Sensorimotor Breathing Obsession..need help/advice

ocme

Member
Hello to everyone, I am new here although I have been reading these boards for the past few months now. I joined so that I could post a question for which I desperately need some feedback on. I could really use some advice regarding the best way to treat a sensorimotor obsession with breathing. It is impacting my life at this point.

It started about a month ago while doing a breathing awareness exercise as part of a mindfulness meditation program (which I was doing to help reduce anxiety). The idea was to focus on your breathing without letting your mind wander (which was supposed to be difficult). Well it was until I thought to myself "what if I can't stop being aware of my breathing". From that point on I got stuck with what I discovered through online research is called a sensorimotor obsession with breathing. Before this instance I did not know that I had OCD.

There doesn't seem to be much information about this specific OCD condition. I have read the Dr. Steve Seay and Dr. David Keuler articles on this issue which focus on ERP as the treatment method. I have also purchased a book called Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts by Dr's. Purdon and Clark (focusing on Pure-O OCD specifically). I am currently reading the OCD Workbook and hope it might help me. I also read about and ordered Dr. Jeffery Schwartz's book Brain Lock and understand the 4-step method he teaches.

I have just started seeing a psychologist who believes I should apply ERP therapy with the use of written and recorded exposure based on my worst fears about this breathing obsession. I guess something like recording "I will never stop thinking about my breathing" or "from now on I will always have to consciously control my breathing" and then listening to this on a loop for like an hour everyday until I get sick of it and become habituated to these thoughts without having any anxiety response. This is the Exposure component I assume but I don't understand what the Response Prevention part should be. Is the coping strategy a mental one that tells me to avoid thinking about the breathing obsession and I have to prevent myself from doing this?

The thing is that sometimes I am able to get over this breathing obsession completely and can go on without thinking about it for days (this is especially the case when I get distracted). I realize there is nothing to be anxious about and that I have always breathed normally without any issues all of my life. There is no difference between me before this issue and me right now aside from my thought process. I thought I had this licked...

I went from being aware of my breathing throughout the day to only being aware at night when going to sleep (sleep became a trigger) to being over it and just recently BACK AGAIN to being distracted both day and night (after having thought I was over this). I don't understand how my mind is doing this to me even after I have been able to decouple the anxiety from my breathing awareness successfully in the recent past to the point where I thought I was perfectly fine!

Is anyone out there dealing with this breathing obsession currently with a professional? I feel like there is not a lot of research on this specific problem and that most treatment methods focus more on traditional OCD symptoms which feature obsessions and compulsions. Agian I don't really even understand what the compulsion part of this breathing obsession is although I assume it must be something mental.

The therapist I went to before my current psychologist said that OCD requires medication to handle and that I should definitely get evaluated by a psychiatrist. This particular therapist admitted to have been suffering from OCD and was on meds which made all the difference. Although this was a bias towards medications/ssri's given their experience which my current psychologist calls transference (applying your situation to someone else).

Now I am beginning to wonder if an SSRI would be the solution to getting rid of this breathing obsession once and for all (in conjunction with CBT). Has anyone here who deals with this breathing awareness (or any other sensorimotor obsession) had any noticeable results with medications? Any advice at this point would be greatly appreciated (I am sorry for the length of this post).
 

ocme

Member
Deep down inside I think your insight is very accurate. There is still a logical component working inside my brain (thankfully) and I feel that you are very correct that this thing has ballooned into something larger than it should be. This is certainly not helping the matter but part of the problem with OCD is that it makes these illogical things hard to let go of.
 

JNet

Member
I just started doing this breathing thing a few weeks ago, it's horrible! It's like I'm hyper aware of every bit of breath that comes in and out and it feels like I have to consciously remember to breathe :( It goes away when I get distracted, and I'm fine when I sleep, but the second I remember that I have it, it comes back!! I'm on wellbutrin and Prozac, and I'm noticing a bit of a difference, mostly that I can concentrate on something else and I don't dwell on the breathing so much.
 

ocme

Member
I just started doing this breathing thing a few weeks ago, it's horrible! It's like I'm hyper aware of every bit of breath that comes in and out and it feels like I have to consciously remember to breathe :( It goes away when I get distracted, and I'm fine when I sleep, but the second I remember that I have it, it comes back!! I'm on wellbutrin and Prozac, and I'm noticing a bit of a difference, mostly that I can concentrate on something else and I don't dwell on the breathing so much.

Yes just like you it does go away many times when I'm distracted. Sometimes I think it's really gone then all of a sudden I dwell a bit and it comes back (especially if I'm alone with nothing to do).

Did you start taking the Prozac and Wellbutrin specifically for this sesorimotor breathing issue? They've started to work for you in just a few weeks? Is the Wellbutrin part to protect against any weight gain side effects that may come from the Prozac?
 

JNet

Member
No, I'm taking those meds for a bunch of reasons, and have been for - well I guess it's been about 7 weeks now, and my dose got upped a few days ago. It's only a noticeable difference to me as I can get distracted easier from it now than I did before. I hope that makes sense, its a tough one to explain! I actually didn't have a name for it until I saw your thread, and now it makes sense as to why my dr kept talking about OCD, since I didn't think I had too much of a problem in that area! So thank you for helping me put a name to this THING!!
 

ocme

Member
Thank you for your story Jnet. Apparently the go to therapy for this kind of thing is called Exposure Response Prevention. This is a purely obsessional OCD with mental compulsions (ruminations) but the therapy works the same way.

Have a look at this article for some explanation of the ERP therapy for this OCD thing.

I am just curious if meds will help this condition even more than just the cognitive behavioral therapy. Are you having many side effects with the ssri your on?
 

JNet

Member
Thank you for your story Jnet. Apparently the go to therapy for this kind of thing is called Exposure Response Prevention. This is a purely obsessional OCD with mental compulsions (ruminations) but the therapy works the same way.

Have a look at this article for some explanation of the ERP therapy for this OCD thing.

I am just curious if meds will help this condition even more than just the cognitive behavioral therapy. Are you having many side effects with the ssri your on?

Some side effects, not really anything hard to deal with, except the disrupted sleep patterns!! I went and looked at the side effects and just copied the ones I am getting here. There may be others, but these are the most noticeable to me.

Throat Irritation, and Sinus Irritation and Congestion (could be also that it is cold season and my whole family is sick!)

Dry Mouth (could also be part of being sick!)

Indigestion and feel like throwing up.

Excessive sweating,, yuck.

Chronic Trouble Sleeping, that's been pretty bad, actually, I sleep horrible at night and usually end up falling asleep on the couch during the day. And I am drowsy all day :(

But I have to say, that since I found out what the name of this condition is, it's really decreased the amount of times it happens! I don't know if it's because I know now that it is "something" and not just ME, or if it's just the meds finally kicking in, but whatever it is, I will take it!!! How have you been?
 

ocme

Member
Well it comes and goes for me now. Some days when I'm really busy or distracted it's completely gone. Other days when I have more free time it comes back. It's more of a nuisance now rather than anxiety provoking but it's still doing its thing. I hope this just passes once and for all in the near future.
 
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