"Anxiety - Why do we become short of breath? In a nutshell and very simplified, in most of us COPD’ers, our DLCO or diffusion rate is compromised so that our lungs are no longer able to efficiently exchange O2 and CO2.
The O2 in our blood may drop and the CO2 level increases. Our brain signals our lungs and heart to speed up and try to get our level back in balance. We then become short winded. Then anxiety kicks in. When we become anxious, our body releases adrenaline which causes our heart to beat even faster. The brain then tells the lungs that the heart is working harder and needs more oxygen.
So we start to breathe faster and harder. The brain then tells the heart that the lungs need more blood to process, and so the heart starts to beat faster again. And so on, and so on, until we are uncontrollably Short Of Breath. We are then hyperventilating, breathing too fast and too shallow". - Philip J. Cable
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Dmactds
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Yes...., I have attacks of anxiety from time to time but I try to keep in mind that they are born of ignorance of any particular situation and that many of the things I've been 'anxious' about in the past turned out to be harmless...., nothing of any consequence.
Thank you for that - makes sense and explains why when we have an anxiety attack we need our conscious mind to override our body and break the loop - thank you xx
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