Weird breath gasping in 7 year old

[wobblymum1]

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.

oh I’m sorry you had this ☹️
she is definitely scared to lie down some nights insisting on staying propped up. Can I ask what other symptoms you had /have with anemia?

Insomnia (hence my user name), loss of appetite, dizziness, fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, depression, weight gain (causes weight loss in some people but for me always weight gain)

The air hunger is usually last, the symptom when my anemia is at its worst

I can maintain my iron levels now they are normal with Floradix, you can get it from boots or Amazon, if you think it might be worth a try

I do this. It's anxiety. And it is horrible. I really feel for your daughter.
If you take her to the GP, I'd hope they'd take it seriously given she is so young.

It is so horrible and I’m so sorry you have it too. Is it as extreme for you as it seems to be in my daughter?

Thank you so much for sharing this,,she does have insomnia (takes hours to go
to sleep), anxiety and I think some brain fog at school which doesn’t help with the anxiety ☹️

Both my sister and I were borderline anaemic, pale etc as children and then in got worse in my 20s for me, teens for my sister

The thing about the ranges on blood tests is that they are kind of averages for a whole population, or often averages for men, and they don't suit everyone. So it's worth finding out if she is the bottom end of average so that just might not be right for her.

For my sister she has never officially been anemic, except when she was pregnant, but she can be ill unless she increases her iron levels

This is so helpful, thank you. I’m definitely going to request her levels get checked. I’m glad you and your sister can keep it under control now 😊

@wobblymum1 With me, it isn't extreme all the time, but it definitely does get bad. If I'm just sitting or lying down I find myself focussing on my breathing which can bring it on. Sort of a panic about not being able to get enough breath, which in turn.. makes me actually not get enough breath.

that totally makes sense. I’m so sorry you have it too, it’s horrible ☹️

I think the most likely thing is anxiety. What you describe I think really fits with that. Some children are just more prone to functional symptoms - I guess it's a similar thing to how some people get tension headaches or a wobbly tummy when stressed and others just don't. The symptoms aren't faked or manipulative and they can be very frightening. Anxiety about the symptoms then makes them worse. It can be worth talking about how nothing bad happens following the symptoms and focusing on techniques which gives the child a sense of control - eg controlled breathing exercises.

Without cough or wheeze, and with the episodes being so short lived, no consistent triggers and very quick in onset and offset (in the absence of using an inhaler) it really doesn't fit with asthma at all. I don't think spirometry is something that would be recommended / indicated. Even if she did have evidence of asthma on spirometry (no reason to suspect this) I think these episodes would still better fit with anxiety / functional episodes in someone who happens to be an asthmatic (which is actually v v common) than actual asthmatic exacerbations / direct symptoms.

Anxiety, OCD-like symptoms and functional medical symptoms are very very common in primary school aged children, including those in happy and supportive homes. I think it's reasonable to request a full medical assessment from the GP however. It's important both she and you as her parent feel truly reassured about these episodes (not to mention it is obviously very important to exclude medical causes like iron deficiency also).

You might find more information about this if you use the following search terms "dysfunctional breathing", "functional dyspnoea", "hyperventilation syndrome" and "sighing syndrome" - see if any of the descriptions fit.

Obviously if you are concerned an episode happens that is much worse than usual and you're actually worried that she's not breathing effectively call an ambulance or 111 as required!

Best of luck

Also, always hard to be sure on a picture but no that doesn't look like a strawberry tongue

I haven't rRTFT but I think it's a kind of panic attack

This is beyond helpful and might actually let me sleep
tonight. Thank you so so much. She’s definitely showing some ocd traits too like wanting to shut open doors ☹️And her anxiety is high this week with school return.

No it isn't this extreme and this tic comes and goes. I would definitely book a Dr's appointment but don't mention you think it's a tic wait and see if the Dr mentions that first.

I would want to see another gp for reassurance it's not asthma. Video is a good idea. And get bloods done. Does she take a multivitamin?

I have had what you are describing in the past and for me it was anxiety. How it was explained to me was that It comes from rapid breathing and having less oxygen in the body. I was told to try to shorter breaths in followed by a longer breath out.

Look up Hyperventilation Syndrome, breathing exercises help.

Sorry your daughter is going through this, it's so hard to see them struggle.

I've had this, it was anxiety x

Thank you so much, I will do. It’s awful seeing her struggle for breath, really
scary ☹️

@wobblymum1 there is a facebook support group and we used EFT tapping therapy for the anxiety. My daughter is recovered now so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Wishing you well.🙏

You could get her a nice children’s all round tonic and tell her it’s to help with her breathing Then she would be getting a little iron boost and possibly a placebo effect from the tonic to soothe her anxieties.
There’s some nice children’s books that teach helpful techniques in dealing with anxiety. If she’s prone, she might as well start learning a few tools now.

My 7 year old son started doing this. We went to GP and ruled out asthma/heart problems. We stopped using the wood burner - no difference. In the end it was put down to anxiety (he's an anxious child) and also gave him some multivitamins/iron liquid to rule out deficiencies. He's 8 now and doesn't do it any more. It was very scary at the time though.

update:
it got so bad I took her to hospital where we saw the a&e consultant within minutes. they found nasal polyps (large) in both nostrils that they think might be making her feel a lack of air. They’re trying an inhaler but think it won’t make a big difference. They have urgently referred her to ENT and said they’ve never seen nasal polyps in a child so I’m now worried again ☹️
they also advised Trying to distract her and manage her anxiety xx

Thank you so so much xx

I’ll look into this, thank you so much.

Great idea. Thank you 🌼