Breathing problems

[newtothis]

So, i know shortness of breath is a common symptom of panic attacks, but if i'm not having a panic attack, can i still have the shortness of breath? Here's some background: awhile ago i started having a cough/cold that wouldn't go away (and is still here). This was in the middle of when i was going through some testing of some suspicious moles i had (i posted about that too, you might have read that post, and fyi, the results came back perfectly fine! thank goodness) and read a post online of some woman whose husband had skin cancer, eventually told he was fine, developed a persistant cough, and three months later he died b/c it had spread to his lungs. What do you know, a week or two later i started experiencing shortness of breath in addition to my coughing. Not hyperventilating, but every so often i feel like i can't breathe deeply enough. The only way i feel better is when i focus on breathing in from my stomach, but eventually it comes back after a few minutes anyway. I have noticed, however, that if i'm really immersed in something and forget about it i don't notice it. For example, new years eve, that day while i wasn't doing much i noticed it, and while getting ready for a party that night too. However, once at the party, surrounded by friends and pretty relaxed (thanks champagne!) i didn't notice it at all. Coincidence? i'm not sure. Anyway, it's been almost a month since i started getting this shortness of breath (started christmas eve) and my cold has gotten somewhat better, def. not any worse but a cough is still there sometimes. I don't know what to do! I've been having this constant anxiety over my health for the past 4-5 months; started with a brain tumor, then the skin cancer thing, now this shortness of breath! My mom thinks it could be walking pneumonia (apparently nothing a week of antibiotics won't cure). I'm quitting my job in 3 weeks (which should actually relieve a huge amount of stress considering my job is very stressful and my boss is pretty much Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada) and i'm excited about my new position and new company but this also means, esp. with all my sick time i've used to go to the doctors for my "brain tumor" and "skin cancer" i don't have much of any time to go to my doctor for this shortness of breath. But i also want to be rid of this before i start the new gig!

can anybody relate? fyi, i'm 22, had extensive blood tests back in sept. with perfectly normal results, and i don't smoke and never have.

[Alexcambridge]

Your case is actually very similar to mine. The main differences being I have never been to the doctor (I actually wish I would so as to get reassurance and help, but that's part of my anxiety and another issue altogether). I've been half believing i have a brain tumor for a bit over a month now, but it seems like forever. I've also been scared of skin cancer (my aunt had it).

I also have some breathing problems occasionally. They're only mild but it makes me feel like every breath has to be very deliberate. Sometimes I feel really out of breath because I haven't been breathing enough, other times i am taking lots of short breaths. But to be honest I spend most of my time breathing normally and I don't have any anxiety about these symptoms (although they may indeed be caused by the anxiety in general).

My advice to you is to try not to worry. How bad is your cough? Is it like a harsh illness cough or a deliberate cough? Part of my anxiety is that I cough compulsively whenever I get excited (in a good way or a bad way) about something - a party or an event, for example. I'll walk around coughing trying to clear my throat probably because of the shallow breathing that occurs also during these situations.

Are you sure you aren't breathing normally most of the time but not realising it, and only thinking about it when it happens? I am like that with headaches. Most of the time they are non-existant, but I often worry and think i have one even when i don't. That's part of the whole brain tumor terror lol.

[newtothis]

