Chronic hyperventilation syndrome..here we go again

I can't believe I actually found people with the same problem...i wanna cry I thoight nobody has this.

This chronic hyperventilation syndrom is ruining my life. Im 27, have it 2 years now. I am not the same person anymore..I dont go anywhefe or do anything cause of my breathing issue! Are there actually no solutions for this? This makes me crazy I legit thought about suicide this is hell. I been on ad pills and xanax and then on CBD oil which seemed to help but its back and I just cant deal with it anymore. My entire back hurts cause of my forcefull inhales.....

Greetings everyone. I've had chronic HVS off and on since 2011. I'm currently going through another bout of it which is why/how I found this forum. I wish that I could tell you that I've found the solution, but I can't. Plus, we're all different so what works for one may not work for another. However; I did want to post about something I just came across called CART or capnometry-assisted respiratory training which supposedly has great long term success with retraining patterns and helping to get rid of hyperventilation & some associated anxiety symptoms. Does anyone have any experience with this? Anyways, try a Google search and see what you think. I hope this helps. I'm going to start contacting local pulmonologists & RTs as well as the psychologist who came up with CART to try and find experienced practitioners. Good luck all & keep trying different approaches. There's got to be a combo of approaches that can help to lessen or eliminate issues with HVS. ??

Hey guys. In a way I'm happy I've found so many people experiencing the same thing as me, but as I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy I'm so sorry that you are in the same hell-like boat as I am and have been for the last four months. 

It's relieving to hear that I'm not crazy, because one of the hardest things with this is that it's so hard to explain the sensation of not 'getting enough air' or that the endless deep 'breaths don't take' to doctors, therapists, friends and family. I don't know how many times I've tried to explain how it feels like when my muscles in my chest and throat cuts off the airline in my throat and the breath is prematurely cut off. I have to fight with every muscle to "get it down" or "over that line"... I hope you know what I mean. And the endless yawning which sometimes also just stops mid-through and I'll just lay there with my mouth open like a crazy person, hoping and almost fighting to get the yawn back. Only to have to go through the same thing a few moments later. My back and neck muscles are aching with every deep breath or yawn. 

I live in Sweden and HVS is not known here. I have only discovered the term a few days back after another night of desperate googling and as most of you, I'm not sure how much longer I can take this. I have always been afraid of dying and fascinated (but terrified) about afterlife. But the only comfort I have during the day is thinking about me dying. I daydream about it and think about ways I could go. But when reality hits, I realise I couldn't do this to my family. My father killed himself so I have plenty of experience on the subject and I was the one always chanting about never giving up, and "it's not a solution". I used to work with suicidal patients, too. But this has knocked me off my feet. I don't work anymore, I moved home to my mother, I can barely go out without feeling extremely short of breath and everything that comes with it (light-headed, dizzy, weird chest heaviness etc). I can barely stand or even sit without this awful sensation of not getting any oxygen in my lungs and brain. I see a psychologist once a week and a physiotherapist twice a week to train my upper chest and back muscles. But I struggle so hard to even get there, all I really want to to is stay in bed. I don't take any meds, yet. 

I hate when people say "but you CAN breathe, it's just a feeling you have". Yes, I know this, but how can I live my life (and enjoy it) with the feeling of being choked? What reason do I have to get out of bed and fight every single second? 

Anyways, my intention was to help so I'll give you some tips I've gathered from my therapist and my own researches. 

1. Always try to breath through your stomach. It's easier laying down. Spend an hour, maybe three times a day, laying/sitting and breathe through your stomach. I use meditation apps and meditation videos on YouTube. Also try some guided muscle relaxing meditations (body scanning). Your muscles in the upper body is probably very tense because you over-use them when hyperventilating. 

2. As someone else mentioned, don't give into those deep breaths or yawns. This is super hard cause it goes against your instincts. You will feel light headed, dizzy, nauseous, sick, weirdly warm etc. Your brain will be rioting. But stick with it. Instead, do a breathing exercise.

