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Avatar universal

This is torture , please answer

I always feel like I'm suffocating and like I need to take a deep breath. I feel like my breathing is hallow and I have I force myself to breathe. It's a very annoying, disturbing feeling and its been going on for at least 2 weeks. I can't focus on school or even hanging out with friends. They told me at the doctor and ER it's anxiety BUT the problem is I am usually feeling calm and I'm not anxious.

I do breathing exercise and they don't work, they make me feel worse. I take antidepressants now and also lorazepam to calm down but it doesn't work much, just makes me apathetic. Breathing issue still there! Please help me the doctors don't understand, I feel like I'm constantly suffocating.
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Avatar universal
Once you also get better. You gonna look back on this day and ask yourself "what was I worrying about." You can make throught trust me ..I'm there for anyone who feels alone in this situation. I feel the same also ..so I'm there for u anything just let me know love you all x
Helpful - 3
Avatar universal
I feel the same way also its like your chest is heavy and breathing is hard even when your breathing normal I had an operation and then never felt the same again also.I was so scared before the op..I recently had a pannick attack then weak hands  ..now its hard to breath it's like a huge pressure ...my eyes also were burry before ...it feels like your about to go to the emergency room anytime ....it's also hard to bieleave its anxiety ...it usually calms down after a meal then slowly comes back ....it really hurts you just gotta have courage-which people giving with anxiety tend to lack ...it's all normal ..you will be fine...if anyone knows any cure or a way to help this situation please let me no goodluck to you all everything will be fine x
Helpful - 2
Avatar universal
Anyone on this thread doing better?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I go through the same thing. It feels like everything is in my head. I become extremely fatigue, I start tracking my breath, my surrounds (vision ) becomes different like if I was high or drunk. My motor skills weaken, and I start thinking the worst. Doc said it's anxiety. They said find the cause, and delete it. Easy said then done. I find it helpful to get away in a dark room for 10 minstrel and relax. Things been stressful for me lately, lost my job, new baby, late on bills. It's taken a huge toll on me. It's starting to feel physical. Wife thinks I'm ok, but she doesn't feel what I feel. Well, only thing I can do is try to fight through it. Eat well, sleep well, find something to take your mind off the over thinking. Like the gym, hot bath, a movie, or sleep. Talking to someone that cares helps aswell. Gdluck.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi there. I'm not sure if you are better since your last post. I hope you are well by now. I had surgery 5 mos ago and never feel the same since. I'm feeling suffocating most of the time now even when I'm not doing anything. I went to ER twice, had all kinds of tests, scans, MRIs, all the results came back normal except my thyroid levels been either low or high. But I had thyroid levels out of whack in the past and never felt this way though. I'm getting worse every day instead of doing better, very frustrating. Besides the feeling of suffocating I'm feeling so weak and tired easily. It's to the point that I can't walk very far, half way to the grocery store I have to stop and rest. I used to walk around the neighborhood but now I can only walk about one block and become so weak, my heart doesn't feel right, I feel lightheaded, feeling of suffocation. I been seeing so many different doctors, most of them think that I have panic attacks even though I don't feel anxious or scared. I'm only 39 and currently taking thyroid pills. I'm also taking xanax as needed ( doctors told me to take it when I don't feel right), sometimes it helps. I just lost my job recently bc of all these symptoms. I feel so hopeless now and don't know if I ever going to get better. If anyone out there had these symptoms and doing better now, please share what you done to get better. Thanks.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello, I have no anxiety, the feeling just started after I received two shots of artemether (anti-malaria). I'm having the same thing, I have not been sleeping for nearly 5 days now. I feel like i'm not breathing automatically, I have to breath in and out with effort. I really feel sad and hopeless, I feel like death is the best thing. Please help me!
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I know what your problem is. It's called babesia. Your antimalaria shot probably triggered a somewhat dormant infection in your body. It's called air hunger and it's a common babesia symptom.
