Do You Suffer from Hyperventilation Syndrome?
| By Jennifer Flaten | Category: Inspiration and Wellness
Poor breathing can leave you feeling miserable
Suddenly, you become light headed, find it hard to breathe, and experience a tingling sensation in your fingertips. As your symptoms persist, you begin to panic and rush to the emergency room. Thankfully, the test results reveal that you are not having a heart attack. Unfortunately, the doctors are unable to determine the reason for your strange symptoms and you are released only to come back again and again with these same symptoms. Each time you are subjected to a battery of tests, which result in no definitive answer.
Before you lose all hope thinking you may never get relief from these episodes, take a moment to consider whether you may be suffering from Hyperventilation Syndrome (HVS). An estimated 25% of all patients complaining of dizziness and fatigue may actually be suffering from this affliction.
What is Hyperventilation Syndrome?
Hyperventilation Syndrome is an unusual condition that is a result of rapid breathing. During rapid breathing, the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance in the blood is disturbed, resulting in an oxygen level that is too high and a depleted level of carbon dioxide. This deficiency in carbon dioxide causes those suffering from Hyperventilation Syndrome to feel like they are not getting enough air, when actually the reverse is true.
Self-Help for Hyperventilation Syndrome
With only limited amounts of carbon dioxide present in the blood, the overall pH of the blood rises creating a condition called respiratory alkalosis. The high blood pH causes the symptoms to become worse, which in turn, causes the sufferer to breathe even more rapidly. Respiratory alkalosis leads to functional changes in the nervous system, causing a wide variety of odd symptoms, some in puzzling combinations. This change in nervous system functioning explains why those who suffer from Hyperventilation Syndrome complain of symptoms such as; fatigue, weakness, insomnia or nightmares, chest pain, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, abdominal pain, and excessive nerve sensitivity.
This odd combination of symptoms is what often causes Hyperventilation Syndrome to be misdiagnosed. For example, symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath can easily be mistaken for signs of a heart attack. When no damage to the heart is found, doctors are often at a loss when attempting to explain why the patient continues to complain of these strange symptoms. This leads to frustration on both sides as patients continually return to the doctor complaining of the same symptoms. Even more frustrating is that those suffering from Hyperventilation Syndrome may find it hard to pinpoint the cause as each episode may have different symptoms.
Doctors are now beginning to understand that the myriad of symptoms present are a clue to diagnosing Hyperventilation Syndrome. Once all of the symptoms are considered in conjunction, it becomes much easier to make an accurate diagnosis. For example, a strong correlation has been identified between HVS and mood disorders such as panic attacks and generalized anxiety as well as chronic fatigue syndrome.
Research shows that HVS is an involuntary response to stressful situations. People who suffer from Hyperventilation Syndrome are in no way trying to breathe harder. It has been observed that many patients are not even aware that they are over breathing. However, once the oxygen level increases and carbon dioxide levels decrease, the sufferer may then begin to experience dizziness or blurred vision. The onset of these symptoms only increases the patient’s overall discomfort and causes them to become even more stressed. The body then involuntarily increases breathing, making the situation even worse.
Overcoming Hyperventilation Syndrome
There is good news for Hyperventilation Syndrome sufferers; it is possible to learn to control your breathing and relieve your symptoms in a relatively short period of time. One of the most accurate and complete resources to help one overcome this affliction is an Ebook titled Hope and Help for Hyperventilation Syndrome. One aspect of recovery detailed in this book includes practicing several breathing techniques that will allow your body to learn to breathe more slowly. A watch with a second hand is the only piece of equipment required.
While performing each of these breathing exercises, it is important to use proper breathing mechanics. Hyperventilation Syndrome, caused by short, choppy breaths, is usually the result of inefficient chest breathing. Instead, focus on controlled abdominal breathing.
How do you know if you are using proper breathing mechanics? Lie on your back on the floor and place one hand on your belly, and the other on your chest. When you inhale, you should feel your abdomen rise while your chest remains relatively still. A fluid exhale should follow (don’t hold your breath) which causes the abdomen to lower back to its original position. After a one second pause, inhale again. Nasal breathing provides for a more controlled, relaxed breathing pattern than does mouth breathing, so keep your mouth closed.
The first breathing exercise is referred to as the 7-11 method. The inhalation is timed to last 7 seconds (or counts) while the exhalation is timed to last 11 seconds (or counts). With repeated practice of this method the body will be reset to breathe more slowly and evenly. Soon the body will no longer find it necessary to take quick, shallow breaths.
