Asthma

Hi all anyone on here know much about dysfunctional breathing pattern and suffered from this???

[Hidden]

My daughter with a lung disease had dysfunctional breathing and there are other members who’ve experienced it. Bod would get very breathless for no apparent reason, and in spite of being on a number of medications intended to relieve breathlessness. It wasn’t obvious with her (sometimes DB can be readily apparent just from watching someone breathe) so they did a CPET, or cardiopulmonary exercise tolerance test, and discovered not only did she have DB, but it was so bad her sats were dropping into the 80s at times. The good thing about DB is that for all it causes physical symptoms, it’s not medically concerning, and the solution to it is to retrain a person in to consistently using diaphragmatic breathing. There is a solid link to anxiety, which was part of the issue with my daughter, but it can also stem from habit: we think the child started accessory breathing as a result of 8 months of poorly managed infections. When you have an active infection, or are tight, breathing with your accessory muscles can be necessary.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi thankyiu for a response, did she struggle eating with it and getting full breath in

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

She could get breathless doing anything at any time, including doing nothing at all.. And yes, not getting a full breath in is quite typical because with DB you’re often using the wrong muscles to breathe, so the lungs can’t expand properly. The dysfunctional breathing makes you feel like you can’t breathe, which makes you anxious, which makes the DB even worse, and round and round you start to go: it’s often a vicious cycle.

[knitter]

yes , breathing from the top of my chest …..air not reaching the bottom . Mentioned by a doctor listening with a stethoscope .

Also breathing too fast……breath count monitored by a nurse .

A tendency to breath the wrong way round …belly in on an in breath …..tight panicky breathing . Should be belly out on an in breath . Relaxed diaphragm , relaxed shoulders .

Mouth breathing when anxious too.

A vicious circle , disordered breathing pattern …..anxiety …..anxiety led to my disordered breathing.

Remedy that helped me ……relax chest , relax diaphragm , gentle , gentle low and slow breaths …..not big breaths , but relaxed gentle ….not big , can make it worse .

Nose breathe to warm and filter the air and to prevent over breathing .

Meditation has been helpful….first with a specialised tutor and in a group …then by myself . Yoga alternative nose breathing I use to help calm.

Both I and my friend were monitored ….has your health professional given you any advice ?

Please ask for advice .

[Nula2 in reply to knitter]

Hi Knitter. This is so like me. I breathe from top of my lungs and the wrong way round. Resp. physio at hospital showed me how to breathe from diaphragm. I mastered this a few years ago but my life situation has got more and more stressful over the last few years and I can't seem to breathe correctly any more. This leads me to agree with you that it's because of anxiety. I need to keep practicing and get on top of it again. Your post is very helpful. Thank you for sharing. 😊👍xxx

[Lizzab]

I did buteyko breathing with an instructor for 5 years. There are problems with Buteyko for me and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. The type of teacher matters.

However what I did learn has been invaluable and improved my situation considerably.

Learning to breathe with the diaphragm, gently, through the nose only, is a game changer.

It takes alot of practice. Just keeping practicing. You'll get there.

[Karenanne61]

As others have said try to practice 'belly breathing' as I call it. I learnt it as a drama student, used it when acting but had to really practice again when I got ill. A speech therapist really helped me , as does yoga and pilates.