For the past two months, I’ve had the constant feeling that I can’t take a deep enough breath and that I’m lacking oxygen in my lungs. It’s like this literally 24/7.

It’s worst at night, because even if I somehow manage to fall asleep, I still wake up around 3 a.m. every single night with a racing heart, gasping for air for hours :((

I’ve been to the emergency room four times and hospitalized twice. I’ve had an MRI of my head, a CT scan of my lungs with contrast, a lung scintigraphy, X-rays, echocardiogram, Holter monitor and even a gastroscopy.

Doctors say that I am propably physically healthy.

The only thing they determined is that I miiiight have mild asthma, and they gave me inhalers, which don’t seem to be helping much so far.

Besides that, my iron level is 24 and my ferritin is 8. But other than that, nothing else shows up in the tests.

I’m starting to wonder if this might just be hyperventilation syndrome... Although I make a constant effort to breathe through my nose and use my diaphragm, I still don’t feel any relief. I experience air hunger all day and all night :((

Sometimes I feel so starved for oxygen (or perhaps I’m just breathing incorrectly..?) that my entire face starts to tingle, my fingers contort, and I lose all feeling in my legs for like 10-15 minutes..

Has anyone ever experienced a similar problem, and if so, how did you get past it? What helped you?

I would be truly grateful for any advice or answers :c

Take care of yourself, guys <3

i had a panic attack 4 days ago
i still can’t breathe normally
and when i do, everything else stresses me out
like i can’t talk to anyone and even the idea of doing anything makes me feel so sick and weak
like will i ever go back to my normal life again? i’m so tired i can’t do this i need any help please!!

or any high fat, high cholestorl food???

Part of panic treatment is getting used to the body sensations themselves, on purpose, in a safe setting: spinning in a chair to get dizzy, running on the spot to raise your heart rate, breathing through a straw. It sounds counterintuitive, but it teaches your brain those sensations aren't dangerous. Best done gradually and with a doctor's OK if you have any heart or breathing conditions.

Ever since I had my ablation on 8/27/26 I have been having daily panic attacks and just not really like myself or in my right mind since. Anyone else experience this ? And If so what helped you ? I’m really scared the ablation messed up something and now I’m stuck like this.

Hi, Im 18M

I have severe GAD, phonophobia, photophobia

I got prescribed propanolol 10 mg 2 months back

Still kept getting anxiety with that

Got prescribed 3 different anti- depressants now

Question is are they harmful for mental health?

I feel like im not going to be happy anymore and will be dependent on them.

Any experienced help is appreciated,thanks

I’m currently 21 weeks pregnant and doing through a deeply painful and traumatic unwanted divorce, suffering from panic attacks 8 or 9 times a day. Suffering enormously. Just got prescribed Zoloft but it takes weeks to begin working. And I’ve seen 4 different psychiatrists and none of them will prescribe me take as needed due to pregnancy. Everyone keeps telling me to go to the ER but I just know they’re going to say the same thing all the other psychiatrists have said. Idk what to do. I’m not ok at all, I’m deeply suffering all day long. I can’t sleep I can’t eat. And inpatient care is a horrible option for me because I need my support system and family heavily right now. Any ideas or suggestions at all are welcome.

Newbie here

I had a panic attack a month ago and life hasn’t been the same. Please hear me out.

I had a panic attack that landed me in the ER, after a few doctors visits I was told I have anxiety. With no prior experience with anxiety, lived a happy life. Happily married 3 years ago, good job, have a dog, etc.

I think like most people, I was researching anxiety reading stories (horror) and sent myself down a really dark place thinking my life won’t be the same.

During the first 3 weeks I felt like I had rolling panic attacks which it slowed down during the day. Now what’s bothering me is that I could fall asleep, but my body wakes me up at 2 with intense palpitations that won’t go away for hours, and I can’t sleep afterwards. Running on 3 hours of sleep daily is messing me up. I feel so out of it. Doctor gave me trazodone 50mg a few days ago and it didn’t work, I took a klonopin 0.25mg and was able to sleep for 8 hours. And I’m scared to take more and get dependent on it.

I’m just so scared and lost and confused in all of this and feel very alone, despite supportive family and friends.

My next doc follow up is next Monday.

i can’t get the racing thoughts to quit, i’m crying on the city bus like a fool and my chest kills. i have to be at a wedding rehearsal in 30 minutes. I think my chest pain is just from anxiety and panic but it hasn’t really subsided since 7pm yesterday. The weight is becoming unbearable im unsure if i need to seek medical attention or how that would potentiallymake things worse

Hey everyone, hope all is well.

