Can't Take a Deep Breath

Im right with you on that one malgernon, as soon as I lay down at night it starts to kick in. It seems to be tied to the position im in as well, if I lay on my right side, it is tolerable. If I lay on my back or left side, I might as well not even be trying to sleep, because it's not going to happen.

I have had this for just a couple of years now. But it will really flare up at times and I get so irritated with it. I have been seeing a specialist for some time now due to my full blown panic disorder and anxiety issues. This feeling you describe and everyone else is just anxiety. I promise. Its all mental. You make yourself feel this way and it becomes a habit. I twist and turn, stretch, yawn(all day long), freak out b/c its irritating to try and get this satisfying breath in. My psychiatrist says it I called something but i'll have to ask him again what its called. I take ativan when it gets really bad but I feel myself relying on this pill and have to have it on me 24-7. Everytime I upped my zoloft it would make me forget about it but this it eventually comes back. Even with the hardest concentration with telling myself its mind over matter. That intense feeling of " I have to just have one last good breath keeps coming up". Can you relate?

I've often wondered if it could be tied to that. My doctor would ask me if I felt certain emotions before this would happen. I didn't think that I did, but what do I know anyways ;) I guess the best way to tell is if the medication that is supposed to help with panic attacks and anxiety alleviates this problem? Have you found that it does ambernedley? Because I will honestly try almost anything to help this.

I've been experiencing this exact problem for about a year now. I have panic disorder and have recently gotten off 40mg paxil. Its been about eight months since I got off the paxil. This started happening to me when I quit smoking. I went to the doctor and my blood oxygen level was 98 so that meant that I was getting plenty of oxygen. I don't really have panic attacks anymore, I just get extreme muscle tension from stress. I am almost positive that this is a habit that has developed because of shallow breathing habits. I feel exactly like all of you on this forum. I constantly try to yawn and sometimes can't. I cant take a deep breath. I have learned ways to make my body allow me to take a deep breath: breath with your diaphram and stick your chest out and then take a deep breath. I have also noticed that when I don't think about this problem it doesn't happen. I really think that it is an anxiety issue.

I've been having shortness of breath for awhile now and went to see a cardiologist (thinking it was my heart)..Eventually after several ekg's, stress tests, echo's and an angiogram...They did a chest x-ray. Found lymphnodes were enlarged in my chest, lungs were clear but after a biopsy they diagnosed me with sarcoidosis. It isn't that common, and it affects (90% of the time) the lymphnodes and lungs...Causes tight chest and breathing problems.

This is a diagnosis by exclusion, so they check to see if you have cancer, bacterial infection or if it's viral...They really thought it was lymphoma when they got the x-rays back...There is no known cause (yet) and no cure, but it can be treated effectively. It can affect other organs...And lead to death if you don't get it under control, so you might want to mention it to your doctor if they are stumped and not sure where else to look. I know both the doctors performing the tests on me were shocked when the lab results came back.

Not trying to tell everyone that it's what you have...But if you are experiencing all these breathing problems...Have a chest x-ray done...That will rule it out if the lungs and lymphnodes are clear. Just to be on the safe side. :)

take care.

...I thought that I was going crazy. I just started experiencing the shortness of breath symptoms that everyone else here has. I believe that I have on occasion had moments when I really had to work hard to get that full breath. But lately, the past 2 weeks, it has become a constant thing in my daily life. I am usually okay during the day - as long as I keep busy and keep my mind off of it. But it does pretty much hit every single evening while I am sitting in bed, relaxing, watching tv. I also cannot yawn - I try and try, but nothing happens. I just feel like when I inhale it stops at the top of my lungs and doesn't go down any further. If I am aware of it all day then it freaks me out even more and makes it that much worse. I have had a few nights that I had trouble getting to sleep because of it, and because it was so much work really concentrating on getting a full satisfying breath. I have pretty bad allergies right now and will be seeing my dr on wednesday. But I am also wondering if it could be anxiety for me as well. I believe that I suffer from a panic disorder and am in the process of seeking help for that. I have nothing new to contribute to this thread other than to say it has made me feel a lot better knowing that (unfortunately) I am not the only one with these symptoms - and now I have something to take to my own doctor to aid in figuring out why this is happening. Thank you to everyone for sharing. :d

