Shortess of breath and tightness of chest

Ive been viewing the forum and am relieved to see other people facing the same problem as i am. i'm a 23 yr old female, perfectly healthy.
I'm facing a problem with shortness of breath and tightness of chest. Like a few mentioned in the forum i have to yawn several times before i can fill t deficit of the air to breathe and if i concentrate on it, i loose the breath. I have to yawn several times before i can take a deep breath which i require to, every few seconds. It was'nt this chronic earlier and ive been facing this for over 5 years.
When i first went to the doctor, she told me tht this could be because of stress and depression and i was put on anti depressant (cipralex), not that i could ever get it cured, but as a result i was on anti depressants for 3-4 years, cipralex, stablon, seroxat, none of which helped. To begin with i was not a depression patient at all, i started becoming very depressed, as a result breathing became worse and so did the depression. And from the past 2-3 months, my breathing pattern has become very painful. I cant breathe, cant lie down, cant eat, cant sit.
Do you have any suggestion?


This discussion is related to shortness of breath/chest tightness with no other symptoms.

[mozzie]

HI there, so sorry you are going through all these horrible symptoms, the doctors seem to think that anti depressants can cure nearly everything,( if they cant find a cause)and if you wer'nt depressed before you end up with it after thte medication. Think you may have to ask to see a specalist as 4 years is a long time to have this trouble. Have you thought about hypnotherapy to mabey relax you ,until you can get to a medical specalist, sorry cant be of more help. Hope you start to heal soon

[illusiongal]

hey, yeah well have tried certain breathing exercises it helps, but temporarily. If i stop, it becomes as bad. I've surfed through the internet and the symptoms also suggest hyperthyroid. If you know anything else it'll be of great help.

[amtlmn]

OMG, I had this very same scarey and embarassing problem for a couple of years and thought it was going to kill me. I was FINALLY diagnosed with hypothyroidism and after I was treated for a couple of months, BING! Just like that, it was resolved. And so were my increasing anxiety symptoms. Prior to my treatment, I couldn't even sleep through the night without having to stand up several times during the night to yawn in the right position so I could "fill-up".

Three different doctors told me it was from stress and sent me home with anti-anxiety drugs. I KNEW it wasn't from stress and was sooooo happy when my TSH got high enough to treat. My heart goes out to you - it is so scarey not being able to fill up.

I will pray that you get this figured out and properly treated soon.

[Agus3ln]

Thank you all for your posts. I helps to know that you are not alone. The information has been very useful. For the last 2 months I have experienced the symptoms including shortness of breath, tightness in my chest, bloating, being unable to yawn. It is scary sometimes. I try to stay calm by telling myself it will pass. This helps but doesn't solve the problem so I now I am not just having a panic attack. Allergy medicine has helped but only temporarily. I will definitely try changing my diet.

[illusiongal]

hey! sorry i have been off from here for a while. just read your post. i am going to go for my hypothyroid test soon after reading your answer since i do have a lot of symptoms suggesting the problem. although, my depression seems to have come down a lot but that is completely through some yoga, daily breathing excersises and some meditation. however, my breathing problem still persists. i forgot to mention how i cant even wear any clingy clothes because i feel the problem becomes worse if i do. thanks for your suggestion and your post :)

[not_fine]

Hello. I am a 19 year old active female and I am also feeling the chest tightness/pain, shortness of breath, and I am even having palpitations. I've gone to a primary care doctor, a cardiologist, and a pulmonogist and everyone says all the tests came back fine. But with these symptoms happening almost all day long, I just dont understand how everything can be fine. Can anyone help?

[vishy2010]

Folks,

I have had this problem and it eventually led to a panic attack where I used to forget to breathe. It was really scary. I was on some anti-depressent drugs, addictive and used for treating people with mania, etc. Based on a friend's advice, I started on "Pranayamam" and slowly weaned myself away from medications. Now I am completely out of medication for more than 8 months, plus much better physical condition. I still get occasional shortness of breaths, but I am able to handle this much better. I play tennis regularly and I find that my stamina has improved dramatically -- I don't get out-of-breath that quickly, can play for an hour without any problem.

I don't know about a permanent solution, but do consider the breathing exercises suggested by Pranayamam. In particular, I do "kapal bathi" (10 minutes everyday) and "anlom vilom" (10 minutes everyday). There should be yoga classes teaching these techniques, plus DVDs available.

[rayray0811]

Hi GUYS, I AM 18 YEARS OLD AND FOR THE PAST MNTHS I HAVE BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS BREATHING AND TIGHTNESS IN MY CHEST THAT GOES TO MY BACK EVERYDAY....IT IS VERY SCARY AND WHEN IM AT SCHOOL...IT BOTHERS ME...I ALSO HAVE TIMES WHERE I THINK IM GONNA DIE BECAUSE OF THIS BUT READING POST HAS MADE ME FEEL ALOT BETTER.I AM A BASKETBALL PLAYER AND HAVE BEEN PLAYIN FOR 4 YEARS NOW....CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS.....I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE AND IM ASKING FOR SUPPORT, PRAYER, AND MOST OF ALL ADVICE.