Hello (New member introduction)

[MiST]

I promise NO MORE GOOGLE BOX SamC..

I have not yet identified any kind of trigger, it's more like a constant state at the moment but now and then i get what feels like a "wave" sweep through my mid section and with it a small series of skipped beats or palpitations, a hot flush and a horrible feeling of sheer dread followed by the sensation of difficulty in breathing.

But your right, first things first i need to see my GP and get them to take my symptoms seriously.

[artaud]

Wow, thank you artaud.

To give you an example how much your anxiety can effect breathing, I was showering on the morning of the stress test. I felt like I couldn't breathe, I thought I was going to faint. I had psyched myself up so much about the stress test, really nervous about having it. Yet within an hour and a half of the breathing issue, I was running on the stress test with no problem.

[MiST]

So it's our minds making our heart rate increase through stress and using our oxygen up quicker? is that not dangerous in itself?

[SamC]

Unless you have a heart condition Its more frightening than actually dangerous, a full blown panic attack usually lasts seconds to minutes even tho it feels much longer then breathing starts to return to normal after you settle down so worst case is ppl with severe attacks cant faint but your body naturally breathes on its on so there is not real real danger it just feels like that at the time

What is happening now is your mind is concentrating on the fact you cant get a deep breath but what you dont realise is you are still taking lots of small breaths which is enough for your body, you will prob just find yourself yawning alot but that is the bodys natural reaction to get a deep breath

Honestly one of the most dangerous things with anxiety is your own mind, it plays tricks and convinces you of worst case scenarios when fact is alot of ppl on here will tell you those worst case scenarios and there worries never actually come to anything its just about convincing your own mind there is nothing to worry about then thats a good giant leap but that will come with time

[artaud]

...making our heart rate increase through stress and using our oxygen up quicker?

No, despite the feeling of issues with breathing, you probably have the normal amount of oxygen in your blood. It's more of a issue with interfering with the natural way you would normally breathe by paying attention to it. As I was sitting here just a little bit ago, I started to fall asleep. I could feel my breathing slowing, growing deeper, and I felt relaxed. When we're sleeping, we can't control our breathing, it's on auto pilot, and it goes back to normal. When we're awake and tense, we partially control the breathing, get everything out of sync, and we feel more tense or out of breath.

From the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

"When you breathe, you breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Excessive breathing creates low levels of carbon dioxide in your blood. This causes many of the symptoms of hyperventilation.

If you frequently overbreathe, you may have hyperventilation syndrome that is triggered by emotions of stress, anxiety, depression, or anger. Occasional hyperventilation from panic is generally related to a specific fear or phobia, such as a fear of heights, dying, or closed-in spaces (claustrophobia).

If you have hyperventilation syndrome, you might not be aware you are breathing fast. However, you will be aware of having many of the other symptoms, including: (Edited: Afraid)

Confusion
Dizziness
Dry mouth
Lightheadedness
Muscle spasms in hands and feet
Numbness and tingling in the arms or around the mouth
Palpitations
Shortness of breath"

[MiST]

Oh wow, sorry to ask so many questions about breathing but..

You know when we yawn, and we feel that really satisfying and deep sensation, why can't we achieve that sensation when we try to force it? is that type of breathing using the diaphram?

Sometimes i can make it happen if i breath in very slowly and don't stop and other times stop well short..do you know what i mean? i'm not very good at explaining myself.

[SamC]

I sometimes cant yawn at all but i think its cause you are thinking about it, it tends to happen naturally when you dont think about it

Yawning is a natural response and very common in anxiety because with anxiety breathing is not great and you tend to hyperventilate more often that not so your body triggers yawning which expands your rib cage and sends a trigger to your brain to say basically its ok i can breathe just relax .... problem is with anxiety coz you are prob still hyperventaling your ribs dont expand as well, hence you get a forced yawn or a half finished yawn which usually sends ppl into a further panic but is actually very very common

hope this makes sense a little, im sure artaud will explain it better if not, hes like a fountain of knowledge with these things

[MiST]

You explained it very well SamC, it's a tricky topic to try and discuss.

[artaud]

You know when we yawn, and we feel that really satisfying and deep sensation, why can't we achieve that sensation when we try to force it?

Really good question. I don't know the answer, but a whole bunch of things happen when we yawn. Look at the following link.

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Yawn

I get what I call plateau yawning, my diaphragm stretches, but not far enough apparently. I can feel it wanting to go more, but it doesn't usually. But every once in a while, it lingers at a point insufficient, then suddenly breaks through and goes all the way. Ah, it feels so good.

I think the tension knots the diaphragm, or seemingly so. When the tension passes, the diaphragm relaxes, and I'm good for another several months.

[MiST]

Ah, it feels so good.

LOL, it sure does..