The second exercise consists of two 5-minute controlled breathing sessions per day. The goal of each of these 5-minute sessions is to concentrate on taking only 3-5 breaths per minute. The breaths should be slow and deliberate. Again, the goal of this method is to retrain the body to see that rapid breathing is not necessary. Practice twice daily, and otherwise forget about your breathing (i.e. do not constantly check on your breathing technique throughout the day as this may add additional stress and worry).
Repetition and regular practice of these breathing exercises is essential to overcoming this affliction. It is important to maintain patience during the breathing retraining process and it should be expected that several weeks pass before noticing positive results. Once the body is retrained to breathe slowly and evenly, the person suffering from Hyperventilation Syndrome should see a dramatic decrease in overall symptoms. Gone should be the lightheaded and dizziness that have become part of daily life. Also, gone will be the accompanying vague and ever changing symptoms of fatigue, memory loss, nerve pain and intestinal discomfort.
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Dear Jennifer,
I enjoyed your comprehensive and accurate article on hyperventilation syndrome and hyperventilation treatment. I have a clinic in Pasadena, California called Breathingwise that treats this very disorder (among other functional breathing pattern problems). There is a significant group of people who need extra help with relearning a new breathing pattern and resetting the brain’s respiratory center to accept higher levels of carbon dioxide.
I am pleased you did not mention breathing into a paper bag as this is often what my clients expect to do and there is evidence to suggest this is not a safe practise (due to hypoxia). I do sometimes advise people to breathe into cupped hands if they have got beyond the point of being able to control their symptoms through diaphragmatic breathing – generally this is because of an over-riding panic. The cupped hand breathing is safe, gives sufferes of an acute attack something proactive to do in the event of panic and there is some carbon dioxide rebreathing.
Thanks again for the excellent summary.
[...] consistent flow of histamine can cause significant breathing problems for most allergy sufferers. Short, rapid breathing such as that experienced by hyperventilation syndrome sufferers will create a sense of anxiety and will greatly contribute to chronic fatigue. [...]
these post really cleared out those misconception regarding how to treat hypertension. here in the philippines, most people who suffer hypertension take in garlic to relief themselves from the headache and breathing difficulties. On the other hand, based on this article, one effective way to conquer such illness is to master proper breathing techniques. i’ll share whatever i learned from this post to those people i know that are still believing in the “superstition” of hypertension including the hyperventilation syndrome. good job ms. jennifer!
my friend suffers from this illness. when he has the attack, we usually don’t panic at all, maybe because we’re used to it. we try to avoid overcrowded places when he’s with us, because that’s the time he gets the attack.
its important that people should not surround him while he’s suffering from difficulties in breathing, provide him with enough air by placing him on a well ventilated room.
i dont know why but i sometimes pity on him. that’s one reason that i must be thankful to GOd that he didn’t gave me that kind of sickness. or else it may interupt my daily activities like what it does to my friend.
I have gone through a very rough time specially since I was misdiagnosed with first a brain cyst which later was found to be a blood vessel which is benign, later I was diagnosed with episodes of epilepsy for which I was already under epilepsy medication for about 2 years to “control” the dizziness that was thought to have been caused by the cyst. Being diagnosed with epilepsy and the doctors told me scary things about if something happens while driving and I kill someone that I would be held responsible as if I was driving under the influence. I was completely freaked out and was beginning to panic and had anxiety attacks and had that feeling of impending doom all the time. Now I realize the side effects of epilepsy medicine which was doing nothing but giving me side effects and the anxiety of thinking that you are epileptic was making me breathe harder, be nervous all the time, and for 2 months I was lightheaded and dizzy non stop, from waking up to going to sleep, I was in agony.
Luckily a third neurologist, bless his soul, assured me I do not have epilepsy and also no brain cyst, he introduced me to HVS. He prescribed Luvox which to my surprise is a medication to help control OCD obsessive compulsive disorder and SAD social anxiety disorder. I am not exactly what relation OCD or SAD have with HVS but the second day of taking Luvox my symptoms went completely away, I wasn’t dizzy anymore. I’m guessing OCD is involuntary causing you to do things repetitively and in a pattern like counting or doing things over and over, I believe that the same happens with breathing so this medication stops the problem from the source. I did ask if there was anything else to do to prevent them, any exercises and he said there were but that I should be fine with this medication and he was right. It keeps getting better, the first week I was so relieved, I thought there was gonna be no cure for my symptoms. Now its been 6 weeks and I have been symptom free, no lightheadedness, no dizziness, the only thing i’m still afraid it might happen anytime, but even that is going away. That is just cured with time.
