Hyperventilating

[angel2007]

I have always suffered badly with hyperventilating, in which I normally just ignore it and it goes away but laterly it has been getting worse and I seem to be thinking about it more and I am unable to ignore it. I was just wondering if by hyperventilating more it will make it worse and I will not be able to control it ? Am I doing the right thing by trying to ignore it or should I be more worried ?

[domino]

I would not ignore it, go see your g.p. just to put your mind at rest.:)

[Wenjoy]

I hyperventilate when I am anxious which sets up a cycle of panic - my dr told me to calm down, drop my shoulders and breathe deeply from my stomach and slowly making he out breath longer than the in breath. Not easy I know - I panic when I cant get a deep breath in - we make it worse when we try to gulp air in and we end up sighing and yawning and hunching our shoulder sup. When I hyperventilate I try to use rescue remedy spray and slow my breathing down like when I go to sleep which helps. Wenjoy xx

[honeybee3939]

Hi Angel

I got this from the How to Cope section of the Forum, may help hun.

Abdominal Breathing


One of the most important things that will help you during a Panic Attack is to control your breathing. Although it is the last thing on your mind, and very hard to control, it is very important as it will calm you down. Panic Attack sufferers will almost inevitably suffer from hyperventilation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/NMPcms.php?nmppage=symptoms#Hyperventilation) and must learn abdominal breathing.
Slow, abdominal breathing alone has been shown to abort panic attacks and prevent them. But for a person with panic disorder, learning slow abdominal breathing can be quite difficult. People with panic disorder are almost always chest breathers. The worst thing you can tell a person during a panic attack is to breathe deeply. It takes a lot of practice to breathe with the diaphragm without a great deal of training, but if you can learn to breathe slowly with your diaphragm, you will not panic!
You must practice abdominal breathing so that when you have a Panic Attack you can put it into action.
Here are some tips on learning diaphragmatic breathing. Start while lying on your back. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly (between navel and ribs). Focus on allowing the belly to rise easily when inhaling and fall when exhaling. HOLD THE CHEST STILL with your hand on your chest. The objective is to breathe all the time with the belly (diaphragm) and not the chest. You are aiming at about 6 breaths per minute. This is a slow relaxed process. There should be no sense of effort.
If the belly won't move and the chest continues to move, put a weight on the belly between the navel and ribs (where the hand was). A heavy book will do, but something that is not painful and weighs 3 - 5 pounds is best. Focus on allowing the weight to rise on inhale and sink on exhale. Again - no effort!
If still no success, kneel on all fours, i.e., assume a position of a four-legged animal. In this position, the chest tends to be locked in place, forcing the diaphragm to take over the breathing task. Slow and easy, no effort. Once you learn to breathe with your belly, you must practice, practice, practice.
The first week, you should practice for only a few breaths at a time while lying on your back. Then gradually extend the practice time to 15 minutes. When this can be done comfortably, you should start to practice while sitting. Then standing. Then walking.
After you can breathe with the belly in all positions, you should practice in different situations. Start with easy situations like sitting in a car. Then sitting in a restaurant. Progress until you can breathe with the belly in situations that previously felt un-natural and uncomfortable.
IMPORTANT: If at any time during the breathing training, you feel dizzy or light-headed, then stop the exercise, rest, and try again in a few minutes. The breathing training is not about being tough or facing your fear. It is about learning to breathe to normalize the bodily functions.
You may find it helpful to have someone doing this breathing exercise with you as they 'take control' and get you to breathe on their command.
Ok, so these techniques may not be very sophisticated but they work and may help you:

Love
:hugs:
Andrea
xxxx

[angel2007]

:) Thank u I will give them a try and see how I get on.
I was just wondering what rescue remedy spray is ? I properly sound really stupid :unsure: but I have not heard of it before and I have seen on this forum a couple of people mention it ?

angel2007 xx