Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Preventing hyperventilation at home
• Part 2 of 2: Get treatment for hyperventilation
• Tips
• Warning

Hyperventilation is a medical term for unusually fast breathing often caused by stress, anxiety or total panic attacks. Excessively fast breathing causes the carbon dioxide level in your blood to drop, which can lead to dizziness, fainting, weakness, confusion, agitation, panic and / or chest pain. If you often suffer from hyperventilation - not to be confused with accelerated breathing due to exercise - you may have hyperventilation syndrome. Hyperventilation syndrome can often be treated at home using the following strategies, although medical intervention is required in some cases.

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Part 1 of 2: Preventing hyperventilation at home

1. Inhale through your nose. Breathing through your nose is an effective way to combat hyperventilation because you simply cannot transport as much air through your nose as you can through your mouth. As a result, nasal breathing reduces the speed of your breathing. It may take some time to get used to and you may need to clean your nasal passages first, but nasal breathing is more efficient and filters dust and other small particles out of the air better than breathing through the mouth.
   • Breathing through your nose will also help you overcome some of the abdominal symptoms associated with hyperventilation, such as bloating and flatulence.
   • Nasal breathing also helps combat dry mouth and bad breath, which are also associated with oral breathing and chronic hyperventilation.
2. Use "abdominal breathing."’ People with chronic hyperventilation usually take shallow breaths through the mouth and only fill the upper chest (the upper lung fields) when they breathe. This is inefficient and ensures that not enough oxygen gets into the blood, which speeds up breathing. Sustained shallow breathing also causes too much carbon dioxide to be exhaled, which creates a negative feedback loop and makes hyperventilation worse. Instead, take a breath through your nose and turn on the diaphragm more, which will cause more air to be drawn deeper into the lungs and supply your blood with more oxygen. This technique is often referred to as "abdominal breathing" (or diaphragm breathing) because when you force the muscles of the diaphragm down, your lower abs will move out.
   • Practice taking deep nose breaths, paying attention to how your abdomen expands before your chest expands. You will notice how it relaxes you and your breath will slow down after a few minutes.
   • Try to hold your breath in your lungs a little longer - aim for about 3 seconds to begin with.
3. Loosen your clothes. Practically speaking, it is difficult to take a deep breath if your clothes are too tight, so loosen your belt and make sure your pants are comfortable - especially to make stomach breathing easier. In addition, you keep your clothes loose around your stomach and neck, and that also applies to shirts and bras. If you've been hyperventilating before, avoid ties, scarves, and turtlenecks, as these can make you feel constricted and trigger a seizure.
   • Tight clothes can contribute to the feeling of choking if you are a sensitive person (or suffer from phobias), and for some of them, wearing loose clothing is an important strategy.
   • Clothes made of soft fabrics (cotton, silk) can also help, as rougher fabrics, such as wool, can cause skin irritation, discomfort, hot flashes and agitation for some people.
4. Try relaxation techniques. Because stress and anxiety appear to be the underlying and main causes of chronic hyperventilation syndrome, and there are documented reports of causing acute attacks, a sensible strategy is to better manage your stress response. Relaxation exercises, such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga, are all helpful for promoting relaxation and better emotional health. Yoga in particular involves not only adopting different postures, but also breathing techniques that are particularly important for combating hyperventilation. In addition, you can learn to deal with the stress in your life by making positive changes and / or train yourself to control anxious thoughts about your work, finances or relationships.
   • Excessive stress / anxiety releases hormones that prepare your body for a "fight-or-flight" response, resulting in faster breathing and increased heart rate.
   • Getting enough sleep is also important for dealing with stress better. Chronic lack of sleep hampers the immune system and often leads to anxiety and depression.
5. Work on your fitness. Working on your fitness regularly (daily), such as a brisk walk, is another method to help you stop hyperventilating, as it forces you to take deeper breaths and can make your breathing more efficient. Getting in shape regularly also makes you lose weight, improves your cardiovascular health, makes you fitter, and tends to reduce the anxiety that contributes to hyperventilating. Endurance training is any sustained movement that causes your heart and breathing to accelerate to a point where maintaining a normal conversation begins to become difficult.
   • Other healthy examples of cardio training include swimming, cycling and jogging.
   • Increased respiration due to cardio (identified by deeper breathing to get more oxygen) should not be confused with hyperventilation, which is characterized by shallow breathing (caused by anxiety), which is maintained to increase carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
6. Cut down on caffeine. Caffeine is a nervous system stimulant and can be found in coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, some prescription medications, and over-the-counter diet products. Caffeine boosts brain activity (which makes sleep difficult), can trigger anxiety, and also negatively impacts breathing - it is associated with hyperventilation and sleep apnea (interruption of breathing during sleep). to consume less or no caffeine if you hyperventilate frequently.
   • To reduce the risk or severity of sleep disturbance, avoid all products containing caffeine after lunch. Lack of sleep leads to anxiety, which can trigger hyperventilation. Some people process caffeine slowly and others quickly. People with a slow metabolism may not want to drink it at all, and people with a fast metabolism can sometimes drink something containing caffeine for up to a few hours before going to bed.
   • Chronic, daily consumption of caffeinated drinks does not seem to have much of an impact on breathing (as the body gets used to them) compared to drinking coffee occasionally, or a large amount at one time.
   • Freshly brewed coffee usually contains the greatest concentration of caffeine. You will also find this in cola, energy drinks, tea and chocolate.

