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Hi,
I wonder if you can help me. I have been trying to deal with anxiety and panic for over 6 years now. I now realise that my symptoms are caused by hyperventilating. I try to control my breathing, but find it really hard, especially when I am out of my comfort zone and with people.
Anyway, what I was wondering is what are the long term effects hyperventilating is having on my body, organs etc. I have read that hyperventilating caused lactic acid - what does this do to the body?
Please help.
You can relax. It's important to realize that the body normally produces lactic acid during strenuous exercise, subsequently dissipating a short time afterwards.
Lactic acid starts to accumulate in the muscles once you start operating above your anaerobic threshold. This is normally somewhere between 80% and 90% of the maxium heart rate in trained athletes.
As we exercise pyruvate is formed. When insufficient oxygen is available to breakdown the pyruvate then lactate is produced. Lactate enters the surrounding muscle cells, tissue and blood. The muscle cells and tissues receiving the lactate either breakdown the lactate to fuel (ATP) for immediate use or use it in the creation of glycogen. The glycogen then remains in the cells until energy is required. If certain functions are overcome through strenuous exercise or exertion, then lactate begins to build up in muscle tissue and fatigue occurs due to inability for muscle contraction.
This is a normal physiological process and no harm will come to you as a consequence of small amounts of lactic acid produced through hyperventilation, which in most patients is actually quite short of the actual term and instead merely shallow breathing as a consequence of anxiety and stress. Actual hyperventilation has rather immediate consequences and fainting or near-fainting usually occurs until blood gases are restored to proper balance.
Your fears are probably from confusing the lactic acid shuttle with something called Lactic Acidosis, which can be a serious condition. I won't go into the details here except to tell you that it's not a consequence of shallow breathing at all and you won't develop it. You'll be fine.
Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I really do appreciate it.
Thanks
Hi Ann- I have hyperventilated for years now and thats what triggers my panic attacks especially in supermarkets, theatre, restaurants etc. In fact I went out for a birtthday meal last night in a restaurant and hyperventilated all evening and had tingly hands and feet and felt breathless but instead of panicking and running away - I had to pinch myself once and dropped my shoulders and just tried to relax saying to myself that it couldnt hurt me. True, I felt panicky the whole hour and a half we were in the restaurant but I wont let this thing beat me! Love wenjoy x