Hi honey your not going crazy but when you have a panic attack you do have a hard time breathing sometimes breathing in a bag or try slowing things down with help you but i take the same thing as you and i does help me and love it if you need to talk i am here for you honey its hard love lisa

I have bouts of breathing difficulties due to anxiety. I also have some due to a confluence of reactive airways (need inhalers) which are aggravated by allergies, Reflux, chemical irritants (no strong cleaners around me!!!). I deal with it by relaxation breathing. It can be difficult for me to remember to belly-breathe when anxiety is peaking but I know I must try. Other times though I need inhalers too (though staying calm and breathing "with intention" (a tenet of mindfulness) helps with those wheezing attacks too.) Maybe tracking these symptoms might bring some clarity to understanding when/how they occur? I used a chart like that when I was being dismissed by a doctors office. The chart seemed to bring some objectivity and remove some emotionality - it helped us get to the bottom of what was causing the distress in my child (reflux, food allergies, etc). If doctors you trust have ruled out physical causes, please try relaxation breathing (there are guided ones online as podcasts or on youtube. I've always found the more fearful I become about breathing the more trouble I have with it :0 But as I write this I am having my own breathing difficulties brought on by a combo of anxiety about an event today and the uncomfortable "burn" of reflux-induced reactive airways. Knowing why helps me control my "cant breathe panic". Take care.

I also have the feeling I can't breath when I have anxiety and panic. Mine goes back to Childhood Sexual Abuse. I did not remember the abuse for 34 years but once I did remember I was better able to understand where the suffocating feeling was coming from. As I have been healing from the abuse I have noticed that the breathing issues have occurred less and less - which is very refreshing. Now, when I feel that way, I can identify what is troubling me (what triggered it) and resolve the issue. For me it is very often that I am keeping a secret or not telling my truth.

This is just my story I am not saying that everyone with this issue is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

Belly breathing is helpful and keep saying to yourself "I am breathing. I am taking in breath and letting it out. I can feel the air go in and I can feel it go out". So many times my therapist told me this and she was right, I was breathing.

I hope you find relief soon. Take care

Thank you everyone for your replies. I do appreciate it. I should also mention that when I was a small child I had asthma. I grew out of it. I sometimes wonder if I don't still have it to a small degree? As for the allergies and acid reflux I did not know they could cause breathing problems.

I also had asthma in my late teens/early 20's but also grew out of it. Funny thing, the asthma never caused me to panic but the feeling of not being able to breath did. For me it was because the feeling of not being able to breath was covering up the feelings from the abuse.