Stress-induced breathing bullshit?

I GET THIS. I think it's down to anxiety/stress, because when I'm occupied or 'happy' I don't get it. When I'm socialising or away from home I don't get it. But when I'm at the computer for hours and there's not much going on, I get the urges to breathe deep, and it gets frustrating because it doesn't come, and you just want that satisfying feeling of a deep breath which goes all the way down the lungs...

For me an instant fix is running, I recommend running after you wake up, and then running again in the afternoon/evening. Run for about 15-20 minutes each time, and don't exert yourself too much, just enough to break a small sweat or get yourself panting a bit. Take a lot of breaks from your computer, if you live in a house and work from home make sure your office is 1 or 2 flights of stairs away from your kitchen/bathroom. Make sure you have to move a lot.

Problem a lot of us have is there is little reason to leave the computer, and it will cause problems like blood pressure/palpitations/breathing problems because your body isn't designed to be stationary in one position.

Ok just read that you exercise 2-3 hours a day which is a fucking lot if you ask me. So don't really know what to say. Keep us posted as I'm interested to see how you will resolve it.
 


Vadym, I never had shortness of breath in my life ever until I tried nicotine patches(never smoked before). They made prone to stress/anxiety. I've read that all addictive substances 'damage' brain area which is responsible for stress coping. I've been 9 months nicotine free now - getting better, but still nowhere near what i was before nicotine exposure.
My advise will be cut of alchohol, nicotine, cafeine, sugar and get more sleep and exercise. You should feel better within couple of months.
 
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.

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.
Click to expand...

When you feel the anxiety coming on you need to cut ALL stimulants out, since most of them trigger a stress response from your brain which will spread to your body. When I'm good; I can hammer esspresso, when I'm bad; one caffeine drink of any kind sets off a nasty chain-reaction that only sleep (when it finally comes) can cure. Same with weed and booze, drugs of all kinds.

If you don't have a significant other currently, that could be the problem: Lack of sex and closeness can really put you in a mentally stressful place. After my last big panic attack, which prolonged for over 5 weeks, I went out and started dating/banging girls and I've been relatively symptom free since then.

You're right about doctors here not giving two hoots. Most will tell you to look up anxiety online for relief. Try to pay attention to your dreams when you feel the shortness of breath symptoms -- see if you can notice any trends that might translate to your reality. I used to say the same shit about not being able to see what I was stressed about; but if it's indeed anxiety you're dealing with, it can't be buried as deep as you think to manifest itself physically like it is.

Have you been checked out?... xrays and such? I feel your pain man, I thought I had lung cancer, heart disease or something like that for the longest time -- til a few Emerg visits and finding out I was in tip-top physical health.

Just remember that you can't ignore it. I succumbed to the symptoms while I was working out hard a few times: sharp chest pains, unable to breath and slow my heart down. Exercise helps most panic symptoms, but in my case it didn't prevent me from being overwhelmed by them.

Used to think panic sufferers were pussies before this happened to me too.
 
King. said:
I GET THIS. I think it's down to anxiety/stress, because when I'm occupied or 'happy' I don't get it. When I'm socialising or away from home I don't get it. But when I'm at the computer for hours and there's not much going on, I get the urges to breathe deep, and it gets frustrating because it doesn't come, and you just want that satisfying feeling of a deep breath which goes all the way down the lungs...

For me an instant fix is running, I recommend running after you wake up, and then running again in the afternoon/evening. Run for about 15-20 minutes each time, and don't exert yourself too much, just enough to break a small sweat or get yourself panting a bit. Take a lot of breaks from your computer, if you live in a house and work from home make sure your office is 1 or 2 flights of stairs away from your kitchen/bathroom. Make sure you have to move a lot.

Problem a lot of us have is there is little reason to leave the computer, and it will cause problems like blood pressure/palpitations/breathing problems because your body isn't designed to be stationary in one position.

Ok just read that you exercise 2-3 hours a day which is a fucking lot if you ask me. So don't really know what to say. Keep us posted as I'm interested to see how you will resolve it.
Click to expand...

I get this too although I'm not sure if it's stress or my allergies...or both.