I have looked several conditions up and nothing describes the symptoms like all of you here..
I am currently trying for the first time an inhaler which I had to force myself to try,,i m not comfortable with putting something in my body I do not need and I dont think this is the answer. I have tried it four times. The first two times it helped but the last two did not.
These symptoms do not suggest asthma in my opinion.. I am 39, these symptoms began almost five years ago,, I was pregnant with my third and I was scared to death that I had lung cancer... When my child was born , I quit smoking and have not returned to it..Yayyyy... It is the same,, the not being able to yawn and the deep breaths,, I have thought over the years it has something to do with breathing improperly. Stress is a big factor which may be common in this thread, I havent read all of them.... But ya know? I am just glad I m not the only one. Mine seems to be worse in the colder weather, I find myself opening the front door and trying to get air in the freezing cold.. I do not cough or wheez just trying to breath deep...I can breath deep in my stomach and in my upper chest but not in my diaphram? I think thats where I need the air..I have this uncomfortable tightness right in the upper middle of my chest and it feels like all of my upper muscles are tense until I notice it and try and relax. I could agree with anxiety but I dont feel anxious..I used to all the time but recognized it years ago and have been making major changes in my life and attitude.. I have never handled stress as calmly as I do now or with as much positiveness so I am beginning to believe I have forgotten how to breath? Does that make sense to you all?.. Okay well I must go, thank goodness people are willing to talk. I will ask , about the sarcoidosis mentioned though,,, thanks all...

Hey...It's a pain but don't sweat it--i've had this for years, sometimes it gets bad but I still get my 3 mile walk in each day. I feel like a dump truck with a soup can size air filter. I finally quit using inhalers or take medications ( they never work), I found the best thing to do is watch a little more closely what I eat and do some breathing exercises. It happens during the early fall and late winters the most with me...Pet hair, or other allergies are often the blame I hear, and losing 20 pounds helped me about as much as anything. My doctor pretty much shook his shoulders and said, "i don't know ...Everything looks good for your x-ray and your "numbers" (b/p, cholesterol, etc.) so...I just try to blow it off (no pun intended) and wait for it to subside and...It usually does after a few weeks.....You're ok!!

Hi, while I write this I can't take a deep breath so I was looking for help and found this. I had a panic attack about a month ago to the point where I was convinced I was dying, couldn't get a deep breath and my heart was racing like it would burst out of my chest. After that i've had these episodes where I can't get a deep breath and I start panicking that i'm going to have another panic attack therefore feeling like i'm dying again. I haven't had a full blown attack since that time but I wonder if this is related? Now i'm worried about it happening on a plane or something where i'm really stuck. I also find its worse at night, during the day it doesn't really happen.

I, too, see myself in everyone's posts. I can't get a deep breath and i'm constantly yawning in an effort to get the "relief" we're all talking about - but that rarely works. I find that taking a deep breath through my nose and then holding my mouth closed when I yawn does provide some relief, but not completely.
Like many of you, I also suffer from anxiety and after reading this string I think that is my problem more than anything. My doctor thinks I have asthma, but I have always suspected that was wrong. I don't wheeze and i've never had an asthma "attack", just this feeling that I can't get a deep, satisfying breath. This feeling happens to me every once in a while, but once it starts it does not let up for weeks at a time. My rescue inhaler doesn't help this problem, nor does a nebulizer treatment. It just goes away with time.

I read the post about putting your finger in your mouth, putting your lips loosely around it, and then taking a breath in, and that helped a little. After doing that, I think my diaphragm is more relaxed.
Regardless, reading your posts makes me feel like i'm not all alone in this. While our problem is a major drag, at least we now all know people with the same problem.

Best of luck to each of you.

-m

With my experience, the shortness of breath may be one of the respiratory disorder in this century due to the air around us is so polluted. Many times that we inhale air containing invisible particle and eventually collected into our lung. When the lungs are full with this stuff, bacteria, and invisible dust attacted into the airway passage, bronchiole, etc. This may be the caused of shortness of breath.
I adviced saltpipe in the earlier post but not because I want to sell it but I found it beneficial to myself and several friends of mine who had the same problems as you in uk. We can see people in carribean, or non-industrial countries have less problem with shortness of breath. We can see many people go to spa, dead sea to inhale the salt air to help to clean the airway passage as well as people in eastern europe go to salt cave for the treatment. The saltpipe information can be seen at www.Thesaltpipe.Com so you may would like to take a look. It is new invention be experience of inventors suffered from breathing problem and it is natural way without side effects.
So, you may want to take a look. Nothing to lose.

