Breathing issues - so scared

Symptoms and treatments
1

Hi everyone,

I have a reoccurrence of an old symptom and it’s really scaring me.

A little history - before diagnosis I had a breathing issue and I went to the emergency walk in centre. I had clear airways and lungs, but just felt like I wasn’t quite getting enough air with each breath. At night I would wake up several times gasping for air. At the same time I had chronic dry eyes. They diagnosed allergies and put me on a short course of prednisolone, which solves the issue. A year later it happened again and prednisolone sorted it again. 2 years later I was finally diagnosed.

Now to today - just at the point of being almost asleep, I feel the same thing. I wake up with a start and can’t regulate my breathing. Even though I’m panicking and trying to breathe quicker and deeper, I can’t. It lasts for maybe a few seconds. It happened 3 times last night and once the night before.

Once I was diagnosed I did ask my MS nurse if it was a MS thing and she said no, though google tells me otherwise.
I’m sat typing this and I’m absolutely fine, just scared about tonight.

Should I go to the walk in centre? Call my GP tomorrow morning? Or wait till Wednesday to see my MS nurse as I’m having my Tysabri injection?

I’m trying not to have a panic knee jerk reaction, but it really frightens me.

Jx

2

Hi Foxy

Sorry to hear you’re having breathing issues, it can be very scary.

You could try having an extra pillow, or pillows, at night so you are not lying flat. As and when the tightness hits, try the following, it is called breath squaring I believe.

Breathe in for a count of 4; Hold your breath for a count of 4; Breathe out for a count of; Hold your breath for a count of 4 - and repeat.

Try to use your belly muscles to ‘pull and push’ air into and out of your lungs. You can practice this by sitting in a chair, place one hand on your belly so you can feel your belly pull in and upwards to push the air out, and then your belly should push out in order to pull the air into your lungs - not the best description but give it a try and you will get the gist of it.