Hi all

have been having same problem as all of you for almost 2 years now. Been to several different doctors who didn't want to put me through invasive tests and assumed i had asthma. Gave me inhalers but none worked.

Eventually it got worse. All day found myself feeling the need to yawn and then yawning to take a deep breath..soemtimes it works sometimes it doesnt.

Ended up in the ER where they did Echocardiogram, CT Scan of Chest and EKG. All were normal (well .. they found two nodules on my lung but have been told by 3 doctors they are nothing to worry about and have nothing to do with these symtpoms)

Was told it was anxiety and as it is not a symptom of a heart problem.

However, when i do take the deep breath sometimes i feel a pain in my upper left back (by my heart). I am a bit of a hypochondriac and i definitely freak myself out by looking at these symptoms online ... but that pain worries me. I try to tell myself that maybe I pulled a muscle trying to take the deep breath but in the back of my head i still wonder if there was something they missed with my heart. The pain is not constant and i feel like if it was a heart problem it would be. Also the pain has been coming and going for months - so i try to tell myself if it was a heart problem i would know by now.

does anyone else get this? Anyone think this could be a pulled muscle? Try to be nice with your responses as they will probably trip up my anxiety.

And no anxiety meds (xanax) seem to be helping with this breathing thing either even though they say that's all it is and it's all in my head.

My 8 year old daughter has the same symptoms. It comes and goes. Her doctor just put her on inhaled albuteral in addition to her rescue inhaler. It doesn't seem to do any good. The only relief she gets is when she is asleep. I've also noticed that when she is busy, playing or whatever, she doesn't do the deep breath thing, but as soon as she sits down, or is calm, it happens. She tries to yawn, but it doesn't work.
The doctors just keep blaming it on her asthma. She also has mitral valve prolapse. I can't help but wonder if there is something more serious wrong.

I haven't been able to breath normal for about 6 days now. I went to the ER twice, and an urgent care clinic. The results of a CT scan, blood work, chest x-ray and a nuclear stress test are normal. There is no wheezing, fluid build up or coughing. Just this tightness in my chest as if someone is got me in a bear hug so I can't breath in all the way. I did have a bad cold before this developed and the docs noticed my white blood cell count was up. So maybe its viral what is causing the inflammation in my lungs. I have also tried albuteral and steroids for it and it only makes me feel worse from the side effects. I did get a shot of a strong anti-inflammatory that made me feel better. I am perplexed as to what is wrong and so are all the doctors that I have seen. I really hope this goes away soon because this has been hell to go through for 6 days I can't imagine weeks like some of you have suffered.

Hi There,

I have had this off and on, severe and not so severe for 15 years. It comes and it goes, there is no rhyme or reason to it. I have tried all of the inhalers, albuterol, nebulizers and I was on Azmacort for 6 months...they did nothing. As a matter of fact, the Albuterol makes my symptoms worse. The Azmacort did absolutely nothing, so after 6 months I stopped spending my money. I think there is something they are not finding, the one thing I do know, is it won't kill you, you may think its going to, but that kind of thinking only makes it worse....which adds to the thought that its anxiety based. Who knows.....

Hi there everyone,

I have the same symptoms as most of you are reporting and I understand belladonna when she says there's no rhyme or reason, but I think the reasons are there and just hard to pinpoint. I'm starting to believe it may be due to our breathing patterns being slightly 'out of kilter', and over time we get the wrong levels of CO2 in the bloodstream

The problems most of you are having do sound very much like "air hunger" - search for "air hunger" (as one word, and also as separate words in quotes) on Google and you will find literally thousands of posts about it.

I really don't believe it's anxiety or stress, and I've never read of drugs curing it.

I hope being able to put a name to the problem helps, even if I can't offer you an instant cure

Hi, to every one of you on this forum. these messages are so old, do any of you check back on them? this is 2008. i've had exactly what yall have been describing for the last couple years. diagnosed with acid reflux, about eight years ago. then sleep aphania. then my pulmonary Doc tells me that the acid reflux, is caused by the sleep aphania. then one day I was driving back from the bank and got this sharp pain in my side. I was having a terrible cough when this happened. IT felt like I had broken a rib or my lung had torn loose from my ribs . I had been getting bronchitis sense about eight yr. ago, then I would get bronchitis and it would turn into pneumonia a couple of years after that, then about three years ago is when all this hard cough and deep breathing stuff started after going to my doc. he refereed me to a pulmonary specialist who ran some test, then some breathing test, then an MRI. only to say, I may have the beginnings of asthma. I have used advair and albuteral inhaler, but still have a hard time getting a deep breath I still have the pains in my sides and lately getting out of breath just doing small thing . And I dont have emphisima. I have done some research lately on my own and what I've found out, going on around us is very scary.

