Question:
I have been monitoring my breathing ever since last Sunday morning, when doing so gave me a severe panic attack (at some point while monitoring the breathing, I felt as if I weren't breathing right or not getting enough air and......BOOM!........instant panic attack). I have no breathing difficulties at all, but that was the 2nd worst panic attack I've ever had. There was no particular reason, I was just lying in bed trying to fall asleep when I suddenly became aware of my own breathing and started monitoring it.
Ever since then I have not been able to get my mind off of my breathing and the thought keeps scaring the hell out of me. When I keep becoming aware of my breathing, I feel as if I am having to control breathing in and out and it frightens me. I want to be able to go back to when I hardly ever noticed my breathing, but cannot stop these thoughts. I am literally obsessing over my breathing and keep feeling like my next breath will be my last or that I will start suffocating, and I am continuously having small panic attacks over it. Once I get my mind off of it, it's not long before I inadvertently remind myself to start monitoring it again. This ridiculous situation has me a nervous wreck at this point. I feel like I am going crazy.
Is this a symptom of OCD? There is nothing wrong with my breathing, but I cannot quit reminding myself to monitor it, which in turn causes me to panic. I assume that having an extreme panic attack while monitoring my breathing might have helped thinking about my breathing to become an obsession?
All of my panic attacks seem to work that way, I continuously obsess on a the same disturbing thoughts or overreact to something small going on in my body (like a slight sensation of dizziness or my usual heartbeat) to the point that I have a panic attack.
Does that sound like panic disorder or the 'pure obsessive' form of OCD (in which people have repeated, unwanted, uncontrollable thoughts but no rituals)? Is it possible for an OCD sufferer to be so troubled by a particular thought that it causes them to have panic attacks?
Answer:
I've had similar experiences......all coming down to obsessions with my
health(which is perfectly fine...knock on wood).
I beleive that a big part of OCD is control.....trying to control the
enviroment around you and even the control of your own body which most of us
know that our body has a mind of its own. by focusing so much on your
breathing, and trying to "monitor" it, any little thing that doesn't sound
right or feel right, sends you into a panic attack. I used to.....and still
do from time to time, take my pulse because i felt my heart was not beating
correctly or too fast. the stress from trying to make sure there was
nothing wrong brought on panic attacks for me....which sped up my heart
rate, which caused the panic attack to worsen. its a viscious
cycle......you think about something, try to monitor and in a way control
it, and the more you try to control the situation the more stressful it
becomes. then the body automatically reacts to the stress.
don't know if anyone else on the ng concurs with me in my opinion although i
know first hand about the feelings i had while having the same problem. I
find that telling yourself to calm down, there is nothing wrong, only sent
me into a worse tailspin. however i can give no suggestions to how to
lessen these experiences for you because i am still battling this one
myself. but I'm sure someone else on here may be able to enlighten both of
us.
I also use to monitor my breathing and heart rate. And it certainly did cause
panic attacks! I found that the more your monitor, the faster your heart will
beat which will in turn cause the anxiety which will make your heart palpitate
and cause the panic attacks.
Meds have helped me tremendously with this obsession.
