I'm worried for my girlfriend and would like some answers...?

Question:

She has been having some breathing problems latley. She finds herself short of breath or often without. She feels sometimes a weight on her chest, or someone strangling her, and sometimes both. She is going through a very stressful period in her life right now. Could this be brought on by stress? She is currently wearing a heart monitor for a period of 30 days. She was tested for asthma, but tested negative. But she has experienced the worst episode during a volleyball workout where she was running. She has had a few doctors visits and they still can't diagnosis her problem. I'd really like it if someone has these same problems and can shed some light on it for me. I may be over reacting, but I'm begining to worry a bit because they are happening more frequently. If you can help, that would be awesome. Thanks very much.

Answers:
You are not over reacting to your GF's situation, you are very worried about her. Any time someone goes through cardiorespiratory difficulties, it takes time for results to show, hence, the heart monitor (a Holter?). This will pick up any activity with her heart during one of her episodes, and when she calls in to the doctor's office the machine will relay any information obtained during that episode. The machine will look for fluctuations in her heart rhythm, which could cause her to be short of breath. That she has episodes during her sports activities makes the monitor all the more reasonable. I hope this helps a little bit.

I hope all goes well for her. Keep us up-to-date.

Could she be having anxiety attacks? this is very similar to what happened to me earlier this year and I thought I was dying... but it was just anxiety due stress. Get her to ask her doctor about them.

That's really strange that they declared it not to be asthma. Sounds just like my asthma attacks.

Anyway, it could be almost anything. Allergies. Panic attacks. My mother had a benign growth in her thyroid or lymph nodes or something to that effect, and it was so huge that it was pressing into her trachea and she was having such a hard time breathing she could barely walk to the bathroom without being short of breath.

She may have some sort of growth like my mother, but more than likely, though, if she's going through a stressful time, it's probably panic attacks. I was rushed to the hospital when I was 17 because I thought I was having an asthma attack...but it wasn't. It was anxiety.

Good luck to the both of you. =)

My father actually experienced the same thing at age 52. It was all one big anxiety-panic attack. He had the weight on his chest and was under a lot of stress. I highly recommend Klonopin. A miracle anti-anxiety med. Btw, my Dad's problem just went away after about 3-4 weeks.

It does sound like an anxiety attack.

anaphylactic shock or panic attack or anixety attack....trigged my stress

i use to have the same problem. i'm thinking its stress, she might not know she is stressed out, but she might be. i use to have this but it stopped

I'm worried for my girlfriend and would like some answers...?

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