Avatar universal
Im going through the exact same thing right now guys... i dont think im gonna make it.. though its how i feel, all the time..  am i gonna be okay? Does it ever go away?!? :'( i dont want to die.. at least not yet.. i want to see my baby sister grow..
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I don't know if you're still checking this thread and I hope you are okay. I wanted to say that I know exactly what you are talking about and have had it many times throughout my life. I've never figured out exactly what brings it on when it happens because I don't feel anxious in a conscious way, but I have at least logically realized it is an unconscious manifestation of anxiety. I still sometimes get scared that it could randomly come on and I seem to have no control over when it comes and when it goes, but I KNOW it's anxiety, so if I can get some control over my anxiety, I can know that there is hope of it stopping, that it IS in my control and not just this horrible demon taking over. Believe me I understand exactly what you are talking about. It IS torture, but it can and WILL pass. No, you are not doomed to feel like this forever. Therapy can help. Distraction can help. Maybe you need a medication to help you sleep. If you can get a full night's sleep you will prove to yourself that it must be anxiety because it wasn't happening in your sleep, once you were able to fall asleep and let your guard down completely (it didn't wake you up, right? so it isn't happening ALL the time and you're not doomed). I understand the BELIEF that it is so real and not connected to anything emotionally - but on a totally unconscious level, it is, and it can get better. I promise!!!!!! I hope you're okay. Update if you can? Sending good healing vibes your way.....
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I don't know if you're still checking this thread and I hope you are okay. I wanted to say that I know exactly what you are talking about and have had it many times throughout my life. I've never figured out exactly what brings it on when it happens because I don't feel anxious in a conscious way, but I have at least logically realized it is an unconscious manifestation of anxiety. I still sometimes get scared that it could randomly come on and I seem to have no control over when it comes and when it goes, but I KNOW it's anxiety, so if I can get some control over my anxiety, I can know that there is hope of it stopping, that it IS in my control and not just this horrible demon taking over. Believe me I understand exactly what you are talking about. It IS torture, but it can and WILL pass. No, you are not doomed to feel like this forever. Therapy can help. Distraction can help. Maybe you need a medication to help you sleep. If you can get a full night's sleep you will prove to yourself that it must be anxiety because it wasn't happening in your sleep, once you were able to fall asleep and let your guard down completely (it didn't wake you up, right? so it isn't happening ALL the time and you're not doomed). I understand the BELIEF that it is so real and not connected to anything emotionally - but on a totally unconscious level, it is, and it can get better. I promise!!!!!! I hope you're okay. Update if you can? Sending good healing vibes your way.....
Helpful - 0
14425881 tn?1434463074
Hello. Do you still have this problem? i can help you? please email me at ***@****
Helpful - 0
12892773 tn?1431645057
Hello-

I am sorry first off, to hear this has been happening to you. I too have had this issue for 12 years

As hard as it is to fathom, this is likely just due to overbreathing and anxiety. I also overbreathe, have trained my body to breathe like this inadvertently and also feel calm much of the time but I am actually overbreathing. An easy way to tell this... instead of going to the doctor thinking you are having respiratory issues... buy a pulse oximeter. If your oxygen is 99-100% when you feel completely at rest, you are probably hyperventilating and just not realizing it. If it is low, under 97% you may have just cause for thinking a respiratory issue is at play.

