hyperventilating - breathing into a bag

[crazychick]

during an attack when you are hyperventilating breathing into a paper bag is really helpful. i've always been taught just to breathe into the bag til it passes but i have read that you should use the bag for so many breaths and then try and breath normally and vice versa. does anyone else use a paper bag and if so how do they use it?

[Piglet]

Although I know this used to be the suggested remedy to help with hyperventilation I don't think it is used so much anymore. Dinah Bradley's book Self-help for Hyperventilation advises against it, particularly for asthma sufferers.

Not sure what others think????

Love Piglet xx

"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.

[crazychick]

i read that and was worried about it but my doctor said if you aresure it is a panic attack and not asthma - having both they are different and easy to tell apart. it is the best way to deal with an attack and to calm breathing down. does anyone else have any other ways that work?

[Quirky]

Hi there,

I too have asthma and suffer chronic hyperventilation. I have tried the paper bag in the past and it didn't work at all for me. I now see a breathing therapist at the hospital who has told me it's very dangerous for asthmatics to use a paper bag.

The only other ways that work that I know of are to regulate your breathing, slow it down and make sure you try and use your diaphram not your upper chest when you breathe.

If you haven't read it yet the book Piglet mentions above by Dinah Bradley is excellent and has some great tips that help.

Lisa x

[mirry]

I have been told by my doctor that i am asthmatic in the past
(many years ago) I have been on steriod tablets 3 times because of asthma with a heavy cold.
However I dont consider myself asthmatic because i dont have asthma attacks, could my breathlesness I get be asthma instead of panic?
How would i know the difference ?
My doctor makes me have an inhaler, but i dont think i need it ?

My son is asthamtic and i really hear his chest wheeze - i dont get this.


mirryx

[Ammeg]

Hey all!!
crazy chick- ive tryed a bag, i just breathed into it all the way through my panic- it did work but i think it was more the sound the bag was makin than the fact it was helpin me breath! like sometimes i tap me leg when i panic and try and breath with it and that calms me down!!
Mirry- have u been to asthma clinic recently? have u breathed into one of them pump things? maybe u dont get astma attacks coz of the meds you take. if u havent been to asthma clinic in a while, see your doctor about it- i had asthma as a child but i dont have it anymore!!!
Ammegxx

[mirry]

i got one of those asthma test things, i dont know what my reading should be ? lost paperwork[:I]

mirryx

[Ammeg]

u really need to get it done by a doc- or nurse, or check online and see if it says anywhere on there!!!

[dorabella]

I used the paper bag method early on and it was quite effective. Nowadays, if I get a little disordered in breathing I cup both hands over my nose and mouth for the same effect.

For some reason I find this works better and pulls me up short before the hyperventilation really gets out of control.

Try it and see.

[crazychick]

thanks for that dorabella i'l try that next time
how exactly does breathing into the bag work? how does it help you to calm down? i use it and it works but i don't really jnow how.

[susan]

Its cos your breathing in air which has more carbondioxide to less oxygen than usual.- Its the overload of oxygen which makes you dizzy and makes your face/ fingers tingle. It just regulates this till the hyperventilation stops which shouldnt be long. Susan.

sue

[jos]

hi crazychick

breathing into a bag is only deals with the symptom - not the cause

check out my posts on hyperventilation / overbreathing in "symptoms" as retraining breathing control is easy and oh so effective

jos

[lin]

I use a paper bag when i get an attack i use it over my mouth and nose and it seems to work for me.

linda xx

[blondeangel]

actually...
from what I have been taught is that hyperventilating in a bag is NOT good for you. It does not do much good, and if you feel that way (I do when I get attacks), it is best to take deep breaths in and out. Actually if I remember my first aid and CPR correctly they told us NOT to use a bag if someone is hyperventilating. It is best to try to help the person to slow their breathing, and to help them become aware of their breathing. I also use enhalers sometimes and they help me. When you use a bag you are just breathing in your own suffocated air, and it doesn't really help..some find it does, but it is not the most effective strategy for that. I myself try to slow my breathing, focus on it, and sometimes I use my enhaler. I think you should find what is best for you.

[crazychick]

i find breathing into the bag really does work - it was also in the first aid training i was taught and anytime a first aider has been called for me they have advised it. i think in some situations it is best as it can be a quick fix for the problem. i use inhalors as well but more for asthma than hyperventilating - if i have the slightest asthma symptom i refuse to use a paper bag - and often i do have both at once which feels horrific.

[jos]

crazychic
check out the buteyko breathing technique on google - its great for asthma

jos

[crazychick]

hi jos, i have tried it but no luck. i think i am just one of these unlucky people who is going to suffer badly forever. i just hate having breathing difficulties all the time. people treat me like its a disibility and its not its just something that happens in my life.