Re: Long Term Effects Of Hyperventilating
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.
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Best regards and Good Health