Part 2 of 2: Get treatment for hyperventilation

1. Consult your doctor. While stress and anxiety are seen as the main triggers for hyperventilating, some medical conditions can also contribute to it. To rule this out, it is best to consult your doctor and ask for a follow-up and physical examination to rule out more serious causes of hyperventilation, such as heart failure, liver disease, lung infection, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, chronic pain syndrome and drug overuse.
   • Diagnostic tests that your doctor can perform may include the following: a blood test (checking for oxygen and carbon dioxide levels), ventilation scan / perfusion scan of the lungs, an X-ray or CT scan, ECG / EKG of the chest (to check the function of the heart).
   • Prescribed medications with a strong link to hyperventilation are isoproterenol (heart medication), seroquel (an antipsychotic), and some anti-anxiety medications, such as alprazolam and lorazepam.
   • Women are much more likely to hyperventilate than men - up to a seven times greater risk.
2. Consult a psychological counselor. If your doctor can rule out a serious illness as the cause of hyperventilation, and anxiety or panic attacks are more likely to be suspected, you may be referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist to help treat your problem. Psychological counseling / therapy (including various approaches and techniques) can be effective in helping you manage stress, anxiety, phobias, depression, and even chronic pain. For example, supportive psychotherapy can make sure you get enough oxygen during an attack. It can also help resolve an irrational phobia (fear) that triggers a panic attack.
   • Ask your therapist about cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) - it helps control or eliminate negative thoughts, concerns, and false beliefs that make you tense and disrupt your sleep.
   • About 50% of people with a panic disorder have hyperventilation symptoms, while about 25% of people with a hyperventilation syndrome have a panic disorder.
3. Talk to your doctor about medication. If an underlying mental disorder is not properly treated with therapy / counseling and the bouts of hyperventilation are increasingly causing physical and / or social problems, then medication can be considered as a last resort. Anti-anxiety drugs, tricyclic antidepressants, tranquilizers, and beta-blockers may be helpful and help some people, but they should be taken with caution - usually only for a short term - and with an understanding of the numerous side effects that are possible (especially psychotic behaviors ).
   • The short-term use of medications that affect thoughts, emotions and behavior usually falls within the time frame of a few weeks to less than six months.
   • Most people can be taught to take control of hyperventilation syndrome without medication (especially with the help of a psychotherapist), while others can benefit from temporary use of psychotropic drugs. However, some people dealing with a chemical imbalance in the brain may require long-term pharmaceutical care (sometimes years).

Tips

• Hyperventilation can also occur after a serious head injury.
• Symptoms of hyperventilation usually last 20-30 minutes per attack.
• Hyperventilation can be triggered by traveling to altitudes in excess of 1800 meters.
• Most people who suffer from hyperventilation syndrome are between 15-55 years old.

Warning

• Although breathing in a paper bag increases carbon dioxide levels in the blood and can help break the hyperventilation cycle, it is no longer recommended for people with lung cancer or cardiovascular disease.