suffocation/can't take deep breath and stabbing in chest?

[monger1]

I'm a 37 year old woman with me/cfs and an underactive thyroid. I've been having this problem for 20 years now. It's been on and off but I get distressing periods where i feel suffocated for days on end and just cannot take a deep breath. I do relaxation techniques every day but sometimes it is so bad that they don't help. I play golf (when I feel up to it) but by the 6th hole the suffocation feeling starts. I have to bend over to try to get air. I get very, very lightheaded too. In the last three years I've also had periods of sharp, stabbing chest pain and I can only take extremely shallow breaths. The pain gets so severe that I have to lie on one side in bed at a certain angle but it is still so painful. The last bout of pain has lasted 3 weeks and it won’t go away. I feel very suffocated, especially at night. I get repeated feelings of flu almost every month and I am permanently exhausted and weak in my muscles. Mentally, I feel normal but sometimes get really fed up. I had an x-ray and nothing showed up in my chest. I've also had an ecg (only showed sinus tachycardia and ectopic beats) and an echo (normal). I also had a normal mri of my brain 5 years ago. It has been suggested to me that this breathing problem is anxiety or cfs/ME or POTs related. Sometimes I don't feel anxious at all but have this problem. In fact, I don't even feel like I have anxiety at all!? I do have stresses and strains at home. Some are worse than your average. I was incredibly fit and sporty but can do barely anything now. I've also tried Buteyko, reflexology, massage, shiatsu, the Alexander technique, osteopathy, NLP, CBT, the lightning process, good nutrition and tried every way of pushing myself to get better. Eating healthily helps me to feel psychologically on top.  I have a theory that it is hyperventilation and it is so serious that it puts my whole system out of whack and hence the chronic fatigue but I have no idea how to solve it and doctors cannot help. I've had 4 periods in my life of 5-6 months where I am house bound and mostly bed bound. I also have regular days in bed on a weekly basis. I feel bad to varying degrees all of the time, every day of my life. I just about work three days a week and have become a TA after giving up my maths teaching job due to severe weakness, physical and mental exhaustion, breathing trouble/pains and facial pressure. I can barely work and have regular days off work. When I'm at my worst I feel so incredibly weak, cannot stand up for more than a few minutes at a time and my breathing muscles feel so fatigued and I feel overwhelmingly suffocated. Even chopping vegetables was too taxing for me at my worst and it felt like torture. In fact, I feel so awful I feel close to death at these points but Tests have shown nothing apart from Underactive thyroid (diagnosed 17 years ago) and repeated vitamin d and calcium deficiency which I take supplements for. One of my immunoglobulins is always raised (think it is A) but my doctor doesn't know why and doesn't think this is significant. I have therefore been told this is all me/cfs. I feel so helpless as nobody can help me and people have a hard time understanding that I feel so unwell. To get through a day at work I have to pretend I am ok and I push myself so hard by telling myself I feel fabulous but I just collapse the minute I walk in my front door. Sometimes, i have to sit in my car for five minutes to muster up the energy to walk the 50m from the car to my house.  I truly love life and so want to live every moment and get out there and make the most of it but I feel too poorly. Can anyone relate or help?

[monger1]

Thank you Hava, I am grateful for your suggestions. I shall try them out and do some research on alternate nostril breathing too.

[hava]

To relax and get extra oxygen into the lungs, heart and blood do anulom vilom pranayam.(alternate nostril breathing).up to 20 minutes twice a day.
For thyroid roar like a lion 3 times daily- this stimulates thyroid gland.
Thyroid point – press the fleshy bit on palm between  the base of thumb and wrist on both hands. Where you  feel sharp pain when you press, that is your thyroid point and you press it 50 times daily on both hands.
You do it and feel the benefit.