Persistent shortage of breath - anxiety related

Hello, I'm a newbie here - 55 year old woman who had been healthy all of my life until I had gallbladder problems and had gallbladder removal on January 8th of this year. The surgeon said all went well, no complications.

On January 25th, I got out of bed in the morning and felt this shortness of breath/lungs weren't getting 100% oxygen. This went on all day and evening until the next afternoon when I panicked and ended up in ER. The doctor had a CT Scan checking for bloodclots and it came back negative. They got the hyperventilating under control and I was sent home, labelled "anxiety attack". I have never ever had an anxiety attack in my life. Other than the soreness from the incision points, I felt great. I was able to eat no problem, no fever or throwing up.

Since that date the persistent shortage of breath continues day and night. No breaks ever - not even for 5 minutes. It never gets worse, just stays constant. At night when I lie down I still have the shortage of breath but it relaxes a bit and I can sleep.

I have been to the pulmonologist and he noted a thin line of atelectasis at the bottom of each lung. I have had pulmonary lung functioning testing done - normal saturation of oxygen getting into the lungs. This testing done when resting and with activity. I breathe in and out like everyone else but feel there is still the oxygen not getting into the lungs. Echocardiogram done - healthy heart, no blocked arteries. Arterial bloodwork is fine. Diaphragm tested - functioning as it is supposed to, not paralyzed. Asthma testing done - negative. I was asked if I suffered from heartburn - answer was no. The woman who tested me for asthma did note that my right diaphragm was slightly sitting higher than the left.

I find that at times my upper abdomen will tighten as will the ribs. It doesn't matter if I'm sitting, standing or walking I don't get pain in the chest area nor does it tighten up. Sometimes with the breathing it feels like the back of my throat is sore.

I have had a few people asking me if it's possible I do suffer from anxiety and I may think that I don't.

I'm seeing the pulmonologist's assistant on the 8th of April for her to go over the last test results - asthma and diaphragm testing. No idea what the next plan of action will be.

Just a note: I did experience 2 months of pain before the surgery. It was my fault for not investigating the pain and I ended up in ER back in December because I had had enough. That's where I was diagnosed. Before that I was afraid in case I had cancer and I had a colonoscopy done - all clear there.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced the constant shortness of breath day and night for weeks or even months on end, test results showed nothing and you were labelled as having anxiety. If so how did it get resolved?

Thank you for reading.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it!

Thank you for your response. The thought had crossed my mind about allergy testing. I have never ever been tested for that, never have experienced the symptoms of allergies in the past. As well I would like to get an abdominal xray done. It just seems too odd that this breathing came out of nowhere a couple of weeks after the surgery. It may have actually been there in the two weeks before and I hadn't noticed it because I had focused alot on and recovering from the incisions although I did also get up quite a bit to walk around for fear of getting clots. One thing I noticed was tightness between below the sternum to the belly button but I attributed it to healing from two incisions. It will be 10 weeks on Saturday that this started with no relief at all. I will be back to post on what the pulmonologist's assistant has had to say on Tuesday. Thanks again!

Yes, thank you for that. Another reason to have an abdominal xray done.

Thanks for the breathing exercises. I have copied and printed them out. Will start on these today. The woman who did my asthma testing had also suggested breathing exercises although a bit different from what you have posted here.

Rough night. I was convinced that my breathing was getting worse when lying down and was tempted to go to hospital but knew what the end result would be there - oxygen, bloodwork, Ativan, sent home. I fell asleep for an hour and then woke up again, couldn't get back to sleep again. My family doctor had prescribed me Xanax to use on an on needed basis (one .25 tablet) at bedtime. I haven't been using the Xanax though on a daily basis and only do use on a needed basis only which is like once or twice a week and at bedtime. I finally got some sleep.

I really appreciate the support you are giving me here and I hope once my issue gets resolved I then can offer some support and a shoulder to others in future.