I've been mislabelled with hyperventilation syndrome and threatened with eviction by my parents if I dispute thia diagnosis, although I am absolutely certain it's wrong, wrong, ignorantly wrong!
I have had a lot of forced gasping and a restricted throat preventing me from taking a deep breath, plus mucus galore. If it gets stuck in my throat (or soft foods like weetabix) my symptoms of difficulty breathing begin.
I blame LPR reflux, because I proved I have it, and the symptoms start/end under very specific circumstances. If I relax, say in a shower/bath, lie down with proper posture, or as mentinned, something gets stuck when I swallow, symptoms begin. They can go away IMMEDIATLY if I force tension into my neck, thus forcing the airways
open. For example the way I raise my shoulders whie holding a controller to play games relieves symptoms, as does looking down with my shoulders hunched. As soon as I assume a more relaxed posture, my airways close again. The doctors don't see me struggling because the chairs I have to sit in help with said neck tension, masking my symptoms!
I also NEVER get pins and needles, a racing heart, palpitations, chest tightness etc. In fact, I only become synptomatic if I try to ignore the difficulty breathing. Then I am forced to gasp, my heart rate weakens, my vision goes, my temperature can fluctuate and I have passed out in the street before. The worst and most important part though is that I can feel that no air is going down my throat, and my body makes me breath to try and counter it. It is never voluntary. In fact I can't trigger voluntary hyperventilation due to how tough it is to breath!
I used to hyperventilate a lot as a child, so I know how it feels. I'm almost certain I'm not hyperventilating now, but how do I convince the doctors and my family of that? I can't sleep or even move more than a few steps because of this.
EDIT: Help! I just saw that this posture helps people with respiratory problems. It works for me!! Does that mean I have a chronic respiratory issue?!
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Post Edited (Daxter) : 12/11/2015 3:22:06 AM (GMT-7)