Stress-induced breathing bullshit?

Vadym

Vadym

do u even auto,m8?
Jul 11, 2009
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At random times, seems like I can't get a deep breathe in - only thing that helps is yawning or not paying attention. If I'm occupied - I don't notice, but since it's become a daily trouble, I am aware of my breathing at all times - which just perpetuates the fucking cycle.

Obviously it's not an actual shortness/lack of breath or I'd be dead... 5.5 months ago.

I've been doing research on this for months now ever since I developed it about 6 months ago - and the common roots I've found are:

a. stress
b. 80% of the people i see asking about it are computer people
c. doctors are all stupid in regards to it

Anyone have this - or have learned how to handle it/resolve it? I was surprised to find so many IT/computer people managing w this problem - so I assume there'd be atleast a handful who know/have on here.

Honestly - I can't even identify what stress is or how to relieve it. Everything is stressful if you're not a trust fund brat or semi-retarded, so wtf brain - y u doin this to me? I've started exercising again very actively again past few months - which if it's helped, I don't know it.

Canadian "free healthcare" means everyone gets their 10 minutes, but noone gets a fucking answer - so doctor is useless. The only use for one would be to get some Xanax/that type of crap - which I've researched gets rid of the symptoms with the anxiety but adds a whole other cartload of issues to your health.

Anyone have experience with the issue or what's helped? I'm not sure if I should take pills, relocate to a hot climate and abandon everything, or shoot up a movie theatre.
 


dogs yawn because of stress. i've noticed my dog licks his own ass from time to time. how limber are you?
 
Vadym said:
not that limber.
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heh, righto. on a serious note, stress is a function of perspective & as such no different from fear/anger/grief or any of the other negative emotions. try NLP or any other program that works to shift your perspective from 'inside' the experience to 'outside' the experience.

if you're aware of anyone else experiencing a pressure situation (ie, the olympic athletes) and while watching them you didn't hyperventilate, the difference is a matter of ego (beliefs about yourself relative to them). NLP will help with that. once you get a more realistic perspective on time & space, your anxiety/stress will evaporate.

FYI - everything is not stressful. nothing is stressful. its all a matter of perspective.
 
than_west said:
So, you've already concluded the source of his problem and suggest he deals with a hypothetical of a hypothetical?
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Let's leave the thinking to smart people, and you can go back to chasing attention from larger, stronger males online, mmkay?

drave said:
the source of the stress is him, n'est-ce pas?
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I don't know what it is. Maybe he doesn't get enough sleep. Maybe he is worried about the taxman. Maybe his gf left him. Maybe he is a hypochondriac.

Whatever the issue is, which is manifesting itself in some sort of anxiety/stress related physical dysfunction, I *think* he may be better off dealing with that root issue, rather than masking it with drugs.

ymmv
 
guerilla said:
I *think* he may be better off dealing with that root issue, rather than masking it with drugs.

ymmv
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i completely agree. i think he'd be best off recognizing that the root issue is him, and dealing with that instead of fixing the myriad of external possibilities.
 
If this was happening to me, and it did in the past, I might

Try to get more sleep
Visit a Naturopath
Cut out alcohol, drugs and caffeine for a bit

The Canadian healthcare system is useless, everyone gets access (well, almost) but very few get cured. Doctors I have had expressed no interest in my longterm health or quality of life.

Naturpaths are (generally) ok because they aren't invasive and they have to hustle for the money.
 
drave said:
heh, righto. on a serious note, stress is a function of perspective & as such no different from fear/anger/grief or any of the other negative emotions. try NLP or any other program that works to shift your perspective from 'inside' the experience to 'outside' the experience.

if you're aware of anyone else experiencing a pressure situation (ie, the olympic athletes) and while watching them you didn't hyperventilate, the difference is a matter of ego (beliefs about yourself relative to them). NLP will help with that. once you get a more realistic perspective on time & space, your anxiety/stress will evaporate.

FYI - everything is not stressful. nothing is stressful. its all a matter of perspective.
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Going to look into this nao. I became too cynical or pessimistic or something too young and just always associated with "those pansies that have anxiety attacks"... and then became one :/

than_west said:
What is your diet like?

How much do you exercise?

How much do you sleep?

Are you overweight?

I'm guessing its your diet and you're blaming stress, but I'm not as smart as guerilla who knows all.
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Last 2 months I've been back to about 2-3 hours a day of exercise. Lifting 4-5x a week [lost joy of it a year ago and did poor maintenance work/eat probably about half my actual daily protein requirement, but seems like it's coming back now full force] - and cardio daily.

