Aa
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.
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.
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..
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.....
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.....
Hello. Do you still have this problem? i can help you? please email me at ***@****
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.
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.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Anxiety Community
Find out what can trigger a panic attack – and what to do if you have one.
A guide to 10 common phobias.
Take control of tension today.
These simple pick-me-ups squash stress.
Don’t let the winter chill send your smile into deep hibernation. Try these 10 mood-boosting tips to get your happy back
Want to wake up rested and refreshed?
