Asthma and Anxiety and Stress

I'm right with you on this. Asthma sucks. It's a pain in the butt (well...lungs). Working out may be difficult because of it, but ultimately exercise will make your asthma so much better. Running can be hard for me, but when I run consistently then I find my lungs functioning better overall.
Anxiety is also a pain. I know how it feels to be anxious all the time, but again I've found that exercising helps my anxiety immensely.
Stick with it, breathe deep, take it one day at a time!

Welcome back! One day at a time. I don't have asthma, but I understand Anxiety and stress

have you tried some natural remedy for your asthma,stress? I knew people use isotonix opc-3 for asthma and control it. Also some nature supplements for stress.

OP, do NOT treat asthma with "natural remedies." I'm sure you won't, it sounds like you are doing the best you can for yourself, it's just this advice (as far as the asthma is concerned) is very dangerous. You can die from asthma; stick to meds.

Anyway, I feel for you. I've had severe asthma for 35 years and physical activity has been extremely difficult at times, even with my meds. Another poster was right though--interestingly, asthma can improve with aerobic exercise, over time. I think you need to pace yourself, make sure to use your rescue inhaler *before* you exercise (and during as needed), and build up slowly. I've done 5Ks and a triathlon with asthma and there are lots of people out there with the disease that lead an active life. Don't let frustration get you down...you can do it!

I know a lot about anxiety too, but I'm sure many here will give you great ideas. I just wanted to jump in re the asthma.

I guess I would start with something you enjoy that's low stress both mentally and aerobically. Do you ride a bicycle? Take long walks? Swim? Long and easy and (maybe) indoors is better than trying to cram in a huge workout in 20 minutes. Slow and steady is the way to beat the asthma. And have your rescue inhaler with you. That works for me.

I also found out when I lost enough weight to reduce the CPAP usage I somehow lost the asthma. And the blood sugar and most of the cholesterol. Just stick with it and if you want to talk to somebody who's been there friend me.

OP, I have anxiety and residual childhood asthma that is allergy/exercise-induced, so I have a boatload of sympathy.

I have been taking a mild anti-anxiety/depression at the smallest dose, which has significantly reduced my anxiety attacks, but I don't take medication for my asthma because it is more of an annoyance at this point than a threat. When I was younger it was much worse... Anyway, I understand the feedback loop of panic and asthma very well. I've found the best thing that helps for exercise is repetition. For example, I walk dogs along a trail once a week for a local shelter, and at first the trail would whip my butt; I'd be red faced and wheezy after the first dog. But now that I've been doing it long enough, my body has adjusted and I have a great time.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

I don't have any experience with clinical anxiety but a friend of mine does and she finds yoga very calming. While it's not a huge calorie burn, there are multiple health benefits. It's also something you can do in the privacy of your own home.

This is just armchair psychology but I also agree that finding things you enjoy doing may help to ease your stress as well. Could be that you're looking at exercise as something you "have to do!" so there's pressure and it's making you anxious. But if you're just cranking the music and dancing around or going for a walk around the neighborhood, that's fun! Think about things you enjoy doing and how you could make that part of your daily routine to burn some extra calories and improve your health. Look around online for videos - there are a ton out there.

Good luck!

Talk to your doctor really, it sounds kind of dangerous and it's affecting your mood/health and you're having panic attacks, that doesn't sound like normal anxiety. They can treat that.

Maybe they can give you something for anxiety or suggest some therapy, etc. or get you in touch with a support group or leaflets/website of people who know how to handle asthma and exercise. Stuff like this.

I do just want to mention that anxiety and panic attacks are two sides of the same coin. It's all related. Hell, anxiety and depression are even often treated with exactly the same medication. So if you suffer from anxiety, getting panic attacks is completely normal.

I don't get panic attacks, but I get anxiety attacks.

Sorry, what I meant to say was it's not "normal" anxiety as in "Oh I can just do some yoga for 2 minutes, now I feel great!", that everyone might naturally feel before a nervous situation, I meant it sounds like something medically serious.

I also take anti-depressants to treat severe social anxiety, so I totally agree with what you said.

I have asthma and anxiety too. I've learned that light cardio is actually very good at balancing all of the other triggers I have for my anxiety. I'm on Asmanex, and I started to gain weight after I was put on it which is ultimately why I hopped on MFP. If you watch your caloric intake, the medicine shouldn't make you gain weight. The hunger pangs that came with the meds will eventually ease up. Drink lots of water!

I've found that swimming helps with my asthma during the summer months when I struggle with my hayfever. Anecdotely found a couple of articles that suggested that the moist atmosphere of the swimming pool helped open up the lungs a bit more.

Once I get back to normal I'll return to gymming and running.

Might be worth a try?

I just noticed this comment and swimming could actually be beneficial. Most asthmatics work better in a humid climate, hence why a swimming pool could be an option for your lungs.

I've been battling chronic severe stress, anxiety & asthma almost all of my life, as well as clinical depression. These are all things that you can solve, but not without medical supervision and communication. I am only just now, after 3 years in therapy, beginning to get my anxiety under control. I have had the help of medication and I've found that many of the prototypical solutions actually make my anxiety far worse. I suffer both panic and anxiety attacks (they are both very different, and one can fuel the other - both of them feeding my asthma). So I have to work very hard to try to find and prevent the cause of the attacks.

My particular anxiety is generalized, not social, and I am also hypersensitive, which causes me to be continuously alert. Learning these things has helped me to understand it a lot more and to accept the fact that I will probably have to take a medication for most of my days. Natural solutions did not work - they compounded the problems severely, especially with my asthma.

A root cause of all of this has been extreme stress throughout all of my life as well. Whether that stress came from my environment, overwork, or illness, there have been times that I have become 'allergic to myself' due to the ridiculously high levels of cortisol in my system. None of which helps any of this. The only way to solve the stress is to remove what stressors that I could from my life and reduce exposure to the rest. And then learn very good coping mechanisms.

I suffer asthma attacks 4-6 times a day without my Advair. When my prescription insurance removed it from coverage last year, I was switched to Symbicort. In 3 months, my lung function dropped 25% and I was having attacks almost every 2 hours. It had taken me 5 years to get to the point where I could run a mile... and here I was nearly killing myself to get through a quarter of that again. My asthma doc screamed at the insurance company and got them to cover me again.

Finding the right medications and medical support is paramount for you to beat this... but you can do it, I promise. And I have done most of the hard work myself... the medicine helps get me to where I can. It's not easy, and it's really scary, but think of all that you have done for yourself and your future when you do.

Finally - fitness has been a primary factor in my ability to function normally. When I first started out going to the gym for the first time 5 years ago - I couldn't breath on the treadmill at 2.5 miles an hour. It took me 2 years to back on 20 pounds of bodyweight. I couldn't lift 10 pound weights without crying. I finally began trying to run last fall....I can now run a mile at 5.5mph, or 2 at 5.0mph, depending. But what really got me through was weight training. Lifting heavy weights has probably been the greatest stress reliever I have ever known. Walking and running helps me a LOT with the anxiety as well.. but there's something about that one last rep that makes you feel like YOU conquered the whole world. And you carry that with you every day.

I just had my first physical in 2 years last week. My doctor and therapist both have finally been able to tell me something that I never thought I would hear... my anxiety is under control. I hope that with slow and steady hard work, that you'll be able to get to that point too.