I could not believe it was epilepsy but two doctors diagnosed me as epileptic. I was heart broken. Thank god it was not that, I feel so blessed and appreciate everything I’ve got a whole lot more now. There’s a lot more that I can talk about experiences I’ve had, some good and some very bad, but as of now, I am completely happy, I would like to get in touch with people experiencing this. There is hope. I am back to my usual self. I was so afraid of driving, I have now driven on trips and gone across town on my own, I am gaining my confidence back, I’ve had the most trouble with that, gaining my confidence back. It was traumatic I gotta say that.
Hi Jorge,
Thanks so much for sharing your story! Without a doubt there is a link between anxiety of all forms and HVS. It’s amazing how many doctors overlook HVS and instead make a diagnosis that is much more serious.
Stick with it, you will surely regain your confidence as time passes and if the feelings ever come back again, you’ll know exactly what to do…work on your breathing again!
I continually hear from people that the Ebook titled “Hope and Help for Hyperventilation Syndrome” is the best resource out there for those looking to understand and overcome HVS. Get the word out to others that this resource is available and they can be helped too (just Google the title and you should be able to find it easily, or go to http://www.hyperventilation-syndrome.com).
Again, thanks for sharing!
Jake
I was recently diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome, but I am still very confused about the diagnosis and more importantly, how to RESOLVE/STOP it.
Several months ago, I took a bad fall out of state and either badly bruised or possibly broke a rib. I was afraid to go to to the ER because I do not have comprehensive medical insurance. I was in a LOT of pain (getting in and out of bed the 1st three nights/mornings reminded me of the day after having a Caesarian). But I did NOT have any breathing problems at that time, so I figured well, I guess I don’t have a punctured lung ( I did a lot of Googling on bruised/cracked ribs) so it wasn’t worth the money for me to go to an ER. Yeah, it HURT, but no difficulty breathing until a few days AFTER the pain subsided.
HOWEVER…sometime after the physical pain subsided, I began to experience difficulty breathing upon any degree of exertion at all. I began to think maybe I’d developed asthma, or maybe it was related to the ribs, even though they no longer hurt. So I went to my primary care doc, who did an EKG on me and also sent me for chest x-rays. The results were negative, so he said that he found no reason to refer me to a cardiologist, especially since I’d have to pay a lot for the visit.
Now, I DO suffer from depression (not to mention well-controlled Type 2 diabetes and somewhat elevated cholesterol – all of which is WHY I have little insurance), but have never experienced any degree of anxiety.
My primary care doc said that the breathing issue was probably psychological anyway, that maybe I got habitually accustomed to breathing shallowly due to the pain of the rib.
My psych doc agreed with that diagnosis and SHE recommended the paper-bag routine, which I have been reading is NOT recommended, so now I’m confused – not that it helps anyway, nor does cupped-hand breathiing.
A while after, I was at the airport when my flight was abruptly canceled, and the airline sent us from one end of one terminal to the other end of the NEXT terminal. They said we had to get there as “FAST as we could” to get reassigned to other flights.
So here I was, lugging a heavy carry-on with me, trying to walk/run, having more and more trouble breathing and the upshot is that I fainted just before I got to the new ticketing area.
The fire department came and took my pulse and put me an oxygen mask on me (I didn’t feel like that helped, but hard to tell since I was now sitting still anyway), and insisted I must go to the local ER by ambulance. They said the airport legally was not allowed to let me leave or fly unless I either took the ambulance or someone came to get me. Since I had no one available, I had to go on the ambulance.
At the ER, they took my history, and in listing my current meds, the MINUTE they heard I took Cymbalta, they said, “OOOHHHH, okayyyy, you have PSYCHIATRIC issues! NOW we understand what the problem is!”.
They INSISTED that it was CERTAINLY psychological, and that I DEFINITELY must have had an anxiety attack (well, maybe I WAS, losing your only flight connection for that entire day CAN be anxiety-provoking, but I STILL think it was running while carrying a heavy carry on).
Anyway, by this time of laying on a stretcher, etc, I was no longer having trouble breathing, so they released me.
They sent a diagnosis of “hyperventilation syndrome” to my doctor, so as far as he is concerned, that is what it is.
But I am still very very confused – and I do not know what to do next.
I already have a $2000 bill from my airport experience, and my doctors won’t refer me anywhere else, so I am at a loss.
