posted
To me it feels like no matter how deeply I breath I'm not getting enough oxygen in. I think it is a neurological problem where the brain is not registering that there is actually enough oxygen. I do have enough air in reality but it feels like I'm suffocating.
Posts: 293 | From healdsburg, ca , sonoma | Registered: Feb 2005
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Mathias
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posted
It can be either it can be both.
-------------------- Mathias Posts: 1250 | From New Jersey | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Hi, for me there was a period of one week at my darkest hour where I had to take "an extra breath" about once a minute. I was not exercising at all but felt like I needed more air somehow.
Posts: 44 | From Northeastern Wisconsin | Registered: Sep 2005
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Marnie
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posted
Glutathione is available in spray form. Cystic fibrosis patients use it.
It may help. It is a powerful anti-oxidant.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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Like many of you said, I know I am breathing, but I feel like I am not getting enough air in.
I feel it very hard to take a deep breath, and I think I do try to breathe through my mouth when this happens.
Sometimes, it's when my upper body muscles are very tight.
Sometimes, it's after I ate a big meal.
Sometimes, it's when I am in a lot of pain.
Sometimes, it's when I am driving or sitting somewhere.
I do have very mild asthma, but when I feel like I can't breathe, my chest is NOT congested.
Sometimes, I feel like my rib cage can't expand enough because I feel some pressure from behind and from top, perhaps due to muscle spasm.
No doctor has taken me seriously about my breathing "problem," and I am now trying to figure out if what I experience is "Air Hunger" indeed.
What do you all think?
I am so far negative for everything except borderline Ehrlichia (before Doxy) and positive salmonella (after Doxy).
The number of questions for my LLMD keeps increasing!
Thanks again for sharing your experiences!
shizuko
Posts: 110 | From Northern Virginia | Registered: Nov 2005
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hardynaka
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posted
I asked a similar question a few weeks ago... I think no one here really knows its cause, but there may be many. And a few types of air hunger too!
My air hunger started light but turned into a nightmare.
It feels like I'm breathing inside a plastic bag. I need deeper breaths to get same amount of oxygen.
I then had 'seizures'. Heart palpitations, numbness, then at last, legs and arms got paralyzed, then started shaking all over.
I don't know why. But it felt very dangerous, I was transported to emergency twice.
If you start to feel it's coming, don't exercise, sit quiet, try to rest. You can do an oxygen test in the emergency to check if your levels of oxygen are OK in the blood or if it's a failure of the brain.
I recently read someone did a parasite cleanse and got rid of the air hunger... Could it be parasites in his lungs?
I wonder if other people with babesia's air hunger have 'permanent' air hunger, all the time, or if it comes and goes like mine... I know I have babesia too.
Sorry for the confusing post, I have no answer to you...
I feel that when I'm too tired, when I herx, when I get nervous, if I lack sleep, it can come. It can start with palpitations, heavy leg feeling, or it can start by air hunger itself.
Odaijini! Selma
Posts: 1086 | From Switzerland | Registered: Oct 2005
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Over 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with Hyperventilation Syndrome, whose cause was simply ANXIETY!
That's was right before I was getting married, and the neurologist I saw that time told me it would go away once I got married.
My main symptom was severe dizziness that time, but I know trying to breathe deeply (and feeling like failing) could cause hyperventilation.
When you are hyperventilated, you breathe rapidly, your heart beats also rapidly, feel lightheaded/dizzy, your body shakes, your finger and toes get tingling/numb, and so on.
I have gotten close to that stage many times from feeling like I can't breathe.
Anti-anxiety medications didn't help at all (yes, I did try them.)
In fact, two doctors I have seen (one, regularly; the other, only once) didn't think anxiety was the problem although they had no idea why I had the "breathing" problem.
One of them actually referred me to a lung doctor, who then found that I did have very mild asthma.
I never had any asthma attack though.
Anyway, it sounds like what I experience is air hunger, and I seem to have other symptoms of Babesiosis too. Hmmmm.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope you are feeling good today.
Take care. shizuko
Posts: 110 | From Northern Virginia | Registered: Nov 2005
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trueblue
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posted
quote:Originally posted by shizuko:
Like many of you said, I know I am breathing, but I feel like I am not getting enough air in.
