Breathing & Anxiety

[dvryan]

I'll try to make this as short as possible:

I'm a 28 year old male in decent physical condition.  About 2 months ago, my heart started racing inexplicably.  I panicked, thinking it was a heart attack, and went to ER.  They checked- no heart attack.  I did a cardio test and had an ultrasound- all good.  So, things were fine.  Then, about 2 weeks after all this, I noticed I was having trouble breathing from my 'upper' chest- the upper chest muscles felt tight.  I used my inhaler (I have very mild asthma), which didn't help.  I was still able to run, exercise, etc., so while I'm concerned about it, I don't think too  much of it.  I went to my allergist, who confirmed my peak flow was fun, lungs sounded good, and suggested (as did the cardiologist) that my problems could be entirely anxiety-related.  This makes some sense to me, as I've worked long hours (and pulled 3-4 all nighters in the last few months, for the first time in my life).  However, I want to make sure.  My breathing still feels 'lower' in the stomach than normal, even when I don't feel anxious.  Any ideas?  Is this entirely stress?

[cj29]

I suffered from my first panic attack/anxiety 3 years ago when I was 27.  I was social, loved life, ran over 40 miles a week, etc.  One day my heart started racing and I thought I was also having a heart attack and went to the doctor.  Of course everything turned out okay, but the cycle kept repeating itself and I had all sorts of tests like you.  The good thing is that you have had yourself checked out by a doctor and had tests done to rule out a purely medical cause and in my experience anxiety can cause the symptoms you describe.  Once I realized what was going on I went on some medication but what helped me the most was talking to a therapist about it.  Gaining knowledge about this anxiety/panic cycle is a very powerful way to understand and thrive with this condition.

[tisa1029]

It sounds like stress and anxiety. I have had severe panic attacks for 8 years, and the symptoms I have are so much scarier. The symptoms that you are saying is the same symptoms I had when I first started having panic attacks.