Asthma or Panic Attack? Please help!

[Matt]

I am not sure what is going on with me.
I am a 36 year old female, I've always been in pretty good health up until the last year. I think I have developed asthma but I'm not sure.
I get out of breath so easily, I can't exercise or do anything too strenuous because I will get out of breath and I can't get it back. I gasp for breath and feel like I'm about to pass out because it feels like I can't get enough air.
I also have panic attacks so I don't know how to tell the difference if is a panic attack or if I really have asthma.
Yesterday for example, walking in the grocery store I was fine, but as soon as I walked in the store something happened, don't know why but it came out of no where, all of a sudden I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was smothering and had to get out of the store fast. I felt like I was going to pass out and die before I reached the front door of the store. By the time I got outside and to my car I was shaking really badly.
But I get short of breath just climbing stairs, walking around the block. When I do get short of breath I feel it in my back and around my shoulder blade area and upper back. In asthma do you feel tightness and discomfort in your back like this? I told my doctor and he asked if my heart was beating faster when I get short of breath. Honestly I don't know all I can think about is I can't breathe. He says if it keeps up to come back to him and I guess he'll run other tests. I'm going to make an appointment today but I am just scared.
I am getting to the point of not wanting to do anything or go anywhere because I am scared I won't be able to breathe. I want to start exercising again and I am scared I won't be able to catch my breath.

 

[penny m]

First, you may have a deviated nose septum that reduce the air going into you lungs with each breath, and your body starves from reduced oxygen. That's from my own experience, but that may not be your case. Second, anxiety, which I also suffer, is triggered by insecurity or fear. Do you have any? Also, are you obese? Sure, your heart beats faster when you have a short breath, and you should count the "beats per minute" and tell your doctor next time. I see you have 281 post here, and I take it that you have advised others on their problems. I take it, therefore, that you are highly knowledgeable and intelligent to do some research on yourself. Unless you are climbing stairs, how about if you keep a log of a) Your short breath times each day. b) The activity or anxiety, or fear, or insecurity psychological stress you were under at the time - if any, or none! Finally, if you have insurance, ask your doctor to take a stress test, in which you are wired with monitors, while you speed run on a machine, and your vital signs is recorded, and a video camera also records your heart through a CT scan. All stats will then be examined by a specialist - a cardiologist- who will check for any blockage in your heart, heart valve function - no flush-back of blood- or anything that might need treatment. That will reveal, or exclude, any circulatory problem, and then you can focus on the anxiety or breathing difficulties factors. Sorry, but the things you suffer are not normal for 36 years old. If you are sure they are not in your imagination only, get to the bottom of it. Good luck.

 

[IKSA64]

I have felt similar things before...at least half a dozen times when I was in college, I dragged myself to the ER because I couldn't breathe. I was scared I was going to die - my breathing wasn't rapid or hard, but I just felt like I wasn't getting enough air. Of course, I was...my fingernails weren't blue and my oxygen levels were always 97-98 percent. I also get very wiped out walking up flights of stairs, and it would take me 15 or 20 minutes to get my breathing back to normal.

Is your shortness of breath constant, or does it only occur with physical exertion? If it's constant, it's not asthma; asthma requires a trigger to cause symptoms, whether it's pollen, animal dander, smoke, perfume, or exercise. It could have been a panic attack, but as said before, if the breathing difficulties are constant, it's not panic. If anything, your shortness of breath might have caused you to panic, which is totally understandable.

It might be anxiety, though I personally am not sure if anxiety can cause unremitting shortness of breath. I have this symptom and after three years, I still don't know what causes it. I don't think what I have is a heart problem because I've had a CAT scan and an X-ray of my chest, and an EKG all within the last two years and nothing abnormal ever showed up as far as my organs. I've also had bouts of breath loss that happened at random, and they are scary. During a couple of those times, I had albuterol on hand and puffed on my inhaler at least 20 times...it did nothing, so I knew what I had was not asthma.

Good luck with your doctor, though. I hope you can find out what's going on and, if there is something wrong, I hope it's something minor or mild that can be handled easily.