Throat closing up & not breathing

[peaches1982]

Hi everyone I am having a problem with my throat feeling like it is closing up and then I panic because it feels like I am not breathing.  It used to just happen sometimes and now it happens everytime I lay down to go to sleep.  Today I was in walmart and it happend  it really scared me.  My mom and dad told me it is from stress, but right now I dont feel all that stressed.  I was wandering if someone could tell me why this is happening or does it happen to anyone else.  Thanks

[courtney610]

I have always experienced this. my throat feels like its either closing or something is stuck and sometimes i have to cough. I have had it at random times through the years. usually it last for a  few days then stops and at random times during the years. I probably still have asthma but i never use a inhaler. I did when i was in school sometimes. Once in school it got pretty bad and i could not stop coughing went on for the whole class, even after using my inhaler it still continued. But it seems like i have kinda grown out of that never have issuses with breathing or dust or anything. Except for this whole throat thing..

[klbuurman]

I am searching for answers to some strrange things that have been happening to me lately.  I just happened to stumble onto this site and well, we will see.  I also have been experiencing my throat closing lately.  Most of the time its at random times, but it seems like i can almost bring it on if i look down for too long, or look up - because of the position of my neck and throat.  But to me i am feeling a creepy feeling when this happens.  It feels almost like i swallowed some food and it wont go down my throat.  It just sits there like a lump.  I also feel (as wierd as this sounds) like there is something alive in my throat.  Like it could be moving around.  When this happens, I often see a very strong heatbeat in my skin at the base of my neck.  It doesnt look normal.  I also often see a gray or blueish kind of shadow in my neck at different places.  I don't like it.  Just wondering if others . . . ?    The ACTUAL reason i started writing this was to find out if anyone else is having any eye problems also (in conjunction with the throat).  I know this probably sounds crazy, but like i said.  I HAVE to reach out and ask some questions cause it will push me over the edge if i do nothing.

[LizonWaves]

Oh wait, after rereading your question. It may VCR! I dunno!

[LizonWaves]

I have no idea other people go through this.

I use to feel suddenly like I couldn't breathe. Off and on I was anxious and worried. It gets worse especially when I keep focussing on it on how to breathe better and feel less anxious. Overtime, I realised that if I don't focus on it, it will go away. It's exactly what you guys went through!

Then there were times when I feel fine and I get fearful of myself not being able to breathe and I seem to not be able to breathe. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. These fears...your mind....
Im a christian and I know fears originate from satan.
Fear to me is a very crippling thing. The unseen, abstract things are one of the most dangerous but underestimated things in life (well that's what I think). Fear is to be afraid of something that you don't want to happen because you think that thing may potentially happen. If it is not going to happen, you won't fear right?. So, if you fear of something it is going to happen.

Ultimately, in the past for me I think as much as I don't want to be aware or admit that I am anxious and breathless, and ignore or suppress it, I realise that it is important to acknowledge it, that it is okay to be anxious and it's not the end of the world that you feel breathless. Afterwards, it's important to manage it which involves your thoughts playing a big role. I've heard from the book called Battlefield of the mind by Joyce Meyers (a christian author) which I will be reading soon and generally in the media that your thoughts affect how you think you feel, you behave.

So, to manage breathlessness, perhaps you could tell yourself reassuring, positive thoughts (because in the end it's just the mind isn't it?). It's what you choose and believe to think.

If you're a christian, definitely pray to God because you may or may not be fighting a spiritual battle. You need God's help. After a while, it'll be tiring to fight your own mind battles alone. So depend on God to get added power lol. I use to not want to tell God this problem I have but believe that I can solve everything on my mind. After a while, I couldn't take it anymore so I started praying. I dunno how God helps but God is God.

Another thing I would mention personally is to do your favourite exercise if you have. If not, you can try exercising. Well, it personally calms me down, provides happy feelings, tones your body, feel better, provides your more energy, and helps you focus on the moves you need to do. (:

Now I don't have as much breathlessness or paranoia anymore, but when I get fearful, I just tell myself to relax and choose to not think about breathlessness anymore and let myself be because I am simply too tired with that mindset and life.

Ok this is long hahaa.

Hope this helps. (:

[Thomswife]

Is there a way I can contact you directly? I have had several bouts of throat closure over the years. Many happen at night and truly I struggle greatly to get air. It is like some has me by the throat in a strangle hold. I of course get very scared...try desparately to get snipets of air in and get the bresthing process back to normal. I have been diagnosed with asthma, copd and a very mild case of sleep apeana. Not a smoker....your article really hit home.  may i have an email contact or phone? I had another attach tonight...husband is gone and this one really scared me. I am afriad to go back to sleep. My name is Wendy Headley, I  live in Ohio. Cell number 419.601.0603  home 419.352.6085 what is this website you reference? I am not super comptuer saavy.  i want to know more of your thoughts and theories. Thank you for any help, CArol.

[fire8085]

Wow. I definitely know these feelings. As I type this I feel like my area where my throat meets my chest is causing it for me to be difficult to breathe.

I wonder though, can anxiety and panic cause things physically? Like do we retrain our brains somehow and then it produces incorrect responses?

I hadn't had a panic attack ever. Then I went to visit a doctor for a lidocaine injection for pain and it made me feel terrible despite my vitals all being ok. I shrugged it off eventually after a few days. I then had to move away from home about a month later. While driving through a dusty area (which i have driven through before...) i felt like I couldn't breathe. Sure enough I stopped at a gas station to recoupe myself and got driving again. Eventually felt ok.

Fast forward a few weeks later and I'm in my new apartment and driving home on the freeway in a new area. I feel like all of a sudden I can't breathe. I freak out, pins and needles, lighthead, worry etc. Tell my gf to call 911 and they tell me it was panic basically and all my vitals are fine.

Now I'm researching a million different things. I feel like it caused my allergies and asthma to come raging back when I haven't had a problem with them in years. Does your body send signals after being shocked by a panic attack that it didn't send before? I know I'm stressed but I've been stressed before and this never happened.

I'm visiting doctors now but I feel so hopeless. I'm attempting to read some books about helping anxiety and such but I feel it's a vicious cycle now (I've read linden method, claire weekes, eckart tolle etc) I honestly feel like somehow this caused me to have some type of negative feedback loop and now it's actually a physical problem :(

It doesn't help that I don't trust doctors and feel most of them aren't up to date on research.