Over-Breathing and Hyperventalation

[Sharon123]

Hi,
I sometimes begin to concentrate on my breath and then all of a sudden I am over-breathing and controlling my breath. I can't bring it back to normal once i am aware of my breathing and I start to become dizzy and feel faint, and I have an anxiety attack. I do not know why it happens, but it is definitely something that I am afraid of because It is extremely uncomfortable. And this always happens as soon as I become aware of my breath. The hyperventilating stops as soon as I walk around though. I am about to take a very important exam where we are not allowed to walk around and I just know it will happen there. I become so paralyzed with fear when this happens, that I cannot concentrate or bring my breathing back to normal. Does anyone have any tips on how to handle this? Anyone experience something similar????

[anxious1]

All normal for anxiety.. The awareness of your breath only triggers anxiety worse. I can be sitting normally and then suddenly find myself very aware of my breath and hey presto. Cue an anxiety attack. Full blown. Sweats. Cold spells. Flushes, feeling like passing out. Nausea. When you feel it coming on. Take a deep breath try and hold for a few seconds then exhale so you feel it in your stomach, it will stop you overbreathing. Worth a try

[js1803]

I've been aware of my breathing for nearly a year.. My life is hell =(

[Gary A]

Being aware of any natural bodily function will instantly make that function seem like a task. Here's something to try. Try gulping in succession for about 30 seconds. We all swallow when we eat and we do so with no great difficulty, but try forcing yourself to do it repeatedly. Note how difficult it becomes even after only a few attempts. It feels awkward and laboured.

Breathing is exactly the same. Some mammals, like dolphins and whales, have to consciously think of when they're taking a breath. Humans do not. Our breathing is in-built, our body regulates it perfectly for whichever it requires. If you're running, you need more oxygen to keep the blood pumping, your body responds by regulating your breathing to deep, rapid breaths. If you're resting, you need very little oxygen, and again, your body regulates your breathing to slow right down. The body, in this case, knows what it's doing.

If you go into autopilot and your mind starts to take over your breathing, chaos ensues. You breathe far more than you have to. When that happens, you feel starved for oxygen, even though you're actually over breathing. This in turn causes you to breathe quicker. The body's C02 balance gets turned on its head, which causes multiple horrible symptoms. Dizziness, nausea and chest pain kick in. Pins and needles also happen, as your blood has now become too alkaline, this in turn starts to fire off nerve endings that otherwise shouldn't be firing.

If you catch yourself becoming consciously aware of your breathing, try a simple excersise;

• breathe in slowly through your nose for 4 seconds
• hold that breath for a further 4 seconds
• breathe out slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds

This will address the body's C02 balance, slow the heart rate and it also gives your body back the control that it craves. Practice that enough and it will re-train your body in how to breathe properly. It also has the added effect of you knowing that you are in control, and can end a panic attack before it even begins.

[sunild1204]

I Agree with GARY A above.
Overbreathing causes depletion of CO2 from Blood causing dizziness and disorientation.
One thing you could do increase co2 is by doing breathing using envelop or paper bag.
Or do as GARY A Above says:-->

This exercise will help you calm your breathing:-
• 1)breathe in slowly through your nose
• 2)Pinch close your nose with index & thumb finger and also close your mouth and HOLD that breath for a further 15-20 seconds.
The hold will generate CO2 that will calm you down and fulfill the depletion of co2 that was cause by over-breathing.
• 3)breathe out slowly through your Nose.
* Repeat steps 1-3 above at least 4-5 times every time you feel anxious or over-breathe.

Also you must exit yourself meaning do not do too much self observation. Try to look at other things and ignore yourself.
More on sunild1204.wordpress....

[Sharon123]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I will definitely try all of the methods. But one thing I am worried about, is fainting when this happens! Is it even possible to faint when this occurs? And if so, how can I prevent passing out? I heard that fainting is a natural way of the body to get back to breathing normally, except I don want to faint. I have never fainted before, and I really don want it to happen! I feel so faint when this happens...I just am not sure if hyperventilation can cause fainting?

[Lemondrizzle]

Has anyone had dreams that they can't breathe properly, one dream I was in a duty house and couldn't get my breathe the other dream I was under water.... Is this a dream or a breathing problem?

[sunild1204]

It could be a breathing problem.

You can try following exercises for few weeks to see the difference. These 2 exercises may help open up breathing path.

Exercise 1
• 1)breathe in slowly through your nose. (Take a single small breathe in).
• 2)Pinch close your nose with index & thumb finger and also close your mouth and HOLD that breath for a further 15-20 seconds or till you can hold.
The hold will generate CO2 and CO2 is a DILATOR which helps open up breathing path.
• 3)breathe out slowly through your Nose.
* Repeat steps 1-3 above at least 3-5 times.

Exercise 2
1) Exhale from nose to exhaust all the air
2) Now Hold Pinch your nose (mouth closed) and hold it for around 20-30 seconds or till you can hold.
3) Breathe in / out when you can not hold anymore.
* Repeat steps 1-3 above at least 3 times in a session.

For More look for my asthma recovery and breathing exercises blog on sunild1204 wordress