It would not surprise me if it's stress related as I've had some weird symptoms lately which seem like they're caused by anxiety and I've experienced anxiety in the past. You never realize how stressed you are until symptoms of anxiety appear...and the symptoms can manifest itself as all sorts of shit.

Years ago it was pins and needles in different places, then night terrors, then panic attacks, then heart palpitations. Just one large, negative event in your life can set this stuff off.

I think I'm going to look into this breathing thing myself. Maybe that will help with my own anxiety.
 
IMHopeful said:
When you feel the anxiety coming on you need to cut ALL stimulants out, since most of them trigger a stress response from your brain which will spread to your body. When I'm good; I can hammer esspresso, when I'm bad; one caffeine drink of any kind sets off a nasty chain-reaction that only sleep (when it finally comes) can cure. Same with weed and booze, drugs of all kinds.

If you don't have a significant other currently, that could be the problem: Lack of sex and closeness can really put you in a mentally stressful place. After my last big panic attack, which prolonged for over 5 weeks, I went out and started dating/banging girls and I've been relatively symptom free since then.

You're right about doctors here not giving two hoots. Most will tell you to look up anxiety online for relief. Try to pay attention to your dreams when you feel the shortness of breath symptoms -- see if you can notice any trends that might translate to your reality. I used to say the same shit about not being able to see what I was stressed about; but if it's indeed anxiety you're dealing with, it can't be buried as deep as you think to manifest itself physically like it is.

Have you been checked out?... xrays and such? I feel your pain man, I thought I had lung cancer, heart disease or something like that for the longest time -- til a few Emerg visits and finding out I was in tip-top physical health.

Just remember that you can't ignore it. I succumbed to the symptoms while I was working out hard a few times: sharp chest pains, unable to breath and slow my heart down. Exercise helps most panic symptoms, but in my case it didn't prevent me from being overwhelmed by them.

Used to think panic sufferers were pussies before this happened to me too.
Click to expand...

seriously? no mention of the angry pillow or a dr. phil recommendation? well, i guess those are covered under "x-rays & such". quality advice.
 
IMHopeful said:
Read again. Wasn't implying resorting to "quackery" there friend.
Click to expand...

lets line item what you were implying:

ALL stimulants (quack)
Lack of sex and closeness (quaaack)
trends that might translate to your reality (quaaaaaak)
xrays and such (quaaaakedeyquack)
working out hard (quackquack)

not at all.
 
Vadym said:
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.
Click to expand...

Mate, I used to get it all the time.

I'm not particularly stressed, I live a pretty relaxed life. I do get anxiety but nothing out of control. Anyway I went to my usual local GP and he sent me for a chest xray, came back saying I had signs of inflammation related to asthma. So the doctor prescribed me a steroid inhaler to reduce the inflammation and a regular asthma inhaler.

Shit made no difference after a month, so I found a much more thorough doctor and he sent me for an xray first too, this time it came back completely clear, and apparently the first xray diagnosis was exaggerated and I don't have any signs of asthma. This was confirmed by giving me a lung capacity test, which was normal. He also sent me for a blood test which was all clear.

Again, not finding anything obviously wrong he sent me for a transthoracic echocardiogram to have my heart checked out just in case, since bad hearts can cause breathing problems. Again nothing was found wrong except for a congenital heart anomaly called a "patent foramen ovale", which is a hole that didn't close properly between 2 chambers. 30% of the population have it and it causes no symptoms.

Being part of a universal healthcare system, I was then sent to a death panel and it was determined I was too imperfect to continue living on. "Off to the death yard", they said.

Anyway, after finding heart and lungs are both clear, there's still no answer besides it's in my head. Simply knowing there's nothing physically wrong has greatly reduced the symptoms, proving to me it's in my head. I rarely get the feeling anymore, I just forget about it.

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.
Click to expand...

Find a better doctor? they're not all the same. It's not the systems fault, it's the doctor. My first doctor was useless because he was a 70 year old Chinese guy with poor English, who obviously only dealt with people that have caught the flu. My second is excellent.
 
drave said:
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.
Click to expand...

I understand your logic here and appreciate it, but when it comes to things like this, it's a point-of-view thing. NOT a unviersal thing.

There IS a difference.

Our feelings/emotions might mean nothing in the grand scheme of life, but to us - at that moment we are experiencing them - is all that matters and it consumes us.