Hi, to every one of you on this forum. these messages are so old, do any of you check back on them? this is 2008. i've had exactly what yall have been describing for the last couple years. diagnosed with acid reflux, about eight years ago. then sleep aphania. then my pulmonary Doc tells me that the acid reflux, is caused by the sleep aphania. then one day I was driving back from the bank and got this sharp pain in my side. I was having a terrible cough when this happened. IT felt like I had broken a rib or my lung had torn loose from my ribs . I had been getting bronchitis sense about eight yr. ago, then I would get bronchitis and it would turn into pneumonia a couple of years after that, then about three years ago is when all this hard cough and deep breathing stuff started after going to my doc. he refereed me to a pulmonary specialist who ran some test, then some breathing test, then an MRI. only to say, I may have the beginnings of asthma. I have used advair and albuteral inhaler, but still have a hard time getting a deep breath I still have the pains in my sides and lately getting out of breath just doing small thing . And I dont have emphisima. I have done some research lately on my own and what I've found out, going on around us is very scary.

I had this popping when taking deep breaths and stuff a while back and it was bronchitus. It was treated with anti-biotics.

I have the same exact problem. I am not having trouble actually breathing but I want that deep breath and I cannot stand it because I will have difficulty doing it and I feel like its not a good enough breath. This goes on for hours and like every other day usually & a lot of the time its during spring & summer only. Its so weird. I went to the doc like 2 years ago and they xrayed my chest & told me that they coudlnt find anything wrong with me. They told me it was either bronchi spasms or anxiety & gave me an inhaler that did absolutely nothing for me. A lot of the time if I sit up really straight I can catch a deeper breath..but it just gets so annoying.

I have had this problem for a few weeks and let me say I'm honestly scared........ I can't get a deep breath or yawn in very often and the second I do I need to do it again. I went to the emergency and they gave me an inhaler said nothing was wrong and that was that. I cant take this anymore I know its only been a few weeks but I feel like im dying I cant sleep I cant relax I cant do anything! I cant live like this much longer........

Can you get this over the counter????? Please I need relief or Im going to go nuts.............

I too am extremely gald to find this............
funny everyone keeps saying the same things..... I have severe anxiety attacks as a result of PTSD from Emotional trauma
but I started really having this same feeling of not catching my breath after I had done some cleaning and inhaled too much bleach in a closed bathroom..... I wonder if the fact that the Oxygen levels and test reports keep coming out normal means that somehow our sensitivity somewhere between air going in and reaching lungs is somehow desensitized yet still working.... I dont know what to say .... I am a singer and I'm pretty sure its just asthma ,,,, ephedrine opens me up a bit inhalers work well though I m out now .... but somewhere I read that asprin overdose can damage lungs and that freaks me out because I have "USED" asprine to make my voice cleaer quite a many times since I learned that trick......
Guess Im getting older and noticing health issues that as a youngon never really worried about..... Des

I have had a problem where i cant breathe and it hurts my rib cages to where i cant do anything and they feel restricted, doctors say I'm fine, but i have been fighting this problem for a year now, and im getting tired of being tired, and not getting any sleep, and just not being satisfied with deep breathes, i cant take a decent breath anymore, i don't have asthma and its aggravating me.

Please help me.

Alyssa.

