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Always thinking about my breathing!

Does anyone out there know what I'm talking about? I'm constantly thinking about my breathing 24/7! Sure, I find things to distract me for a bit but it seems that is only short lived. The only time I can say that I get relief is when I am asleep, but as soon as I wake up its back to thinking about my breathing. It's really upsetting and causes me tons of anxiety. I have been dealing with this problem for close to three years. I can make it through the day  but not without my breathing being on my mind. I get really discouraged that I have yet to overcome this symptom. Anyone have any advice on how to make it stop for good?
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Avatar universal
I have this problem too,few weeks ago.im with my dad and wathing tv and i saw him breathing then i focus on my breathing and it all start,im SLOWLY getting rid of this,how?i read somewhere in the internet,that our nerves that the ones that do the work,means even if you not breath,automatically yu breath,and it working on me,tho i hope you get rid of this asap cuz i know how ****** is this..and i pray too  :)
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1 Comments
Did it go away ? Cause I’m going through the same thing and I’m scared that it will never go away ..
Avatar universal
This is not normal. It is not you who has the problem but it is the devil, the demon. It is satan.They are trying to let you think that way because they want to stop what suppose to happen to you. It is stopping to read the bible, and know God. It is stopping from thinkingn about him as well as in prayer. God is always there and will never stop helping you. You just need to realize how important praying on this matter .I've been throught this for 10 years. There is nothing that help me out to cure this. EVen therapisth, even somebody even yoga or any techniques right down there. What helps me was the time that i prayed more than i could. And follow what's on the bible. And it stopped there. That kind of feeling is a form of first step evil possesion. So please Pray. And look for God and his son jesus cHRIST.
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Avatar universal
I hope u are better. It's been over a year since your post. I am experiencing same thing I hope it will go away soon.
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1747349 tn?1332683680
I think you should speak to a therapist, it sounds like some kind of Obsessive compulsive thing. The bad thing is it is causing you anxiety. Maybe talking to someone will help relieve these thoughts, maybe they can help you. Good luck and God bless!
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Avatar universal
Dear Mo

I have suffered from this same situation for over 7 years now. The good news is that this condition can be managed in my opinion. It takes hard and diligent work however.

I have spent a lot of time and money trying to heal myself of thus condition. Everything I'm about to write is with the caveat that this was what I experienced. We are all different and might be applicable to me but maybe not to you. Hopefully though this can be of some help to you.

I control or concentrate on my breathing when I'm feeling the need to control my life. I'm feeling suppressed by something. I feel that if I don't control my breathing I'm going to die. Every moment is excruciating as I'm going through this. Minutes feel like hours. It is utterly exhausting and upsetting. I feel like a freak for feeling this way. I wonder if any of this resonates with you?

For me I went to see a therapist. I had to really get deep inside to see what was going on. I had a severely dysfunctional childhood that included a neurotic mother and an alcoholic father who left my family when I was 12 never to be seen or heard from since. My mother got remarried and that was awful. Let's just say that things got worse and first chance I got I moved out.

But I was scarred inside, sounds that could not be seen from the outside. No amount of suppression or positive thinking was going to cure this, though I tried. I believe that many people try to numb the pain by taking drugs, becoming alcoholics or some other method so they can just suppress their pain. For some like me I don't want to do these things and I want to face my fears and mind head on.

I don't know if any of this resonates with you but I hope it does in some way.

My advice:

- Obvious but you need to figure out what you're trying to control. You need to figure out the underlying reasons contributing to your concentration on your breathing
- Try engaging in present moment awareness when you are feeling panicky. As you lay in bed focus on the present - the room you are in, decorations or pictures on the walls, the color of the walls. The point being to focus your mind on the present and to distract you from thinking about the past or future which in my mind causes a lot of anxiety
- See my post for the calm and cool clinic. This is a helpful resource
- Stay away from fried, sugary and caffeinated foods
-Meditation and yoga have really helped particularly yoga which teaches you to breathe in a healthy way. True it requires you to concentrate on your breathing "again" but will help you focus on calming techniques and the benefits of deep breathing. Yoga gives you permission to focus on your breathing. The worst thing is the suppression in which you keep telling yourself to stop but you can't. The more you suppress the worse it is. You need to give yourself a break and accept it until your associated anxiety goes away. Both meditation and yoga help with this.

This is a book. I hope this helps. I will be back to check out comments and see how you're doing.
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4059843 tn?1541419296
I cannot offer help as I am still young, but I can imagine and have experienced most of what you feel. I don't get tons of anxiety when I concentrate on my breathing, I may get some, and usually I will feel like my breaths became harder and less easy to take. So I sometimes start to panic when I focus on  it too much... If that makes sense? So I don't think about it 24/7, only sometimes, I did however do it a lot in the past...
I hope you can find good help out there and here on Medhelp. Sorry I don't have advice, I just felt like I could relate to what you are saying. :) Good Luck!!
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