Can't get a deep breath / Difficulty Breathing

[Baltmaa]

Hi - I've been having difficulty breathing for at least the last 9-10 years...and it's a daily thing.  I am 31 years old, am healthy (exercise almost daily, eat healthily, am not overweight, do not smoke, and only drink socially), and yet I always feel like my breathing is extremely laboured.  I constantly yawn to try to catch a satisfying breath.  There are some periods throughout the day where it's not laboured and I feel as if I breathe normally, but then it creeps up on me and I have to start yawning again.  My nose feels very clogged all the time and my chest, stomach, and back muscles feel very constricted when breathing.  It's especially noticeable when I am working out...especially running and lifting weights.  I have to stop every once in a while just to yawn (frustrating) to stop from getting dizzy.  It's also noticeable as I am trying to go to sleep and/or when I've had a glass or 2 of wine.  I was "diagnosed" with exercise-induced asthma 9-10 years ago, but I think this was a mis-diagnosis as the inhalers never work (I've tried all sorts) and they usually end up making me feel worse.  After using the inhaler I always end up coughing up fluid and my breathing sounds gurgle-ly  (so I don't take them any more unless I feel I really need to...note that I have never had a full blown asthma attack).  I'm worried that it could be something else (was exposed to TB as a teenager, but took the "horse pills" for 6 months and was told I was fine), but none of my doctors will really listen to me.  They see that I am slim and active, and they dismiss me - I live in the UK (free socialised healthcare - so not a lot of time to spend with patients).  Has anyone else experienced this?  I see lots of threads on here with the same topic, but they all have to do with taking medications, being overweight, being a current/past smoker, being depressed/having anxiety, etc.  Please help - I'm tired of living like this.  I'm worried that I could be living with something undiagnosed that could rear it's ugly head one day.

[JimiMiddleFinger63]

Just now noticed this thread. I have the same issues. It is Hyperventilation or overbreathiing syndrome. And it's a Son of A ******. I have experienced some health issues in my life....Chronic back, neck and shoulder issues, Bad ulcers when I was in my early 20s....but nothing like this. all Drs can do is prescribe meds for the anxiety and give encouragement. The rest is on yourself. I'ts about breathing right. I do the exercises and it will help for a while.....then if I start thinking about it (which is how it all started for me in the first place ) it will rise from some dark corner of my mind and bite my *** all over again. what makes it worse is I am a long term pain pill patient/ addict...and I'm sure there is a connection. Because in the a.m. I am fine until I take my 1st dose of meds. I am trying to taper but fear that this problem will defeat me. Miserable thing for a human being to have to experience. I wish SOMEONE would just come up with a damn cure. Perusing forums I have come to realize that this is not a "rare" condition. You would think medical minds would put more effort into this than the script pad. But there is big $$ in suffering I guess. Day to day fight. Good luck to everyone afflicted by this....

[frederickseh]

I have the same problem it ***** only thing that helps me is drinking.. i think it is anxiety and it just compounds itself

[johnjohn1982]

Hello there ,
   My name is John and I want to share my story with you about this air hunger feeling. This all happened about a year ago. I couldn't breath at first at night and then it started happening all day. I'm a very stubborn person and I was determined to get to the bottom of this. I reaserched article after article, book after book and visited doctor after doctor. I took into effect GERD, thyroidism, anxiety and anything else you could think of. I couldn't find anything and it was all that I thought of. Now it might seem crazy that I am saying this but there is nothing wrong with you at all. Its all in your head, but that doesn't mean that your crazy. I'm normal as hell it just means that you are paying too mucg attention to your body. Step back and away from your body and do something to distract yourself. I guarantee as well that mostly everyone this is happening to is a mouth breather. I reccomend learning to breath again, it might seems crazy but this has been what has happened/ You have forgotten how to breath naturally, your second guessing your subconscious. Take breathing treatments from youtube and learn to breath from your diaphragm.  This is all anxiety related. To this day after a year almost I have no problems at all with this problem, and if I do its only for a split second a month. Don't let anxiety take over your life, you can beat this

[AlexHough]

This sounds like hyperventilation syndrome.  
Try physiohypervent.org

[pinkgrass]

Ok, so I am still working on reading through all of these comments. However, I would like to openly share my take on this as I read through hundreds of you all suffering from similar symptoms as I am. I normally don't rush to the internet for ideas of answers since most don't share their delightful days & experience, unless logged into Facebook ;) Symptom & sympathy forums destroyed the 1st trimester of my pregnancy as I hung out chatting with like moms-to-be who were 'suffering from loss', 'high-risk', and 'over 35'. We tend to lean on each other for support as we are all suffering somehow. However, when I pulled my nose out of the books and deleted myself from these forums, I was able to relax and go with my situation seeking the positive about becoming a mother soon and doing what I could to feel better. Alright...just an example. I am glad I found this forum, but 'take it all with a grain of salt' we say. If you do google shortness of breath on a reputable site you will come up with around 65+ possible causes. Perhaps go down the list of them one-by-one ruling out each...? I am certainly no doctor, but doctors are not magicians either. "Text Book" is what they know. They study loads and read & research case studies to get exposure to everything they can possibly hold in their heads. They diagnose, not cure. they cannot see clearly inside of us. Be aware that YOU are the best listener to your body, especially as you age. (sending so I wont loose this!)

[pinkgrass]

i just found this too...in a search for ideas. i will post more later-after i read more posts. I have 'asthma' and stress, like everyone in the world, of course. but never had an attack like recently. yawning for air, etc is something I have always dealt with, in a very way, but have always been quite active, etc. but recently i had a racy heart that sent me to the clinic in the clinic in the am following a nite where i couldnt catch a deep breathe or lung-full...or 'yawn' for long periods of time that worsened over a few days. it was my 2nd incident like this and the other was just a few months before. today, or should i say this week, is my 3rd 3-6 day spurt of this. the doc did find my thyroid quite low, but in the border and not below...so i will check again in a couple of months to consider or rule it out. i have a 3-year old with food allergies so we are accustomed to 'elimination diets'. i tried going bread free but kept cheating and was planning to try dairy next, etc...when just yesterday i realized that big attacks are from the a/c (air conditioning)...not just in my home but in the car, mall, and supermarket. this is a tough one as i am an american living in dubai so its always hot as h*ll here! Thank god its winter now so only 80's F and not in the hundreds, like usual. I am still short of breath but its not sever...i can live with it but would rather not! I will contunue trying long periods, or short, of elimination and testing them too. try this. try products, try foods, try cutting out 1 habit.