Whether or not it IS psychological, it is NOT going away, and the minute I exert myself, I have trouble breathing and dizziness and even lower energy levels than ever before. I really am trying to ignore it, and trying very hard to breathe more slowly and deeper like the doctors tell me to do, but it’s just not making a difference.
I’ve been Googling and researching “hyperventilation syndrome”
all this time, and found your site. I know you can’t give medical advice, but perhaps any other ideas on how I should proceed?
PS – I’ve been taking garlic for years to hopefully prevent colds/flu and to help lower my blood pressure, but I guess it hasn’t helped me with the breathing!
@ Terri O – The resource that is highlighted in the text of this article (Hope and Help for Hyperventilation Syndrome) is very informative. It provides a complete review of HVS and specific steps to start on the path to recovery. It was written by someone who has experienced HVS personally. I hope this helps and I wish you well!
Jake
I was diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome years ago but I don’t really seem to have the symptoms described for this. I don’t have trouble breathing. My heart beats really hard. I was told my heart is fine. Do I really have this syndrome? I take propranolol which helps but seems to be having a negative effect on my memory.
i seek a medical examination about a week ago because of the shortness of breathing, i undego an ECG, blood test, ect. and found no problem in my heart, so i was like feeling relieve that there’s nothing wrong with me, then last night going home from work, i found it hard to breathe again while driving and suddenlyi felt numbness in my heart and stiffness in my fingers and feet. The doctor injected me an relaxant, now i am still afraid the same attack will happen again, but this article helps me a lot what is the first thing to do when it come back again.
thank you and keep safe.
I am diagnosed having this syndrome and i have had several attacks from the past 2 months. I thought of no reason why i got my very first attack.
I remember the way i felt depersonalized..suddenly palpitations took place, dry mouth, then was rushed to the ER. i was in panic when i felt the tingling feeling starting on my cheeks and the stiffness or cramps of my fingers and hands. Though i was first diagnosed having an electrolyte imbalance.
Ive done tests.. (blood, urine, ECG, liver and kidney-related lab tests..) all went normal. its mainly psychological says the doctor. She laughs and defines hvs as an attention-seeking syndrome. i was horrified.
up to now im suffering depersonalization : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder : a symptom of hvs which i think causes my attacks at present.
this site is very informative and useful for me knowing these people understand what i am going through.
i have this short of breath and get so scared and feel out of control like helpless and i hate it it will net go away it sucks i just wish i could be done with the feeling in my throat and feeeling like i cant brathe this helped alot i have went to the er and they told me it is Hyperventilation Syndrome i been up therer 2 times and they said everything is fine but why do i feel like i cant get no air or shortness of breathe?????????
@ Summer – shortness of breath and “air hunger” are very common to HVS. Once you learn to gain control of your breathing pattern, these issues will go away. The book discussed in this article is a great resource to help you get your breathing under control!
(I know I spelled a lot of words wrong, sorry.)
I am 16 years old and I suffer from this. When I fist got an attack it was really scarry, I didn’t know what was going on. I went to the ER along with seeing a chiropatcor and getting physical Thearipy. Nothing seemed to be working. I then got an MRI? The nuroglist didn’t find anything! I was starting to think I was going to have this tingly feeling forever, and started to just cope with it. Soon after though when I went back to the nuroglist they told me that I suffered from hyperventilation syndrome, I didn’t even think this was real at first but then I looked it up! I’ve had it for about 7 months now and I’m going to try this medthod in hopes that it will work! Looking for a helpp!
I am 14 and i have been suffering from something like this for about a year now. I constantly feel like i am not getting a sufficient breath, and when i try to breathe, i get sharp chest pains. I constantly yawn and gasp to try to get a breath but nothing gets rid of the horrible feeling of suffocation. I always have headaches, and feel dizzy whenever i cant get a good breath. Its horrible, because i used to love to run around but its nearly impossible now because i cant breathe. If anybody has any suggestions on how to get rid of this, please tell me.
Reading this made me realize that its not uncommon.But i hav only had 2 hyperventalation episodes.but the first time it happened i was rushed tot he E.R.i could not move,i could barely open my eyes.i couldnt feel my hands.my whole entire body just went stiff.and the second time it happened i was at home and,luckly my mom helped me through it.but i was washin some dishes.and i felt that tingly sensation throughout my whole body,and some of my face musles will jump a litttle.and i could feel it coming on but my face and body will lock up and i can not move at all..but like i noticed that i couldnt talk normal for like 15 min. after it was all over its pure hell havin a hyperventalation spell.but i hav not yet been diagnosed with (HVS).i hope thats all that is wrong with me.
