Requesting help

How do you recover from a really bad asthma attack that you was shallow breathing from. I had a shallow breathing asthma attack yesterday and I am struggling to recover from it

[Jandm]

Hi kamilla22

I’ve found that making myself sit down and taking time to recover properly, works for me. I used to just struggle on doing the things I used to, but it really wasn’t doing me any favours. Resting did the trick

[nurse_ninja]

Hi Kamilla, Serena here. There is a breathing technique I learned in Yoga that helps me to slow my panting & shallow breaths. First, take a deep breath through your nose and count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold it for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And blow out through you mouth, exhaling and count again to yourself 1,2, 3, 4, 5,. Hold your breath for another count of 5 and repeat. It can be any number sequence. You can breath in for 6 seconds, hold for 8 seconds and exhale for 10 seconds. I find doing this exercise at least 3 to 5 breathes will slow my shallow breathing and I will regain control. It also works good for panic attacks too. By holding your breath and calming your mind with counting as a distraction, you are flooding your body with oxygen. Good luck.

[strongmouse in reply to nurse_ninja]

Breathing out slowly is as important as breathing in slowly. Calming your breath helps to calm your emotions and holding it helps to ensure it goes down deep. Remember to keep practising it throughout the day especially if you feel you are shallow breathing again.

Shallow breathing is a form of hyperventilating which can cause build up of too much carbon dioxide (which you normally breathe out). Check that you are using your muscles properly. When you breathe in your upper chest should move up and outwards. (put your hand on your chest to feel what is happening) You should be able to feel your diaphragm (the muscle at the bottom of your lungs move downwards as they expand. When you breathe out the opposite happens and your upper chest should move down and in and your diaphragm move up (and tummy move slightly in).

Make sure you are sitting comfortably and straight so that your shoulders and abdomen doen't bunch up.

Some people find it helps to breath in through one nostril and out through the other (holding opposite nostril gently closed). Or breathe in slowly through your nose , hold breath, and then out through your mouth making sure you exhale and inhale as deeply as you can. Sometimes it takes practice to change a habit.

See what works best for you.