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How hyperventilation harms: part 2 hyperventilation can narrow the blood vessels and reduce blood and oxygen supply.

August 22, 2014 by info@breathingremedies.co.uk Leave a Comment

Chronic hyperventilation unbalances the blood gases; one of the important changes can be low body carbon dioxide (CO2) or hypocapnia. CO2 is not just a waste gas; you need a certain amount for healthy body function. co2
Part 1 focused on low CO2 and tightening of the airways and how hyperventilation, or over-breathing, can cause respiratory issues.

In part 2 we turn the spotlight on blood vessels and circulation: hyperventilation-induced hypocapnia can lead not only to the airways narrowing but also constricts certain blood vessels and affects the blood supply to many organs, leading to diverse symptoms from IBS to brain fog to cold hands and palpitations (fuller list of hyperventilation related symptoms). One example of reduced blood flow/low O2 supply is shown in the figure of a brain scanned before and after just one minute of voluntary hyperventilation. The reduction in cerebral blood flow can lead in turn to poor oxygen (O2) supply to the brain, and may contribute to brain fog, poor concentration and anxiety. 

Fight or flight- reduces blood supply

Breathing rapidly and an increased heart rate can be part of an adrenalin fueled fight or flight, fearhyperventilation scan or threat response, (sympathetic nervous system) which can be useful when blood is diverted to the big leg muscles to enable a fast exit from danger!  In the meantime, it does not matter if digestion is put on hold or rational thought decreases though temporary reduction of 02 supply to the brain; the priority is to save your life!
However if your body is in fight or flight (sympathetic response) all the time, and when there is no danger, expect poor concentration, anxiety, IBS, palpitations and cold hands and possibly many other seemingly unrelated symptoms as every cell in your body can lack O2. To have these chronic symptoms can have a big negative impact on quality of life.
Luckily there is a way to get back control naturally by gently retraining breathing (Buteyko breathing method) to more healthy patterns and levels -decreasing flight or flight and increasing increase the parasympathetic rest relax and restore response- getting to the root of the problem and improving circulation.
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About me, Buteyko breathing educator

Janet Winter breathing and posture educator (Buteyko and Egoscue)

Dr Janet Winter (PhD)

Hello, I am Janet,  a  Breathing educator (Buteyko), and Posture specialist (Egoscue): better breathing and better posture lead to better health. I teach natural health control with no drugs, gadgets or manipulation. You can sign up to my newsletter here.

I help people recover from asthma, allergies, sinusitis, anxiety, sleep problems, headaches, IBS chronic fatigue (ME/CFS) and more. How? By improving their dysfunctional breathing.

Listen to Suzy Glaskie’s (functional medicine health coach at Peppermint Wellness) 15 minute podcast on how Learning Buteyko helped her.

Phone me 01663 743055 (Dr Janet Winter) or contact me here.

What I do

Breathing education (Buteyko method) gently retrains a disordered breathing pattern and helps people naturally recover from breathing-related health problems. Listed in the UK Asthma Guideline since 2008. I am a member of the Buteyko Breathing Educators Association (BBEA).

Postural alignment  (Egoscue institute certified). Good posture is essential for good breathing and proper function in general.

I am fully insured (Holistic Insurance)

My background

I was involved in healthcare/biomedical research for 30 years although previously in a very different role. Before training as a Breathing educator, I spent 20 years in drug discovery. My focus was on novel painkillers for a major pharmaceutical company based in a London Institute.
I worked as a neuroscientist and cell biologist, directing a team of bench scientists. (So I am not a medical doctor but I have a PhD in Neuroscience) I authored or co-authored more than 50 journal articles and reviews on my research.  My professional profile can be seen here on LINKEDIN.

Why I became a breathing educator

If you are reading this because you have CFS/ME, I know what you are going through. I know what it is like to hold onto a job by my fingernails. I worried about how we would feed the family if I lost my job. I would come home and eat and sleep and spend my weekend recovering. My social life was non-existent.

I was lucky to quickly get to a consultant who diagnosed me with candidiasis.  Anti-fungals and a yeast and sugar-free diet helped a lot, but not enough.

I felt “written off” and had nothing to offer. I was a mum, partner and employee with massively reduced physical and mental output compared with previously.
After trying many different avenues, cranial osteopathy, chiropractic, mercury amalgam filling removal and more – I became a “fat-folder patient”.

How I got sick

I suspected my symptoms were “stress related”. But they did not ease when I left my stressful job and moved out of London to the countryside.

Looking back on my history I can clearly see my own physical and emotional stresses accumulating. Starting with a very traumatic bereavement, on-going work and family stresses, then a really bad summer respiratory infection/ cough. This cough was not shifted by two different antibiotics.  However, the antibiotics probably contributed to unbalancing my gut flora, hence the fungal overgrowth/candidiasis.

A cough seems to be one of the best ways to mess up your breathing pattern.  Many of my clients tell me “I was fine until I had that cough/chest infection, and I never really got my health back!!”

The breathing centre in the brain gets to think that big volume breathing is normal. Unless you know about it, it is sometimes hard to recover. Luckily you CAN retrain your breathing by learning Buteyko and you CAN have hope of better health.

My recovery

Changing my breathing back to a more normal pattern really helped me. It was a big missing piece of my health puzzle, and one I had frankly never considered. One definition of stress is “anything that makes you breathe more”. And I know now that breathing too much can actually deplete the body of oxygen. And stress can be emotional or physical.

So that is why I do what I do and why I am passionate about it.  I found a way to improve my chronic fatigue by better breathing and I trained as a breathing educator so I could help others with this devastating disease. There is so little help out there for them (you?).

Then chronic backache made good breathing impossible, and I discovered postural alignment therapy (Egoscue) to help with that. And I am still amazed at the progress I am making. It’s wonderful to have decreased pain and increased function when I had accepted decline at my age was inevitable. It’s not!


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