Trouble Breathing, anxiety?

adamj55 · 12-24-2007, 04:53 PM

I'm new here, so I'm sorry I wasn't sure where to post this.

For about 3 weeks I had had trouble swallowing. It would go down fine, but I was afraid to swallow because I was afraid I might choke.
That recently went away, and for the past 3-4 days I've had trouble breathing. I'm 18 and I have ADD/ADHD. I take Ritalin and Risperadol *Probably spelled wrong* I have taken them for 3-4 years, so I know they're fine. When I say trouble breathing I don't mean a hyperventilation breathing problem, I mean like.. ok.. I can exhale fine, right? But when I go to inahle it feels like I'm not getting enough air. There is NO pain, or anything like that. I often feel weak, or lack energy to get up and do things, but when I'm sitting down doing nothing, I feel not as bad. And I mean, right now it FEELS fine to me. Like yesterday I was panicing, i was scared and thought I was going to die. Which made it worse! I sometimes feel the need to take a deep breath and inhale. and then sigh it out. It feels relieving sometimes, other times it doesn't have any feel to it. Which made me think it was my lungs or something.

Like I said it just feels weird >.< Like..around where my esophagus ends, and sometimes it feels strange around my left chest area, like around my heart. No pain, it just feels like there's air by my heart, but that might be my lung. heh..

So last night I woke up at..actually, nevermind, I couldn't get to sleep all night. When I layed down I felt like I lacked breath even worse! I think this is where I paniced and thought it was anxiety. I kept thinking that i was going to die, that it's almost Christmas and this happens to me. I've been very stressed out all my life, and I've really been no more stressed out now than before, so I don't know about that there. Anyway, so I paniced so badly, I got up at 4am, woke my mom up who got my father to take me to the ER. My blood pressure was normal. The doctor checked around my upper body, telling me to take deep breaths. He told me everything is fine there. Nothing wrong with my lungs, no wheezing, I haven't coughed or felt any pain. Then he checked my throat and he told me that my throat was red. He said he didn't think it was pnemunonia (Sorry I can't spell :X) and he said it's probably not strep throat, but he took a throat swab and said they'd call if it was. (They haven't called so I'm assuming it wasn't strep)

So I really don't know what to do. It's not my lungs, but I have this weird feeling around where my esophagus ends, and right below it too. Today hasn't been entirely bad. I mean, like I said it's so weird not knowing! I don't think it was anxiety because I didn't think anxiety lasted all day, and also I'm not feeling like that right yet, only last night I really did. Like I said, as I'm typing this now I feel like I'm breathing normally, but there's that weird, very faint feeling around the left side of my chest area, sometimes it feels low sometimes it feels high. The doctor said to just let nature take its course and it will disappear in 8-10 days. But I think he just meant the throat problem, so I don't know what to do about this breathing problem. I've read so many posts that all have the same symptoms as me, and I see that people live with what i have for YEARS before it goes away. It's so scary to feel like this, feeling a bit weak and out of breath when you try to do things.. Anyone have any ideas?

quincy · 12-24-2007, 05:10 PM

Hi..could it possiby be reflux? That can cause feelings like you can't breathe.

My voice disappeared for a while....I thought it was laryngitis (which I've had in the past and required meds)..the the ENT said the redness was in a different pattern signifying reflux.

I used Zantac twice daily for a while...my voice is back. I tend to use it when I need rather than daily now.

The anticipation of having a heart attack would definitely trigger anxiety. It's a difficult cycle to stop.

quincy

AnnD · 12-24-2007, 05:23 PM

I sorry for your recent sensation. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss your medications. As we age or the longer we take a drug things change and your body may be telling you something isn't right with the medicines. Look up the side effects for long term usage. Also it is too bad the doctor didn't do an x-ray because it would of put my mind at ease that there wasn't something going on there. I know a guy that gets walking pneumonia all the time and the doctors just don't catch it even if they listen. and an x-ray would show up anything else going on in the throat area if it was like a growth or something. So but for now the doctor my be right that it will run it's course. Sorry it is a difficult one isn't it.

Saverain · 12-24-2007, 07:06 PM

What's your diet like? Have you drank any liquor lately?

adamj55 · 12-25-2007, 08:20 PM

Thank you for your replies. I went to the doctor again yesterday, they again checked my blood pressure, and all of that. They said my oxygen level is fine, that my blood pressure is normal, but they said that my heart beat is slightly rapid. He asked a lot about my medication and I believe the Risperadol can cause long term heart problems. Although I'm only on 1mg of Risperadol, so I really don't see that being a problem since I've only taken 1mg of it for 4-5 years. I'm due to see my doctor for those Jan 8th, but I'm going to give him a call tomorrow and see if I can get in sooner, so hopefully he can tell me something. They also did an EKG, and he said everything as far as my heart goes looks fine. He said it sounded like I had an inner chest infection/throat infection. So tomorrow I'll be going down to the ER again, and I'm going to tell them to give me an X-ray of my chest, to see if there's an infection or anything like that. It does feel like it's in my chest though. I think the doctor got the wrong idea when I said I had trouble breathing, because I think he meant the type of overbreathing you have when you have a panic attack. I told him that for me it's just I feel short of breath, so I'll have to point that out again. The only reason it bothers me is because I can forget about it, have it off my mind but I can still feel myself breathing slowly. And this happens all day and night, which is very stressful. I don't think it's anxiety or stress, since my life isn't any different then before. Hopefully the x-ray shows something, because right now it does feel like it's in the center of my chest. But I don't know because usually if it's an infection you will cough or wheez, but I have no pain, no symptoms other than the fact I can't breath right. It's very strange but hopefully i can find out soon. I also feel a bit sick to my stomach every so often as well, especially when I eat food. Hopefully this can be fixed soon.