Sometimes, it's when my upper body muscles are very tight.
Sometimes, it's after I ate a big meal.
Sometimes, it's when I am in a lot of pain.
Sometimes, it's when I am driving or sitting somewhere.
I do have very mild asthma, but when I feel like I can't breathe, my chest is NOT congested.
Sometimes, I feel like my rib cage can't expand enough because I feel some pressure from behind and from top, perhaps due to muscle spasm.
What do you all think?
shizuko
Shizuko,
The things I quoted above are the same as what I experience. Whether it's air hunger; I don't know.
I also know that I'm breathing but it feels like I'm doing it wrong or forgot how.
The other thing that seems strange to me is my lungs feel clear but some of the time my throat feels like it's congested (but not always).
I can't clear my throat and I whistle when inhaling. But sometimes it's just the breathing thing. Beats me!
I do have untreated Babs and a bunch of other symptoms. I sure hope this is one of the things that goes away when I finally get treatment.
-------------------- more light, more love more truth and more innovation Posts: 3783 | From somewhere other than here | Registered: May 2005
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I was interested in what you wrote about hyperventilation. I had forgotten that one of hubby's docs "accused" him of hyperventilating when his fainting/loss of consciousness episodes started.
Later this was proven to be caused by adrenal fatigue and he take low doses of Cortef and Florinef (an antidiuretic).
He also has Babesia. Just restarted taking Quinine and Clindamycin 5 days ago. Has been complaining that it feels like he can't breathe. He is actually having worse babs symptoms while treating it so I guess that means it is working.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
What I have read, air hunger is one of the main symptoms of Babesiosis.
How do I know what I experience is indeed air hunger?
It seems that most of you with air hunger-like symptom have been diagnosed with Babesiosis.
If so, was your diagnosis based on the blood test or the clinical pictures?
Also, do you experience air hunger all he time or from time to time, perhaps triggered by something?
trueblue, whistling sound when inhaling might be the symptom of wheezing.
Also, when I try to breathe when I feel like I can't breathe, I know I am breathing in a wrong way.
I think it's called paradoxical breathing.
In normal breathing, as you inhale through your NOSE (not mouth), your belly expands, and as you exhale, your belly flattens.
Quite often,I find myself doing the exact opposite when I feel like I can't breathe and try so hard to take a deep breath.
But I think "air hunger" comes on first, then I start the wrong way of breathing to get some oxygen in.
It doesn't work well, beause it's the wrong way, so air hunger goes on.
Well, that's my theory.
Bea Seibert, I don't mean to scare you or undermine what your husband's doctor is trying to do, but....
I read that the mainline treatment for Bab used to be the combination of clindamycin and quinine, but that due to serious side effects and low success rate, the new combination is in use now: atovaquone and erythromycin-type drug.
(See the page 23 of Advanced Topics in Lyme Disease, 15th edition by Dr. Burrascano.)
Anyway, what I am slowing getting is that we are dealing with very complex diseases.
I still don't have a clear idea of what I really have.
Maybe that's the case for so many of us....
Have a great day. shizuko
Posts: 110 | From Northern Virginia | Registered: Nov 2005
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hardynaka
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posted
Hi Shizuko,
Hyperventilation was exactly what all doctors and nurses were telling me I probably had. But they're so stupid they didn't do the oxygen test in my blood to check it out!
It's an easy test to do, accoriding to a dr. But it has to be done during the air hunger crisis.
Later, I tried to force the air hunger crisis to do the test, but I did jogging for about 15 minutes and the only thing I got was normal breathing!!!
My air hunger could be anxiety related but sometimes it was not!! It came without any warning, without any 'real' anxiety.
Babesiosis is difficult to diagnose. I still have no medical diagnosis, but I'm sure I have it (I took Riamet and my babesiosis symptoms disappeared for about 2 weeks, no more night sweats etc). But slowly came back to full night sweats, variation of mood, low and high temperatures etc.
I also think some herxes could cause my air hunger (first time I got a strong crisis was with a strong dose Artemisinin).
