Asthma & hyperventilating

I'm recovering from a chest infection. I had a asthma attack on the sunday night, signed off until the 29th January. I still have a phlegmy cough!!!

This was causing me to hypervantilate. I don't know why i do it. Its getting me down.

Anybody else have this problem?

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Julie id ont have this problem but it is common ask your GP to refer you to a respiratory physio they will be able to give you breathing exercises that will help you control your breathing, possibly reduce inflammation both during attacks and in between times.

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I often hyperventilate during an asthma attack. I still panic when i take attacks that i start to hperventilate as ell as hac=ving the asthma breathing problems. My doctor hasn't been to helpful at helping me get over this which is quite difficult as i strugle not to.

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I hate them. I've stopped having them today. My cough was really phlegmy yesterday. Feeling the block felt like i couldn't breath, thats what made me panick. I found breathing in a bowl of steam helped.

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Hi Julie,

Sorry to hear you're feeling lousy. Hope things improve for you soon.

As for the hyperventilating - it's very common to hyperventilate when you have asthma - most of us have probably done it at one stage or another, so don't worry or let yourself feel bad about it!

A degree of hyperventilation (as in increasing your respiratory rate - breathing faster) is appropriate during an acute asthma attack; it's our body's way of maintaining our oxygen levels and should happen totally automatically (as an aside, the very few of us who don't seem to do this like we should run into serious problems fairly quickly!).

The problem comes when, for one reason or another (often due to anxiety, panic or as a response to feeling short of breath) we consciously or subconsciously over-ride our brain's natural setting of respiratory rate and start to breath in a very rapid and shallow way. This can happen in an acute attack or more chronically. This causes us to breath out carbon dioxide (CO2 - the body's waste gas) too rapidly and the levels of CO2 in the body drop, which can cause symptoms such as dizziness, tingling of the fingers and lips, and sometimes clawing of the hands. Breathing too rapidly can also irritate the airways and cause worsening of the airway narrowing.

Hyperventilation should be diagnosed by a doctor, especially if you also have an underlying respiratory disease. The treatment is usually breathing exercises, usually taught to you by a physio. Please don't attempt any breathing exercises that have not been santioned by your doctor, as they can be harmful if done inappropriately. Also, you will often see people recommending that you breath into a paper bag if you are hyperventilating - this can also be dangerous in some cases if you have underlying respiratory disease so please check with your doctor first.

What can be helpful, and will not do any harm, is to do some general relaxation exercises (I've mentioned this before - I've just rediscovered it myself and am finding it really useful!)

Sit or lie in a comfy position in a quiet room. Dim the lights, put some relaxing music on, or whale noises, or whatever takes your fancy! Concentrate on each part of your body individually and tense and then relax it - ie start with your toes - do each toe individually if you want - and then move up your body. Don't move on until each part is totally relaxed. DON'T focus specifically on your breathing or try to consciously change it whilst you're doing this, but you should notice that it becomes slower and deeper. The whole thing should take 10 - 15 minutes if done properly (although I often seem to end up falling asleep, which does make it go on for longer!)

I know it can seem really hard to fit something like this in, especially if you are battling with work, kids, and the other pressures of life, but done properly, once or twice a day or as often as you can manage, I find that it does bring very real benefits. I think that everyone would benefit from it, whether suffering from asthma, other chronic illnesses or just the pressures of modern life!

Hope this helps

Em H

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Thanks Emily. I felt relaxed reading your exercise.

I've decided to take up pilates. I think this would be very beneficial. I hyperventilate when i panic. My partner always tells me to relax & makes me do the breathing in through my nose & out through my mouth. This works eventually.

Great advice though. I will practise the exercise tomorrow when the house is empty.

Thankyou X

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I always find people tell me i panic too much during attacks and i know i do but i find the feeling of my asthma attacks so scary and completely fear the worst, panic, start to hyperventilate and make myself so much worse. I can raionally tell myself that i have no need to panic a all and then as soon as i start to take an attack i wil insantly panic no matter how much i need to calm mysef down. I often need to get my partner, flat mate or someone at my work to try and talk me through my breathing and i agree that really helps at time. My doctor sent me to hypnotherapy to try and stop me panicking - i never liked it but i know quite a few people who found it really useful.

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Hi Lauren

Yes i have to get my partner to hold my hand & talk to me through my panic. He is a first aider which is a comfort. I am too but i can't use it on myself..

He's really good. He was talking me through one the other night. CSI was on. I can't watch any murder type films when i'm like it. I saw a bit of it and my whole body went weird. It was like my soul had fallen out, there was such a rush from my head down through my feet. It was awful. I soon recovered though. I'm getting quite good at controlling them!