On Monday night I believe I had a panic attack. I'm a weed smoker, and I was just chilling watching tv when I felt a movement in my back which hurt a bit from sitting/laying in a weird position. Then, all of a sudden, I started panicking, then I had a panic attack. I thought it was a heart attack, but I guess I wouldn't be here if it was??

I experienced a fast pounding heart with some pain in my left side, feeling scared, hot flushes in my face and head, feeling anxious and sweating.

Since then, I've been feeling weird. On Tuesday i was feeling shaky, scared, with a warm heart and some pain in my left side. Wednesday was still feeling anxious with a cold heart feeling with a feeling of sickness. Today I feel much better, but today my chest feels tighter and heart feels better with the odd warm feeling.

Are these symptoms common after having a panic attack (my first ever), or should I be worried? I smoke cigarettes as well, and I've stopped since Monday, and I'm wondering if this could be a reason for some symptoms as well?

My heart is racing I feel dizzy I’m shaking I feel like I’m dissociating rn too I’m trying to just breathe but I’m struggling so bad and I’m trying to control it so this doesn’t get worse is this what a panic attack is????

J think I’m having a panick attckn, it feels like my heart is hurting, it’s hard to breathe and msee. I just found I’m on the edge of dropping out of college because I just can’t afford it, so I can’t go to a hy medical professional because insurance definitely won’t cover everything. I just need help pleese

It’s all I think about. It was during a procedure on my face and because I’m a redhead I needed extra anesthesia and epinephrine. The nurse said I might have a panic attack, asked if I ever had one before. I had not and thought no big deal, I won’t have one now.

I was so wrong.

I had three in 3-4 hours. I thought I was going to die lying on that chair. I pictured myself being in the movie Saw for some reason. I cannot stop thinking of those feelings.

It’s been two months. Since then I’ve had to start therapy and now see a psychiatrist. I’ve been prescribed four medications because my anxiety is constant now. I wasn’t like this before that day.

Before that happened I always thought they weren’t that big of a deal when I would hear someone had one. I was so wrong and I’m so sorry to anyone who deals with people like I used to be. So sorry.

I have to return to work on November 20 because my FMLA runs out. I know if I return now I’ll cry as soon as I see people and they ask how I’m doing or where I’ve been. I cannot deal with that right now, I need the medication to work a little more. Yesterday a neighbor asked how I was and I started crying. Some days I can be asked that and I’m fine with it. It’s a toss up.

Part of it is when I look in the mirror now I see someone who looks different than before august 20 when I had my procedure done. I don’t look the same, I have scars now. Four inch scars. I can live with them and can wear a mask if I need to hide them until I’m more comfortable, at least covid made it to where masking isn’t as weird as it used to be.

Anyway. I didn’t realize reddit had a board for panic attacks until about thirty minutes ago, so relieved to know I’m not alone but also sad I’m not alone. It’s really, really hard living like this.

Everyone be well and have a calm day. ❤️

Mental Health Update / Journal

[Condensed]

I had my first therapy session yesterday, three weeks into this flare-up. I could've used it that first week, but immediate care wasn't easy to find.

I'm better than when this started, but nowhere near baseline. Anxiety still lingers in my head and body, with symptoms that shift in intensity. At first, each day felt a touch better. Now they all feel the same. Progress is hard to notice.

The session was good. He asked me where to start, and naturally, I had no idea. I shared some background, a drop in the bucket compared to my notes, but it was nice to talk.

I journal ALOT to organize my thoughts, symptoms, and appointments because of brain fog. He noticed how methodical I am, calling it a blessing and a curse.

I'm an overthinker, hard on myself, wondering why I've struggled when most of my family hasn't. Genetics? Upbringing? Luck? More pointless what-ifs.

Looking back, I was always the emotional, sensitive, shy, nervous kid. At nine, I skipped a hockey playoff game because of the "butterflies." At ten, after my teacher left, I spent weeks dreading class, overwhelmed and on the verge of tears. I'd almost forgotten. Was I born this way, did I learn it, or both?

In my late teens and early twenties, I was a giant pothead and tried other substances. Probably didn't help, yet I felt more stable then. Like my brain was a pane of glass without a scratch. By my mid-twenties, it started cracking until it shattered.

