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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (3424)Comment receiving replies
Hi! I'm new to the group but I must share my story! I began exercising and losing weight. After 7 months of this new lifestyle I decided to reduce my smoking from a pack a day to 1 cigarette a day. I then went on vacation and the day I came back I went for a run and had this feeling I couldn't take a deep breath. Its been 4 years now and this sob hasn't gone away. I've had every test possible. Lung function, ct scan of lungs, thyroid, so much blood work, MRI of the back and head, hormone testing, put on allergy meds, xanax, acupuncture, breathing therapy, vocal cord function tests, swallow study, omeprazole, diet changes, and probably more that I'm forgetting. Nothing has helped my sob. I never felt it was anxiety but after an awful year of deaths in the family and all sorts of other stressors my breathing didn't get worse or better. Xanax also doesn't help. I haven't smoked in 3 years now. I'm not a drinker. I eat healthy and organic and I don't drink alcohol. I've tried everything. I have another appt coming up with my allergist to try a different set of meds. I don't have sneeze or anything but I was told from the skin test o have some allergies. I've had my house reinspected, water tested, and air quality tested. I don't know what else to do. I have good days and bad days but the sob is always there just sometimes its worse than others. Its a feeling I can't get a good satisfying breath and then I force it and sometimes o get one and sometimes I don't. If I don't I start to get dizzy and start yawning. Its very depressing to struggle with this. I'm also sick of being told its anxiety when I've had this all day every day from the second I wake up til I go to bed for four years. The few times I have drank I still have this...and I'm def not anxious when I've been drinking. I've also been to the gi and had a colonoscopy and abdominal ultrasound. Also an EKG and echo. All check out fine. Please help!
Replies to "Hi! I'm new to the group but I must share my story! I began exercising and..."
@allisonl - your story reads just like mine. I too had a bunch of tests done to no avail. They did find a slight hiatal hernia and also GERD/acid reflux. While PPIs have helped with the heartburn, they haven't helped with the SOB. I know just how you feel though. At one point it was so bad for me that I was having multiple panic attack since I was in a constant state of suffocation. Have you looked into the Buteyko Breathing method? That has been the only thing that has helped me thus far, along with light to moderate exercise, mostly lifting weights. You might try the method. I was taught the original method through this organization; https://learnbuteykoonline.net. You just have to be persistent with the exercises. I did them every single day, 3-4 times per day for months or a year. My breathing is stabilized enough that moderate daily exercise and one Buteyko exercise per day or even every other day keeps my breathing somewhat under control, though I still do struggle with SOB daily. It's at least not as bad and is manageable. Look into that if you haven't; it helps me a great deal. Let us know how you are doing.
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Allison hello. I have been going through the exact same thing as you. I as well lived a healthy lifestyle and stopped smoking and a few weeks later woke up with the feeling of air hunger. I have seen many specialists as did you. I was told by many of them they don’t think it’s anxiety but they could find nothing wrong. I am very discouraged. I feel like my life has no joy anymore. It’s all suffering. I have been dealing with this for over a year. That being said I am going to the Mayo Clinic in May and hoping to find answers. Good luck to you and if anything get resolved I will share for sure