Shortness of breath ? Anxiety? Eating to fullness goes away

[BIGG12X]

Im 23 year male and very healthy life style and don't smoke. All day I get shortness of breath where breath doesn't go all the way down. It seems to go away when I eat like crazy as in full my stomach.EVEN WHEN IM NOT HUNGRY I EAT FOR NO REASON WHICH IS RUNING MY DIET I did a surgrey tummy tuck 2012 and it kidna started from there but has gotten worse. Checked with surgeon and it had nothing to do with surgery he said. Can it be anxiety. Got a chest and lat xray showed no lung problem and checked oxygen which was normal doctor said... I have a over thinking problem where I think all day non stop worrying about things? any ideas?

[ab123]

Well, thoeretically... eating would put more pressure in the chest, unless you have some sort of acid reflux problem... i get short of breath when i eat because my stomach digests really slowly.

[BIGG12X]

I am diagsonsed with slow colon.... sometimes I constiptate for weeks it happened twice in 2 years..... but idk what else it can be.... I notice WHEN I LET MY STOMACH BULDGE OUT TO BREATHE that it goes down more.....

[Registered User]

I'm no Dr butt....

Hmmm, vagus nerve impairment/Roemheld Syndrome? It's just another angle to look at it, apart from the obvious one of anxiety.

"mechanical changes in the gut can compress the vagus nerve at any number of locations along the vagus"

Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, heart arrhythmia, anxiety, etc

However, as far as I know, large meals would make it worse, due to increased diaphragm pressure.

Here's one person's account:

"My episodes tend to come about 3-4 weeks apart, each episode lasting for anywhere from 1 day to as long as a month. The worst is extreme shortness of breath (almost impossible to take a deep breath), excessive belching and an accelerated heart rate. Occasionally chest pain, trouble swallowing, heartburn. I have been cleared by cardiologist , and diagnosed with a small hiatus hernia as well as mitral valve prolapse. "



I sure know the feeling of being unable to take a "complete", deep breath. It can be very unpleasant. Apart from the odd full-on anxiety attack I have every 15 years, the breathing thing is my worst and most common symptom (I hope my relatively mild anxiety doesn't annoy people with debilitating conditions).

This is just anecdotal, and probably even "placebic", too, but I suspect I've had some success with the supplement regime recommended in many other threads on this forum. I figure that zinc and lysine have been particularly helpful.

Other than that, sometimes I think it's simply stress that's causing it.

Hmmm, what else? Low blood sugar from not eating can aggravate anxiety, which may be why eating a big meal helps you -- I definitely feel better after a good meal.

[kotoba]

I'll be the one to say it.

Yes, this is anxiety. How do I know? I get exactly the same thing. The more you worry about it the more you think it could be something else. I've had 3 ECG's and my heart is 'Perfect', yet 80% of the day and ESPECIALLY at night all I focus on is my breathing. It's this worry that "what if it's something else"... My heart occasionally stings as well. Just a sharp sting and it makes me focus on my breathing even more. This is totally normal, and when we didn't have anxiety it was happening and we wasn't acknowledging it as anything it's only because we know we have anxiety that our minds our drawn to every bit of detail of the body, the main one being the core, the heart. Your breathing is ok. After reading your post I'm now finding it hard to type this because of my breathing. I'm focussing so much on it at the moment but that's only because I've read what you've put. Go get another ECG if you're seriously worried. But believe me, it's all in the head.

[BIGG12X]

wow.... finally other people who can relate.... I mean I wanan fix it.... forever... before surgrey I wasn't like this

[Registered User]

wow.... finally other people who can relate.... I mean I wanan fix it.... forever... before surgrey I wasn't like this
Do you think you are anxious, or do you believe it's a mechanical thing? Acid reflux and related problems may cause vagus nerve dysfunction.

Out of hope and desperation, and wondering if it's something other than anxiety, I've even researched stuff like food allergies. Food additives such as sulfites (the "200s"), msg and aspartame (etc) are said to cause breathing problems in some people

[BIGG12X]

I am very unpatient and always in a hurry..... always on the road.... always nervous and wanan get everything done so quick... is this a case of it ? I just wanna get rid of it so I breathe normal

[MiST]

This was the symptom that concerned me the most, i still get it but now because i have an understanding of what it is, and the fear -> anxiety -> fear cycle, i no longer let it concern me when it happens, and because i no longer fear the symptoms, my body doesn't release any more of the adrenaline that is causing it.

Now when it happens i just accept it, wait patiently for it to pass, not trying to force breath in any way and let my breathing return to normal.

Remember, your body knows how to breath and you need do nothing to interfere with it.

Your body knows what it is doing and reacts only to the signals you give it. Calm yourself down, realize that you are in no danger, all the strange sensations your body may give you are just perfectly normal reactions to adrenaline.

If you don't fear them, they will soon subside.

[BIGG12X]

so those are sympotoms of anxiety I listed above?

[MiST]

so those are sympotoms of anxiety I listed above?

Absolutely. Tension causes it, giving you the impression that you are unable to expand your chest fully and get a good breath of oxygen.

As long as you have had all the medical tests and they came back clear, it is almost certainly anxiety related.

You will ALWAYS get enough oxygen, and there is also such a thing as over breathing. You try and compensate by breathing in too much, as a result your blood ends up with too much oxygen.

Let your body do the breathing for you and interfere with it as little as possible, your body will not fail you in this department.

As you learn to not fear the symptoms and in turn relax and let go of tension, so to will the symptoms lessen.

Fear brings anxiety, and that brings adrenalin which further increases the symptoms you fear. See the pattern?

When there is nothing to fear, and the symptoms no longer matter, there will be no symptoms and nothing to fear.

Hope that helps.

[BIGG12X]

I see..... but why is it that I need to FULL STOMACH TO FULLNESS for the shortness breathing to go away... this is the syptomom no one knows how to answer....

[BIGG12X]

???????? anyone

[Registered User]

As far as anxiety goes, the only thing I can think of is that large meals are very calming. Google "rest and digest". It explains how large meals are often relaxing.

On the possible mechanical issue with your stomach, Google the following: vagus nerve damage stomach surgery.

I can't post links because I haven't racked up enough posts, but I found several people out there who are convinced that a host of their health problems began after surgery

Remember: I'm no Dr, Butt.....

[BIGG12X]

but do u think its something inside me from the surgrey damaged or what?

[Anne1221]

That's pretty important if you think you may have been damaged by your surgery. Find a nice, kind doctor and get it checked out so you'll know for sure one way or the other.

[BIGG12X]

Yea although surgeon says nothing to do with it.. because impossible in a tummy tuck..... xray of chest clear?

[Anne1221]

I would go to a second doctor and get another opinion. The surgeon is the one who did the operation, I presume, so go to see a second doctor. At least the second doctor may be able to explain to you what is going on. Be SURE and drink plenty of water and keep hydrated. My mother had a problem with something called a "vasal vega nerve" and the doctor told her she needed to drink more water. That cleared up all her troubles.

[BIGG12X]

yea my water intake s 1 gallon + since I bodybuild and diet very clean all year round.... yeah its time to investgate this situation deeper.

[Registered User]

since I bodybuild.....Here's another angle that I just stumbled across:
Do you do a lot of ab work?
Apparently, too-strong/tight upper abs can semi-permanently affect breathing, mostly because posture is altered to the point that there isn't enough room for the diaphragm and lungs to expand properly.

I wouldn't rule out anxiety, but I find that looking into physiological possibilities takes my "mind off my mind"; and you never know, it could even be the cause.
Google stuff about tight abs and breathing problems

[BIGG12X]

any other ideas?