Hard to Breathe???

I have had this problem off and on for several years. I wish I had a great answer but I don't. I will say that I don't want to be on meds. I tried zoloft for many years. It worked great but then I realized I was addicted. That was a trip to come off of. Anyway, magnolia extract is a natural alternative for the meds. It is made from magnolia tree bark. I take it at night so I can get some sleep. I can deal with the breathing during the day. However at night I need to go to sleep (I have a 1 year old). Give it a try!

Internal stress and strain due to work pressure lead to the whole body muscles getting taut,and tense.
I have some ways which help me out but depends on situation to situation.
a)If I have spent a whole day on little physical exercise and lot of mental work leading to mental exhaution and mind becoming too tense,heart beating faster and getting a feeling of high Blood Pressure what I really do is go for a light walk in the park even if it is late evening after a light meal.Enjoy the slow breeze in the park and soothe my nerves down. I stop thing about the hapenings of the day and start visualizing I am on a holiday.This helps me calm down and I come back and straight go to bed and have a pleasant sleep.

b)If I have worked physically and dead tired with my mind racing like a horse then in the evening I usually put on some light soothing music, dim the lights of the room where I lie back on a couch and simply listen to music and sing along.This brings a calming effect and then I either read a good book or simply go to sleep.

c)If I did not have a good sleep in the night and have to go to work and eventhough feeling tired I have to carry on with the work in the office I come back mentally and physically dead tense,exhausted and unable to sleep eventhough I am tired then the only way is to sooth my nerves first by listening to music,chatting with my little children,watching TV (some soothing channels) or having a bath and then read some book which makes me fall asleep.I have been prescribed antidepressant (mirtaz or mirtzapine) a year back by neuro-physician which I had to take a few times when I couldn't sleep for a week or more at a stretch.

I am also in the process of changing my thinking not to get too attached to my work.I have been reading some good articles in the internet which has helped me immensely. I have collected them in my blog.

Hope they help you too.
sanjay

i thought i was crazy. i feel so relieved that all of you share this same problem. i've had it for months now and i've gotten use to it, it doesn't scare me anymore. I've gotten ekg tests and heartscans done and they said my heart was fine so after that i knew it was mental. i notice it happens more so in situations when i feel anxious but then sometimes it happens for no reason. I hate it and wish there was a way, but i haven't discovered a cure aside from doing something to take your mind off it, yawning, mainly.. you start to think way to hard about it, and you get yourself overwhelemed and that makes it worse. just remind yourself its all in your head and ntohings wrong with you.. that gets me thru.

Wow, i had no idea that alot of people are so stressed out! I have been having heart palpitations also. It landed me in the ER last week with a heart rate of 196, and my poor two year old had to witness that. I don't see how I could be that stressed or have so much hidden anxiety. It really sucks that I could get that worked up over nothing. I do have constant stress at home so maybe it stems from that. I may try yoga or something like that to help me relax. Has anyone tried yoga for relaxation?

i get that all the time aswell. but it happens to me often because i have asthma.

ok - i am new here - but i feel like i am reading all about myself. i have for years and years (maybe 20) often felt short of breath, but that meant more like i couldnt catch my breath and that the air would at least get to my lungs. NOW - and for the past few weeks - it feels like my throat is blocked. I have to take a huge breath to force air down in to my lungs. Is that what everyone is feeling? I feel like something is blocking my airway or something, but I know its not (i had an mri on my neck done for an unrelated reason a few mos ago). I then get all paranoid that some new disease is growing in my neck and narrowing my airway.

but maybe its just what you all are feeling. is that it? like your throat is narrowing and the air wont go down?

yer i get that too ... i think its stress and worry, now im thinkin of it its happening feels like my throat is closing up i think we are all obsessive compulsive about it making it worse and making us panic ... lol

I'v been having the same problems as you guys.. After a few anxiety/panic attacks after drinking too much =0 but since I read this forum that people have the same problems as I do it relieves me a lot. I'v found it hard to breath the past few weeks cause I just came back from the hospital from a anxiety attack. So put it this way you are not insane or alone with this problem stop thinking about breathing correctly don't let those voices inside your head mess with your mind. If you really think you are not breathing properly go ask your doctor if you have enough oxygen in your body, and also try some breathing exercises.

but I'm 99% sure that this is all in the mind. Those little damn voices in my brain keep telling me that something is going to happen cause I have some kinda fatal disease or something. Maybe a hypnosis can help me tell those voices to shut up.. any ideas?

I'm 31. I've had a constant feeling that I can't get enough oxygen for the past five months. It started with a bunch of other anxiety symptoms--hive-like rashes, not being able to breathe through my nose, chest pain--which were all new to me. I've had GAD since childhood, but it really got out of control this year. The breathing difficulty was so debilitating at first that all I could do was lay in a chair all day. I've started on some different meds, and they've helped a bit. But I still struggle all day, every day just to feel oxygenated. It's really hard thinking of living my life like this, but I guess I have to accept it. I'm in cognitive behavioral therapy now to learn how to live beyond my symptoms.

The same thing’s happening to me! I know it’s not anxiety or stress, my life’s the same now as it was 6 months ago and I’m not like that anyway. I’m not a hypochondriac; at least I don’t think I am. I’m rarely sick and when I am, it’s only a common cold. This only started the other day; I can’t imagine having it for months or years like some of you. I think I’d rather die.

So I can sleep okay but whenever I’m awake I feel like I need one big breath to satisfy me. Little breaths do nothing for me now… I need a big one. It’s really hard to concentrate now… on anything! I’m constantly thinking about my next breath and I can’t ignore it. Maybe it is a mind thing but if so, what would prompt it and how can I stop it?