I can tell you this issue has plagued me for years. Like any habit, you need to retrain yourself. Anxiety and panic are OCD habits. Obsessive behaviors and thinking from the emotional brain and based off of emotional memories. You have to restructure these thought patterns. Reshape the way you view situations. Replace negative thinking with logical affirmations. And also, I find that when I start feeling dizzy it is likely because I am overbreathing so I mindfully sit down and breathe in the 5 seconds in through my nose, hold for 3 and exhale for 7 seconds through pursed lips. This method works well but you have to do it every time and for as long as it takes for the Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide levels in your blood to normalize. If you are doing it properly you will get the urge to overbreathe and feel like you need more air. Resist that urge, it will pass as you continue to breathe. For a while at least you should automatically breathe normally, until the next trigger. Also, cardiovascular exercise and yoga innately reprograms us to breathe properly so if you can tolerate it, I would recommend it. After you breathe, think about what it is that could be in the back of your mind nagging you. Do you have to go out, go to work, have an upcoming trip, need to pay bills, have to see someone you had a bad experience with?  Find the cause and think about how you can tackle that activity if it is a task, or restructure the thought if it is an event or person you are encountering. If you are afraid of cars because of a past accident, think about the ratio of times you drove opposed to how many times you have had bad experiences. Generally we automatically perceive something as a threat even when it is not, because our emotional memories of ONE incident can forever hijack our neural pathways and cause fear in relation to an experience if we do not recognize it and stop it from happening.

The best time to work on your anxiety is when you are not panicing because generally if we are in panic, we have little control. Tackle things you have been ignoring. You will find that your anxiety threshold will become larger.

Just rest assured you are not dying, this is not unique, there is help and you can overcome it. You do not have a respiratory disease most likely and you are not helpless. I wish you the best.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Did you ever get better? I'm suffering the same thing have been for two weeks. Ever since I was experiencing bad heart palps now I feel I have yo breathe for myself all the time.
Helpful - 0
7618619 tn?1392664638
I wondered if you ever figured out your problem. I have been going through the exact same thing. I have dealt with horrible things in my past and am so sick of hearing it's anxiety. Then they started saying it was stomach acids. I went through ever test under the sky trying to find answers. After two years of being sick and feeling like I was losing my mind an exploratory surgeon went in. I had a bad hernia which did not show up on multiple ultrasounds or MRI's. I also had a lot of scar tissue and adhesion's from previous surgeries. Vicodin was the only thing I found prior to the surgery that made me feel like I could function and have a semi normal life. The problem is it only masks the symptoms and you will need more and more to keep that feeling away. Then they will accuse you of being a drug seeker and not take your complaints seriously. At that point I refused any meds and almost came unglued from it hitting me so strongly. That was when I had a stomach doctor tell me she thought it was scar tissue related and referred me to the general surgeon. The surgery worked and the sensation was gone. However, after about a year and a half it started to come back and now I am going through it all again. They have a new mesh that they use to keep scar tissue from growing back and reattaching itself that they are supposed to use and it will eventually dissolve on its own. I highly recommend you make sure to find a surgeon who will use it the first time around so if that is your problem you don't experience it all again down the road. I hope this helps give you some answers. Another thing I found out from the stomach scope was that I have Celiacs Disease. It can get worse as you get older. It requires a glutant free diet to feel better. You can always try that first and see if it helps the symptoms but I would bet you will find out that it is scar tissue related. Another thing I found is that if you say suffocating feeling the Doctor's always just assume Anxiety or Stomach Acids. I found describing it as a tight burning restrictive feeling in my abdominal area seemed to get them on the right track. Hope this helps. I know how hopeless you feel right now. It's frustrating knowing something is wrong and not finding answers. It can be really hard to not give up. Especially when your quality of life feels equivalent to being tortured in hell because it doesn't stop. Don't give up. Don't let a Doctor convince you it's all in your head. It's not. Keep searching until you find the answers you need to feel better.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Yea these feelings do suck :( sadly we all have to figure out the causes to them and whats worse is trying to figure it out my upset you more cause you cant think or see what the problem is.... (My situation for anxiety) like I said before the constant 24/7 lightheaded/dizzy feeling is by far the worst I feel. It just doesn't seem to want to go away. It will pass for a few weeks or so and come back again with the same feeling, trying to redirect the mind to something else is hard cause you know and feel what is happening so you are thinking what is wrong I still find it hard to redirect my thoughts to something else but it doesn't help, I would say keep at the medication to see if they work. If I remember correctly most anti-depressants / SSRI's take about 4-6 weeks before they can start doing their job, I know it ***** to hear the length in time it takes but I'm in the same boat I start Wellbutrin a week ago today :( but I start the 300mg tomorrow so here is hoping :).