I didn’t know there was a name for this. Last September i became really ill, i missed a huge amount of school, and i was coughing so bad that i puked anything i ate and couldnt sleep. Id go into these coughing fits and i wouldnt be able to catch a breath…My face would start to tingle and my fingers alittle bit. I kept going to the doctors and they kepts saying it was a common cold. Yet i wasnt getting better
i went in yet again because i nothing was improving, i got exhausted if i even stood up. The doctor decided to give me a breathing treatment, so i started breathing in whatever medication it was…and my face started tingling…well that had happened before so i didnt really think much of it…then my fingers started tingling, all up my arms…i finally thought something might be wrong when my fingers had become so stiff and had folded in on eachother that i couldnt move them at all…the doctor was called, but by the time she got in the room my arms had curled up, my legs were stiff, the muscles in my stomach had contracted. I couldnt move. period. and breathing was more and more difficult.
they had to take me to the hospital, they did many tests, and ended up finding liquid in my chest. they sent me home loaded down with medications…and i eventually got better…however, the tingley feelings have been very common ever sense. when i donated blood i completely seized up and couldnt move just like before, but instead of being freaked out i made myself breathe. if im being active my face will start to tingle, and if i get excited about things it will spread up my arms and my fingers will start to stiffen…
Calm down.
What you guys are all experiencing is purely just your bodies natural response to overbreathing (hyperventilating). What most of you claim as being an acute thing, when it is actually a long term thing. When you continue breathe through your mouth with deep breathes or very quick shallow breathes without pauses in between — you hyperventilate. This is all curable, but it may be along path back to feeling good. Your body need to first reach a level of homeostasis regarding your blood chemicals. Then your brain must accept that new level which again takes quite a bit of time.
My best advice would be to breathe through your nose 24/7. That means while sleeping as well. I believe this is the easiest way to cure it long term. Truly our bodies are meant to breathe only through the noise.
Give it a try. Best of luck.
Figured I’d check in and read the recent posts. As for me, I still have shortness of breath upon exertion, and additionally, dizziness when I bend over. I still can’t figure out why something like carrying a box from one room to the other would make me feel stressed out. Or why I am dizzy bending over to look at the bottom shelf, with the size towels I want to buy in the store (like today). Choosing towels is just NOT that stressful in the scheme of things! Yet, no shortness of breath when I dealt with the stress of dealing with lost paperwork at the state tax department! LOL. I have always had low-normal blood pressure, and I have been on Lisinopril for years since I am Type 2 diabetic. But my doctor says the dose is not high enough to actually lower my blood pressure. I did finally convince them this spring to switch me from Avandamet to Janumet (been begging them for 2 years) – I HOPED that change might help, but no difference.
According to 24 medical studies summarized here, hyperventilation is present in over 90% of normal subjects:
http://normalbreathing.com/i-hyperventilation.php
Thank you so much for this information. My prayers are finally answered. Ive been searching for months on a solution to my odd symptoms, that every specialist Ive seen has been stumped. The symptoms you describe are exact to mine and knowing the problem I can now connect the dots to how my breathing has changed and I can easily catch myself when I start to take short choppy breaths. I do suffer from asthma, but I thought I had it under control. I decided to start on a new asthma maintenance medicine which is helping too. I know that my hyperventalation syndrome was caused by stress from this past year. I am an otherwise very healthy 42 yr old athletic woman with a very healthy diet. But Dec 2009 I had surgery to remove skin cancer, then 3 wks later my Navy husband deployed to war for 7 months, between our son turning 18 and my hectic college schedule, anxiety was high and I started having symptoms. The underline problem stemmed from a bad driving experience 3 yrs ago that I have not been able to get past. First I developed bad reflux, a little OCD, then stress tension migraines. The final symptom that put my life of pause was the severe dizziness that kept me from being able to drive. I started your breathing exercises, and after just a few days, I went from only being able to breath in for 3 seconds and exhale for 5 seconds, to being able to breath in for 7 seconds and exhale for 10! Im back at the gym again and I feel like Im getting control of my life again with what I have learned on your website:) Now that I have some relief from my symptoms, I am able to work on the underline phobia from the bad driving experience. Thank You
I forgot to mention that the PVC’s extra heart beat, racing thoughts and insomnia have also diminished now that Im re-training myself how to breath correctly.
