Breathlessness

[SGA2323]

I often get a feeling that is like I cant get a deep breath. I have had a lung function test and chest x ray and everything came back as normal. It can come and go as well. I can be fine for a few weeks then for no reason that I can think off it comes back. I was given breathing exercises to do which I do most nights. Does anyone have any other ideas of what this could be or ways I can stop feeling like this. Thanks.

[JustR]

I think I know the feeling that your trying to describe as last year I had a respiratory physio help me with uncontrolled asthma and she identified I was breathing incorrectly. It sounded strange at first but when she described how I would always take a deep breath but my lungs never feel full it started to help me understand more about my breathing technique. It can be called dysfunctional breathing and I took time to read about it and complete the breathing exercises she gave me. It’s took me about 6months to get it all right and I have to say I very rarely have that feeling of not being able to get a full breath. Hope this helps

[jackdup in reply to JustR]

I don’t suppose you can explain what you were doing wrong and what you had to do to correct it? I have heard comments like your from others so it would be good if the could find a solution here.

[JustR in reply to jackdup]

I’ll try my best..lol

So the physio recognised I wasn’t breathing through my nose much. Apparently when we breath through our nose it filters the air better and it’s warmer. As you breath through your nose your stomach should expand out with no restrictions..again sometimes we sit breathing in and holding our tummy in and this isn’t good. Sitting upright, shoulders relaxed with gentle inhales and out.

You should breath in through the nose and out through the nose if possible.

She gave me different breathing exercises to do and over time I changed my breathing pattern for the better and it really has helped me strengthen my chest muscles and I was really struggling with muscle weakness. I hope this helps.

[jackdup in reply to JustR]

Thanks.

[Hidden]

I’d second dysfunctional breathing as a definite possibility. My daughter does have respiratory disease, but she kept complaining of breathlessness that didn’t really make sense, and sometimes her exercise tolerance would be horrendous: she’d struggle to manage 100m when the day before she was running around like a loon with no issue. We moved a significant distance last summer and her new team picked up on this being an issue and organised a CPET that revealed she has dysfunctional breathing: purely by the way she sometimes breathes, her oxygen sats can drop below 90%. In her case, we think a really bad spell of chest health lead to her routinely using her accessory muscles to breathe, when accessory breathing should only really happen during fight or flight, or if you’re having physical difficulty breathing due to illness. Add in an additional whack of regular anxiety due to being on the autistic spectrum, which triggers the fight or flight response, which triggers accessory breathing, and suddenly her struggling just to do a walk around a busy Tesco when she’d been trampolining the day before suddenly made a lot more sense. Like JustR, we’ve got physios helping her to ‘relearn’ how to breathe properly, but just being aware that she doesn’t has made a big difference. If she’s otherwise well and starts to suddenly feel like she can’t take a deep breath, the first thing she does is stop and make sure she’s breathing correctly. There’s also less anxiety about it, which means she can control it more quickly.

[JustR in reply to Hidden]

I hope your daughter continues to go from strength to strength. I’ve been asthmatic most of my life and I’ve never came across this until a doctor in hospital observed my breathing and highlighted i wasn’t breathing correctly. It’s not highlighted enough by doctors as I’m sure there are many people who suffer unknowingly.

[Kpacific]

I recently had a similar feeling while walking. My upper chest was heavy, and I felt like I couldn’t take a deep breath. It happened on several days over the course of two weeks. It took me that long to figure out that dust was my problem. With the sheltering in place, I had been cleaning out closets and cupboards and old photos. I’m not allergic, but I’m sensitive to dust. Using my steroid combo inhaler stopped my problem...and giving up all that cleaning helped too! Mine was a short term problem, and yours sounds more long term. Keep up with your breathing exercises, and I hope that they help you.

[JustR]

I was also gulping for air when breathing..trying to take deep breathes through the mouth and this was leaving me with the feeling of my lungs not being full enough with air if that makes sense. It can then also trigger a feeling of anxiousness that your not breathing well. Again I never realised I was doing this until she pointed it out..as I learnt to control it that feeling passed.

[SGA2323]

Thanks for all the replys. For the past week my breathing has felt fine and I've not noticed anything wrong but then this afternoon its started again. I've got a 1 year old who doesn't sleep very well and I do notice it more when I don't get a good night sleep. Would lack of sleep or tiredness contribute? Thanks again.