Throat tightening

[The_Tao]

I am not sure where to put this, but here sounds good. So I took my black belt test today, near the end I had what I thought was an asthma attack. It felt like my throat was getting thinner, all I could do is stand and wheeze, until my instructor ordered me to sip some water.

I wasn't sure what to search so "search function n00b" is applicable

so can anyone tell me what happened?

[yeeamawma]

How long did this last for? Did you have shortness of breath/could you breathe at all?

I have mild asthma (haven't had an attack in years *knocks on wood*), and usually it's not your throat so much as it feels like you have no lung capacity, you can only take extremely shallow breaths and it feels like something's blocking you from breathing more deeply. There's also pain/tightness in the chest when this happens.

I've had a strange thing happen that's similar to what you described, however. If I happen to yawn and hiccup at the same time (weird, I know, it's rarely happened), it feels like an air bubble or something gets trapped in my throat and slowly moves down into my chest. It's very painful and my throat feels really tight.

Sorry if that doesn't help much...

[Over the Hill]

were you hit in the throat?
Did the problem feel localised or generalised including breathing?
Were you truly exhausted, gasping for air?
was the wheezing noise on inspiration or exhalation or both?
What about afterwards? still sore? etc etc
Too hard to come up with any real answers without seeing it actually happening.

[The_Tao]

were you hit in the throat?
Did the problem feel localized or generalized including breathing?
Were you truly exhausted, gasping for air?
was the wheezing noise on inspiration or exhalation or both?
What about afterward? still sore? etc etc
Too hard to come up with any real answers without seeing it actually happening.

1. No, no I was not
2. no pain, I was scared as ****, but no pain
3. Yes, oh gods yes
4. both
5. no, the second I drank water and breathed in, it was gone.


I have no history of chronic asthma, although I was once diagnosed with exercise induced asthma. I doubt it was an asthma attack, because this was all throat, my lungs were fine.

[DerAuslander]

Were you wearing a mouth guard?

[Over the Hill]

Its very dodgy to make guesses without seeing it happening and Im not a doctor, but rather an Intensive Care Paramedic, so at the end of the day the answer will always be:
If your worried, seek medical advice.
But if I were to guess
Sounds like a temporary obstruction, higher up, caused by who knows what, maybe some phlegm? If it cleared up that quickly OR psychosomatically induced problem due to the exhaustion and gasping. Less probably larnygeospasm without any hit to area. Were you gagging? There are too many variables unknown

See your doctor

[TheRuss]

Seeing a doctor would probably be a good idea, although unless there's some sign of what happened, they may not be able to do much other than clear you of the "usual suspects". So until you see a doctor and get a satisfactory answer, I'd do three things if I were in your shoes, on the assumption that it might recur:

1) Inform the people around you of what happened - and tell them in no uncertain terms to phone 911 if they see you gasping or wheezing. That goes for the folks at kung fu class, anyone you live with, and maybe people at work as well.
2) Have a phone next to the bed that's easy to find and hard to dislodge (darkness + panic) so you can call 911 if it hits you at night. Landline would be preferable, but a cell phone with emergency GPS would be all right. If you can't talk, tap SOS on the keypad... or just mash the buttons.
3) Since it appears to respond positively to water, stay hydrated and keep some water on hand.

To me, it sounds like either acute dehydration or an allergic reaction to something, but that's just my uneducated guess.

[1point2]

Anxiety attack FTW.

[Sakmongkol]

Bonchospasm. Go to the doc.

[The_Tao]

I will see the doc when I can, I will also ask my instructor if he knows.