Acute Hyperventilation

Hyperventilation means overbreathing, that is breathing in excess of your body's needs.

Acute hyperventilation is very common during panic attacks. This is understandable because some degree of overbreathing is part of the body's normal response to threat.Its function is to supply muscles with more oxygen for 'fight or flight'. It often happens after a combination of strong emotion ( fear, excitement, anger,etc) and physical exertion, though either can bring it on. If the extra oxygen isn't needed by the muscle, the effect can be dramatic and terrifying and can cause following:

***   rapid breathing, but difficulty in getting breath
***   tightness in the chest
***   very rapid heartbeat
***   sweating
***   tingling or numbness
***   feeling of faintness
***   feeling of unreality
***   visual problems
***   rigid muscles, cramps
***   sudden emotional outbursts, e.g., crying
***   feeling too hot or too cold

When you beging to overbreathe, the balance of gases in the lungs is upset. Breathing in an excess of air too frequently pushes out the carbon dioxide which normally forms a reservoir in the lungs, Because there is too little carbon dioxide in the lungs, the blood becomes more alkaline, which causes the above symptoms. It is important to remember that the symptoms are the effects of too little carbon dioxide.

Two things are necessary: to stop overbreathing, and to get enough carbon dioxide back into the lungs.
A general point to remember is that hyperventilation produces symptoms which are very frightening in themselves. These can cause more overbreathing.
It is very important to break this vicious cycle of hyperventilation, leading to frightening secondary symptoms, leading to stress, by learning to control your breathing.

Procedures for Controlling Hyperventilation

Catch it early

If it has happened to you before, you may be able to identify the 'warning signs', for example, a stifling feeling as if the window should be open, tightness in the chest, or noticing your breathing is fast. These should be your cue to :

1  Stop whatever you are doing and try to find a quiet place to sit down.
2  Close your eyes and focus on the word 'calm' in your mind.
3  Try to release some of the tension in the upper body. Sittingin a tense hunched-up position increases the possibility of hyperventilation. Dropping shoulders in a sideways widening direction makes hyperventilation more difficult since the chest and diaphragm muscles are stretched outwards.
4  Breathe slowly from the stomach,not the chest. Breathe sin to a count of four slowly and out to a count of four slowly. Or visualise your breathing-in as going up one side of a hill, experiencing a plateau at the top, and then breathing out as though coming down the other side.
5  It may also help to place your hands with your fingertips together on your stomach; make sure that each time you breathe in, your fingertips come apart.
6  Concentrate on breathing out.

The Re-breathing Technique

If you symptoms persist it is probable that you haven't caught it quickly enough, and you will need to use the re-breathing technique. This involves breathing in the air you have just breathed out. This air is richer in carbon dioxide and will thus quickly replenish the carbon dioxide you have been exhaling.