This is torture , please answer

[Sin34]

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.

[Softwolfsong]

I wondered if you ever figured out your problem. I have been going through the exact same thing. I have dealt with horrible things in my past and am so sick of hearing it's anxiety. Then they started saying it was stomach acids. I went through ever test under the sky trying to find answers. After two years of being sick and feeling like I was losing my mind an exploratory surgeon went in. I had a bad hernia which did not show up on multiple ultrasounds or MRI's. I also had a lot of scar tissue and adhesion's from previous surgeries. Vicodin was the only thing I found prior to the surgery that made me feel like I could function and have a semi normal life. The problem is it only masks the symptoms and you will need more and more to keep that feeling away. Then they will accuse you of being a drug seeker and not take your complaints seriously. At that point I refused any meds and almost came unglued from it hitting me so strongly. That was when I had a stomach doctor tell me she thought it was scar tissue related and referred me to the general surgeon. The surgery worked and the sensation was gone. However, after about a year and a half it started to come back and now I am going through it all again. They have a new mesh that they use to keep scar tissue from growing back and reattaching itself that they are supposed to use and it will eventually dissolve on its own. I highly recommend you make sure to find a surgeon who will use it the first time around so if that is your problem you don't experience it all again down the road. I hope this helps give you some answers. Another thing I found out from the stomach scope was that I have Celiacs Disease. It can get worse as you get older. It requires a glutant free diet to feel better. You can always try that first and see if it helps the symptoms but I would bet you will find out that it is scar tissue related. Another thing I found is that if you say suffocating feeling the Doctor's always just assume Anxiety or Stomach Acids. I found describing it as a tight burning restrictive feeling in my abdominal area seemed to get them on the right track. Hope this helps. I know how hopeless you feel right now. It's frustrating knowing something is wrong and not finding answers. It can be really hard to not give up. Especially when your quality of life feels equivalent to being tortured in hell because it doesn't stop. Don't give up. Don't let a Doctor convince you it's all in your head. It's not. Keep searching until you find the answers you need to feel better.

[gino692009]

Yea these feelings do suck :( sadly we all have to figure out the causes to them and whats worse is trying to figure it out my upset you more cause you cant think or see what the problem is.... (My situation for anxiety) like I said before the constant 24/7 lightheaded/dizzy feeling is by far the worst I feel. It just doesn't seem to want to go away. It will pass for a few weeks or so and come back again with the same feeling, trying to redirect the mind to something else is hard cause you know and feel what is happening so you are thinking what is wrong I still find it hard to redirect my thoughts to something else but it doesn't help, I would say keep at the medication to see if they work. If I remember correctly most anti-depressants / SSRI's take about 4-6 weeks before they can start doing their job, I know it ***** to hear the length in time it takes but I'm in the same boat I start Wellbutrin a week ago today :( but I start the 300mg tomorrow so here is hoping :).
Hang in there I know it ***** but you are not alone!! you are still here (as am I been fighting this the last year) ans you will be here in years to come hopefully anxiety free :)

[Eyji1]

Hay man. I'm from Iceland and I'm 23 years old. That huffing and puffing can be hyperventilation. witch can bring on that light headed feeling. I never was never actually aware I was tense or anxious until one day I had over a whole week of an anxiety driven panic attack hell. I know it ***** dude. It's been well over a month since then and I've started to feel a lot better. I mean I feel tense many times and often get a pounding heart. But instead of going into overdrive mode and thinking only the worst I identify it as anxiety and fight myself through it with rational thinking. For example "How are you feeling? Have you felt this way before? What are the possible causes? Then I can identify all the symptoms of the body as anxiety/stress and tell myself that even though I feel lightheaded, have a pounding, fast and heavy heartbeat, hot / cold flashes and profuse sweating along with racing thoughts of anything and everything that can possibly be wrong with me I talk myself down. This has all happened before. And I'm still here. I tend to have these attacks when I think about my heart beat (I have this phobia that I have a damaged heart and it might give out and kill me at any moment) Often brought on after exercise or when I notice an irregular heartbeat or if my heartbeat is a bit too fast or slow... There is always something I can find wrong. Even jaw and arm pains witch are probably the byproduct of always being tense and having my muscles unknowingly tightened.
I guess what I'm trying to say is we all have our own symptoms of anxiety and we're not even aware that we are anxious most of the time. I don't know exactly what you're going through but it sounds like anxiety to me my friend. I hope me sharing my experience with stress and anxiety somehow helps you my friend and I wish you all the best.

[Life360_Dave]

Hi and sorry your going through this. Did they x-ray your lungs at the er or doctors office?

[Sin34]

I am doing everything I can but I feel like I'm in hell. It's so uncomfortable feeling like you can't breathe when you are breathing! I'm scared this wont ever go away and I will eventually go crazy and kill myself. I do not want to die but this is no way of living. I was in class and this guy asked if I was ok and looked at me weird because I was huffing and puffing in and out. Ugh this is misery at its worst. I want to go to college but I'm thinking of quitting for a while but then I'm scared to do that because ill be stuck at home suffering and get worse. Idk what to do but I don't want to fail. It's been 2 weeks of very low dosages of lexapro and this symptom won't leave me alone. Do u think I should just stop taking it or wait to see if it will work? It's been 2 weeks and I don't see a difference but I just started taking the full pill yesterday. Please help me, I don't want to die or make a fool out of myself living.

[gino692009]

I know the feelings you are having minus the choking like the said before. TRUST me I felt like i wanted to die but a year later I am still here :), I know what you mean with the other symptoms numbness tingling not being nervous, thinking how can this all be from Anxiety... in the last year I have been up and down its like a BAD roller coaster sadly, there will be day you feel ok and just when you think its done, Anxiety comes back and bites you in the butt.... even now i still get symptoms of anxiety for example I have lightheaded feeling 24/7 and it *****, I asked the doctor how can anxiety make me feel like im lightheaded all day everyday.... they always say the same thin "It is just one of the most common effects from it".... I ask the same question will it ever go away,  I think the biggest issue with us anxiety sufferers is that we tend to focus our minds on how we feel thus making the symptoms stronger and last longer. I know its hard to move your mind else where I try it every day but the same thoughts come back into my head "How can this be anxiety" I have had Blood work ,ECG ext... (No MRI not worried about brain issues) I have seen 5 doctors in the last year and everything always comes back clean...
but that still doesn't put my mind to rest knowing I am physically healthy, I know its my mind playing this game with me. I done everything you have said exercises, breathing exercises, meditate, nothing helps. as far as the meds go they take any were from 4-6 weeks and thats even if they are a good med for you, I tryed Celexa for 3 months and then stopped with out going to the doctors bad idea.... 6 months later still feeling the way i do I got on wellbutrin(150mg to start) I have only been on it for 6 days tomorrow is the last day at 150 and then moving up to 300mg... I hope it helps I really do, I feel for you BIG times we are in the same situation except I am past the beginning of it which i think it is the worst... take it slow try not to have bad thoughts (I know its hard) Know you are not going to die!!! its all a natural cause, its how our bodys work and deal with life (Fight or Flight) assuming your a male, from what i hear we get it worse... THERE IS NOTHING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT ITS NATURAL!!! Message me if you want to talk more, I feel it kinda helps