3. Re-program your breathing pattern. One breath should take about 12 seconds or more. Breathe in slowly through your nose (5 sec), hold your breath (3 sec) and slowly breathe out through pursed lips (7 sec). This exercise is also very hard for someone who has gotten used to a quick breathing, but I promise that it will get easier and easier. Do this about 20 minutes at a time and you will slowly notice that you don't get the same urge to take deep breaths or yawn. It levels out the CO2 in your bloodstream, which is what you breathe out too quickly when you're hyperventilating. When this happen, your lungs fills with too much oxygen and if the CO2 levels are too low in your blood, the vessels constrict which will cause your nerves to send incorrect signals to your brain - and that's when you get the life threathing symptoms in a panic attack. This is harmless, but as you all know, highly uncomfortable. I'm on my second day doing this and I still get out of breath when I walk, talk or eat but my breathing has slowed down a bit. 

3. Get your back checked by a chiropractor. I have done this two times and found many errors with my back. After a day or so, my breathing was better but only for a short period of time so I don't believe this to be a permanent solution. Could be for you though, this is so individual. 

4. People say exercising but if you're in same shape (mental and psychical) as me it's hell. After laying down for 4 months this is my Achilles heel. I don't feel like running when I can't stand up without feeling like I'll die. 

5. Speaking of dying, if you don't already see a psychologist, do it now. There's no way you can go through all of this alone. And even if it won't help your breathing at the time - and I know, it's so incredibly hard even to get the strength do physically go there - speaking about the fears you experience, wether it's symptoms or uncensored dark thoughts, with someone who can give you actual answers back can relieve that anxiety. Because it's hard to tell your family or friends that you have suicidal thoughts. As I said, I have experience with suicides and there are few things that scare people as when a loved one has lost their will to live. BUT - if you at this point are ready to give up and you are planning suicide, talk to your family or friends now. There are help to get, fast help. I've been there. 

Good luck everyone and I hope that you have someone in your life that helps you with all the things that needs to be done. Is anyone else dreading Christmas? I'm so nervous about meeting the family, having to talk and eat with a feeling of being suffocated or having a panic attack. I bet you all feel the same as me: when, and if, I ever get through this and get a normal life again, I will be the happiest person alive. 

Let me know if anyone wants to have hour long conversations about how miserable life is with someone who understands, let me know. Xx

I feel the need to add a few things that took me a while to realise. My over-breathing was caused by my trying to avoid hurting. So if you experience tension in you back or ribs, you self-modify your breathing without being aware of it. I'm at more risk for this because I get rib pain. Pain avoidance is what led me to over breathing. Once I realised this, I corrected my breathing by breathing into my pillow. This increasing the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen. I suffered from this initially because I had an of sensation in my throat, that was later discovered to be eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Once you get into a chronic over breathing state is difficult to stop because the pain in your arms, chest and ribs gets so intense it becomes a vicious cycle. It got so bad, for a time, until I was prescribed a benzo, it was the only thing that allowed me to reset after I had gotten that far. My bf thought I was nuts. I was afraid of going to bed because I thought I'd stop breathing if I wasn't controlling my breathing. It was a never-ending nightmare. It can and will get better, you just need to let go of trying to mentally control it. Reading a book until you knock off helps.

Basically I'm trying to say it probably started with something you were unaware of that you started to modify your breathing. To avoid pain or ache, or even bloating. Do whatever you can to ignore it, until your brain takes over your breathing again.

I hope this helps, I'm currently going through it and bit right now. Realized I swallowed wrong the other day and my throat continued to hurt, so I did a mental check and realized I was avoiding breathing a certain way to avoid activating it. I'm now coming down from it, realizing that it was me.

I really hope this helps any of you.

someone who can relate please reach out to me my life feels ruined im bed ridden fighting everyday i gasp 24/7 with absolutely zero breaks except during sleep i gasp and yawn every 30 seconds ive had so many exams and all i think is something is being overlooked im sooo inactive die to exertion killing me im bed ridden i cant work or exercise barely eat barely can shower this is absolutely the worst ever who feels the same i gasp and gasp and gasp all day for 2 years with no end in sight