Hyperventilation

It is easy to miss making the diagnosis of hyperventilation. 

You can ask

‘Do you have trouble getting your breath?’

and look for the associated symptoms of

tachycardia, sweatiness, butterflies, shakiness and in more extreme cases tingling in the fingers and around the mouth and even carpo-pedal spasm.

Breathing exercises can be very effective but remember extra focus on breathing during an actual episode of hyper-ventilation is likely to make things feel worse not better and people usually can’t do it on their own. 

Abdominal breathing

1.Stand, sit up straight, or lie flat

2.Breathe in to your tummy

3.In 2 3, Out 2 3 4 5 (6)

4.Slow down

Practice 5-10 minutes, 3-5 x/day, when you are feeling good

Will take a week to work – until then don’t use it when you feel bad

We think it is better to encourage practising breathing techniques during calm times without attempting to apply them until the patient feels confident. 

We draw an analogy to learning skills for sport. When you first work on something, you might actually make your performance worse.  It is only when you really master it that it enhances your performance.