Now I know why it’s called ‘Catching a breath’.

This is my life. I hyperventilate all the time. Sometimes even when I exercise. The best luck I had was with yoga/meditation and breathing exercises. I also cut out al caffiene and alcohol. Presently I am in breathing hell. I need to get back to eating right and breathing exercises.

I have the same problem as all of you . I googled my problem and this forum came up. I always have to yawn to get a good breath and it's not sometimes, it's all the time. I can take a few normal breaths and then i need to yawn. It's so annoying. I have dealt with anxiety since I was 17 and am now 24. But this has never happened, only in the last year, maybe not that long. But I feel like I can't live like this and sometimes get to feeling that this is more than just anxiety. It really stops me from doing things cause I feel like I can't breathe half the time. Does anyone know what else it could be? Has your doctor given you another answer other than the famous anxiety speech? I'm so sick of this!!!!!!!

I just googled 'hard to breathe' as I've been experiencing this for a few days now. Almost as if my ribs are too small to get a good breath. I have been told to get more exercise. I went to the mall and walked around for awhile. It does help but a good stiff drink and a joint does calm me down quite a bit. Also 5-HTP is a good de-stress vitamin for this problem. Not pharmaceuticals. They create another set of problems to deal with.

I have delt with my anxiety for 8 years now and it seems like it is getting worse or Im thinking about it all day and feels like I need to take a deep breath all the time and it catches and when I breathe out it feels like it is coming out different tubes. kinda wierd. I have a constant cough and feel like there is something in my throat. I have always thought I was going to die from a terminal disease since I was 14 and now I am 27. I havent' gotten real help but been trying to just fight it. the doctors say it is anxiety but all my symptoms show up like I have lymphoma or lung cancer and it freaks me out when I read those symptoms and makes it even worse. I don't know what to do but i need to get tests done and pry talk to a shirnk or something becasue I do live a stressfull life with worrying all the time and being self employed, etc...... any help or support from anyone and their thoughts....Thanks

I also forgot to put in that I do drink alcohol on a weekly basis around 2 days to 4 days a week and not just socially but usually getting pretty drunk......But I know tons of people who do the same things I am doing and don't feel like this.....The older I am gettting the more i am getting worried and when drinking I feel fine and it comes back when i get off the drinking binge for the weekend and I do get panic attacks the next day also.....

I was begining to think i was loosing my mind or something was physicaly wrong with me. This stuff drives me crazy! I also have been dealing with anxiety and panic for almost 3.5 years. Anxiety is something terrible for anyone to have to go through. I can really make you think you are going crazy. This breathing thing is really starting to get on my nerves. It started just a few times a day. Now it seems like it every few minutes i am trying to take a deep breath or yawing. It has even got to the point when i am lying in bed with my husband in our bed time moments i start doing it. I dont understand! Anyone that would just like to talk about this problem with me and how they are dealing with it would be great! Thanks

I feel ya... I had anxiety my whole life but wasnt bad until I was finishing up college and reality set in. I was too busy with so sports all the way through college and right when I was going to graduate I started getting very anxious and worrying. Its been 4 years out and I am always trying to take deep breaths and clearing my throat all the time and I have always been thinking I am dying from a terminal disease or something and It is always on my mind. It feels as though everything is surreal and I can't beleive this is happening to me due to how I have always been a good athlete and fairly popular with alot of friends. My view on life has certainly changed and it teriffies me because I used to be so hard headed and thought I was invincible. I don't know what to do. I know I need to try to change my ways with drinking and eating right and working on this but it is harder than I thought becasue my whole life i have been living this certain lifestyle and that is all I know. I can't seem to get this whole beathing thing out of my head and I constantly and worried about it being cancer or something but I never get sick or feel weak and it has been going on for 5 years almost. Any help please....

Mixxer-- oh wow!!! You've had breathing trouble for 5 years?! I thought my breathing trouble of 8 months is bad. I'm always yawning or straining to take deep breaths *and* clearing my throat. It's hard for me to believe this has happened to me, as well. I'm not worried that the breathing trouble is cancer, I know it's anxiety. But, in all honesty, sometimes I wish it was cancer because I don't know how I'm going to live with this much longer. It's insane!!! I've been given a perfect bill of health, but I'm really losing much of my will to live. I have started Zoloft, and it helped for a few weeks, but now I'm still struggling to take deep breaths. Anyways, let's stick together. There's strength in numbers!

It has not been that bad until now that I am always thinking about it the last 6 months. I would feel fine but get attacks after long weekends of boozing but now my breathing has bothered me and now all i think about it my breathing and it seems like that is worrying me and I think I have lymphoma or lung or skin cancer or something because constant clearing and breathing problems show up as a sign. I think I am a hypocondriact or whatever that is because i always am looking up my symptoms and worrying that i am dying. Like you I am in great shape and am hardly ever sick maybe once a year for a day. I can't seem to get this thought of cancer because i am always needing to take a deep breath and then it catches or i can't get the full deep breath and i get freaked out or light headed at work at the restraunt and stressed out which doesn't help things. I am always getting flem up and clearing my throat but I have beeen doing that since I was young. I guess i just worry and am afraid of dying this young and it takes over me. I should be getting health care in the next month or so and I am going to get checked out and talk to a shrink or pshycologist about my fears and symptoms. How can this thought process make my breathing the way it is. I really don't feel stressed out or anxious all the time but it wont go away and that's why i get scared.....sorry for rambling on about this but I just like to get it out and see what people think....and if anyone else is going throught the same thing as me....