Shortness of breath

[whongvj]

Was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and off citalopram since Kay March.. I just had had my EKG done last April.. My question is why do I get shortness of breath from time to time even if I'm not stressed out? Did anybody here read about shortness of breath and why it happened?

[raggamuffin]

Just because you don't feel stressed out doesn't mean you won't still get anxiety symptoms. Months and months of techniques to reduce and maintain anxiety levels are needed. An hour or day or 2 where you feel stress free won't be enough for the symptoms to disappear entirely. Shortness of breath is another common anxiety symptom. It happens due to anxiety, it can cause us to hyperventialte, shallow breath and in general prevents us from breathing correctly.

Again, it's not dangerous, it's just one of many hundreds of possible things the body does when it's going through an anxiety disorder. You should speak to your Dr about undergoing CBT and read the threads stickied at the top of this forum as they're very useful.

Ed

[surpassit]

I have that same symptom right now. It feels like my chest isnt expanding enough to let all the air I want into my lungs. And im not having a panic attack its just whenever I think about about my breathing, the shortness of breath comes about. And it first started when I was under some intense stress lol. Even as the stress has decreased a little I still have those unsatisfying breaths. But when I did this breathing technique on youtube (I forget what its called) it made things a little better. And if you got on my thread "quick advice, shortness of breath", PanicCured has a great link that tells you what may be causing your symptoms.

[whongvj]

Ragamuffin and surpassit, thank you for your replies.. Really help me calm down.. Yes, I had this symptom many times before and I know it's anxiety but sometimes I still get worried thinking when it is gonna stop.. Will read about cbt and will sure ask my Dr about it. Thank you guys!!