I know exactly what you mean. I am in my mid 30s and can't remember not having this problem. I was just doing a google search on "can't get a deep breath" and found myself here. Don't take this the wrong way, but it is actually refreshing to read and hear that I am not the only one suffering from this. Doctors have told me its stress, anxiety, hormonal, tesxted me for asthma - you name it. I can pretty much go for weeks without problems, then - bam - it hits. When it does it usually lasts for a few days (having good moments and bad). The worst of these are usually at night, when I am trying to get that last relaxing breath before falling asleep - I try harder and harder but can't and the more I try the more frustrating and harder it gets. It then takes forever to fall asleep and just gets worse the falling few days as I am more and more tired. Its definately a cycle (at least for me).

I get it, too. Have had it as long as i've had these symptoms of anxiety :-\

Me too. And it even makes it weird sometimes when I try to talk I feel like I have no energy or breath left, so I have to tense my stomach and almost press the words out. Its horrible. It pops up about once a month and lasts 2-3 days. I have anxiety also. Have had for months

I know what your talking about truck, you try to talk to someone but it feels like you can't catch your breath, like you just ran a mile but didn't and I even get shaky. I always think people are going to think i'm a crackhead or something! It's embarrassing.

Everyone on this site is suffering from chronic hyperventilation syndrome. Type in a search for this and you will get all the answers you need. Also type in a search for buteyko and this will cure you. Good luck!

I was having this same problem and I am under a lot of anxiety and depression right now. My best advice...Go get a massage. I did and I felt so 100% better...Try it...Let me know the results

When that happens, try to shift your attention to your diaphragm while breathing--pull air into your belly first, then take it into your lungs. You'll notice as you're inhaling into your lungs your belly begins to go down. Follow it with an exhalation. That is a full deep breath. The impression that you are not getting enough air, (assuming your breathing passage is clear) is actually anxiety, when you are in fact breathing deeply. Shifting awareness to deep belly breathing is calming, even if you panic at the beginning that you are not breathing right...After a while your body will start to feel calm from the deep breaths. Sometimes breathing like this can be emotionally painful, because deep breathing can bring out feelings you couldnt fully experience before because of the anxiety.
One thing I read somewhere, was to imagine a lotus flower opening inside your belly while you inhale, and imagining it shut while exhaling. It sounds kind of goofy/neurotic, but it helps to shift attention from tight, incomplete breaths to your belly, which is where healthy breathing originates.
Good luck all, i've been there and there is always another way!!

I have had similar issues, all linked to anxiety/stress and work.

One question everyone in this forum should ask them selves, do you work in front of a computer? I have done so for years and these issues on started after a few years of working in front of the computer.

Some things that help me to "release" so that I can breath deeply are:
1. Hot water bottle
2. A good physio therapist (preferably sports) as they seem to understand muscles and how they operate in your body
3. Beleive your doctor, I know its hard but you have to have faith in them or if not one, get a second opinion, dont tell the second one at all that you have seen another doctor, so then their decision is not biased.
4. In australia we have bowen therapy, not sure if you have it over there, can be very effective.
5. Yoga or pilates
6. Work less, or take more breaks.
7. Review your matress, you spend 1/3rd of your life on your bed, and it may not be as "supporting" as it used to be so could be causing back issues which cause back spasms/tightness
8. Laugh as often as you can, if not at a comedy, ring an old friend and reminise over stupid things youd do, its amazing how much laughter helps.
9. Ride a bike
10. Get a massage

those things have helped me, ive had some rough trots, but have gotten through them. One thing which I always would think to myself when I thought it was the worst its ever been was, what doesnt kill us makes us stronger.

Hope this helps.

Littlegong

I too also work in front of computer. I am 27 and have been working in front of computer full time for almost 2.5 years now.

I started realizing these symptoms after an urgent project over the weekend but it was very light.

I then have this very serious attack over 2 days from the night i decided to quit smoking.

I had CT, x-ray, PFT and blood test done, except a bit high on CHL everything else seems normal.

