| I know all too well what they feel like.. been through years of hell. What really helped me was learning that what is now labeled as 'panic disorder', used to be called 'hyperventilation syndrome'. Cutting some corners here b/c lack of time: Chronic Hyperventilation is very often connected to panic disorder. Breathing too much causes some chemical changes in your blood and the rest of the body, including changing thresholds in your nervous system which makes things more easily excitable, changes the way electrical signals are working in the body, etc.. During a period of stress, you can be breathing faster then you used to, lowering the amount of C02 in your body. If this period is long enough, your breathing center can be retraining itself so that this 'lower amount' becomes the 'new normal'. This might keep one hyperventilating, even after the original stressor(s) is/are gone! When dealing with many complaints (lack of energy and focus, very tired, panic, anxiety, stress, body odors, heart palpitations/pounding, headaches, cold limbs, pressure on chest, gasping for air/yawning, bouts of agoraphobia and dozens of unpleasant other things) while all blood tests like thyroid, blood sugar etc came back "Ok", my GP suggested possible hyperventilation. Well, I was breathing about 15 times/min. at the moment.. which is pretty much in the 'normal' region as mentioned on Wikipedia (not that this is THE source for medical advice, but I guess the point is clear) Later I discovered that I was sometimes breathing 20-25 times/min. at rest.. but not always.. and later that day I stumbled upon a book in a store which mentioned that "at rest, breathing about 6-8 times/min. is enough" Ok, 15-16 vs 20 can be a counting error... 20-25 vs 6..well, there's something odd there. Took me some months to 'retrain' my breathing and well on my way to recovering; currently breathing about 8-12 times/min. at rest. And I'm not using heavy ANY medicines prescribed by the GP. Have only used some very mild tranquilizing stuff, think natural Valerian based stuff used e.g. by students for exams. Very useful for me was the 'Control pause test' of the 'Buteyko approach: http://www.normalbreathing.com/index-measure-CP.php Check and compare e.g. these two http://www.normalbreathing.com/index-CP-normals.php
http://www.normalbreathing.com/index-CP-sick-complete.php "Take a good deep breath and relax" might sometimes work very well.. but don't do it too often. ;) DISCLAIMER: I apologize to all medical professionals and students for cutting some serious corners. What you are reading in this message might actually be wrong. Do your own due diligence and always discuss things with your doctor/GP/specialist. Especially if you're also suffering from lung- and/or heart problems. But I do hope that some people are helped by this message. :) |
- I also learned that I was frequently hyperventilating in my sleep. My girlfriend noticed it a few times when she couldn't sleep. This very well explained why I woke up more tired than how I went to bed, frequently unable to find the energy to e.g.turn my pillow around.
- I also read the paraphrased quote somewhere that:
"Breathing 20-25 times/min. is what you do when you're cycling with 15-25KM/h. No body in the world is strong enough to do that 24/7, day after day, month after month"