hyperventilation..

Hyperventilation is making my life very hard at the moment. Usually when I hyperventilate it's in the context of a panic attack, or due to emotional or environmental triggers, like sadness, stress, crowded places etc. What I do is I incorporate relaxation time into my every day life and practice deep breathing, yoga, meditation on a daily basis. However I also have periods where the hyperventilation becomes chronic and there is nothing that helps except lying down. Now I'm worried that I'm having another one of those periods. I had a bad episode yesterday and today I noticed that every little thing triggers a hyperventilation response. At least I'm not gasping loudly for breath like I did yesterday. But I'm still weak and dizzy from yesterday and quite overwhelmed having to deal with it again today. All the self soothing, positive imagery, deep breathing and yoga didn't help. I also tried to keep myself occupied and just not think about it..but the dizziness and painful breaths were hard to ignore
Therapists in the past didn't know what to suggest other than advise me to keep doing what I'm doing and have patience. I'm not sure they realize how much this condition can affect a person.
One doctor suggested jogging or aerobics..Jogging unfortunately triggers hyperventilation in me. I wonder if it would make a difference if I jogged with a trainer.
I have tried anxiety medications like xanax before and they haven't helped at all. I'm wondering if I'm approaching this the wrong way. I don't want to accept that I'm hopeless Anyone else struggling with this?

Sorry you are having such a tough time, especially, since it sounds like you do all the right things. Hope it get better soon.
Gayle

chocmouse, I will pray for you, i know what it is like to live with hyperventilation, for some reason i haven't in years but i remember it was the scariest thing i've ever experienced. I ended up in the hospital pshyc wards it got so bad. I can't say what stopped them, i don't even know, but i'm on several different meds for years now, maybe that helped, i don't really know but it could be because of the meds. I hope you can get better it is "reversable" as i went through it myself and am an example.

Thank you gayleggg and avlady It is so frustrating when I get it out of the blue. Makes me wonder if I have an extremely sensitive autonomic nervous system. I guess I can only do my best to not panic more than I am already and not get too annoyed that I'm falling behind with my chores. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes

You mean by deep breathing, stomach breathing right? I took me a month of consistent practice before I learned this technique to do it properly on a regular basis. It helps with the panic if you can remember to start the deep breathing and relaxation techniques before the panic comes on, another method I would suggest for you is grounding techniques. Practice "mindfulness" aka living in the moment, I noticed when I have a panic attack my mind is focused on all the negative and worst things that can possibly happen or did happen. Living in the moment means paying attention to really small details of your surroundings, even if its just focusing on carpet, or blades of grass blowing in the wind.

I've also seen huge improvements since I started writing a daily journal, writing down my emotions, my triggers, and recognizing patterns. Once you know the cycle of how the panic starts and the thoughts that escalate your anxiety into a panic, you can effectively cope with it. Hope this helps.