Breathless

[Keeshdoe]

Hi. I’m not sure if anyone is awake but it’s 3:40 AM where i am right now and I’m just up feeling breathless or kind of like tightness when i breath... I’m still breathing in and out but can anyone reassure me that my lungs are going to just shut down because that’s my biggest fear.. I’ve been focused on my breathing for two years now all of a sudden I’ve been having “breathing problem” did i worry myself into something? Or are my worst nightmares coming true? Ugh. So hard.

[Dorsey]

Do you have anxiety and panic attacks?

[Keeshdoe in reply to Dorsey]

Yes i do.

[Jeff1943]

Keeshdoe, I presume you've had medical advice on this and bern told all is well..

Breathing is something our body does automatically for us, it's controlled by the involuntary nervous system. So you don't have to concern yourself that your lungs or breathing are going to shut down.

It sounds very much to me that this is all due to too much introspection, you have become obsessed about your breathing and keep thinking about it and checking it too much. When you do this it's easy to convince yourself that something isn't right and your anxiety is happy to oblige you by producing fake 'symptoms' like breathlessness and tightness.

Then you become fearful and the fear acts on your nervous system and makes the 'symptoms' worse.

First, for your own reassurance you must see a doctor about this if you haven't already and confirm 100% that your lungs are in good shape.

Second, you should accept that it's most unhelpful to keep 'focusing' on your breathing as you do. Just accept for the moment that you have a fixation about breathing, that you are in no danger, that your brain automatically keeps you breathing and needs no help from you.

Accept the feeling for the moment without generating the fear hormones that are maintaining your anxiety.

Let me give you another example, if I keep thinking about my right ear and checking to feel if I have an ear ache coming then before long I will start to imagine the earache. That's what you've been doing for 2 years with your breathing.

So relax and stop worrying you're going to be fine, the breathlessness is self-induced. Your mind wouldn't let you stop breathing even if you tried.

[Keeshdoe in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you. It really helped a lot to read your message. It was very reassuring about my breathing obsession. i will go to the doctor (even though I’m terrified of doctors). I just haven’t yet because it happened so late last night.. i really hope it’s nothing.

[lorianxiety]

hi,hope your feeling better ,im experiencing difficulty with my diagphram,have mild asthma though im convinced its part of anxiety as the brain dictates your messages as it is with me,though it doesn't help feeling strange extreme tension in head and shoulders-------taken inhalers does improve my lung function on peakflow meter....but.. im aware when walking ; is this the first time this has happened mine has been going on for at leat 8 months when im sitting its ok, but cant keep doing that …...get it checked out from gp.if it continues.