Hang in there I know it ***** but you are not alone!! you are still here (as am I been fighting this the last year) ans you will be here in years to come hopefully anxiety free :)
Helpful - 0
4832384 tn?1359758489
Hay man. I'm from Iceland and I'm 23 years old. That huffing and puffing can be hyperventilation. witch can bring on that light headed feeling. I never was never actually aware I was tense or anxious until one day I had over a whole week of an anxiety driven panic attack hell. I know it ***** dude. It's been well over a month since then and I've started to feel a lot better. I mean I feel tense many times and often get a pounding heart. But instead of going into overdrive mode and thinking only the worst I identify it as anxiety and fight myself through it with rational thinking. For example "How are you feeling? Have you felt this way before? What are the possible causes? Then I can identify all the symptoms of the body as anxiety/stress and tell myself that even though I feel lightheaded, have a pounding, fast and heavy heartbeat, hot / cold flashes and profuse sweating along with racing thoughts of anything and everything that can possibly be wrong with me I talk myself down. This has all happened before. And I'm still here. I tend to have these attacks when I think about my heart beat (I have this phobia that I have a damaged heart and it might give out and kill me at any moment) Often brought on after exercise or when I notice an irregular heartbeat or if my heartbeat is a bit too fast or slow... There is always something I can find wrong. Even jaw and arm pains witch are probably the byproduct of always being tense and having my muscles unknowingly tightened.
I guess what I'm trying to say is we all have our own symptoms of anxiety and we're not even aware that we are anxious most of the time. I don't know exactly what you're going through but it sounds like anxiety to me my friend. I hope me sharing my experience with stress and anxiety somehow helps you my friend and I wish you all the best.
Helpful - 0
3149845 tn?1506627771
Hi and sorry your going through this. Did they x-ray your lungs at the er or doctors office?
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Avatar universal
I am doing everything I can but I feel like I'm in hell. It's so uncomfortable feeling like you can't breathe when you are breathing! I'm scared this wont ever go away and I will eventually go crazy and kill myself. I do not want to die but this is no way of living. I was in class and this guy asked if I was ok and looked at me weird because I was huffing and puffing in and out. Ugh this is misery at its worst. I want to go to college but I'm thinking of quitting for a while but then I'm scared to do that because ill be stuck at home suffering and get worse. Idk what to do but I don't want to fail. It's been 2 weeks of very low dosages of lexapro and this symptom won't leave me alone. Do u think I should just stop taking it or wait to see if it will work? It's been 2 weeks and I don't see a difference but I just started taking the full pill yesterday. Please help me, I don't want to die or make a fool out of myself living.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I know the feelings you are having minus the choking like the said before. TRUST me I felt like i wanted to die but a year later I am still here :), I know what you mean with the other symptoms numbness tingling not being nervous, thinking how can this all be from Anxiety... in the last year I have been up and down its like a BAD roller coaster sadly, there will be day you feel ok and just when you think its done, Anxiety comes back and bites you in the butt.... even now i still get symptoms of anxiety for example I have lightheaded feeling 24/7 and it *****, I asked the doctor how can anxiety make me feel like im lightheaded all day everyday.... they always say the same thin "It is just one of the most common effects from it".... I ask the same question will it ever go away,  I think the biggest issue with us anxiety sufferers is that we tend to focus our minds on how we feel thus making the symptoms stronger and last longer. I know its hard to move your mind else where I try it every day but the same thoughts come back into my head "How can this be anxiety" I have had Blood work ,ECG ext... (No MRI not worried about brain issues) I have seen 5 doctors in the last year and everything always comes back clean...
