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Original poster

Weird breath gasping in 7 year old

50 replies

wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 22:41

I’m totally lost so just wondering if anyone on here has experienced similar. I’ll be making an appointment with Gp of course but in meantime this will stop my mad googling (I hope!)
for the last few months my DD has this odd thing where she feels she can’t “get enough air”. She sits up if she’s lying down almost gasping, and if slouched leans forward and takes a huge breath and holds it. She does this several times until she says it’s “better”. It happens after exercise eg trampoline but also when playing or a rest so not 1 trigger which confuses me. also does it when tired so I wondered if it was a tic but it’s so so extreme I don’t think it is.
She did is so often this evening I nearly bundled her into the car to take her to hospital as she said it was making her chest hurt, and no wonder as she was taking the sort of breath you’d expect a divers to take before jumping into deep water every few minutes ☹️But then it seemed to slow and then stop.
when it started a few months ago I took her to gp who did all her numbers and said it’s not asthma (not sure how this was excluded as she didn’t blow into anything, I think because they said it would
always Happen with exercise if it was asthma and it doesn’t) and just said to monitor it 🤷‍♀️I’ve mentioned it a few times since when she’s gone for tonsillitis (which she often has) and no one seems interested and of course she doesn’t do it in front of them because of Sod’s law so I think they almost think I’m exaggerating it ☹️
any ideas? Or how to get gp to do something? I’m on edge now in case it gets so bad she can’t breathe which hasn’t happened yet.

OP posts:
Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 22:43

Sorry forgot to add: no cough or wheeze which apparently rules out asthma according to gp.,

OP posts:
Dogniss · 18/08/2023 22:48

Definitely get it checked out, and if you feel she’s getting worse take her to be checked.

However, in the meantime I’d try some breathing exercises like Buteyko breathing (on YouTube) and see if this helps to ease it.
I’ve done this since I was a child, for me it’s linked to anxiety, and since relearning how to breathe I can nip it in the bud when it starts.
Obviously I’m not a dr, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Badback44 · 18/08/2023 22:49

My 5 year old does this, hers is anxiety related

KvotheTheBloodless · 18/08/2023 22:55

It could be a tic - tics are common in kids that age. Also could be anxiety related as @Badback44 suggests.

Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 22:57

She’s definitely anxious, started back at school this week and is already biting her nails and saying how worried she feels (teacher lovely, nice friends, she just is so anxious about getting work wrong ☹️)

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LooselyBasedOnAMadeUpStory · 18/08/2023 22:58

What’s her diet like?
Low iron can cause pain and the sensation of not being able to breathe, it’s called ‘air hunger’.

LooselyBasedOnAMadeUpStory · 18/08/2023 22:59

Low iron can also cause anxiety btw.

Alargeoneplease89 · 18/08/2023 23:01

Anxiety, my son suffered from this during lockdown. Only way he got over it was we basically ignored it and it just suddenly stopped.
The more i tried to talk about Anxiety and reassure him it got worse because he was focusing on it.

Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:04

LooselyBasedOnAMadeUpStory · 18/08/2023 22:58

What’s her diet like?
Low iron can cause pain and the sensation of not being able to breathe, it’s called ‘air hunger’.

It’s not bad, it’s not the greatest but it’s ok. She’s quite pale so normally they take one look at her and test her iron levels when she gets seen for recurrent tonsillitis but they always seem to be ok 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:04

LooselyBasedOnAMadeUpStory · 18/08/2023 22:59

Low iron can also cause anxiety btw.

I didn’t know this

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Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:04

LooselyBasedOnAMadeUpStory · 18/08/2023 22:58

What’s her diet like?
Low iron can cause pain and the sensation of not being able to breathe, it’s called ‘air hunger’.

Air hunger is EXACTLY the right description.

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bakermummy21 · 18/08/2023 23:07

My first thought was asthma so maybe worth getting another opinion on that.

Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:11

Yes asthma is what I thought too but apparently lack of a cough / wheeze rules that out according to gp we saw.

but she’s never been asked to blow into the tube (is it peak flow?) to measure her levels so I’m unsure how they can rule it out so definitely? Though I’ve no experience of asthma so may be very ignorant here.

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phoolani · 18/08/2023 23:24

Has she ever had bronchiolitis (sp?)? Sounds like exactly what ds used to do but his was a kind of leftover from that, like a learned habit (so the doctor said).

TheShellBeach · 18/08/2023 23:31

I used to do this when I was a child. It was definitely anxiety.

bakermummy21 · 18/08/2023 23:31

You could see if your surgery has a specialist asthma/respiratory nurse you could see? .

GG1986 · 18/08/2023 23:42

My daughter does this and it is a tic. She suffers with anxiety too. Definitely see a Dr though as they can listen to her chest, check it's not asthma etc.

Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:48

phoolani · 18/08/2023 23:24

Has she ever had bronchiolitis (sp?)? Sounds like exactly what ds used to do but his was a kind of leftover from that, like a learned habit (so the doctor said).

Not that I can think of. Tonsillitis almost monthly but not bronchiolitis…..I wonder if it could be linked somehow.

OP posts:
Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:49

bakermummy21 · 18/08/2023 23:31

You could see if your surgery has a specialist asthma/respiratory nurse you could see? .

Unfortunately they don’t and despite me asking the doctor didn’t feel a referral was appropriate to see a respiratory specialist ☹️

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Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:50

I’m interested in so many of you saying it’s linked to anxiety which she definitely has

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Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:52

GG1986 · 18/08/2023 23:42

My daughter does this and it is a tic. She suffers with anxiety too. Definitely see a Dr though as they can listen to her chest, check it's not asthma etc.

Is your daughter so extreme in her breathing tic?
my dd literally looks like she sucking in enough air before plunging off the top diving board. In a cafe today she kept stopping on the way to Table/toilets and bending over to put her hands on he knees and taking a
breath, people were actually staring and I thought this is getting really extreme ☹️

OP posts:
nbee84 · 18/08/2023 23:54

Have you videod her doing this? Definitely worth doing (discretely) to show the doctor.

Original poster
wobblymum1 · 18/08/2023 23:56

nbee84 · 18/08/2023 23:54

Have you videod her doing this? Definitely worth doing (discretely) to show the doctor.

I haven’t yet, I feel almost paralysed when it’s happening as it looks like she can’t breathe and she tends to look to me at that point for reassurance /
sheer fear in her eyes and pulling out my phone and recording it all in 10 seconds has so far proved impossible. Would be easier if She did it while sleeping but she doesn’t. I have thought this would be helpful though.

OP posts:
Original poster
wobblymum1 · 19/08/2023 00:10

she now says her throat is sore-
does this look like a strawberry tongue or am I overthinking?

OP posts:
Insommmmnia · 19/08/2023 00:13

I've had this, in my case it was really bad anemia. At one point I was scared to sleep because I thought I would just stop breathing although I actually think I was fine in my sleep

I tend to have to have my iron levels higher than the bottom end of normal in order to not have symptoms