the cough isn't that bad i guess. it used to be a lot worse. never any chest pain, no fever, no sore throat. It was really bad at night until i got a humidifier and now i don't cough at night at all anymore. It's never made me feel sick enough that i would even consider not going to work. And, as soon as i got the results back from my doctor about the whole skin cancer thing it got worse. literally the day after i got the results, which shouldn't surprise me. In college- the week or so during finals i'd be super stressed and pulling all nighters but physically felt fine, and then i could always pretty much guarantee that the day after my last final i would get sick. So, i'm also wondering if it's just a combination of being stressed out about being sick for months and the winter temps (it's always worse after i come in from being outside). Maybe i did have a cold and my stressed out body is still trying to fight it off. Another interesting thing is right after i read the post about that woman's husband having a persistant cough and dying three months later, i wondered like how it happened. I mean i would literally think to myself "well, i guess he probably just stopped breathing one day." and sure enough it wasn't long after that i started getting this shortness of breath. i'm also pretty sure i googled (google is the devil, btw) signs that cancer has spread to lungs and "persistant cough and shortness of breath" were two main symptoms. It was after that i noticed the shortness of breath. You'd think after thinking through this i'd recognize the connection and be able to forget about it, but there's always that something in the back of my head saying "but what if..." or "but all the symptoms of brain/skin/lung cancer are there.."

[cntl]

Hello,

Your symptoms are psychosomatic in nature. Given your history with anxiety, it is extremely unlikely they signify anything serious (like an ilness). Also, I have had identical symptoms when I went through my anxiety.

Based on my experience, you are probably anxious and/or stressed on unconscious or semi-conscious level, if it makes sense. For example, I used to notice a pain in the chest and shortness of breath even when not consciously thinking "anxious" thoughts. This is because after a while these things tend to "run on automatic" in the background so to speak.

I recommend meditations and self-observation. May not work for everybody, but worked for me. Also, at some stage, you will have to deal with the root causes of your anxiety, rather than the symptoms. For example, if you are afraid of death, you will have to explore the philosophical and spiritual aspects of it, that is come to terms with it and get some form of "closure".

[Alexcambridge]

Google = :twisted:
I hate hypochondria with a passion. Mind you, I have weaned myself off the WebMD symptom checker. Man that was a killer. I convinced myself I had encephalitis.

[anxietychick]

I can relate! I regularly get shortness of breath off and on. This has been happening to me for 15 years! I've had tests, xrays, you name it and am fairly young like you, 28.

I've convinced myself that I've had a pulmonary embolism so many times because of the shortness of breath because that's what I happened to have read online that related to shortness of breath. I've even had invasive nuclear testing done that could have harmed me because I needed to be convinced that it wasn't a P.E. Now if I had read a story about lung cancer, maybe that's what I would have been convinced I had!

Point is this. Your Doctors have said you are okay. If you are still worried about it, go back in and be seen now, before you head on to your new job. This will hopefully give you peace of mind and enable you to move forward and get this lung cancer idea out of your mind.

I hope your new job goes great!

[newtothis]

thank you all for your support and kind words!

alexcambridge: google AND webmd are both evil. I think this "cyberchondria" will be the new mental disorder of this century.

cntl: everything you said makes complete sense. I totally agree about being psychosomatic. I graduated college in may, have had this pretty stressful job that i'm not happy with for about 7 months now, and just have had some other stressful things go on as well. I guess i never thought anxiety could cause these physical symptoms in me because i thought it had to be some incredibly big, stressful event like the passing of a loved one. I thought, and still do think sometimes, "why me? all of my other college friends are going through this, how come they don't have blurry vision and shortness of breath?" I guess we're all just different. And actually, i've been taking a free meditation class every sunday night since september, and i do believe it's helping. It's so hard for me though! I know they say you feel better if you forget all of these thoughts and think about just the present, but it's almost as if i feel better if i worry. I can't help but feel more anxious if i don't worry, if that makes sense. And finally, you're right about it not always happening when thinking "anxious" thoughts. I've noticed it will just sometimes come out of the blue, or even when i'm really happy or excited about something, which is awful because sometimes it takes some of the joy out of whatever is going on.


anxietychick:glad to hear yet another person that has gone through this, makes me feel so much better i'm not alone :) i really don't know what i would do with out this forum! The sick/scary thing is, after reading about how you thought you had a pulmonary embolism, it's tempting to me to go and google it to see if i have those symptoms. This is such a twisted disorder! best of luck to you, and thanks for the well wishes with the new job!