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Anxiety and difficulty catching your breath

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whiteraven

MyPTSD Pro
I have had this ever since I was little - around 5 or so is the first time I remember it. It stands out for me because at the time when my dad caught me taking deep breaths and yawning, he yelled at me to "stop breathing like that!"

This is a difficulty getting enough air, having to take a deep breath to feel like I am, and sometimes yawning to increase the flow of the breath.

It was diagnosed many years ago as anxiety, but now everybody in my heath team tells me anxiety doesn't cause that. I've had a ton of tests - generally - my blood pressure is and always has been fine, all my heart blood work has been normal, I do occasionally have an irregular rhythm which seems to be associated with caffeine intake and anxiety, etc....

What I mostly want to know is if anyone else here ever experiences this?
 
I went to the university clinic when I was in school with the exact same kind of breathing problems. They also diagnosed anxiety. They were a uniformly terrible clinic but on that one thing I think they happened to get it right.

I think it's being hyper-aware of your breath. I remember that I just couldn't seem to catch my breath, so breathing deeper and longer and then yawning on purpose. I think I ended up just trying to distract myself when I felt that way and telling myself my breathing was OK. I got better.

But I think if my dad had told me as a kid to "stop breathing like that" like yours did, it would have made it into a much bigger deal.
 
@whiteraven I do the same during a panic attack. I never use to notice it but deep breathing excersises work well for me when I’m able.

My husband or Mom will help me with these. Unknowingly I tend to hold my breath which makes it worse when I’m in a bad state of mind.

Let me know if you would like me to send you a breathing excercise.
 
Short shallow breaths is a symptom of anxiety / adrenaline overflow. It’s a good thing when adrenaline is needed... it changes your o2/Co2 balance so you can actually hold your breath longer, it helps to hyper oxygenate your blood (that’s being pumped faster to your muscles and organs in preparation for fight/flight), and a whole bunch of other chemically interesting (read boring) things. Super useful biological process. Unless it’s panic/anxiety, instead of necessary fight/flight.

Long, slow, even, deep breathes are a way to FIGHT that overreacting anxiety response. To bring unnecessary systems back down from the stratosphere. Whether it’s a single deep breath to center yourself, or a looooooong process of square breathing to help ground out a panic attack.

So it’s not a sign OF anxiety.
It’s a sign of MANAGING anxiety.

Sounds like you’ve been doing it for so long, and were punished for it so often, that it’s become linked as part of the bad? Instead of a tool / good thing?
 
I think it's being hyper-aware of your breath. I remember that I just couldn't seem to catch my breath, so breathing deeper and longer and then yawning on purpose. I think I ended up just trying to distract myself when I felt that way and telling myself my breathing was OK. I got better.

Yeah, I do notice that the more I'm engaged heavily in some activity that I like, I don't do it. Or it's less noticeable.

But I think if my dad had told me as a kid to "stop breathing like that" like yours did, it would have made it into a much bigger deal.

Thanks for saying that. A long while ago, my therapist comment that being told to "stop breathing.......like that" might definitely stick with a person. I never thought about it before that. (And apparently he's forgotten the whole conversation).
 
Short shallow breaths is a symptom of anxiety / adrenaline overflow.

Yes! This is what I recall, but couldn't find it anywhere.

So it’s not a sign OF anxiety.
It’s a sign of MANAGING anxiety.

Thank you!

Sounds like you’ve been doing it for so long, and were punished for it so often, that it’s become linked as part of the bad? Instead of a tool / good thing?

Me and everybody else in my life, apparently. I think it's especially hard for me when people who should know don't or are unable to acknowledge what I'm going through.

So glad to have come here. People who get it. :-)
 
In some situations I find I struggle to have a “satiating” breath. I have a respirologist that follows me and has diagnosed me with asthma. I’ve gone to her a few times reporting that the inhaler does not work. Now I was diagnosed with PTSD and have been working with a therapist, it has come to light that this gasp for air may have largely been anxiety. Or, even a combination of both.

Others have noted my breathing issues, as I often have to stop and try to take a deep breath. Many people would ask why I “sigh” so much (as I forcefully exhale trying to regulate my breathing again)
 
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