It could start with 'heavy legs' feeling (like numbness coming before), or it could start from nothing. It could start with mild exercising too. I feel my lungs get numb, like if I had breath an anesthetic.
I know that when my air hunger crisis is mild, if I breath slow BY THE BELLY, like in yoga, but very slow, for many minutes, I can stop it and calm down. But when it already started strong, I get 'desperate' and then it's difficult to reverse it. Laying down in bed makes it worse.
I would like to know if others experimenting air hunger with babesiosis have it 100% of time or it they experience a come and go crisis like you and me.
I do agree it's a complex disease what we're dealing and that no one really here knows what air hunger is. I suppose that if air hunger from babesiosis is caused by lack of red cells, it shouldn't get good and bad from a moment to another but be a permanent symptom.
If any of you people happen to do the oxygen test in the blood during an air hunger crisis, please let me know! I would be glad to know what I had was hyperventilation and not the contrary.
I fortunatelly don't have strong crisis anymore for the last 3-4 weeks. But I'm still scared it can come back!
Some say bartonella treatment made air hunger disappear, other that babesia treatment did the job, and recently, someone doing parasite cleanse...
I suppose there's no single answer either!
Good night! Selma
Posts: 1086 | From Switzerland | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Hardynaka, to answer your questions babesia is a parasite.
For me the air hunger has manifested in different ways. It feels like sometimes I'm forgetting to breath. Other times, it feels like I'm breathing deeply but somehow not getting oxygen as someone else already mentioned.
I too was told I was hyperventilating by a doctor who read my low carbon dioxide results on a blood test.
With babesia treatment many of my brain and nervous system symptoms are resolving. Now when I breath I feel like I'm getting some oxygen. Yea!
Posts: 925 | From California | Registered: Sep 2004
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hardynaka
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Dolphin lady, good to hear you are feel you're breathing well after treatment. And that you were hyperventilating (so I suppose, not too dangerous!).
And about the parasite comment, I remember the person who said that, had already done babesia treatment and didn't get his air hunger problem resolved.
His/her (?) air hunger was resolved with a 'parasite cleanse' (what type, I don't remember), and I think he/she suggested there were parasites in his/her lungs (?).
I think what you say could be a possible explanation, that the nervous system gets somehow screwed up, then we get the air hunger!
thanks for the post!
Posts: 1086 | From Switzerland | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
It was me who mentioned the parisite issue in the left lung. My babs treatment did help some of the chest issues, you know the pain in the ribs of the chest cavity. But I sill had air hunger that whould ebb and flow. I was energenically teste for parisites and there was a blood fluke hanging out in my lung. I did the Clark parisite 18 day cleans and it took care of it. I can now breath very deep again.
Posts: 582 | From milwaukee wi | Registered: May 2005
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Thanks for the clarification and congrats on breathing better!
How did you treat the babs, for how long etc? Do you feel its under control/remission/cured? Thanks.
Posts: 925 | From California | Registered: Sep 2004
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lymednva
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Member # 9098
posted
I experienced air hunger a few times before I was being treated for my "profound dysautonomia" (my LLMD's words).
Before I was able to see him I had one duck tell me it was anxiety because I was worried about things. I knew that it wasn't anxiety, I've had that before and it was totally different.
I was able to link mine to periods when I had been upright for too long. The scariest time was when I woke up one morning and felt that way before even lifting my head. I called my doctor immediately and he changed my meds then.
It is no longer a problem for me, as long as I remain on my meds for it. However I still can't do things together like stand and sing. They both use more oxygen, so I sit to sing, and save standing for times it's absolutely necessary.
-------------------- Lymednva Posts: 2407 | From over the river and through the woods | Registered: Apr 2006
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My gut feeling is you have babs. Your symptoms sound a bit like mine. I also have a difficult time expanding when I breath...feels like my diaphragm is locked up. Other symptoms include night sweats, vertigo. I use to get dizzy but not as much since I started treatment. Mepron/Zith is a tough protocol to follow as some of the herxs are pretty intense.
I would talk to you doctor about it
Best wishes!
Posts: 187 | From Gaithersburg, Maryland | Registered: Feb 2006
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