Thanks for the reply! I have explored the possibility of anxiety and stress, but I don't experience any of that, at least beyond the norm. I might have a stressed out day now and then, but I'm not a stressful person and am pretty easy-going. I don't have anxiety. The SOB is just always there. Always. Whether I'm at work, at home, stressed, not stressed, but stress for me is very uncommon. I have a low-stress job. So I'm not convinced it's that. So I still have no idea what it is; I'm looking into submitting my case to CrowdMed.

I'm doing alright, thank you for asking. I would say that over the past 6 months I have experienced periods of improvement from days to even weeks. Not 100%, but enough to where I didn't really notice it all day. Then I would have random bouts where it would get kind of bad, where I just can't get a deep breath, and when I do it doesn't last long before I'm desperately needing another. That would go on for a few days, and then it would get better again. So it's still up and down, and it's manageable but not normal at all. I still do exercise when I can, to an intensity that my breathing will allow- some weightlifting sessions allow me to lift a decent amount of weight with not as much rest in between, and other times I have to cut my sessions short after lifting light weights and having to rest for 5 minutes in between sets. So it all depends on the day I guess.

@chrisdh5- Welcome to Mayo Connect. You probably are unaware of how to look for replies and posts on Connect so I can reassure you that Gabriel's post was addressed, and by me! Do you have a history of shortness of breath?

My SOB is from anxiety and stress. I take a stress relaxer and it goes away. Some of that could also be psychosomatic.

Hi! I recently (early August) had an inhalation incident at my job. I’m a welder/fabricator at a railroad company. I went into a “mock asthma attack” and pretty much hyperventilated. My face started turning blue, so my wife Allen’s the ambulance when I went home to use her inhaler to try and stop the wheezing from the fumes inhalation. When they sent me home, I was having the discussed SOB every few minutes. I wrote it up as just the over-exertion of my lungs and the inflammation due to the incident. They let me go back to work after the weekend (happened on a Friday). Well, ironically, I got hurt again that week (broke my hand), and have been off work for 3 months to heal. Well as I’m sure most people are aware, Workmans comp took their time getting my financials started and times got very rough. I should’ve mentioned earlier, the hyperventilation incident scared me to the point to where, for the first time in my life, I’ve developed anxiety and when my SOB starts, so does my anxiety. When my doctor told me I’d be off work for an undisclosed amount of time, I let myself develop depression. Now it’s constant SOB and it’s to the point to where some (unknown to me) muscle in the bottom of my throat feels like it’s almost swelled shut and I have to swallow a couple times to relieve it. I know it’s from the excessive deep breaths. I’ve googled and researched and I’m gonna go with the depression/anxiety diagnosis. I’m 43 and never had a mental disorder or any kind of issue. I’m not asking for answers I’m just looking, and saw your post and realized it’s the exact thing I’m going through. I’m glad to see that someone understands. Thank you for this.

I also am suffering from this SOB. Seems I just can’t get a satisfying deep breath. I first started having these about 30 years ago and was put on Zoloft for depression. Lo and behold, not only did the Zoloft help my depression, it eliminated this awful need to get a deep breath. It worked for about 30 years and then the Zoloft just quit working and the SOB suddenly returned. I’m back on Zoloft after being off of it for a few years but it hasn’t had time to build up in my system. I’m hoping the Zoloft will help again.

Hello all, I myself am suffering from this strange breathing problem since last 3 years. I am a postgraduate veterinarian doing pet and farm animal practice.
This air hunger started somewhere around late 2020. I started experiencing dysnea and tiredness. Also sometimes I felt like having difficulty to yawn. In 2021 it went away suddenly and again reappeared after 5-6 months and again disappeared randomly. And now again in October 2023, it has returned back. Cardiac, pulmonary and blood tests normal. After trying and experimenting many things, and after reading a tons of scientific research articles, I have found one beneficial remedy. Believe me, it has given me 80%-90%results. Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) taken orally has given me 80-90% relief and rather remarkable results. Please contact your doctor before taking it. I wish everyone to be healthy. Please share your feedback. God bless you all.

All great information and so glad I found you. Symptoms are identical except I have sleep aptnea for years and finally treating my t, but symptoms are still present. My pulmonologist is running tests. I will post results and tests when complete. Thank you all for your openness.

Scott1998

exp

I just saw this, and I wanted to add-- I have been having this for the last 7 years, but it comes and goes. It is quite unbearable at times, and then it gets bearable. I have also done lung, ENT and other tests-- nothing has come up so far. It has been really taking a toll on my life though now, since for the past 2 months, the symptoms have been continuous, as opposed to a few years back when the symptoms came, stayed for a month or so and then went. Curious, if there have been any other diagnoses of this?