I think this problem can have very easy a wrong diagnostic . I have a friend with this disease. In the first stage, the doctors said he has something else. After a half of a year, the finally find the good answer at this disease.
What you guys are all experiencing is purely just your bodies natural response to overbreathing (hyperventilating). What most of you claim as being an acute thing, when it is actually a long term thing. When you continue breathe through your mouth with deep breathes or very quick shallow breathes without pauses in between — you hyperventilate. This is all curable, but it may be along path back to feeling good. Your body need to first reach a level of homeostasis regarding your blood chemicals. Then your brain must accept that new level which again takes quite a bit of time.
My best advice would be to breathe through your nose 24/7. That means while sleeping as well. I believe this is the easiest way to cure it long term. Truly our bodies are meant to breathe only through the noise.
Give it a try. Best of luck.
Thank you for the useful info. I have experience most of the symtomps mentioned, light headed, nump on my finger, shortness of breath chest pain, checked myself into ER twice beleving i was having a heart attack or something severe. Now that I was diagnosed with HVS, I have to remind myself to just continue to breath slowly when it happens again, knowing that things are okay either I feel it or not. In my case I beleive that’s from stress, worries which sometime also related from anxiety disorder (very similar symtomps) which I don’t know what the different between these two?
Thanks again for the breathing advice.
Hello,
I was diagnosed with HVS today. It does not sound convincing at all to me since I have been suffering many different symptoms for the past 3 years! I have went to many doctors and took many tests to no avail, and it took some doctor less than 5 minutes to tell me that I have HVS and that I should learn to control my breathing. This is really affecting my life and my work and I really hope he’s right. I will check out the ebook you are talking about and begin breathing exercises and hopefully my symptoms will go away. My symptoms include the following and I would appreciate if someone could tell me if my doctor was right. I always feel like I am in a dream, its not dizziness because I have balance and I don’t get nauseous. I have weird feelings in my head (took a brain scan a while ago that showed nothing wrong) and discomfort in my chest that has been increasing lately (I quit smoking recently, 1.5 months). When the doctor mentioned that my breathing is wrong, I told him that the only thing I notice about my breathing that is odd is that I take really short breathes. From 1 to 2 seconds from inhale to exhale, and this is mainly whats making somewhat believe his diagnose. I will be looking forward to any comments.
Thanks.
Rami –
Yes, your doctor made the right diagnosis. Learn to retrain your breathing and those odd symptoms will gradually disappear. Pick up a good resource and learn as much as you can.
I just thought I’d throw out my experience with this ailment for research. The very last day in April of this year, I was informed that I would be laid off from my job. In response, me and some co-workers got crazy for the night and drank a little too much alcohol. I don’t drink at all, and the 5 drinks I had put me over the edge. Needless to say, I woke up the next morning not feeling so great, but decided to get on with my day anyway. I felt like getting a little excercise to cure my hang over, so I went to shoot some hoops. After about 20 minutes I started to feel bored and decide to go back to my apartment. I had bent over to pick up my keys and as I stood up straight, my heart went into irregular beats for 12 hrs straight! Needless to say I believe this to be the initiasl trigger for my HVS. All that day I was anxiety stricken trying to get back into normal heart rhythm. Shortness of breath, dizziness, tightness in chest, and headaches were all symptoms I felt. At midnight of that night I finally went back into normal heart rhythm. However, my troubles were just beginning. That whole next week I was experiencing the symptoms of HVS. I felt like something was seriously wrong with my heart and that maybe I had suffered a minor heart attack. I went to the ER and got a bill for $2300 to tell me that everything was fine. Unfortunately my symptoms persisted and I felt like I was going crazy not being able to find relief. I groveled through the next 3 weeks until I couldn’t take it anymore and went into see a resiritory specialist. I still was not treated for anything and was told I was completely healthy. Yet again, my HVS symptoms persisted. At this point I felt that death was actually a comforting solution to my dillema. I felt out of body and completely unlike my self. I have since stopped going to the doctor as they have done nothing for me except tell me I am healthy (when I really don’t feel like it). After obsessively researching online, I came across HVS and am 99% certain that this is what I have. I have begun the breathing excersices described in the literature, yet have only slowly begun to notice results over the past 3 weeks. I have a hard time breathing through my nose as there always seems to be some allergy or dried up nasal passage effecting my ease of breath. Is there areccomended over the counter drug that totally clears the nasal passage without any negative side effects? I have made it through cancer, pneumonia, severe migraines over the course of my otherwise healthy 34 years, and HVS is by far the most evil, life-stealing ailment I have ever had. HVS entirely takes the joy out of living and has made me feel and act like a totally different person. I just want my positive outlook and my enjoyment of life back. It astounds me that so many doctors misdiagnose this problem and that there isn’t already a quick fix cure all for the disease.
is the book hope and help for hyperventilation avail in phil ?
