Death from OBE question

[Steel Hawk]

I know the typical answer is "You cannot die from an OBE"...

There's a soreness or pain in my left lung, I smoke so maybe it's lung cancer. But X-Rays showed nothing, and I can't afford a CAT scan. I can never sleep on the left side side cause it hurts and it feels like I can't breath well.

I'll normally lay on my left side for a few minutes then switch to my right to fall asleep.

The past few days of having spontaneous OBEs have sort of got me worried. A few happened when I was on my bad side, I had to abort because I wasn't sure if I was still breathing (maybe I was just very shallow breaths). I came out of it and took a big gasp of air.

I'm worried that it might be happening because I've stopped breathing and the final OBE is starting to kick in. If I'm on my right side I don't have this paranoia (as much) and usually let it go.

So should I just let go next time and see what happens? 

[Xanth]

You've seen a doctor first for this then, right?

Pain anywhere is an indication of something wrong.

[CFTraveler]

Even if X-rays didn't show cancer, it doesn't mean that you don't have the beginnings of it.  Then there's pleurisy, and other nasty things that can happen to your lungs from the constant onslaught of toxins.  If it's the left side it can even be your heart.   Maybe this pain is your body telling you to stop smoking.

[nickspry]

 Are you sure it's your lung that's the problem? Could be an infection or a treatable heart condition, but you should get a proper diagnosis. As for the OBE's, personally I'd just go with the flow and see what happens. Hope it works out ok .

[dotster]

Even if X-rays didn't show cancer, it doesn't mean that you don't have the beginnings of it.  Then there's pleurisy, and other nasty things that can happen to your lungs from the constant onslaught of toxins.  If it's the left side it can even be your heart.   Maybe this pain is your body telling you to stop smoking.

Pleurisy is what I was going to say as well. There are many different reasons that it happens, some dealing with certain diseases, others not so serious. I got dry pleurisy from sitting wrong for a few hours playing video games. I have heart disease and I've experienced a heart attack a time or two so the sharp stabbing pain in the left lung/heart area obviously had me worried. I didn't experience any pain in my back or arm though, nor the typical fear and paranoia that have previously accompanied my heart attacks, but I went to my doctor just to be sure. He said what had happened was the way I was sitting for that extended period of time caused the pleura to rub against each other and it created a dry spot, so my lungs were stuck together. It had me on house arrest for about 5 days. It popped apart on 3rd day, and that was some pain like I've never experienced. It stayed sore for about a week after that. If you are experiencing the same thing, then some advice I would give is to not breathe too deep unless you are ready for it to pop apart (if you have dry pleurisy), which hurts like hell. Also try sitting up straight and then leaning forward at about a 45 degree angle and try breathing in in that position. That was the only position I could find besides laying down and curling up in a ball where I could breath semi-comfortably.

Whatever it is, I hope it passes soon.

All the best,
dotster

[dotster]

P.S. the breathless state isn't all that uncommon, it is actually quite natural. When the body and mind are still, the breath is still. When you notice and start paying attention to the breath during these relaxed states however, the voice in your head that belongs to your ego starts to get a bit over dramatic. My advice is to stay away from meditating on bodily functions such as the breath or the heart beat, as these will only excite the ego when change happens in the body during states of deep relaxation. Not to say that you could not meditate on these things, you definitely can and people definitely do for other purposes but when you are trying to forget your body you don't want to concentrate on your body, you know what I mean?

[urshebear]

Yeah I have felt breathless during the mind awake body asleep state.
I repeat in my head "My breathing is strong, my breathing is strong..." until the sensation goes away.

I think you can die during OBE but only if you go too far like Robert Monroe did but he was given a warning that he was going too far and he choose to keep going anyway. When he got back his body felt cold. (I cant explain the way he does but I would say that is extremely rare anyway and would only be if you choose not to come back)

[Greytraveller]

Hallo Steel Hawk
Here is my take on your situation. If you are sensitive enough to travel out of body (and you are) then you are also sensitive enough to feel an illness or disease starting to form in the physical body. So basically I am agreeing with CFTraveler and company in that there really IS the possibility of a physical ailment.

Take care 
Grey

[majour ka]

I know the typical answer is "You cannot die from an OBE"...

There's a soreness or pain in my left lung, I smoke so maybe it's lung cancer. But X-Rays showed nothing, and I can't afford a CAT scan. I can never sleep on the left side side cause it hurts and it feels like I can't breath well.

I'll normally lay on my left side for a few minutes then switch to my right to fall asleep.

The past few days of having spontaneous OBEs have sort of got me worried. A few happened when I was on my bad side, I had to abort because I wasn't sure if I was still breathing (maybe I was just very shallow breaths). I came out of it and took a big gasp of air.

I'm worried that it might be happening because I've stopped breathing and the final OBE is starting to kick in. If I'm on my right side I don't have this paranoia (as much) and usually let it go.

So should I just let go next time and see what happens? 

Hi, well pain in your side could be from a few things, but if you had an x ray and it looks clear then maybe your spine is causing the pain. As for OBEs remember that your mind is less settled and you are obviously worried so when your mind is in that state you will OBE more. Im sure its not because of the reason your thinking. You really need to get back to the doctors and get to the bottom of the pain. Regards