Many years ago I had sort of panic attacks or anxiety that lasted around 2 years, in my mind I didn't have any type of conscious preoccupation (I believe), but I would have this need to breathe, I felt like I wasn't breathing enough oxygen, and also the constant need to breath in deeply but rarely getting that satisfying full inhalation sensation; and instead getting an increasing need to get a succesful deep inhalation. That could last for full days, even once I ended up in emergency because I thought I had an issue with my lungs, but the doc told me it was anxiety. The thing is that sometimes I still get that sensation, not to the effect that I used to (maybe 20% of what I used feel), but it gets somewhat uncomfortable. These past few days I've felt like that, right now as I'm writing this post I inhaled deeply maybe around 5 times. So my questions are: What do you think this is about? Have you find a solution if you experience this? What do you do? What should I do
I'm generally an "anxious" person, because I'm obsessed with the future. Anytime I was not in my element (isolated, improving without being monitored) I'd start to get this domino of various awful things, from losing my lactose tolerance, scratching my face until it bled, amplified awareness to sound, migraines, and a pervading sense of doom. What it came down to was this: I wasn't matching my expectations for myself, because I was in the wrong environment to thrive. Consequently, I'd pigeonhole myself out of shame and spiral. I'm out of those places now, and I've seen all those things vanish. What helped me- perhaps the only thing- that didn't send me completely over the edge in those "hostile" environments was no less than two hours of exercise before entering them, alongside meditation. Also consider seeing an "Ear, throat & nose" specialist if you can afford it- turned out I had misplaced cartilage in my nose that was cutting off my oxygen supply for the better part of a decade when I had my first appointment.
@Swift Escape damn, it sounds like you had it worse than me. Did you use to snore by the way? I've heard that people who snore have problems with the nose architecture too
I suffer from anxiety too, social anxiety but also more general anxiety and have had this feeling of not being able to breathe in fully like you described. Especially when Corona happened, I often felt anxious that I had caught the virus (but never did) which I think triggered that feeling of not being able to breathe properly in the first place. The most effective solution for me is to not focus on it and distract myself from that feeling as its only in my head. Then it usually went away on its own.
Nah but I did come close to suffocating in my sleep a handful of times. Suffice to say, I feel a lot better now.
During the lockdown when covid-19 was constantly on the news so much fear spread, I remember wondering what this odd feeling in my chest was, I started breathing harder and suddenly got panicky that I might die from covid. I started speaking Christian affirmations to myself such as, "I'm a child of God no weapon formed against me can prosper", I quickly calmed down and was fine. I so surprised though, I was asking myself if I was about to have a panic attack just then because it had never happened before. I find meditating on the Word of God to helpful.
I am not sure I understand, but I just meant that it helps me to distract myself from mentally focusing on the physical symptoms of my anxiety that are just in my head, because then I get them out of my head and with that out of my body. It doesn't matter whether I consciously know that I am imagining Corona symptoms or if it is some subconscious stress/anxiety trigger. Good luck!
Interesting method Appreciate it. Actually I started meditating twice a day a couple of days ago and the symptoms completely vanished on day 1. I will not stop now
Whenever I realize I feel anxious, the first thing I do is ask myself why. I try to get to the bottom of whether or not there is a reason, and what that reason is. Sometimes when I discover what the reason is, either it's something I can fix (like if I'm anxious about something I need to do, I can just go do it and get it done so I'm not anxious anymore), or it's something I really don't need to be anxious about and I can try to remind myself of truth and the fact that I don't need to be anxious about that. The more frustrating times are when I don't feel like there is a reason, and I just feel anxious for seemingly no reason. It's tough to fix that. But reading the Bible and praying usually helps me. Especially if I do that daily, that's especially helpful to avoid getting to that point of feeling anxious in the first place.
This is what works for to me , i still have anxietity but far less with this methods. It's not necessary to do all at the day. -Workout -Read a book. -Paint a picture. -Took an instrument . -Deep breath of 3 minutes on the bed. -Be grateful for something. -Meditation 5 minutes . -Listen relax music for 5 minutes. -Avoid procrastination. -Buy a ball anti-stress and use. - Take the sunlight for 10 minutes on the first hours of the day. - Use a fidger spinner. -Write your feelings on a paper to let it fluid.
Also, for intense moments of high anxiety, dunking your face/head and hands in ice cold water is supposed to be a good way to shock your body out of that anxious state. I think cold showers can work somewhat similarly, but even just going to the sink and splashing really cold water on your face could help.