I would say about half my attacks over the past 30 years have come in my sleep. I haven’t had any symptoms for quite a few years, so when I suddenly woke from sleep a couple of weeks ago I was taken by surprise. I went to the bathroom thinking I was about to vomit and ended up fainting instead.
Having lived with these symptoms off and on during my adult life I think it unlikely that emotions or psychology have much to do with the condition. I am a fit, calm, happy and successful professional with a family. Occasionally I feel a little unhappy, snowed under, or stressed. Everybody does, but I have not found that these circumstances have had any relationship to the onset of the symptoms.
Aside from panic attacks, which may be a different phenomenon (although I suspect they are a misdiagnosis), I am of the opinion that the condition is primarily physiological, albeit potentially worsened by emotional circumstances. I have long been aware that I am a poor stomach breather, and guessed that this may have been the root of my problem. Having discovered the above information I am more convinced than ever that the cause of HVS is little more than a poorly developed respiratory system, particularly given that my lung efficiency is relatively low.
I have started the breathing training and am already seeing my current symptoms subside, but I suspect the rapidity of my success is because of years of awareness of the symptoms.
To those who are not seeing rapid results my advice is to have patience and stay away from drugs. Lose weight and improve your fitness if necessary. Certainly quit smoking, as I strongly suspect that smoking at a young age exacerbated my problem. Your condition is serious and you need to take a long term approach to its treatment.
When hit by an attack, sit down (lie down if possible), control your breathing with your belly, and tap your feet to help take your mind off it and burn off some oxygen. Don’t let yourself panic, just focus on that belly and the panic will dissipate quickly. Constantly relax your shoulders. I find cupping my hands around the mouth and nose also helps. The initial attack is usually the worst, but be prepared for at least a half hour of abatement and renewed attacks. And take comfort in knowing that this is happening to a lot of us.
Thank you so much for this article and the link to the book that you recommend. The book contains the information that I needed to calm my fears about my symptoms and allow me to start getting better. My symptoms have largely gone away and I get more confident each day that I will fully recover. I would urge all of those with HVS to study this information and you will notice improvement!! Thanks again.
I’m 14 years old and I just realized that I’ve been having these symptoms. I think about it constantly and everytime I think about it my breathing is very uncomfortable. I don’t take short breaths though. I sometimes take deeper breaths. It’s not really severe compared to some of yours. I’m really trying to make this go away because I’m very athletic and I do plenty of sports. Like basketball, football, volleyball, ice skating, jogging, I do runway and acting, tennis, golf. I have a daily excersise dealing with push ups and small weights. I’m going to avoid all of this until it disappears. After I read this article I felt so relieved and I now know what to think about when I feel like my breathing is getting out of control. I’m definitely going to use these breathing techniques. Thanks!
I think this problem can have very easy a wrong diagnostic . I have a friend with this disease. In the first stage, the doctors said he has something else. After a half of a year, the finally find the good answer at this disease.
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I guess I’ve got something like this. Everybody says I’ve been having panic attacks, but I always figured panic attacks would be accompanied by…panic. But I’m not an anxious person and I don’t see why watching a children’s cartoon about Robin Hood would cause me to panic. That’s just silly.
I’m 21 years old. About a year ago I started getting brief episodes where one hand would go numb, usually while I was sitting around on the computer. The numbness would travel up my arm and go into my lips, my jaw and my teeth and tongue. I guess it wasn’t a numbness so much as a tingling, like when local anesthetic begins to wear off. I would get up and walk around and try to shake it out and it would go away after a few minutes. Then, a couple of months ago I was writing a paper when my eyes stopped focusing properly, which was annoying, so I started trying to read my paper out loud to help me focus. The syllables started coming out of my mouth wrong and then my body did its numbness routine. That was a little disconcerting: I’m an English major, and like retaining the ability to read. But it all went away after about fifteen minutes and my school nurse told me not to worry about it. So I didn’t.