It is almost 3 weeks now since my first so called "anxiety attack" and sometime i still feel short of breath, i just can't seem to command my lung to breath properly.

My symptom is the most obvious when catching a train to / from work. And it's the least when having a laugh with friends after work in the cafe.

This has happened to me four times during the past eight months or so. Each episode lasts about a week or ten days. At first I have to yawn or else I cant get a full breath of air. After a few days of this I cant get a full breath no matter what I do. I know I really am breathing but I feel like my lungs aren't taking in any new air, its just the same air in there going up and down as I breathe, and so I feel this incredible need to breathe in a huge breath of fresh air, but I cant get it to go all the way into my lungs. As a result of constantly trying to do this, my stomach feels really bloated and my head starts hurting, and I start getting really angry and irritable.

The first time this happened it was about a week after I quit smoking and so I associated it with that. I have relapsed since then and been smoking off and on. I have gone through some very traumatic events in the past few months, but I'm not sure the breathing problems are related to that because there is nothing in particular that seems to set them off. This week I have been having a very good week but yesterday it started happening again for no reason at all, I just suddenly realized I wasnt getting enough air.

I would really like to know how to stop this!! Today I took a 1mg Xanax and I felt a lot better, but only because it kept me from worrying about my breathing. It was still hard for me to get a full breath, I just didn't feel the urge to do it as often.

This is a reply to jimcro09, around the end of June, I started not being able to get deep breath or yawn, after 2 wk. went to pri. care doc., he game me 3 inhalers, none worked, he sent me for cheast xray and pul. function test, both ok, then an ultrasound on my heart, ok, so then pul. doc. he started me with nexium, nothing, then he gave me zegerid, no good,(but first thing he did was take me off a med calledLisinopril for high BP, said it contained an ace inhibitor and it would take about 6 weeks to get out of my system, well, in 3 days the six weeks are up...the week before my last visit, I had a slight improvement, he said he wanted to do a stress test but wanted me to walk 30 min a day for a month first, did it for 3 days, had no trouble during the walk, did it for 3 days, each day my breathing got worse...sometime I think I'm going to lose my mind and have seen many sites with the same problem, and not one person has said their dr. found out the problem.....

I forgot to add this, I use Miralax for constipation, only thing that I have ever used that makes that part of my life normal.

jensbirl

Please someone tell me that your dr. has figured out this problem!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having difficulty breathing is very normal for everyone. Just knowing that should already make it easier for you to breath. You are simply experiencing what it means to have a life... and all the anxiety that comes along with it.

Why you feel constricted respiration is because anxiety creates tension in your heart. the heart is a nerve center for the whole body. You may think that the brain is the nerve center but its really not... The brain is the cognitive center. When your heart is burdened, it creates tension and congestion along the entire nerve system of the thoracic vertebrae. And guess which vertibraes control the lungs and diaphram??? you GOT IT... the thoracic vertebrae!

So there are several things you can do... ummm... endless actually... you can pound on the pressure points that hold the stress in that area, you can do inverse breathing... its commonly known as pranayama. You can write down your fears and anxieties so they become EXTERNALIZED. You can make it worth while for friends to help you resolve the issues that burden you. You can read self help books on the issues that concern you, finance, relationships, aging, health, etc...

Now just get out there and do it.

I started having this problem after my breathing passages were irritated by cleaning products. The problem is, although I'm a lot better now, my brain is still caught up in that circular idea that I can't take a deep satisfying breath (what is the mechanism involved in this, anyway)? I've been tested for asthma, COPD, etc. -all negative. I even went to the ER in a state of panic. My oxygen level was at 100%! Even though it all started with a injury, it seems it's all in my head now. I have an inhaler and am on steroids to reduce inflamation. I yawn a lot. The only time I find relief is while sleeping, which I don't do enough of. This must be an extreme state of anxiety which is circular in nature -kind of like OCD. We are obsessed with our breathing, which makes matters worse.

I think it has to do with laptop/computer. I work full time in IT. I started noticing these symptoms a month ago. One of my friend also had the same problem and he works full time with computers too. Once I shut down /go for a walk I feel much better. Since we are the first generation using computers a lot, we will be the first victims of it's side effects.

