Always need to take a deep breath

[jrosier]

Since I have been 5 years old (now I am 30), I have been having breathing problems.  It feels like my breaths don't do anything for me for about 20 or 30 seconds and then I have to take one really big breath.  Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t.  It is like I am being suffocated.  After the big breath I am o.k. for a short time and then it starts all over again.  When my problem first started it was only happening to me a few times a year.  When I got older, around the age of 16 or so, it started happening more often, so I went to the doctor and had an asthma test, EKG and Sweat test done (for cystic fibrosis).  Every test came up negative.  I didn't pursue it any further.  Over the next 10 years or so it would only happen every 3 or 4 months and only last a few hours.  When I was pregnant with my first child at the age of 28 everything was o.k. until the last few months.  My breathing was keeping me up at night, and even at times I would wake up because I felt like I wasn't breathing at all.  After the baby, everything was fine.  I went on to have another baby.  Everything seemed fine with that pregnancy.  For the past 4 or 5 days my breathing problem has been continuous 24/7.  It has never been this bad.  There are no other symptoms.  It doesn't occur when I am exerting myself.  It happens all day long, even if I am sitting down and relaxing.  It is getting to the point where I cannot sleep at night.  I am making an appointment with a general practitioner for next week.  Hopefully he can refer me to a specialist.  Does any of this sound familiar?

[National Jewish]

There are many reasons for someone to have difficulty breathing. This can be from either the heart or the lungs. The important thing for you now is for your doctor (or a specialist) to determine the cause of the breathing difficulty. Having a doctor examine you while this problem is going on is an important step. This will give the doctor a better chance to determine the cause. Good luck.

[Tanya N.]

I also have a smothering breathing problem so I know how you feel. It is the worse problem. Sometimes I feel like someone has a pillow over my face. I also have sleep apnea.  I breath very shallow all the time. I'm on singular and I have  allergies.

   First I would get a cardiac work up just to make sure, and next I would tell your pcp to send you to a lung specialist, also I would say you need a sleep study to check on your breathing at night.

     I did find out that I have a rare disorder that affects my muscles so I don't know If this has affected my breathing, I'm still trying to find out.

    Keep searching to find out what wrong with you.

     My prayers are with you.