I believe I have found the answer as to why I have episodes of having to take a deep breath every few minutes--dairy/casein allergy. No, I haven't been to an allergist, I have pretty much diagnosed this myself. I am 53, female, and started having occasional episodes about 10 years ago, in the midst of the divorce from hell. When I got stressed out, or frustrated with my kids, I'd take a necessary deep breath. Even a friend commented on this. But it wasn't all the time, or every day, so it was hard to pinpoint the exact problem, other than stress. Then, about 7 years ago, I flipped on a jet-ski at the dock with my then 7-year old, he panicked and I panicked because he was upset (I CAN swim), and then I felt like I couldn't breathe. I couldn't take a deep breath and only had to swim a couple of yards to the dock, but with my son clinging to my neck, I couldn't move and felt like I was going to drown. My friend had to jump in and get him off my neck. I still barely made it to the dock. When I saw my doctor, he did a lung capacity test, which was not good, and said I had stress induced asthma. I had been living in Sacramento for about 21 years, and it is a big allergy area.
Jump to 4 years ago---I was still occasionally having this problem, and it seemed to be getting more frequent. I had these episodes of having to take a deep breath every few minutes for a period of 5 or 6 days. Then, it went away after a day of two and it dawned on me (finally) that I hadn't had any milk to drink for those few days. I had been trying to narrow down what foods I had been eating. So, I started experimenting. I'd have milk for a few days, would start to get the breathing problems mildly, would go off milk, and in a day or two I was fine. I did this for a couple of years (stupidly) because I love milk, cheese, dairy, etc., and didn't think that one little ounce of cheese would really hurt.
This past year, the problem has gotten a LOT worse (i.e. enough to make me give up milk/casein). I couldn't really "cheat" even a little bit without having a reaction. This meant no milk products (ice cream, yogurt, cheese, whipped cream, sour cream, etc.). It finally reached a critical point where my stomach would also start hurting immediately after eating these foods, and I mean PAIN. I thought I had stomach cancer or something, and it would go on for days. I would also feel like there was "something" in the way in my stomach, like a pressure at the top of the stomach. So now I'm thinking I'm having a heart attack.
In a really acute phase, I would have a hard time breathing at night, while sleeping, but once the episodes stated to wind down during the day, it was better at night. I had been reading up on allergies and asthma, and didn't think I had the "typical" symptoms (if there is such a thing). What I did find out is that it may not just be dairy, but the casein/whey that is in all dairy foods and MORE (like "non-dairy coffee creamer!). Check it out.
So here is what I think is happening. I think I have had allergies all my life (I could barely get up in the morning, even as a kid). After leaving Sacramento after 22 years, where I was exhausted all the time, and felt drugged in the morning no matter how much sleep I got, I started feeling significantly better. But I think my immune system has slowly been getting compromised after exposure to a lot of different allergens. I may have been fine with the stress or dairy if I wasn't already immuno-compromised, but now, certain things were sending my system "over the edge", and I could no longer tolerate them. I have also discovered that now caffeine is giving me the breathing problems. The upshot is that I won't even "cheat" and have a "little bit of ice cream" because it will affect me fast, and will last for a week.
OK, here's another problem that I found out, by mistake, that is linked. For many, many years (15-20), I found that whenever I spent more than an hour in large stores like Target or Wal-Mart, I would be so tired when I was finished shopping. This progressed to an even more unusual problem. It got to be that whenever I went into a large warehouse store (Costco, Lowe's, Home Depot, Staples), within 30 minutes of being in there, I would have to go to the bathroom (not pee). Within the past 5 or 6 years, this too, has also gotten worse. I finally did more research and now know that it has something to do with the lighting.
All of these stores have either cheap fluorescent lighting or the large open globe mercury-vapor halogen type lighting. That led me to the book "It's All in Your Head" by Dr. Hal Huggins, on mercury amalgam tooth fillings and mercury poisoning. Now, I am not a holistic person by nature, but I have at least 8 amalgam fillings from when I was a kid, and quite frankly, the book makes a lot of sense. Why is mercury considered a "hazardous material" requiring a specially trained person to "clean it up?" In a hospital, if they drop a mercury thermometer, the hazmat team has to clean it up. So why is this stuff in our mouths? Ever notice how teeth with amalgam fillings are now greyish? The mercury leaches into the tooth. I think this, too, has slowly compromised my immune system.
At this point in time, if I am in certain warehouse type or dept. stores for max 45 minutes, I start to feel like I am getting the flu and actually have to leave. Plus, when I enter the store, I just head to the bathroom first thing because I know that I'll need to use it soon. Then, when I do go, it's like major evacuation, and I feel flulike for the rest of the day. Then, one day, I didn't get sick at Costco, or need to use the bathroom. What the heck! Guess what? I hadn't had any dairy products for 2 days. I don't think the dairy directly caused my feeling sick at those stores, it just "put me over the edge" on being "chemically toxic".
I know this all sounds like the rantings of a mad woman, but I urge you to think about this, and try it yourself. Each "chemical allergen" builds on the next, and before you know it, you're confused on which came first, the chicken or the egg. We all have our maximum threshold (no matter what age) for environmental/chemical toxicity. One of those items by itself may not be a problem, but when you start adding on to it, then your body starts to go haywire.
There is nothing to lose by trying this. Give it a shot.

