Hi there -
This is a real problem, because
anxiety could explain your new symptoms (they tend to change as soon as you think you've got it all figured out, which can be infuriating), and yet it's also true that
anxious people get sick and have regular problems, just like everyone else, so it's tricky and one has to be careful to not blame everything on a known
anxiety problem.
That being said, what you describe does sound like a classic, if "new to you"
anxiety symptom. The sensation of slight (and poorly localized or else highly localized) chest discomfort, accompanied by a sense of the inability to draw a full, satisfying breath, is commonly a sign of
anxiety-related faulty breathing and/or breathing awareness, either of which can cause this sensation. Stress, of course, not only exacerbates existing
anxiety, but will help set off new symptoms.
This is not to say it's impossible you could have developed a breathing problem (such as
asthma, most likely, although still unlikely). There are simple ways of telling: for instance, your doctor could test your ability to exhale (a simple pulomonary function test, PFT, using a simple
asthma guage into which you blow, moving the needle). If you have developed
asthma, it should be managed with oral medication and an inhaler. If you don't have it then you'll have to come to terms with the probability that your
anxiety is now affecting your awareness of your breathing, which can be very difficult to control, but can be done by the patient. Knowing is the first step. If you don't have a pulmonary problem, then you'll have to learn to disregard the awareness of your breathing. Since most
anxious people tend to be very somatically aware, it's hard, and just telling you to "ignore" it would be ridiculous, as trying to ignore something is almost impossible once you've taken it on as a task. Instead, what needs to be done is to find things to distract you from your body's behavior. This is important, because trust me, when it really wants your attention you won't be able to ignore it anyway. If you can be distracted from paying attention to your breathing that's a huge plus, but it usually requires some work on the part of the patient, in terms of talking to somone about the
anxiety problem and, eventually, other things. When one "forgets" one has a "problem" it mysteriously disappears.
A provocative test you can do for yourself would be to see how you tolerate exercise given this apparent difficulty breathing. If you tolerate exercise well, you almost certainly don't have a true respiratory problem. It most likely occurs only when you're sitting and thinking. If you are, instead, active and doing, you're likely to not notice anything wrong unless it is very concrete. Then you can identify it more specifically and bring it to the attention of a healthcare provider.
I'd do both: rule out
asthma, then see if you can find ways to move your attention from your body's behavior to more interesting and absorbing things.
I hope this is helpful. Best of luck to you. Please keep us updated.
