Air Hunger

[Valentijn]

I had the feeling that my lungs weren't expanding properly one night while drifting off to sleep. I tried to lay down in different positions (I can't breathe properly on my right side or my back) for about an hour or so, but it wouldn't go away and I just kept feeling worse and worse, even while trying different ways of breathing.

Eventually I went back downstairs, and family noticed my hands had turned blue and my face was white. I'm not sure how that could be anxiety, when I was very relaxed and drifting off to sleep when it started, and my oxygen levels had dropped enough for me to turn blue?

I also have orthostatic intolerance, where my blood pressure and pulse pressure drop quite a bit at times if I'm upright too long, and that can create a sensation of not being able to breathe, even though I'm actually breathing normally. The real problem might be the transportation of oxygen to the brain, hence lying down usually helps a lot. I take a drug that helps with my orthostatic intolerance, and it also helped with my turning-blue episode eventually.

Maybe a pulse oximeter could help to see if there's really something going on to cause air-hunger other than anxiety, or to provide reassurance that nothing is wrong if it really is just anxiety?