** FOUND MY CURE **

Hey Everyone,

From what i have read everyone has got exactly what i have. But the only difference with me was simply that is was more of an attack that lastest several days rather than all my life.

However, this has only happened recently, (within the last two weeks) and ironically it is because i have given up smoking.

On wednesday it was the last straw, i really was finding it hard to breath, although i was breathing i could not take a deep breath and because of that my brain was telling me i couldn't breath properly full stop.

Now, you may all be screaming "its a panic attack" well yeah, maybe, but thats not what started it off. So, i went to a private doctor and paid through the nose to sort this out.

He checked my lungs, my blood pressure and ordered and ECG, however, first he said i had to have an injection, and i HATE needles. So I asked, "where are you injecting me?", "in your butt" was the reply. oh great! and will it hurt "no" was the reply - LIER, i swear, i will never talk to that nurse again, the pain was unreal.

Anyway enough waffling, the doc ordered a 10mg shot of valium. Now, im thinking WHY? why do i need valium? His reply was simple, "come back and see in 3 hours and we will talk about it then".

3 hours later, and oh my god, every single problem cured, i could breath fine again, its was wonderful. So he gave me some valium 5mg pills to take 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. He also said my ECG came back fine.

But WHY valium, why do i need this, he replied "because you have anxiety", im like what, i have nothing to be anxious about? nothing at all? He said that it was the physical dependancy on nicotine that had caused this, and the fact i pretty much went cold turkey after smoking 40 a day is what trigged these problems.

So i think, for all those that are having the problem with take a nice big deep breath, go take some valium, just for a day, i bet you can take that BIG deep breath again.

I finally found out why I couldn't take a deep breath!!!!!! NO, it is not anxiety, nor ashma. Although I do experience anxiety, it is not the cause. Millions of tests later I found out I have LYME DISEASE. It is bacteria from a tick bite that causes many symptoms. One very common one being air hunger.
Let me tell you a little about lyme. It is a disease caused by a tick bite. You may say you where never bit. Well, I don't remember a bite either and about 50% of people with lyme don't remember getting bit. The tick releases a numbing agent so you can't feel it. One of the first signs of lyme is a bulls eye rash. BUT less than 50% of people experience this.
You may only have one symptom in the beginnig but over time many more will surface. I did not have a rash either. Also, some research suggests it can be sexually transmitted. Especially from man to woman. I believe I got it through my husband who does remember seeing a tick on him, no rash. He too has lyme. It is treated with many antibiotics, for as long as it takes to kill the bacteria.
Doctors don't know SQWAT about lyme disease. They rely on blood tests for the answer if they even test for it, and unfortunately lyme tests negative very ofton on a standard blood test. You MUST get a blood test through IGENIX. It is a lab that specializes in testing lyme. They send you kit to take to lab and then you fed ex back to lab. If you are experiencing any other strange symptoms you must see a LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Dr.) They are the only ones who can treat correctly, and believe me, you don't want to fool around. You can get more info. and Dr. names in your area by visiting lyme.net
Other common symptoms ( you may or may not experience any yet) are sore achy muscles and or joints. muscle twitches, panic attacks, ringing in ears, vertigo, dizziness, jaw pain, tender breasts or other lymph nodes, neck or back pain, brain fog, forgetfullness, shaky hands, insomnia, rashes, any drooping in face muscles, fatique, sudden weight loss or gain. These are only some, there are many more. I hope this helps many people out there. THis disease is commonly left undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Good luck to you all.

So I (Female, 26, CT, healthy 115 lbs) have the same exact thing that all of you are describing. How obnoxious! And the freaking doctors "It's asthma." "It's anxiety". Listen, I know my body, I know I have asthma, I know I have anxiety... it's not those!!!

