Constantly feeling my breath and pulse

[KatieRichie94]

A lot of times I put my hand in front of my nose or mouth to feel my breath. My body can't accept that nothing is wrong and being relaxed is okay. This has been getting a lot worse for the past 2 years. In fact I had my first terrible panic attack when I was staying with my ex boyfriend. It was a really bad living situation. I stayed at his house with his grandma dad and friend and it was an abusive environment. I woke up one day so disorientated that I thought his cousin was my boyfriend.  One night I suddenly felt like I was going out of it and dying.

[Princesa_100]

Katie have you accepted Jesus Christ into your life? I  use to have panic attacks at night and had irregular breathing where both led me to believe I may die in my sleep . However,  ever since I  met accepted Christ, I  have been panic attack  free but my breathing is still  iffy, not bc of anxiety though this time, its  bc I'm overweight. 

[Agora1]

Katie, I use to be that way, with one hand on my pulse.  Eventually I found

a watch that recorded my pulse as well as blood pressure.  It was a novelty

for a while and eventually I got bored in doing that.  It will be the same for

you.  xx

[Dev1122]

Katie it's not your body...  it's your mind having a hard time accepting that nothing is wrong. I used to think a lot of things were going to happen because I was so all over the place and I began to think irrational. One day a friend of mine asked "hey... have u ever actually had a seizure? Have u ever actually stopped breathing, has your heart ever actually stopped?" Then I began to think more clearly. I knew it was just my brain from being in such a heavy panic state all of the time. Although I still occasionally have attacks once or twice a year I've learned to control my anxiety. Take charge of your life. If nothing is wrong with u then believe that. I also just got tired of worrying myself 24/7. It was literally all I though of. I thought to myself "if I can believe 100 percent that something is wrong with me even when there isn't, then I can believe I'm 100 percent healthy as well." Much love and luck to you. I'll keep you in my prayers.

[Mrworrymaster]

My story sounds similar to yours. However, my worries started out with my lungs because I quit smoking. I had a spiro test done and found my lungs were good. That made me feel better for a few days. Then I worried about my heart. Checked my pulse constatnly, checked my BP constatnly. Went to a heart specialist to get checked out....turns out I'm fine. Visits to the ER, the minute clinic, my doctor 3x, urgent care visits, then back to the ER. All for shortness of breath. Every visit ended in someone telling me I had anxiety. Like you, it's impossible (feels that way) to fully accecpt i'm healthy and just need to learn to relax. Sadly, I've been in this cycle for 6 months now and worried a bit that i've set my brain in a cycle of constant fear and worry and it's tough to break it. Anxiety is tough, depression is tough. I wasn't always like this..I was a pretty happy guy. But, I'm making progress. My constant panic attacks have downgraded to general worry daily. I have better days now too, although I'm still overly focused on my breath.

Honestly, I don't have a secret answer for you. But, I do think things will get better. My wife tells me the only difference between happy people and depressed people is perspective. I don't think it's quite that easy, but I think a positive perspective can help alot of things. I've trained myself, and my body, to be negative and perceive myself as unhealthy. So hopefully I can train myself, and my body, to be positive and accecpt myself as healthy. I'm trying a therapist out now who focuses on CBT and that's the whole goal of the program: to retrain yourself to think properly. It's too early to tell if its working 100 percent, but the point here is don't give up on yourself.

You can beat this, and you will.

Regards,

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