difficulty breathing, keep needing to take a deep breath, is this anxiety or something worse????

Hey , 

Im, 24 year old man , having a phase of depression , heavy drinking and anxiety,sleep depravation and hypochodriac type thoughts and fears which i am trying to beat especially as spring approaches :)

Reading your story Marc, and witnessing the care ,understanding, patients and intelligence of Bambi and  HFG really helped me during one of my scariest episodes of anxiety related fears (labored breathing , or feeling like i have to focus on breathing). It never happened to me before and really scared me. Also marc , it might be relieving for you to know , i also have been drinking heavily lately and it seems to happen after i wake up from a night of drinking and/or during all of that next day and night. 

 I usually always had heart palpitations , racing heart, extreme fear, then i would think i was experienceing heart attack related symptoms , pain in my arm and numbness etc., ide feel every little part of my body , every hair , every tick or twitch and made them all out to be something wrong with me... it took me years to get over it (it comes back and some stages in my life throughout the years). I called ambulances more than once , waited hours in the ER only to be told im perfectly fine....at the time I was also told my heart was above average in strength and health. Really good resting heart rate , and perfect blood pressure.... even after that i had phases of being a hypochondriac ...checking my pulse every 30 seconds to see if its normal or fast, thinking my heart is beating too 'hard' ...all kinds of fear and panic would be created and it was a vicious cycle ...but I would focus on a thought that i found hard to believe but, 'that i am healthy'. Sipping water or tea (non caffeinated) for hours until it went away...sometimes i found running for a long time would help to exhaust me. I stuck to my guns and used those methods that worked for me. Also I prayer and talk to God a lot (im not trying to push my beliefs on anyone). Eventually i got over it, to a certain point...even to this day ill catch myself checking my pulse but then i make fun of myself like HFG mentioned ...or i think ''why am i even checking'' ... AND just like you marc , and i was so angry to go through a new manifestation of my anxiety , i hate it so much.  I am just really glad i found this forum and this conversation. It's amazing how while writing this and focusing on my reply , i am barely noticing my 'breathing' but im sure it will come back when im done lol.

Also i wanted to share how it can be done without medication , or pills. Although I can't say that its easy or that it's for everyone. Just be careful if using them. Also for the people with the impatient , short replies with the ''just get over it'' attitude, you have no idea what is happening to someone when they feel this way. It's not your fault you don't understand and it is a blessing to you, just don't bother making your posts if you have an impatient and to some people offensive attitude. 

Also for the person who asked about feeling this way, and i think is saying you smoke weed. Back when i was younger i smoke A LOT of weed and when i didnt smoke i would get anxious , really anxious , and that could be causing it . Also since ive quit if i take a puff it will induce anxiety or make it worse.  Weed isn't for everyone i guess and other seem fine like how i used to be when i smoked.

Another tip for you marc, if you think something is wrong with you , or your heart etc. One thing i learned and used and helped to a degree...Is when you think you are about to have a panic attack / heart attack or are experiencing one , literally , mentally try to induce and panic attack. It's impossible to do it this way and can defuse it . I know its been a long time but i hope i hear from you guys. 

God Bless all of you :) 

I just wanted to add my two cents here. I'm much older than many, but when I was 15, I started having a racing heart, panic, anxiety, insomnia etc... I just want to say that if you have ruled out asthma, allergies, etc... That you really try to find someone well versed in thyroid testing. It is very, very common and runs in families. You sound like you might have some autoimmune thyroid issues. Ask your mom. Find out if any one in your familIesha's a thyroid condition or has a "glandular problem". I was told for 14 years that there was nothing wrong with me until I finally saw a different doctor. They ran something called thyroid antibodies and that's when I was told I had hashimotos. Suddenly event hung made sense. For years I was told I was a hypochondriac and that I was fine. Today I rarely get anxiety unless my thyroid decides to work a little harder and I get slightly hyperthyroid. Then, all those breathing and anxiety issues come back.

Ehhh, sorry. My iPad likes to type crazy stuff. I've edited the above: I just wanted to add my two cents here. I'm much older than many, but when I was 15, I started having a racing heart, panic, anxiety, insomnia etc... I just want to say that if you have ruled out asthma, allergies, etc... That you should really try to find someone well versed in thyroid testing. It is very, very common and runs in families, but is often missed, even with routine labs. many times the levels will look normal; however, you aren't a lab test and things can fluctuate with thyroid disease and appear very normal looking. You sound like you might have some autoimmune thyroid issues. Ask your mom. Find out if any one in your family has a thyroid condition or has a "glandular problem". I was told for 14 years that there was nothing wrong with me until I finally saw a different doctor. They ran something called thyroid antibodies and that's when I was told I had hashimotos. You cannot rely on a tsh test alone. also, many doctors are using outdated lab ranges. for instance, if your tsh (thyroid stimulating hormone) is above 2.0, please find someone who will do further testing and evaluations. Anyway, when i was finally diagnosed, suddenly everything made sense. For years I was told I was a hypochondriac and that I was fine, go home and relax. Today I rarely get anxiety unless my thyroid decides to work a little harder and I get slightly hyperthyroid. Then, all those breathing, heart rate and anxiety issues come back, but at least I know what it is and that I'm not dying and I can mentally deal with it. I strongly urge you as I would hate to see you get hooked on the garbage so many doctors are willing to shove at you. Here's food for thought: 70% of anxiety and depression issues are caused from hormonal imbalance (thyroid being the biggest culprit). Good luck!!!Sent from my iPad