I have had GAD my whole life. Sometimes its worse then other times. I recently moved far away and now I am having full blown panic attacks. For the past few years now I feel like Im not getting enough air I am always sighing or yawning. I am always worried about getting some deadly disease. I am always looking up symptoms and I get all kinds. It like never ends and now with moving the panic attacks make everything worse. I am like constantly worrying about all sorts of things. Since I am constantly thinking about this stuff it makes me kind of spacy and I have problems with my short term memory and then that scares me. Oh brother I wish this would go away what should I do I cant stand this anymore??

Please..listen
You must stop looking up things on the internet...that only makes it worse.
I never had GAD or Panic attacks untill i moved to a new place.
I've been here 3 years now...I moved from a small Island to the city.
Sometimes I want to go back to my Island..I lived there for 23 of my 26 years.
Part of it is I am away from my family..the other part is not having met many friends out here.I totaly understand the breathing thing...I used to wake up gasping for breath.I think it's the adrenalin that does that...I yawn all the time too.Except what you have...your not alone...Breath deep ;)

Yes, I agree. You have to stop looking on the internet. (((I need to listen to my own advice too.))) Although the internet is useful, it is not the best thing to diagnose something. Anxiety takes over your whole body and that is why you feel the way you do. I was diagnosed with a staph infection in March and that is how my GAD came about. I had two bad panic attacks because I thought I was going to die. Luckily, the staph was not in my bloodstream and the antibiotics worked. But, after that, eventhough my dr. told me that I was ok, everytime I would get a symptom, I would look it up and worry myself to death. Don't do this to yourself. It is hard, but can be a habit to break. Do you have a GAD support group in your area? Try one if there is. I am currently reading a Self-Coaching book and it is very good so far. I can not take meds due to them causing ringing in my ears, so I have to beat this on my own. I may try St. John's Wort, but not sure if it will help much of my anxiety. Good Luck to you and let me know if you need anything. We can get through this together.

I have always been an anxious person. And I know the feeling of not getting enough air. I don't know your situation...good husband...children...or are you all alone? I finally had to turn it over to the Man upstairs....I'll be here as long as He wants me to be here. I stay up a little later than everyone else in the house..to settle my thoughts and relax. But I'm still a worrier. That's just me. Good Luck and God Bless.

I am trying to break myself of looking up all my symptoms on the internet as well...not a good thing! I freak out and feel like anxiety and panic come on strong after I have tried to "self diagnose". I've been on Paxil for a week now, and am trying to wait it out, and hope for the best. It makes me a little shaky when I get up in the morning, but so far, it's nothing I can't deal with. But I too get scared that I have some terrible disease all the time, and I feel like I need to always take deep breaths...which taking too many can make you more lightheaded, if you already were. Maybe try and take smaller breaths, through your nose, and then let it out of through your mouth. My dr has said that taking the breath in through your nose gets more oxygen to your brain and can at times settle you down more, and maybe not feeling like you always need to take a deep breath. Hope that helps a little. Good luck...remember, you are not alone!!!

Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome

Do you have the follow symptoms (not all inclusive):

"air hunger"
"feel like breathing through a straw or get enough air"
"chest tight or hurts"
"back muscles hurt or tight"
"rapid breathing"
"dizzy"
"panicky"
"deep breath attempts just stop"
"sigh alot or yawn alot to get satisfying breath"
"when you do get a deep breath satisfaction only last a few minutes"
"lump in the throat"
"chest muscles and back muscles feel tired"

If you have seen lots of doctors and they do not know what is wrong with you because all the tests say your normal or they say you suffering from stress and give you medication or tell you to see a psychiatrist. Ask them about CHS. Many doctors do not know about CHS because as you can see the above symptoms can also be a result of more serious conditions and it is difficult to diagnose CHS. There is even some argument CHS actually exists, but it is very real for those of us that suffer from it. You are not crazy. Google Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome and you will see it is a real condition with some real treatment options. I have not pursued any of the treatment options b/c I think I can lick this myself since I know what I have now. Knowledge is half the battle. I searched for 2 years for an answer and finally a way out. Good luck. Hopefully this helps.
american sage