I know what it feels like not to get a deep enough breath. It feels like I'm breathing in my chest, and no matter how hard I try I can't breathe in my stomach. What's really frustrating is that i play the french horn, so I have to be able to breathe right! The only times I've felt a really satisfying breath is when my old trumpet teacher told me to lean over, touch the floor, and suck in really fast. It always worked then, but I can't get it to work when I'm sitting up. And now I feel frustrated and I guess I subconsciously think that I'll never get a good breath, so I never do.

Do you guys know what, i suffer the same condition, and to ease this condition i yawn and yawn and yawn until i can catch that deep breath through my yawning as if i=at the same time as yawning, anyone else tried this?? it works

You may not think you're stressed, you enjoy your job, you go out enough, you have a life. But working for a long time at the computer can make you stressed, keeping a bad posture while you're doing it will make it worse.

When our minds are stressed, we breathe shorter, shallower breaths, not deep enough to exhale all of the CO2 out of our bodies. We want to take a deep breath because it's the body's natural mechanism for rotating the air in our lungs. Breathing short breaths is like what you would automatically do when the air you're breathing is of bad quality, such as if you were in a burning down house. Maintaining this bad breathing leads to not enough good oxygen getting to the lungs, which can then cause air-hunger (gasping for breath, insatiable need for a deep breath), nervousness, tremors, tight chest, palpitations, panic attacks, feelings of terror, dizzyness etc.

Things that can help ease symptoms-
Less hours at the pc, take regular, strict breaks, check your posture every 1/2 hour, if you don't know what correct posture is for computer use, find out. Make sure the lighting in the room is good, the air and air temperature is good. Don't ignore those things.

Take exercise, eat regularly (not eating regularly can make the body stressed), find something you can do if you start to feel strange (I peel fruit, sounds weird but it concentrates your mind on one thing and your body sets the breathing right. In yoga they teach you to focus on the ticking of a clock, whatever works. It's a form of meditation.

Try to breathe through your nose at all times, even when you feel panicky. Normal breathing is about 9 times per minute, check yourself every now and then.
Learn pranayama, forget Buteyko- it's a pointless cashcow, you won't find anything out for free, and what you do find out can be learnt through Yoga, which has been practiced for thousands of years, who are you going to trust?
Get at least 7 hours sleep a night, learn to notice when your mind is tired (you might slouch, you might feel strange between the eyes, you might frown etc)

Stop taking 1/2 of the medication you've been given, just to test yourself. . . reasons follow.

I've had it all, pulmonary tests, cardio tests, blood tests, ER trips. I was diagnosed with asthma, then told I didn't have it, then told I had hyperthyroidism, then told I didn't, then brachycardia, then anaphylaxis. . .the list goes on.

I found that some of the medicine given to me (inparticular bronchodilators) induced unpleasant interactions in me with things like coffee or alcohol, the unpleasant interactions would then give me another symptom (like pins and needles in my arms and legs) which would then make me worry more, the doctors would give me one more medicine to add to my carrier bag, and the problems kept getting worse.
Stopping taking the asthma meds helped me 50%, stopping the rest helped another 30%. Finally I'm back at square one over a year and a half away before I started taking anything and I just had a problem catching a deep breath.

I have to say that my problems really started when I gave up smoking. It puts a huge stress on your body, one that you can't imagine, it infects your senses, your brain, your dreams, and your fight/flight response can be seriously mal-aligned.

Avoid stress at all costs, learn ways to calm down. Even if you don't believe it, try to learn why people meditate and find out your own way of doing it, it really helps.
Change your diet, eat regular meals, don't eat too much fat, over-eating can have negative affects on your breathing. Also make sure your clothes aren't too tight, if they are it promotes bad breathing (breathing up through the top part of your lungs) practice breathing out through the very bottom of your stomach (diaphragm breathing) you get more air into your lungs and it's much more natural.

Doctors are useless, you have to find this out by yourself.

Good luck & stay healthy.