I do understand what you're trying to say, but it's a classic case of "outside looking in".
 
MyOwnDemon said:
I understand your logic here and appreciate it, but when it comes to things like this, it's a point-of-view thing. NOT a unviersal thing.

There IS a difference.

Our feelings/emotions might mean nothing in the grand scheme of life, but to us - at that moment we are experiencing them - is all that matters and it consumes us.

I do understand what you're trying to say, but it's a classic case of "outside looking in".
Click to expand...

i think you're describing the whole point -- the difference between what something means in the grand scheme and what it means to an individual is nothing but that individual's ego, and that's exactly what that individual needs to transcend. if he learned to operate from the frame of the grand scheme instead of from the frame of the individual, the individual would cease to experience pains associated from the individual -- namely anger, jealousy, shame, and all the other negative emotions.

any time you experience negative emotions, those can be negated by stepping back into and accepting the broader perspective, which can be summed up by 'it doesn't fucking matter'. in some spectrum of time/space, it doesn't fucking matter, and if you want to get over it, you only need tie into a time/space perspective where that's the case. it IS a universal thing.

to use your analogy, practice "outside looking in" instead of "inside looking out", and you'll get it. "outside looking in" is always the right way to see anything.
 
What if it's a life-or-death situation and the only thing the person cares about is their own survival? How is that a universal thing?

If someone is in a situation where death is coming fast (crashing plane, etc), are they going to simply "transcend" the situation and say 'oh well, life doesn't matter'? No. They will be thinking of their own life and their own experiences. You can't transcend that.

I will admit that most shit doesn't matter in the long term, but like I said - point of view to that individual and their unique experience on this planet is what's most important. It makes us human.
 
MyOwnDemon said:
What if it's a life-or-death situation and the only thing the person cares about is their own survival? How is that a universal thing?

If someone is in a situation where death is coming fast (crashing plane, etc), are they going to simply "transcend" the situation and say 'oh well, life doesn't matter'? No. They will be thinking of their own life and their own experiences. You can't transcend that.

I will admit that most shit doesn't matter in the long term, but like I said - point of view to that individual and their unique experience on this planet is what's most important. It makes us human.
Click to expand...

i get what your saying, but i'm not trying to have a logical argument. once you begin thinking from this perpsective, your ideas on death & everything else change. i know that sounds odd but i can't justify it any better than that. once you begin thinking on a universal level, even your own death doesn't matter, and can you see how freeing that might be? how, because you don't even care about your own death, you're willing to do anything in this life? i'm not talking about recklessness, but just about living? fear of our own death doesn't make us human, it makes us ordinary. but that is an extreme example -- consider the things you'd do, the people you'd talk to, etc, if it weren't for your momentary fear of what would happen... now imagine that erased, as it should be.
 
drave said:
i get what your saying, but i'm not trying to have a logical argument. once you begin thinking from this perpsective, your ideas on death & everything else change. i know that sounds odd but i can't justify it any better than that. once you begin thinking on a universal level, even your own death doesn't matter, and can you see how freeing that might be?
Click to expand...

In my opinion it's the wrong perspective to have. Why play yourself down by thinking of your existence as insignificant to the rest of the universe? ALL reality is created in your mind. Now THAT is empowering. Without a conscious observer there is no solid reality, there are hundreds of quantum experiments that prove it.

You Really Are the Center of the Universe | Psychology Today

It's a very interesting alternative theory to what you're saying.
 
johnmatrix said:
Fair enough, but don't write it off so easily. Biocentrism is a potential theory of everything.
Click to expand...

i suppose my ideas may be in line with a named philosophy, i've never considered the possibility because it doesn't really matter
 
Used to get these short breaths. An incident led to me becoming much more logical in the way I thought. Since then it's stopped. Since then I used to get it when I drove over a certain very high bridge over a river sometimes (which I used to dream about crashing into and drowning), which just proves it is caused by paranoia. I can't really advise how to fix your mind but for me cutting out paranoia through logical thought was what fixed it.

The yogic breathing thing probably won't help but its cool stuff. There is always one nostril which is easier to breath out of. Each side is related to certain thoughts, so you balance them out with exercises. I suspect that could help getting out of a bad mood which may be a short term fix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom