shortness of breath/chest tightness with no other symptoms

[babymonkey]

I am a perfectly healthy, athletic 30-yr. old female who for the past week has been experiencing difficulty breathing with a tightness in my left upper chest.  I struggle to get a deep breath and sometimes have to yawn to do so.  If I thought about it enough and panicked, I could hypervetalate trying to catch my breath.  The only relief I get is when laying down to sleep or rest.  This started out of nowhere.  At first I suspected allergies--don't have a problem, but had spent the weekend outdoors and had kicked around some hay (literally) which I felt may have irritated my throat/chest.  Two days ago had a chest x-ray and EKG.  Doc sent me away like I was crazy telling me that it was probably stress or anxiety (even though I told him I didn't feel stressed or anxious) and to take a xanax and I would be better in a couple of days.  Any thoughts?  If it's nothing, great!  But I have tried to 'think my way out of it' and have ahd plenty of rest humoring the idea that it is stress.  Could a chest x-ray miss something like pleurisy or something else that might not show-up on an x-ray?

[vleung]

I am reading this thread because I could not find an answer from the doctors, and I want to know I am not crazy. My symptoms sound similar to some of you I read (although not so much with the yawning).

Female, 31, non-smoker (although currently under the influences of second-hand smoke which I am sensitive to, and the details outside the scope of this topic).

With or without the cigarettes, for many years I have been prone to sensations of feeling I am about to suffocate. It typically happens when I am indoors when the air does not move around much, in movie theatres, at home, buildings. Others around me would feel perfectly fine and I would feel like I am running out of oxygen and need to breathe deeply, up to a point I need to rush outdoors where there is more moving air, or I would start having a panic attack. I often wake up in the middle of the night feeling suffocated and needed to go outside to get some fresh air.

My chest usually unusually compressed and it just feels like my lungs don't expand as readily as they should.

One more thing that might be related is, my heart rate goes up a lot even with minimal walking or anything (and tends to get worse with more second-hand smoke.)

All doctors I talked to say it's just stress and in the mind. I had some general tests on lung function years ago, and they found nothing. I know my iron count is on the low end (although deemed normal) and I used to have fainting spells when small.

Please comment and if anything, thanks for sharing because it makes me feel I am not crazy and alone on this. The problem has been bothering me for years and seem to be getting worse.

[JohnSena]

I have the same exact problem that many users here seem to have and have had it for about a year.
-Not always being able to take deep breaths
-Slight pain/tightness in the left side of my chest
-Tightness in the Shoulders and Lower Back
-Increased Yawning

Like others have said I too believe that the problem is mostly caused by mental stress.  I

[Violet21]

I have this issue too, I am a 22 year old girl have had all the tests etc... i went through hell trying to figure this out last year. For me it gets worse with PMS and when I feel anxious or stressed.

I believe what this is is called hyperventilation syndrome and there is a book available on it on Ebay. I have not tried it yet because I am scared of making it worse somehow but I am going to.

I feel like I have to yawn and sigh alot and get a funny feeling between my shoulder blades in my back. It is REALLY annoying.

It seems easier when I get excersize, sometimes.

I would advise trying to get into shape. It might help. Especially core stabiity stuff.. respiratory pysiotherapists can treat this disorder by retraining your breathing. There are none in my city that I know of yet but I am looking! Please update any progress :(

Also, 1 in 10 people has this don't feel alone.

[G.P.]

I'm looking through these forums because of all the agony my husband went through in trying to get a diagnosis for chest tightness, shortness of breath, etc.  He had a lot of trouble breathing while lying down, and could not take a deep breath.  He also has trouble clearing mucous out of his lungs.

He was rubber-stamped as having chronic bronchitis, but only showed a mildly affected breath test, which did not match up with the severity of his symptoms.  We went to the emergency room many many times, where he was put on a nebulizer, and over many months dosed with inhalers, steroids, etc., none of which helped at all.  He had X-rays, upper GI series, and a full cardiac workup.  None of these doctors or radiologists (or the first pulmonologit we saw) came up with anything else.

Finally he was correctly diaganosed by another pulmonologist as having a paralyzed diaphragm.  I urge anyone who has these symptoms, and does not respond to asthma treatments to have this checked out.  His pulmonologist could tell just by looking at the chest X-ray that this was likely the cause, and a "sniff" test confirmed it.

From what I've read, if it's due to idiopathic (no known cause) or bruising of the phrenic nerve, function should return, although it may take as long as a year and a half.  There isn't any treatment, but knowing what it is removes a lot of the anxiety.  He has found certain positions that allow gravity to pull the diaphragm aside so he can breathe better when he sleeps.

I've read where a fever or virus can irritate the phrenic nerve.  It's runs from the spine, down the shoulder and to the diaphragm in the chest.

[shortofbreath]

Please, no more saying it's anxiety or stress! I have the shortness of breath, racing heart, sensitive to touch skin, constant head rushes and sudden weight gain. Have had it for two months, out of the blue. Non-smoker, not overweight. I have had cardiologist, allergy and pulmonary testing...negative! It's not being out of shape or anxiety we have. You do not get severely short of breath from making your bed if you are out of shape! If one more doctor tries to say anxiety, have none, instead of finding a real diagnosis I am going to let them have it. The doctors in this country are the crazy ones. Too lazy to make a diagnosis and leave people suffering.

Exercising is not the answer all the time. There has to be a real diagnosis for this problem.

[emmisela]

I am so relieved to be hearing these stories.  I am a 33 year old, very active mother w/shortness of breath most days.  I run an average of 20 miles a week, play soccer and many other activities.  My shortness of breath goes in spurts.  Sometimes it's three weeks of all day long trouble.  Then I might have a couple of weeks where I notice I am breathing okay.  I also do the fake yawn thing to catch a full breath.  I have heard that so many times while reading this.  What is that?  I also have an extremely elevated heart rate, mostly while exercising, which is curious since I am so active.
Do any of you out there have any kind of heart diagnosis for this or is the general consensus that it's in the head?  It's so frustrating.