ASTHMA - I do have asthma (I have since I was a kid), but can say that this is not asthma. My inhaler (advair, albuterol) does not work for it and I've had chest x-rays and the docs tell me it's not my asthma. Also, I went to the ER twice for it and my oxygen level was 100% both times. (My pulse rate however, which has always registered at 50-55, was like 90 even though I didn't feel that anxious. It then did go down when they took it again about an hour later)

GERD - I saw an ENT specialist, he stuck a camera down my nose into my throat and said I had bad GERD (gastroesophogal reflux disease) and put me on Nexium. I do know I have GERD and the nexium helped minimally b/c it has taken away the reflux (the reflux was making this even worse).

ALLERGIES - An allergist looked in my throat and said it was ragweed allergy and put me on Allegra-D. That didn't help either. Plus, I dont' have a runny nose, itchy eyes, or anything like that.

ANXIETY - I am on lexapro and xanax for anxiety. My stress has been increased lately with the moving to a new state and starting a new job, etc. However, I've consciously worked to calm myself down about those things. Having this has CAUSED anxiety for me, I don't really feel that this is BECAUSE of anxiety. The xanax and lexapro also don't seem to help much w/ this. I have been able to reduce the associated anxiety by realizing that this isn't going to kill me. It hasn't gone away, but the reduced fear helps a bit.

EXERCISE - Up until about a month ago I was a serious exerciser. Run 4-5 miles most days, light weight training, take inhaler before working out - no problem with breathing. I even ran a half-marathon two months ago (13 mi.). I haven't had the oppty to work out in the past month b/c I've been busy with preparing to move to a new state, new job, etc. I attempted to workout this past week, and I did a mile and felt not good but not bad, but when I got off I noticed that my breathing was loud (like making a noise). That lasted about 15 min and went away.


SLEEP/LAYING DOWN - -I feel MUCH better when I'm laying down.

THROAT/COUGH- I have an odd cough that varies in intensity day to day (have never smoked). It feels more in my throat (like a wheezy/smokers cough although it sometimes is a chest rattling cough (but again chest xray came back fine!). When i go to breathe in I feel a little pressure in the sides of my neck.

TMJ - I have TMJ, dont know if that even matters but thought it couldn't hurt to mention that.

SWALLOWING - Sometimes its difficult to swallow all the way, especially certain foods or pills. Bready foods and things like that. miniscule pieces remain in the sides of my mouth.

Anyone with anything similar, similar symptoms? Suggestions?

I have had the same thing you all have, where you cant take a deep breath, doesnt feel like your getting the satisfaction of a breath and you have to make yourself yawn just to do it! Well i tried Vics Vaporrub b'cuz my nose was kinda stuffy making it even hard for me to breathe so i thought oh i'll just put some vics on and hope that it fixes my nose, well it did more than that, i seeped into my skin relaxing whatever was feeling tight in my chest where i couldnt take a deep breath. I recomend you all to try it. I would ask a doctor if you have asthma though, cuz it tells you too. Its soooooo scary when you cant breathe trust me i know, it would freak me out morning, noon and night! But vics helped me, even if you DONT have any mucas or a cold, broncitus or anything try it. Im sure this will help you.

Hey everyone,

You get it! I'm just like you (trust me, I don't want to take up this post writing too much of what you already know: difficulty in deep breaths and yawning, meds not working, perfect results on tests, apnea on some nights, tremendously scary, a lot of burps but not very gassy otherwise).

My questions for you guys--how is your posture? Do you have pain at the base of your rib cage? Has anyone gotten results that have made the difference?

For me, if i'm sleeping (most nights) or in a position of laying down, I do a lot better. . . and as I get up, it seems to get worse. Way worse when I eat or when I try and talk, especially over music or something. I also spend a lot of time at a computer/desk. I feel more like the air is poisoned than a physical injury, but I've had too many tests and such to keep thinking it's in my lungs.

If anyone has answers, can you shoot an PM and see if you can share somethings with me? I've had lots of meds (nasal sprays, steroids, inhalers, anxiety, pain, etc.) that haven't helped (but I can tell they are working cause my allergies would go away, i'd get more tired and relaxed, whatever.. just no help with the breathing).

I'm, just like many other people, very busy and exhausted. Not stressed about it, but there's not much for vacation time, either. Usually, the five or six times this has happened before, it's been for just 2 or 3 days. Now this one isn't as intense of an "attack," but lasting about a month.

Thanks!

