Who has overcome Hyperventilation (Overbreathing)?

[springblossom]

Hi all,

Has anyone here actually overcome hyerventilation (overbreathing) in their own lives?

What works? Buteyko? 7/11 breathing....neither have worked for me....distraction can help, but can people post their own stories of success or progress?

Thank you

Sarah

[Vanilla Sky]

Mine has always been slow deep breathing. You have just got to sit down and go all floppy like a ragdoll and just breath slow and deep, the more you do it the more you get your natural breathing rythm back. I know how scarey it is btu you can do it , good luck Love Paige :)

[Going home]

Hi Springblossom

I think most anxious people have lived with this, alot of us still do sometimes if the anx gets too much, its a very common symptom. When we get the feeling we can't breathe properly the panic we feel just makes it worse of course. The doctors know that its an imbalance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood stream, and that balance is governed by good old adrenaline. If the balance is a little off then you get the feeling that you can't take a deep breath. Also, as a result of anxiety, your chest wall muscles can be very tense which stops you from taking a deep breath.

Breathing exercises might help with this if its a main symptom for you...not many people use their full lung capacity anyway, anxious or not! I believe the ratio is to count 8 seconds on a breath in and 10 out. The old way was to simply breathe into a paper bag to redress the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide again :)

GH xx

[springblossom]

Thank you both.

Have you heard of Buteyko - the trick is not to breathe DEEPLY but to breathe LESS
as in breath restriction (but do follow the official guidebook).

And ALWAYS breathe through the nose.I think it works :)

[Typer]

I bought this breath easy programme on line. It was a PDF and I am only just getting started with it. Mind you it cost £20 which I thought was a lot.

[eljones05]

My Counsellor told me to breathe not from the chest but from your stomach, in other words when u breathe in make sure your stomach goes in not just chest area. She said if u watch a baby breathe they breathe like this. Its just that we out of bad habit breathe quickly from the chest.

[springblossom]

the trick seems to be LESS air, LESS breathing, smaller breaths

[Anxious_gal]

holding my breath and counting to 10, even though it feels like your suffocating!
it does actually help!
tapping on acupressure points helps me too.

[wiskersonkittens]

I experienced something that helps me -- by accident. Last year I had to undergo and MRI and CT scan of my abdominal area and on both accounts I was told to hold my breath. I am not certain for how the long the duration -- one time seemed to last forever (but even then I was able to do it and felt reassured that I was healthy BECAUSE I could do it) -- but overall it seemed to be in spurts and whatever tension and anxiety I had been feeling being in those tubes melted away. It was amazing!

[clippers]

I always hyperventilate when im at practice.but i dont have asthma or any other condition.What i do is either use a paper bag or i take a deep breath and cough.Breathing through my mouth and then my nose.

[emma09]

i ovver breath when walking for some reason then i get panicky then my heart races! annoying. i just try to take my mind of my breathing and it goes bk to normal

[Yogidude]

I have had problems with this since my first panic attack. It's like theres still some adrenaline in your body that mess things up. It causes me to burp and my heart to beat more rapidly.

Here's an exercise that is great to restore the blood's values of oxygen and so on. Its called breathing in a square.

1) Lie down and visualize a square in your mind, or look at some object like a paintings's frame.

2) Breath in on 3 counts, while going up the square.

3) Hold your breaths for 3 counts, while going right on the upper frame.

4) Breath out on 3 counts, while going down the square.

5) Hold your breaths for 3 counts, while going left on the lower frame.

Continue as long as you wish. Use your stomach and dont try to breath too deeply or too shallowly. Just try to eventually find your normal rythm. I really get calm when I do this, and my tensions starts to let go.

Of course you cant do this exercise all day long, and my best tip is to 1) start some healthy excercise for your lungs like running and 2) don't get anxious about your breathing, and just observe it gently when you get focused on it, or when you breath wrong. You won't die from your breathing!

I have also noticed that if you say to yourself that your breathing is wrong, it is impossible not to breath wrong in some way. Its like focusing on any area of your body, eventually you will feel tensed in that area because of your constant focus. Tell yourself theres no problem at all with your breathing! Sometimes I also tell myself that I don't have any breathing at all, or I tell it to go and die. No breathing, no problem :). A little buddhist psychology there! ;)

Hope it helps!