Anyone else feel air hunger? Like no matter how hard you try to get a “satisfying” deep breath, it just doesn’t work. It’s been happening to me for about a week now. It’s really freaking me out. I’ve had my heart checked, chest X-rays, blood work.. all the things. I am overweight which probably contributes. But could it just be from anxiety? Sometimes I don’t even feel anxious but it still happens.
I ALWAYS feel my anxiety begin in my chest. Also, when we're self-monitoring we are more likely to have more sensitive reactions to any perceived stimuli or pain which we may perceive as being dangerous or worrisome. When you're anxious, and you focus on how full your lungs feel, you're probably gonna manually breathe to fill your lungs up to an abnormal amount to simulate the feeling of having taken a full breath. Thing is, you're anxious so your whole body is in need of more oxygen. So your lungs expand more than normal, take in the oxygen quicker, you end up feeling like you need to breathe more to get that same full breath because without it your anxiety spikes again because you're starting to feel like needing to breathe like that in the first place is a sign of an issue.
That is a pretty common anxiety response, along with yawning. I yawn NON STOP when I'm anxious. And especially since you are paying attention to it you are doing it more and attaching significance. I actually get "air hunger" sometimes when my anxiety is starting to calm, like my chest feels like it was so tight for so long it just wants a good stretch and I find myself taking big sighs to try to alleviate the feeling. You got a clean bill of health. you are just going to have to let it pass and remind yourself its an anxiety response.
I suffer from the same exact thing. I feel like I'm wanting to constantly get a deep breath and if it's not satisfying I start to freak out. I don't mind connecting with anyone else who suffers from the same thing. It's scary to feel alone.
I’ve been dealing with hypochondriasis ever since a heart condition scare and cancer scare last summer. That led me into hyperawareness somatic OCD. Now every day I feel like I can’t fully take a deep breath, so I keep trying to, which makes my anxiety worse. Has anyone ever dealt with this? Any tips?
I may sound crazy but on Saturday I choked on a bit of my drink and then my anxiety began Sunday night. I’ve had this unrealistic fear that I have some type of pneumonia and the liquid went into my lungs. I woke up at 3:30AM on Monday morning with a huge panic attack and then was anxious the entire day with chest pain. I’m still worried about it today but don’t wanna succumb to going to urgent care - is this a crazy thing to do just to calm me down? ugh!
Hi, new here to NOCD 👋🏼 I have struggled with what I now know as somatic OCD for the last 3 1/2 years, when it comes to breathing & taking deep breaths. I have noticed that I spend 98% of my day, thinking about it & paying attention to it. I know it’s a normal bodily function but I get the urge to take deep breaths every couple of mins. When I don’t get “a full deep breath”, it sends me into a panic & the intrusive thoughts start.. “what if I never get a deep breath again” “there is nothing I can do to make myself get that full deep breath” “if I don’t get a deep breath, you must not be able to breathe” - sometimes these thoughts & moments totally take over & I find myself spiraling. I feel like all my walls are closing in & my heart starts racing. The panic usually lasts a couple of mins if that but it feels like forever. I’m much better at handling and working through it now than I was 3 years ago, but I still have bad moments & sometimes bad days. At times, I’m able to talk myself through it & I don’t let it take over but other times, it feels uncontrollable. NOCD has been helpful so far, it’s comforting knowing I’m not alone. I’m just wondering if anyone else deals with this type of OCD? Have you found anything to be helpful to deal with it? Thanks in advance.
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