Then, about three weeks ago, I was researching for a paper on Robin Hood. I was watching a Robin Hood cartoon when I felt my hand start going numb. Unlike the other times I decided to ignore it. I guess I wanted to see what would happen if I did. So…four minutes later, my entire body was numb up to my eyes. Both sides. I was thinking, “Huh, well this is weird.” Fortunately, I was doing my work in a friend’s room and he noticed that I was staring off into space and not moving. So he came over and found that I was unresponsive except for my eyes. And he called campus security. By the time they came the numbness was beginning to go away, but I was pretty lightheaded and sort of confused. So they got me in an ambulance where I gradually became even more confused. They were asking me what I’d had for dinner and I’d had bow tie pasta, but I couldn’t remember the words, so I kept talking about Bill Nye the Science Guy (Who wore bow ties). And I’d had diet coke, but couldn’t remember the word for “Diet” so I kept saying “Coke, but not coke”. When I got to the hospital, I couldn’t remember what medications I was on (I’ve been on the same meds for at least 9 years), or my own phone number (which hasn’t changed in 14 years) or my social security number. I was pretty useless to the doctors, I guess. Thankfully, my roommate had brought my cell phone, so she found my parents’ number on it and called them to get the information the doctors needed. The doctors checked my eyes and stuff and told me I’d been hyperventilating. Then they sent me home. Which was cool, except, they didn’t tell me how to stop hyperventilating, or even how to tell when I was doing it. Or why it was happening. Which would have been nice.
So I got back to school from the hospital and found all my friends hanging out in one person’s room because the internet was down. So I went and sat down with them and told them what had happened and then we started chatting about other things (Dr. Seuss came up, I remember). And everything was fine. Until I started speaking gibberish. Nonsense syllables were coming out of my mouth: I would think a word normally, but not be able to speak it normally, the syllables would be all jumbled up. At first, we thought that was pretty hilarious: It didn’t concern me, I just thought it was funny and figured it would go away. So I kept talking and we kept laughing about my crazy speech. Sometimes the words would stick to each other, too, like I said Jeremy’s name to see if it would get garbled up, and then all of my sentences would start with “Jeremy,” even though they didn’t in my head, it would just come out of my mouth. So, that was pretty interesting. Until my hands went entirely I-Can’t-feel-at-all numb. Oh, and my feet started burning. Then it wasn’t fun anymore. I kept asking them “where are my feet?” “Are my feet still there?” “Are they okay?” and my friends kept telling me that my feet were fine and yes, that they were still there. My feet seriously felt like molten lumps. By that time, I was even more confused than I’d been before. I couldn’t remember the month or my parents’ names, or the name of the horse I’ve had since I was five years old. I was starting to get a little upset, too, because my head was beginning to hurt, a lot. It was the first headache I’ve ever had in my life and it felt like a helmet of pain (it didn’t go away for three days, either). I started telling my friends that I couldn’t breathe (By that time they had made me lie down), and laughing, because I felt like I was being ridiculous and that the situation was absurd, but I was crying too, because my feet and my head hurt. I couldn’t decide if what was happening was funny or really bad.
So, my friends called security again and the hospital people came back to pick me up. I remember they asked me for my name and I told them my first and middle name and then they asked for my last name about four times and I kept telling them my first and middle name until one of my friends told them my last name. They didn’t carry me on a stretcher this time, they walked me to the elevator and to the ambulance. By that time I felt really, really nauseated. The ambulance ride was hellish and my head hurt and I didn’t know where I was and I felt like I was going to throw up. The strap across my lap was too tight. I did throw up.
So, at the hospital I kept throwing up and they asked me a few questions, which I probably didn’t do a very good job of answering, and they took some blood tests and did a CTscan. After waiting around for about an hour, I was pretty much back to normal except I was still incredibly nauseated and my head hurt a lot. I guess I was also a little woozy still because I kept telling them my head hurt about a thousand times, even though they didn’t acknowledge that I was saying anything. I’m pretty sure that if I’d been totally back to normal, I would have stopped saying it after the first half dozen times.
So by this time it was about 3 in the morning and they made me get in a snap up gown and walk barefoot up to the psych ward where they made me wait in a room for an hour while they decided whether or not to keep me. I was really thirsty. Then at 4 they told me I could go home and my friend came and picked me up. So…no one told me what was wrong with me (although apparently they told my mom that I’d been having panic attacks) and nobody told me what to do about it or how to tell if it was happening again.
I still feel kind of lightheaded or confused sometimes, and sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe very well. I’m going to try these breathing exercises and see if they help. So, thank you lots for posting this! I’ve been feeling kind of frustrated.