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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: Oct 25 11:29pm | Replies (3583)Comment receiving replies
@gabrielm Hi Gabe, thankyou so much for your response.
For some reason for my it seems entirely cycle based, the idea that you have had this since 2012 is both comforting and terrifying to me I won't lie! I give it to you that you've dealt with it for so long and live pretty normally, that gives me hope. I wake up every day hoping it's gone.
Buteyko breathing does seem to help me a little if only for a little while before it comes back, I think I just need to be consistent.
I have been in and out of therapy for years, including CBT, and never really found the right therapist I don't think. Although this feeling for me comes on even when I have no other symptoms of anxiety, and I don't even feel mentally anxious... is that the same for you?
I've suffered with my anxiety since 17, but my anxiety has always manifested itself in my gastro system. I've developed IBS over the years as its always affected me that way, never my breathing or my heart palpitations, until June this year.
Replies to "@gabrielm Hi Gabe, thankyou so much for your response. For some reason for my it seems..."
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@robertagrace, Buteyko method was what seemed to help me the most; I did have to do it very consistently and somewhat rigorously for quite a few weeks for the results to stick. I might suggest keeping with it daily for, say, 90 days and then see how your symptoms are from there.
How long did you stick with CBT? That also would be a longer-term treatment that requires persistence and consistency for the brain to change the body's response to anxiety. But yeah, a good therapist would make a big difference. I think there are online self-guided CBT courses for various things as well that might be worth looking into.
It's possible that your anxiety is starting to manifest itself in other ways. I'm not sure, but that's just me speculating. We have what could be termed as a "functional breathing dysfunction." On paper, everything is normal; heart, lungs, etc., but somewhere along the way our mind began falsely interpreting that the body needs to breathe more than it does.
Have you had extensive blood work done? Is your oxygen saturation normal?