Can't get enough air into my lungs - anxiety

[unmumsymummy21]

What can I do ? Any advice ? I'm fine when distracted. But when I think about it, I have the sensation of needing to breathe and just can't get enough air.

I have this. It's really unpleasant, but I comfort myself by thinking that I am actually getting enough oxygen, even if it doesn't feel like it. Yoga has helped me loads, but it was not a quick fix.

I've had it before during stressful times. It's uncomfortable now. I'm just breathing strangely and thinking about it way too much. It sucks ! GP gave me some beta blockers. Hope they'll help ? I just need to be around people and distracted and then I'll forget about it.

Are you having any therapy or treatment for the anxiety? If not, that should be top of your list. Anxiety doesn’t need to and shouldn’t rule your life and affect you to the extent you can’t breathe (if I’ve understood your OP correctly, apologies if I’ve mis understood!)

But for an immediate help:

Do some belly breathing - a huge breath in that you fill up from your tummy to your lungs, this might be 3/4/5 seconds breathing in. Hold momentarily, then breathe out for longer (so 5/6/7 second) breathe out from your belly in a big sigh. Repeat at least 3/4 times but as often as you need to to regain your breath.

You can also try this technique which really helps me when anxiety is climbing:

I might be totally off the Mark here - but this is what I do when my heart is racing and I can’t breathe

Thank you! Yes I am in therapy. Not sure how much it's helping. I had my covid vaccine yesterday and was super anxious about it. After having it I felt fine. But I had read of people getting side effects during the night. I had a tough time falling asleep. That's when it started. I called the doctor and we both don't think it's related and that it's ' just ' anxiety. But I would quite like it to be gone now ! That's the thing with anxiety.. the more you want it to be gone, the more it comes on.. bastard !

I suffer from something similar and was told to try something like the calm act to help you breath and relax.

I have this. I recently went to A&E (thought I was having a heart attack). It was anxiety and it is awful. I felt like I couldn't breath. The dr said if you couldn't breath you wouldn't be talking. It's so hard the more I think about it the more I panic. I'm talking to Gp on Friday about it

Calm app

I get a similar feeling with anxiety, like I can’t inflate my lungs fully, or ‘complete’ a yawn. It’s unpleasant but does pass. Not that that’s helpful, but you’re not alone!

Echo Calm or Headspace app. There are guided breathing exercises on there to help you reset. In terms of the overthinking at night, have you tried reading? It can help distract from intrusive thoughts and if you are like me, drift off to sleep whilst reading.

Yes to the yawn thing !! OMG I am yawning so much. Thanks for reassuring me ladies !! And thanks also for comment from the GP- indeed if you can't breathe, you cannot talk. My lungs feel all tight and strained on my back too. I also have MS. This could also be a bit of MS hug creeping in. Thanks do much for the replies. I feel so much better.

I have had this on and off for the past 15 years. It’s the first sign of me becoming anxious.

It really helps if I do some exercise, even if it’s just a brisk walk.

I remember first having this when I was around 6 or 7 years old.

I had a bad episode of it for a couple of weeks when I was around 20 and then on and off for a few hours after that but not very often.

I am worried it's going to last. I'm feeding the worry monster. I'm worried it was the vaccine, which is also feeding the worry monster..

When this happens to me I forget about all thoughts of 'breathing into my lungs', but visualise instead a vertical line underneath them lower down and breathing 'up and down it'. It's hard to explain but works a treat for me.

I get this too. So scary.
Mine starts off with needing to yawn. A lot.
I then get a strange empty feeling in my neck and almost feel like I've forgotten to breathe.
Whilst I've no real advice it is reassuring that we're not alone. Mindfulness has made this episodes less frequent and a little less terrifying.

It's horrible ! And makes me think about how horrible it must be to be very slick / dying from covid.

The only thing that helps me is time / distraction. I have to forget it. Because when I'm constantly trying to breathe in deeply, I'm actually physically doing something unpleasant to my diaphragm/ lungs which causes pain after a while. Only when I've stopped doing it for a while, does the pain subside and then I don't need to do it anymore ? Does that make sense to anyone? It's like I need to rest my lungs / diaphragm for a while by forgetting and then eventually the pain isn't there and then it kind of ends. I just watched a movie and forgot and also drank a few litres of camomile tea haha.. let's see if it just leaves me alone. Need to stop fighting it!

@unmumsymummy21 yes I’ve had this.

I had no idea at the time that it was anxiety induced. I was going through divorce and it was a horrible time. I thought there was something physically wrong with me.

Over time it did go. And the periods when I didn’t have it was when I was fully immersed in something else. Like you say watching a film or cooking, listening to a podcast while doing housework. Stuff like that.

For me I never felt I could take a ‘satisfying breath’ I tried to explain it like that to others!

I hope yours does go.

It’s a horrible feeling, I really feel for you. But it will go away, try signing up for some online CBT classes for anxiety (GP should be able to point you in the right direction)

I learned recently it’s from too much CO2, not not enough oxygen- so the secret is to breathe out for longer than you breathe in (which sounds terrifying, right?!)

Try the 4/7/8 breathing method if you can bare it ...

or..best in the short term - get some good songs on that you know most of the words to and sing them as loud as you can.. trust me it helps to regulate your breathing and you also get to laugh at yourself! ...it also works if you’ve got headphones on and mouth the words.

This is a different idea and I don't know if it will help you or not so feel free to take or leave it.
You can buy pulse oximeters fairly cheaply online that let you see your blood oxygen level. Would you find it reassuring to use one to get an objective measure that you are getting enough oxygen? If you don't have any lung problems the readings normally sit at 96% or higher. (Don't aim for 100%, anxiety can be associated with breathing too much/too quick, 97-99% is more usual, it's important to take time to breathe out, long slow out breaths should be calming). You'd just have to make sure you get the knack of putting it on your finger correctly so you don't panic yourself with a dodgy reading! I'm just thinking it could be a short term way of learning by experience that your anxious feeling is not connected with an actual shortage of oxygen, not as a long term habit.

Thank you everyone. These are really great suggestions. It just sucks really. It's a bit better I would say. It comes and goes when I think about it too much. It's always better in the morning as my lungs don't hurt from the weird breathing, which in turn makes me do it less. It's been a really hard year for all of us and the anxiety around the vaccine pushed me over the edge I think. Even though after I got it, I had made my peace with it and am actually really happy. I think deep down though, I am worried still and this is coming out physically. I am also taking beta blockers. Hopefully I'll just get past this as quickly as possible. Thanks again for all the replies and suggestions. I feel less alone and that helps so much in itself.

I've also had this for years. It's awful. The other thing I get which makes me panic is a feeling that my tongue is too big and is stopping me breathing. Anxiety is a horrible thing to live with.

You need to control your breathing and slow it down. If you don’t you’ll hyperventilate.
Slow breath in through your nose, then blow it out slowly. Take control.

When my anxiety was at its worst I found the breathing thing was always terrible at night I would have my head out the window gasping for air, so horrible! My quick Fix now is to rest my hand on my diaphragm And feel my stomach rising and falling with each breath, that then convinces me I am breathing/getting air which calms me and the feeling then goes away.

God yes, I’ve had this for years, and only last year seeing my GP did someone say it’s my anxiety kicking in. As you say, it’s that bloody yawn that starts it, and then it’s a spiral. I have found slowing my breathing and breathing in deeply through my nose really helps, and I play sudoku on my iPad at the same time as an added distraction. I was actually relieved to find out it was anxiety, I thought it was to do with being overweight, and that alone has eased the worry. It’s good to know I’m not alone.

A tip which I found really helpful was , when you feel like you can’t get enough air, breathe OUT , and only when you have fully exhaled, then just naturally breathe in.. That feeling of not being able to breathe in often comes when you are trying to breathe in to already inflated lungs. You need to empty them fully first.. this really helped me, as well as other slow calm breathing techniques (such as 345 breathing: breathe in for 3,
Hold for 4, out for 5). Good luck!

I get this, it's horrible 😥 Sertraline helps, but it still comes on from time to time.