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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: Oct 23 10:20am | Replies (3405)Comment receiving replies
Hi Gabe.
Yes, my blood tests are now perfect. A short time ago, I had a slight lack of iron and vitamin D, but last week I had a blood test and everything is normal, from cholesterol to vitamin B12.
That's why I identify a lot with most of you, because everything seems to be fine, but several times a day something oppresses my chest and I start to need to catch more air. Neither my respiratory rate nor my heart rate increase, nor are there any wheezing or noises, it is simply a hunger for air in my chest. At first, it is possible to catch air by taking a deep breath or a big sigh. But as the hours pass, it is very difficult to do so and the yawning begins. And finally, I can't even yawn satisfactorily and the feeling in my chest is identical to what you feel like when you hold your breath (for example, while diving) and your body asks you to breathe in and get air.
These are very distressing moments...
Honestly, this is a pattern so similar to yours that I'm surprised we don't have a clear diagnosis and proper treatment. I hope one day we can forget this nightmare.
Thank you all for welcoming me.
Replies to "Hi Gabe. Yes, my blood tests are now perfect. A short time ago, I had a..."
Yes it is distressing:( have you had your spine checked for signs of a herniated disc and/or pinch nerve?
anxiety.
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Absolutely, I also hope we will be able to put it behind us one day! From my experience with experimenting with various things over the years, I think I can safely say that while it's not behind me, it's very much to the side of me. It interferes minimally in my daily life and it's come down to a few key things;
- utilizing what I've learned from the Buteyko breathing method; learning how to nasal breathe, to resist the urge to take deep breaths over time, and breathing exercises
- Mild to moderate physical exercise with very controlled breathing; this includes light jogging, some weight lifting (as my breathing allows) and never pushing myself hard with exercise
- Incorporating healthy eating and lifestyle; I've been enjoying learning about proper nutrition lately
- Walking! This one is relatively new as I recently established a goal of getting 10,000 steps a day. I started doing this daily, with an hour walk in the early morning and this has put me from the 'doing ok' category to the 'hey I barely know it's there' category in terms of air hunger symptoms. I've done some research on walking and there are a whole host of benefits including being low impact, you're not working hard, you're still exercising and you're improving cardio. It's also meditative and gives me a chance to practice slow and controlled nasal breathing. So I'm going to continue doing daily long walks and I think it will improve things further.
So these are some things to consider that have helped me tremendously over the years.
I also learned some "rescue exercises" when I felt like I was going to have a panic attack when this first started for me which involves mentally telling yourself that you're ok and you're not in danger. Then do some mild breath-holding sessions where you breathe out your nose, hold your breath for 10 seconds or so, rest for a couple of minutes, and repeat. This helped me regain control of my breathing when I felt like I was going to panic.
Is there something from this or maybe from your research you're hoping to implement as part of your improvement plan?