I too struggle with all the same things I have read in this forum...I will attempt to outline as much as I know about my symptoms and possible causes. I'm trying to rule out one thing at a time in hopes of maybe finding a solution to this irritating and persistent problem.

I am a 20yo female
I am 5'2" and weigh a little under 110 pounds
(I eat like a pig, just have a small frame)
This problem began around 5 years ago the best I can remember
I have no known health problems or family history.
I had one grandma with asthma.
I do not regularly exercise (ie-at a gym) but i am active
I played tennis in high school and was generally not inhibited by this problem
I saw an allergist 3 1/2 years ago
He accused me of being a smoker although I've never smoked a day in my life
They did the breathing tests and told me I had 40% lung capacity
They did the albuterol test and had no results (positive or negative)
They tested me with an advair inhaler and said it helped 30%...aka NOTHING
I was told to take the advair inhaler twice a day everyday which I did
The breathing never got any better
I was told (by same allergist) that I was allergic to cats, fescue grass??, ragweed (who isn't?) and dust mite F
I hate cats but I've never had any reaction being around them
I had 2 long-haired yorkie dogs and never had allergy issues
I don't have seemingly any more of a problem with allergies than the average
person
The reason I went to the allergist was I went to the nurse's office at school one day when I absolutely could not breathe--not just deep breathe. She used a stethoscope and told me to get to an ER because air was not passing through my left lung.
The hospital injected me with a steroid in the butt (ouch! they're lying if they tell
you it doesn't hurt!)
They said the shot would help over the next several hours--it did not.
I took prednisone for the next 7-10 days (can't remember) and it did nothing.
I tried to self-diagnose and this is what I can tell you:
I lived in a house with mold--not sure how long it was there before it was
discovered
It was the 2nd most toxic type of mold behind stachybatris
We moved out for a year while it was "remediated"
During clean up it was determined my mom had sarcoidosis (possibly from mold)
Sarcoidosis is a disease affecting the lungs and is not thought to be hereditary
I would notice the breathing trouble would get worse sometimes when I was mid-meal. I found it nearly impossible to continue eating until it subsided--often that could take quite a while. I tried to detect a food allergy. Sometimes it got worse after having a Starbucks so I tried eliminating coffee/all caffeine from my diet with no result.
I have lived in Houston all my life with all the lovely pollution.
I moved to a small, relatively non-polluted town for college and the problem still
exists.
I cannot run at all. Not short or long distances. The breathing is insane. I feel like I am going to pass out. Tennis coach never seemed to understand.
I was tested about 4 years ago for heart problems when a cousin was diagnosed
with a type of heart problem--normal EKG and echo.
I am a big milk drinker and dairy consumer. I am absolutely not lactose-intolerant. The problem did not go away when I eliminated milk from my diet.
I've tried the breathing techniques and they do not help me at all.
I have been a sloucher for my entire life. Don't know if this contributes.
I have never been treated for anxiety problems. I get stressed over school but no
more than the average student. At the times I have the breathing problems I am
usually never stressed at all.
I don't drink. I don't smoke. (again--allergist did NOT believe me)
I've never had a panic attack.
It's not really seasonal. Just whenever. Although there was one summer it was particularly rough--usually will last for a few hours a day--anywhere from one day to a week or two. it just comes and goes.
Doctors don't take me seriously. It's really aggravating. I do not have anxiety
problems. Please stop fake diagnosing me.
I've been exceptionally healthy all my life--used to make perfect attendance at school for a long time. My senior year I started getting sick a lot. I spent the whole first year of college very ill. I had mono for about 11 months, tonsilitis twice (for a total of 3 times now), strep twice, bronchitis twice, pneumonia, and flu. The first summer after college I got better and have not really been ill since (i am now in my third year)
Kissing my boyfriend is a joke--I feel like i'm suffocating.
If i try to yawn to get a deeper breath I can't, my chest tightens up.

I'm having a "flare up" right now which is what spurred me to do some more research. So far the only true diagnoses I've seen are Lyme disease and Sarcoidosis and I'm fairly positive I have neither.

Can someone please post if any of these symptoms are common to them and which ones. Once again let me say-- I'm not stressed. It is not anxiety. It's not in my head and please don't try to convince me that it is. The doctors telling you this are just wasting your time and money letting you be guinea pigs for all their crazy remedies.