I thought everything was fine for a long time when I came back to proper daily fitness - and then got another attack again recently thats as bad as the bad ones.

I sleep 8 hours a night or so. Usually cannot sleep less than 8 hours, tend to wake up 8 hours later on the dot no matter when I go to bed, and rarely sleep in unless I was up all night.

Still probably about 20-25lbs overweight - but working on that. That's the one solution I'm hoping will solve this shit as well. Not looking slobby again = stress leaves ze brain. So I'm on that religiously.

guerilla said:
You need to address the source of the stress.
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I've thought about this for hours and I don't really know what destressing would be because I do not crave anything. I can't even classify stress. Pretty much been stressful for past 2-3 years. But in erms of craving, I don't get excited about sitting on a beach with a drink, or tropical forest-y areas so many Thailand expats enjoy. I don't even know if getting there will cause a whole new type of stress on me or magically disappear.

I guess my plan of action is god-like fitness > new environment > pills forever.
 
guerilla said:
The Canadian healthcare system is useless, everyone gets access (well, almost) but very few get cured. Doctors I have had expressed no interest in my longterm health or quality of life.
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just so much truth :(

I've already set up an appointment with a Naturopath actually - luckily my folks got on the hippy happy health and mindset path 2 years ago and know all about that around Van.

I'm 100% the problem is in my head - but this isn't a shrink thing, so until I fix my shit one thing at a time, attempting solutions to cope. I just gotta find one goddamn person who's had this and took steps to fix it - that alone would probably weight off the brain. Unfortunate for every medical forum, etc - only those who have the symptoms speak up, those who get it fixed disappear.
 
Vadym said:
just so much truth :(

I've already set up an appointment with a Naturopath actually - luckily my folks got on the hippy happy health and mindset path 2 years ago and know all about that around Van.
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I had a great Naturopath in Quesnel, but he retired a couple years ago.

I am sure there are some good ones down in Van. I didn't believe in that stuff, but seeing is believing and I have seen awesome results for a lot of people who to see a Naturopath vs medicating with big pharma.

Good luck.
 
You most likely have managed to create a feedback loop in your brain where getting stressed makes you take shallower breaths. Shorter breaths are less efficient at clearing CO2 and bringing in Oxygen. The makes you feel stressed. So you take shallower breaths. And so on.

You need to learn how to breath properly. Most people don't know how because we're not often taught in the west.

Look down at yourself as you breath - if the main movement is your chest rising and falling, you're doing it wrong. Breathing should come from the belly.

A good hatha yoga teacher who focuses on pranayama (yogic breathing) will teach you how to do this in a few lessons, and it will work wonders with a bit of practise.

If you can't find one, I guess a pilates teacher or alexander technique teacher could help too.
 
Vadym said:
I'm 100% the problem is in my head - but this isn't a shrink thing, so until I fix my shit one thing at a time, attempting solutions to cope. I just gotta find one goddamn person who's had this and took steps to fix it - that alone would probably weight off the brain. Unfortunate for every medical forum, etc - only those who have the symptoms speak up, those who get it fixed disappear.
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No, it's not a shrink thing, it's a poor habit you've developed, like slouching or picking your nose when you're in the car.

I learned about this initially when I decided to overcome my fear of flying. I went on an awesome course which was 50% talking to pilots, 50% psychologists. The psychologist taught us the breathing thing and it worked 100%.

Then when I did yoga and meditation, I learned it a whole lot more, and have a much better control over my emotional state as a result. It's really freaky how much of how you feel is determined by your breathing patterns.
 
Vadym said:
I guess my plan of action is god-like fitness > new environment > pills forever.
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you have to get to the point where you see how little things matter, and i mean everything. practice watching your memories from 10' up, then 100', then 1000', then a mile, then from the space station, then from the universe. practice seeing yourself today from 10 minutes ago, then an hour, then a day, then a week, then a year, then 10 years, then 100 years, then from 10m years ago. do it until you conclude reality: in the scope of time & space, you don't matter, just like hitler & jesus & cromagnon man. we're all just specks of dust in an infinite timeline.

in that light, how could you ever be stressed/anxious over anything? the difference between that reality and your stress is one thing: you think something is "important". seriously?? on that scale?? quit deluding yourself. nothing is stress-worthy. nothing.
 
Vadym said:
I just gotta find one goddamn person who's had this and took steps to fix it - that alone would probably weight off the brain. Unfortunate for every medical forum, etc - only those who have the symptoms speak up, those who get it fixed disappear.
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you think i came to my conclusions because i DIDN'T have to struggle with this for decades? its tough duty. unlike most here, i'm not 21 years old.
 
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