what effect does anxiety have on asthma

[ash160808]

hi all, so breathing issues have been a struggle of mine for 8 or so years now. I was told i had asthma around the same time i was told i suffered anxiety and have been on asthma meds since. Recently i had a asthma spiro test at the doctors and they was happy with it and said i have mild asthma. I am 31 yrs old on roughly around 50 pounds heavier than i have ever been so i know i am overweight and i started smoking again 6 months ago for the first time in 9 years due to a lot going on in my life. Sorry for the life story but its better to know everything i think, my question is to anyone with asthma and how having anxiety effects it? I always find myself focusing on every breath and just overthinking it. Does any lifestyle changes help or do you take any herbal remedies aswell as your normal asthma and anxiety meds?

Also today i got my skipping rope out for the first time in nearly a year, so i started of small and did 2 and a half mins and my heart rate was up to 138 and 2 mins later it was down to 96 so i think thats not a bad recovery time?

I have heard a lot about CBD but i dont know much about it myself

Any advice is greatly received

Thank you

[Bluecat99]

Hi, anxiety and asthma often go together, and can be mistaken for each other too as many of the symptoms are similar. I have been shown deep breathing techniques and visualisation techniques which help. For me, a lot of the anxiety is about being admitted as I've had some long stays in hospital, and I never know how it is going to go. This is not helpful as it's about the time when things are worst! I haven't tried any herbal remedies for it, so any suggestions so would be interesting. There is some useful information about anxiety and asthma on the asthma UK website. Best wishes, I hope you find something that helps.

[ccccc]

Hi, have you thought of trying Cognitive Behavioural Therapy? It's a good way of trying to reduce stress and anxiety through challenging negative thoughts and dealing with stress so you don't use smoking or other habits to cope. It helps me to cope with my asthma. There's a few I use: 'CBT for Dummies' which is a good book which is quite easy to read or there's 'Overcoming Anxiety, Stress and Panic' by Dr Chris Williams. They tend to have these at the library as they are often used by the NHS. He also has a website (google Five Areas) and there's a free general CBT course on there and also one about coping with long-term health problems called Reclaim Your Life. Hope that helps.

[Poobah]

Hello. Anxiety doesn't help breathing so learning a calming & distracting technique will help enormously. CBT for Dummies and lots of practice to make sure it becomes your default when anxiousness hits you.

You ask about CBD and I have tried it but even though I don't have anxiety it didn't have any effect on my breathing. And it didn't relax me or help me sleep.

Smoking is calming but instead of anxiety you will still end up with exacerbated asthma because it's so bad for the lungs. If you really give CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) a good try then it may help you kick the smoking as well as help with the anxiety.

If you have enough disposable income then a good CBT therapist may help and support you in your new venture.

Good luck with your endeavours.

[Hidden]

Hi my main Asthma trigger is anxiety. I was rushed into hospital in December due to an attack. I have to try to avoid my main trigger which is my Mom. Before my bad attack. I had already learned to do breathing excersises which now do help a lot. When i start to feel overwhelmed I start to try to control my breathing. It does slow the heart rate hence it does help. Hope this helps a little.