the same time I started having these problems, I started taking Effexor for social anxiety. I only took if for like a year though, and haven't taking any similar drug since. I still have a lot of anxiety, but not like I had when I was younger.

Also i have this problem only when exercising, not when I get anxious in a social situation.

[kay2486]

you've had so many tests, now really stop all the worrying n get on with playing football or whatever u do :)

u will make it worse by worrying, theres nothing wrong with u physically just a bit mentally u may need a bitta therapy :)

[ciqala]

I made a post similar to this awhile ago, which is solved.
The similarities between our situations, are that i am way more physically active than most people, very athletic, not out of shape at all, but i was noticing symptoms the same as yours, but mine became a lot worse, which from the shortness of breath, it felt like my lungs and heart were going to explode, rapid heart beat. The only time this would happen was when i was working out. I would also get dizzy and feel faint, which are all symptoms of anxiety. Sometimes panic attacks can get so bad that you feel physical symptoms of real physical health problems, but you have to realize it is all in your mind. Chances are if your tests came back fine, it is anxiety the same as it was in my case.
Anyway. I found out it was because of anxiety. In my case, i was having panic attacks.
Do you know why this happens?
Especially for people who have history of any type of anxiety, when you are engaged in physical activity, getting your heart rate up, your body mistakes it for panic. Because working out, running, gives off the same type of feelings, the adrenalin, the extreme feelings, and your body, and the anxiety mistakes it for the anxious feelings.
I was sure i was having heart problems, and i also went through a bunch of medical tests, and my heart and lungs were extremely healthy and strong. My doctor was the one who stupidly sat me down after all of those tests and said, "it sounds like a panic attack." I didn't beleive him, because i hadn't struggled with phobias or anxiety for years. So i posted on here, and what i am telling you is exactly what everyone told me.
When i tested it out, by using mind over matter during those times, i was able to control the anxiety and breathe normally. It was harder than that overcoming it, i also had to limit the extent of working out for awhile, i had to reduce the anxiety in my life as well as the stress, and i had to gain coping skills for anxiety. Anyway, now i can run for 30 minutes without having panic attacks, and continue on my adventures of physical activity without having those annoying breathing problems. Also, i am pretty sure being dehydrated makes it worse. Make sure you drink lots of water and keep up on your electrolytes.

[remar]

Anxiety can cause breathing problems. But you say that you mainly have them when exercising, not when your anxious.
So you were'nt diagnosed with asthma? Have they tried you on other inhalers? Have you have any allergy testing done?  Remar