My daughter has anxiety which she does not take medication for and asthma, which she uses an inhaler for as needed. Last week she woke up and couldn't breathe. She couldn't call out to her roommates for help and she got out of bed and collapsed face first on the floor. Her roommates awoke at the sound of her body hitting the floor and found that she wasn't breathing. One started CPR and one called 911. She started breathing again after the CPR, but stopped once again before the ambulance arrived and had to be revived with CPR a second time.

The ambulance people told her it was an anxiety attack and she should go get on Welbutrin. They said she probably hyperventilated until she passed out and they felt it had nothing to do with asthma. They gave her a mask to breathe into should she start hyperventilating again. Then they left.

My question is, if this were an anxiety attack where she hyperventilated, when she passed out why didn't her body take over and start regulating her breathing on its own? When she was found, she wasn't breathing AT ALL. Her roommate also said she had yellow foam coming out of her mouth. I feel like the ambulance people should've taken her to the ER and I wish they had b/c now she won't go to the doctor. I don't have a lot of experience with anxiety attacks like this and just wondered what you all think?

That's so upsetting to hear. I was recently diagnosed with asthma. Up until that point, however, I was repeatedly at the doctor and the ER telling them that I couldn't breathe. I was always sent home being told that it was a panic attack. Well wouldn't you know, one day I was at the doctor who finally heard wheezing in my chest and did some tests and it was asthma! So it turns out that my anxiety attacks (accompanied by not being able to breathe, back pain and chest pain) were actually asthma attacks! Now, I'm not saying that I never have anxiety 'cause I surely do. I've done some research, though, and anxiety and asthma often go hand in hand.

To answer your question, I would surely think that she would have started breathing on her own again if she truly hyperventilated.

I'm wondering, though, is an inhaler all she uses to treat her asthma? That's good for rescue purposes, but her anxiety might be a little better if she had her asthma better controlled. I know that when my asthma acts up, my anxiety goes through the roof. My doc gives me a once a day tablet called Singulair to keep my asthma under control. It's just a thought, but if you can get her to see a doctor, you might want to treat her asthma before treating the anxiety.

Thanks for your response, Mellieb. She doesn't take any medication for the asthma. Her doctor, as far as I know, never suggested a daily medication for it. Her asthma isn't severe and in the five years since she was diagnosed, she's only had to use her inhaler probably 10 times. She's never experienced anything like this episode before. She told me that she agreed with the ambulance people that it wasn't an asthma attack b/c it felt different. She said during an asthma attack she breathes hard, struggling to get oxygen but in this case she couldn't inhale at all. She felt like she was being suffocated and passed out pretty fast. When they revived her she couldn't speak for about an hour and it was only her roommates giving the ambulance people her medical history. She couldn't tell them what happened or how she felt.

I'm working on her getting to the doctor. I'm trying to apply my gentle, motherly force to make her go. She's resistant b/c she doesn't have insurance. I've offered to pay for it but she doesn't want to accept "charity." She's stubborn for sure. I'm worried about her.

The two things that bother me the most are the facts that she didn't start breathing again on her own, which seems to me that she would have if it were only hyperventilating and that the ambulance people didn't take her to the ER. I keep telling her that they may be skilled medical people, but they're still not doctors and I don't think they should be diagnosing something like this being on the scene for 15 minutes.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm remembering an incident two years ago that happened at my house with my mother. I found my mother on the floor in my office having what looked to be some kind of seizure - she was foaming at the mouth and shaking and definitely wasn't conscious. I called an ambulance and they took her to the hospital where they said that it was a panic attack! It was definitely not like any panic attack I've ever seen. She suffers from severe anxiety and hadn't taken medication yet for the day.

So it sounds like something very similar to what happened with your daughter. The only difference, though, is that she never stopped breathing. I'm really perplexed by that. Was it her roommates that revived her or the paramedics? I only ask because I'm wondering if maybe her roommates thought she wasn't breathing but she really was? And wow - the ambulance people didn't even take her to the ER?

I'm so sorry - this must be very scary for you and for her. I hope you are able to get her to see a doctor and please let us know if you find out anything more.

I've never heard of any anxiety/panic attack having this type of effect. Maybe there is some complication with the asthma intefering with breathing and hyperventilation, but as far as this being anxiety alone, I doubt it. I'm interested to hear others thoughts on this, because true anxiety alone should not cause a person to stop breathing or foam at the mouth.

I agree with SirReal. I've always been told (and rely on) the fact that anxiety is not going to kill me - even though a panic attack feels that way. Surely, if panic attacks were able to stop you from breathing, they would be taken a little more seriously in the medical community. I believe she's having some combination of factors here - maybe she was struggling to breathe during her sleep and woke up gasping which caused a panic attack and she eventually passed out....???? I don't know, but she needs to see a doctor. I'm pretty sure ANY TIME someone passes out, they are supposed to seek a medical opinion. Be careful though...if she truly has an anxiety problem, you don't want to scare her with possible medical issues - this could have a long-lasting and much more devastating effect....trust me I know...

I've had anxiety and panic attacks for 18 years. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. I also know a lot of other people with it too and so far no one has passed out from it nor foamed at the mouth. It sounds like your daughter has something else going on. She needs to go see a doctor.

I have a history of passing out from my anxiety attacks. I also have asthma so it's hard to differentiate from it. My dr told me to take a xanax and if it doesn't feel better, to take a puff off my inhalor. My most recent fainting episode was today at the dr's office. I was sitting in her office talking about stuff and started hyperventalating. She had me lie down and put a pillow over my face to block out the light. I think I was on the ground for about 30 minutes. I was conscious for the most part, but didn't feel all there. Eventually I was able to get up and walk around.. if you want to read the rest of the story it under 'anxiety is running my life.."

I went to the therapist yesterday and mentioned what happened to my daughter. She said that in her best guest my daughter started having an anxiety attack and then the asthma took over which prevented her from breathing again on her own. That would make sense, I guess.

mellieb - She was given CPR twice by her roommate and it was during the second round of CPR when the ambulance people came in and took over. They had to complete the CPR that her roomate had started so I think she really wasn't breathing.

The "funny" thing is that the roommate who performed CPR and saved her is an ex-boyfriend, who saved her life once before when someone pushed her off a cliff and she fell about 70' into water. She was knocked unconscious and sank into the water. He was there and climbed down to jump in the water after her, pulled her out and saved her from drowning. I asked her yesterday, "Are you sure you don't want to get back together with this guy?" Seems like he's good to have around. In the cliff incident the ER doctors were amazed that she didn't die from the fall alone. She wound up with some major bruising all over her face and body, but no severe injury. Someone must be looking out for her.

The guy who pushed her was a stranger who disappeared some time between the time he pushed her and the time the cops/ambulance arrived. Everyone was so panicked about her that they didn't keep an eye on him and he got away. Otherwise I think he would've probably faced some charges. It's scary to think what was going through his mind that he would push someone who was just hiking near him off a cliff. The group my daughter was with said she was looking out over the edge and this guy just stepped up and shoved her without warning. I find that really creepy and wonder what he's done since then.

Sounds like she has a guardian angel. AND...I think the doc is right - so you really need to help her with controlling her anxiety...

My therapist told me that a study was done on anxiety/panic suffers. He said that 91% of them had had an incident sometime in there life were they couldn't breathe, as in drowning or suffocating. He said they are related with the disorder.