but that still doesn't put my mind to rest knowing I am physically healthy, I know its my mind playing this game with me. I done everything you have said exercises, breathing exercises, meditate, nothing helps. as far as the meds go they take any were from 4-6 weeks and thats even if they are a good med for you, I tryed Celexa for 3 months and then stopped with out going to the doctors bad idea.... 6 months later still feeling the way i do I got on wellbutrin(150mg to start) I have only been on it for 6 days tomorrow is the last day at 150 and then moving up to 300mg... I hope it helps I really do, I feel for you BIG times we are in the same situation except I am past the beginning of it which i think it is the worst... take it slow try not to have bad thoughts (I know its hard) Know you are not going to die!!! its all a natural cause, its how our bodys work and deal with life (Fight or Flight) assuming your a male, from what i hear we get it worse... THERE IS NOTHING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT ITS NATURAL!!! Message me if you want to talk more, I feel it kinda helps
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thanks for replying guys. nothing is making me feel better. i feel like its getting worse. i have been  lexapro for 2 weeks and its not even helping! i constantly feel like im suffocating and i cant stand it anymore. i just want to die. I dont even get numbness and tingling anymore. It just feels so uncomfortable. i cant even fall asleep. i feel so hopeless i want to just pass out and die. i dont know what to do anymore. Its always here. it wont go away. i took lorazapam to calm me down (.5 mg) and it doesnt help at all. I cant live my life like this, i cant do anything. nothing makes me laugh anymore. if i smile its fake. im losing my mind. im not even anxious and nervous and i feel this happens. i do everything to relax. i try to keep myself busy by typing this right now and its not helping. i dont know what the hell is wrong with me. i wish it would go away. i tried exercise and try to regulate my breathing with breathing exercises. its not helping! I dont even feel anything besides this uncomfortable feeling. PLEASE HELP ME. WILL THIS EVER GO AWAY??? Im in my own hell, nonstop suffocating sensation.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I forgot to write when you pay attention how it feels like breathing  you get tensed and scared cause you dont usually do that and you feel like choking thas why we should mot bug into this. But its nothing scary !:) its just normal millions of people focuse on their breathing and controll it and they are fine and so will you be!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I forgot to write when you pay attention how it feels like breathing  you get tensed and scared cause you dont usually do that and you feel like choking thas why we should mot bug into this. But its nothing scary !:) its just normal millions of people focuse on their breathing and controll it and they are fine and so will you be!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Just relax and dont fight it realise that there is no fight its just you paying more attention to how your body works then what you used to. Never before have you been thinking how does breathing feel like? right? and now you do. so you must not do that.Nothing is going on let ur body breathe by itself while you think of nice stuff, give up the controll and just let ur body do the work!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have anxiety and I wouldnt not wish this on my worst enemy.... the last year has been the worst and its only been this year Im not sure how it all started it just came on one day and hasn't left me.... I have had every test (Not MRI) and everything came back clear, surprise surprise... the feeling of being lightheaded all the time everyday 24-7 is just annoying. I have never felt like i was choking or suffocating, but i have had the trembles and sweats bad sleeps cant eat right the list goes on..... Its so hard to belive that this is all from anxiety but the doctors keep assuring me it is..... I have seen 5 doctors total all saying the same thing.... I am so glad that I found this site / form cause for the longest time i felt I was the only one going through this it made me feel as if I was alone... its hard to explain to other what you are dealing with cause they look at you as if your crazy or something.... but they just dont get or feel what your are. All we need to do is keep our head up and minds clear (Hard i know) and know one day it will go away.
Helpful - 0
4804397 tn?1362162442
Sorry for replying late, choking feeling an swallow breathing can be a symptom of Anxiety. If it was me and it was unbearable I wouldn't go the walk-in centre to see an outta hours doctor the hospital. At least that would give u some peace of mind an expert has done tests an checked u over. Anxiety is hard and the symptoms r horrible, u need to speak to a doctor or Health professional so they can put something in place an get u the best help to over come this good luck
Helpful - 0
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