Breathing anxiety

[HLeon]

If someone can help me out with my problem I'd REALLY appreciate it. Here it goes: For the past week I have had some kind of difficulty breathing. Instead of me breathing subconsciously, I am doing it manually all the time, and it feels really bad. I know its mental because when I occupy my mind doing something it goes away and I breath, without me knowing it. But when I am not doing anything it seems that I am just concentrated on my breathing, and cant think of anything else. I pass the whole day like this, and unless I am doing something, I am going thru a living HELL. I really hope that someone can help me out,because I just dont know what else to do

[MariaA]

I have been reading through this website and came upon the breathing question. My anxiety started out with this basic problem and then overtime...months/year it turned into heart racing, trembling, clausterphobic feelings, dying feelings and basically feeling like I was going crazy (my mind going a million miles an hour. I was put on prozac by a GP which landed me in the emergency room w/ severe anxiety (only after two doses. I have been seeing a pyschiatrist and pyschologist (husband and wife team) who are very good but very much into meds and then therapy after the mind has calmed. Well, due to bad effect of prozac I have been scared of other anti-deppresants but do take valium. It helps calm me but it doesn't necessarily take away the fears associated w/ anxiety. I also think the prozac created some suicidal thoughts and obsessive problems which are very low level. My doc's feel like I probably have always had generalized anxiety but a series of female medical problems reared the ugly monsters head.
I am now thinking about going on Sinequan because it seems to be one of the TCA's that doesn't list anxiety as a side effect. Is this a good choice?
But i would suggest to the person w/ the breathing problem to seek help before it turns into more...I know what your going through and it seems you do get fixated on breathing. I hope you work it out!

[HLeon]

Thats impossible because it happened the night before that even happened. I just woke up one night like that. And since then its like im focused on my breathing and i cant breath naturally. Its like i force my breaths out and am obsesses with breathing right but i cant

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

It is extremely likely that you are having  exacerbated anxiety attacks because of the september 11 tragedy, and the loss of safety that comes from that. Talk more about that with your friends and family...let your emotions and fears come out in the open...and discuss them. That will help you the most.