I've had these symptoms ever since I was a kid (i'm 31 now), most of the time the symptoms will resurface for me when i'm under stress or start thinking about my breathing. I live with it on a day to day basis. They went away for a while in my late teens and early 20s but have resurfaced again. One could argue that i'm thinking about my breathing because something is not right, but when I analyse the symptoms (not being able to take a satisfying deep breath etc) and the length of time I had these problems, which is about 25 years or so, I have to blame it on anxiety. I dont have any secondary indications, like coughing or wheezing and sounds to me like most of you don't either. I've never been to a lung specialist (if thats what they are called) as i'm just too afraid that they may find something bad with my lungs however my local gp said that my breathing was normal, he did notice that I was a smoker though(stopped now) . He did suggest looking into a relaxation support group but I never took the oppurtunity. I;ve done some extensive research on this problem (it is driving me nuts after all) and it seem to point toward mitral valve prolapse.
A question to all fellow sufferers, how is your physical fitness overall? Are you able to run at a consistent pace for extended period of time?
I've always been an awefull long distance runner, however I did excell at short distance back in my school days.

Wow! I have this problem on and off since I was 9. I went through several very thorough hospital exams: lungs, heart, stress tests, blood tests - you name it. Apparently I am a very healthy individual - except that sometimes it gets so bad I think I am going to die. Attacks seem random and can last from hours to weeks. In any case, my (very frustrated :-) family doctor asked me to try various medications: asthma inhalers (don't help), stomach remedies (don't help), anti-anxiety drugs... Well, this one seem to help. In case of real trouble, I take one tablet of lorazepam. May not work immediately, but after couple, over a period of day or so, it seem to work. Funny thing though, I do not feel stressed at all and I do not feel anxiety. Maybe this drug just relaxes something which causes this, fairly common - as I just learned - problem. By the way, I don't believe it is in your head - I get my attacks without thinking about it - sometimes waking up in the middle of the night trying to get a deep breath. There must be some physiological explanation. Unfortunately it seems our western medical knowledge is not up to this challenge yet.

While I hate to hear others are suffering from this, I was so relieved to find that i'm not alone...That i'm most likely not "dying" as I so often feel like. I'm a 38 year old mom of 6 who only started having this problem in the last couple of weeks. I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome as well. Any chance, you think, that this may be attributed to that? I am in the middle of a flare up of those conditions right now. Though in the past, i've never had this breathing problem.
Once again, thank you all so much for making me not feel so scared and alone in this.
Blessings,
ellen

I've had the breathing problem where I can't get a full/complete/satisfying breath since my early teens. Now I am in my early 20's...

It went away (almost completely 95% still getting better) after about 4 months of colloidal silver (brand was sovereign silver)...

The root cause of this problem for me, I believe, was lyme disease...

Read: http://www.Canlyme.Com/p atsymptoms.Html and look for the breathing problems.

I tested positive for lyme from the igenex lab and I am now taking antibiotics for treatment.

This symptom was extremely annoying. I could run 10 miles without a problem but then when I was sitting in a chair I felt I like I couldn't get a full breath. I would try 40 times to take a breath and maybe 41'st breath would work...

Right now it feels incredible, I can complete the breath almost 100% of the time...

I've had this problem for about 5 years now and it's gotten worse. I feel like I can't get a deep breath, like i'm not getting enough air. I need more air and I can't yawn. However, when I was pregnant with my first baby, my breathing problems went away for the whole pregnancy. Has anyone experienced this before? I've been diagnosed with asthma but nothing works, he's got me on albuteral, singlulair, advair , and nasonex. None of it seems to help though. Last week, I went to see my family doctor and he diagnosed me with panic disorder. He gave me zyprexa to take at night. I just started taking that, but it doesn't really seem to be helping. So, i'm not sure if I do have panic disorder. It is very frustrating though because sometimes I feel like i'm dying cause I can't get enough air in. And, I can't really concentrate on anything. It's so hard to explain this problem. I wish there were some simple cure so I could get my life back and not feel like this all the time. Any suggestions??

I have the exact same problem. I usually have trouble breathing when I start thinking about my breaths and after I laugh a lot or real hard. My doctor gave me some advair, but I keep making myself think that it doesn't work. I dont know if I have any allergies, but...It gets really annoying. I'd give anything to be able to take a deep breath again.
I know this comment/post isn't really helping.
But, i'm just glad to know that i'm not alone...With this problem 'n all.