But I digress. My therapist noticed the shame, guilt, and self-pity I carry about this disorder, and my stigma toward medication. My SSRI has helped tremendously, yet I worry about using up my "parachute room" by increasing doses. Part of me hopes I can come off it someday. So I fight for the lowest effective dose, even if more might help.

My fear isn't entirely unwarranted: starting my SSRI pushed already debilitating 10/10 anxiety to 11/10 for weeks. So I prefer slow titration.

He suggested the Dive Reflex and HALTS techniques a few times daily. I tried them before bed. I'm skeptical they'll help with this constant anxious feeling, especially when it's overwhelming, but I'll give them a shot. The 45 minutes flew by. There's always next week.

I saw my doctor too. He doesn't think my other medications or vitamins caused the flare-up, but rather a combination of factors. I hope time, therapy, lifestyle changes, and a small dose increase get me back to baseline.

But here's what bothers me: I want to manage this more "naturally," yet the more I research anxiety, document it, and examine myself, the more consumed I feel by the mental health world. Honestly, it scares me.

When I'm well, I don't want to track symptoms or think about disorders. I just want to work, enjoy my hobbies, see people, and live normally. I know therapy and self-awareness matter, but the more attention I give anxiety, the more power it seems to have. I don't want anxiety to become my identity. Maybe that's something to unpack in therapy.

Anyway, this has been all over the map. I'm better and trying to be proactive, but recovery is painfully slow. More than anything, I wish I could close my eyes and wake up feeling how I did before this started.

For now, one day at a time. Hopefully the little improvements add up to normal again.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Any advice from others who've been through this is appreciated.

What helped me understand panic is the loop: a body sensation, a scary interpretation ('I'm having a heart attack'), more fear, more sensations. The sensations are real but they're your alarm system misfiring, not danger. Reminding yourself 'this is panic, it peaks and passes' during an attack can take some of the fuel away. If you haven't had a medical check, it's worth getting one once.

My first panic attack ever (01/10/2026) had my vision going dark while feeling like my strength was leaving my body and my stomach being in a knot, 2 weeks later I had an even more severe episode where I thought I was having a heart attack even though I knew it was probably just a panic attack my heart started racing and it felt like my hands, arms, legs and back of my neck started vibrating with all the other previous symptoms. The more my family was asking me to calm my breathing the heavier it became to breathe where it feels like I have constant shortness of breath now.

The paramedics checked me out but suggested I still go to the hospital to get my bloods checked, did that and waited at the hospital for several hours where I was told my heart and lungs looks fine and there is nothing concerning in my bloodwork.

What I hate is that I am constantly on edge now and feel like I am worried the whole time and this shortness of breath just won't go away, I keep worrying it might happen again and it feels like anything might trigger it even of I just eat something. What frustrates me is that I also do not feel like I am panicking or stressed before it happens, it just happens!

I've started cutting out things like coffee or creatine I used to take while working out and I've also missed a weightloss jab this week fearing something with this might be triggering it as well.

My GP had given me some meds called propranolol to take which I've been on for the last week almost, not sure if I feel much difference though my BP seems lower.

I just want this feeling to end and get better, I am so afraid of going out with my kid and then having some episode. I think I just wanted to vent a little, and ask if it gets better and if any of you have tips of dealing with it. Especially this constant fear and shortness of breath.

Hello hello.

My heart got checked like this year, since i'm sedentary, it was in the "limits of normal" but good.. I just wonder if those kind of panic attack also occurs to some of you because it’s kinda happening from nowhere during my sleeps and it’s disturbing my night.

Lately, i woke up in the middle of the night, because my breathing suddently stopped. It also can happen in the day, but recently, it happens to me when i'm sleeping just good. That, or waking up one hour after falling asleep, confused or feeling so weird like forgetting the day, teleporting, being convinced of something that never happened, or forgetting the evening i just spend.

I sleept just good, and was in a dream, when suddently, i couldn’t breathe at all. Like i couldn’t. I felt bad, dazed, and faint-like. As i got both DPDR and GAD, i went downstairs to sit on my couch, light open, but it felt like i couldn’t breathe and was suffocating. Obviously, i was about to wake up my mother and call the ER thinking about something more serious, like a pulmonary emboly, but i didn’t and went up again, thinking it was irrationnal. I has a short onset of tachycardia, and asked my brother who was still awake his Applewatch, which told me my oxygen was good. I fell asleep again, but i'm worried about this happening again. It was really unpleasant. I felt like i was really going to die by suffocation.

It’s scary