Short of breath

[sadinsa]

Hi,
I was hoping to get some input for my problem I have with shortness of breath. Sometimes I just have symptoms of anxiety. One of my symptoms that bothers me a lot is shortness of breath. With this I get lightheaded or dizzy. I usually can deal with it fine when I am at home but yesterday I was out running some errands and it was bad. I thought for sure I was going to have a panic attack. But I didn't. I have been diagnosed with agoraphobia so I do have a problem with going out sometimes. Other times I am fine. By the end of the day I was distressed because I felt so bad. Now I am thinking bad thoughts like I must be getting worse. To top it all off I was talking to a friend that suffers with panic also and she told me her anxiety/panic was so bad last week that she was fainting. Mine has never been that severe. So now I am more scared. I am looking for some techniques or thoughts on how to minimize this feeling.

[anxiousmess]

hiya :)

firstly, stop worrying about anxiety.
just try and accept it. it is hard, but will help in the long run!

the way to help the shortness of breath is with breathing exercises. the one i like to use is kind of a form of meditation also - i learned it on a course actually, not in therapy. anyway, you breathe in through your nose with the count of 5(slowly), hold it for 3 seconds, and then exhale out of your mouth for 5 seconds (slowly). concentrating on counting takes your mind off of other things and so is helpful in itself. along with the breathing regulating your breathing, you end up sorted in no time!