Breathing Remedies

asthma anxiety sleep fatigue

  • BREATHING
    • Breathing Assessment and Buteyko course
    • How I help – About Buteyko breathing
    • Symptoms of Disordered Breathing
  • POSTURE
    • Postural alignment therapy (Egoscue): conditions treated
  • FAQ
  • Success Stories
    • Asthma allergies sinusitis
    • Anxiety panic stress
    • Snoring sleep apnoea insomnia
    • ME/CFS
    • Dysfunctional Breathing
  • CONTACT

ME/CFS

I have been suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for eight+ years. This means I was exhausted all the time yet ‘wired’ too – always tired and yet not able to sleep at night, prone to deep anxiety.

Lynne 1
I have undertaken several programmes of therapy as well as Somatic Experiencing. My mineral/chemical balance has been checked several times and I have taken supplements for various deficiencies. Personal therapy definitely helps me and the supplements must have some effect although it’s hard to quantify.

Buteyko had been recommended several times by the specialist Consultant and I had resisted. I didn’t relish the idea of ‘messing about’ with my breathing and, as it was the last potential remedy on my list, I was scared that it might not work. What would happen then?

My symptom “score” started at  76 and has reduced to 20 over a four month period. The most dramatic outcome has been that I now sleep well nearly every night which has made a huge difference to me. This started  two nights into the course.  I really hadn’t known how much I breathe through my mouth when it isn’t necessary. Nose breathing has subtly changed my attitude to myself and my needs.The other improvements have been slower to appear but have included a marked reduction in anxiety levels, lethargy during the day, chronic exhaustion and headaches.

I would recommend Butyeko breathing to anyone who would like to improve their health and wellbeing – a must do for Chronic Fatigue.

However, if you want a quick fix then don’t bother as the discipline of the daily sets routine is a demand. Holding your breath can feel uncomfortable and you need to have the determination to persevere.

A good teacher is very important and I have really appreciated the support and encouragement that Janet has given me. It’s been excellent value for money and the benefits I’ve seen have been real and significant. I don’t think I’m completely cured of CFS but Buteyko has taken me further down the road than any other treatment I’ve tried. Buteyko with personal therapy has really helped me turn the corner and I do think that I will make a complete recovery at some point.

(Lynne Milman, Woking, Surrey 2015)

 

I have been struggling with poor sleep, low energy and palpitations for the past five years. Although I have experienced some improvement with various alternative therapies nothing had really resolved my insomnia and consequent exhaustion.

However, since practicing the simple Buteyko breathing exercises I have slept well for the past five weeks and have more energy than I can remember for many years – so much so I am planning a long-distance charity bike ride. I feel generally calmer,

my hands and feet are no longer blocks of ice and my chill blains have disappeared! What a wonderful, simple therapy.

NB Lisa completed her 200 mile bike ride in the highlands of Scotland (with her mouth closed except for the very steepest bits!), raising money for a dyslexia charity.

 (Lisa Rutter, Holistic therapist High Peak 2012 )

 

 

I started visiting Janet 8 weeks ago so I am still working on improving my breathing. The reason for my starting the course was the frequent chest infections I have always been bothered with- and which seem to be lasting longer.

Before I took the Buteyko breathing course I was struggling to get over a type of viral bronchitis. My main problems were exhausting cough, blocked sinuses and poor sleep, with inevitable energy loss and low morale. The GP had advised me to give it time and rest.

I did hesitate before starting the course because of the financial commitment but the symptoms  began to improve within the first few days of the breathing course, which was so encouraging. I was amazed how the nose breathing eased the mucus/sinus congestion and rapidly the coughing. Nose breathing at night also brought much improved sleeps.

It is a challenge to do the exercises regularly (and my breath control during speech is my biggest challenge) but I have been amazed at how much my whole quality of life has improved  and the welcome sense of calm that comes with practicing the Buteyko breathing exercises.

Janet gave good clear guidance and kind support which made for an enjoyable and positive experience.

(Collette, High Peak 2013)

 

For years I have suffered with sinusitis and a number of other problems. In July 2010 I was finally diagnosed with M.E. and, like many other people suffering with M.E., I have tried several remedial therapies.

After hearing a talk at the Stockport ME Association, given by Dr Janet Winter on the Buteyko method of breathing, in May this year I booked on a one-to-one course at her Breathing Remedies Clinic, hoping that it would help ease my sinus problems and possibly help with the fatigue from M.E.

After practising the Buteyko method (which I continue to do each day) I soon found it helped to reduce the congestion in my nose and I have had no recurrence of sinusitis.  In addition I have found that carrying out the breathing method helps to relax and calm my mind and this has definitely helped with my chronic fatigue.  Dr Winter has been very supportive throughout and I know I am able to contact her at any time.

(Eric, Marple, Stockport, 2013)

 

I am a 49 year old female, a qualified general nurse no longer practicing as I am now a professional artist/designer. In December 2008 I suffered a severe viral infection from which I never fully recovered. By January 2009 I was unable to work or lead what had been a normal life. My symptoms were numerous; dizziness and feeling ‘spaced out’ to the point of feeling near to collapse (this was continuous and confined me to bed for long periods), pins and needles in my feet and sometimes around the mouth, nausea, muscle twitching and spasm (an ambulance was called at one point because it appeared I was having a fit of some sort), sweating, inability to tolerate glucose (I lost 2 stone in weight), pain and soreness of hips and long bones, and a strange buzzing and trembling feeling in my brain. These were the main symptoms and the most troubling. There were many more minor symptoms; fatigue, irritable bowel, tinnitus etc. During the next year I saw numerous consultants, had various tests including ones for suspected adrenal and pancreatic tumours,diabetes, M.S., coeliac disease, paid many hundreds of pounds for a private consultation where I was told I had an underactive thyroid and adrenal exhaustion and candida of the gut. In the end I was given the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome(C.F.S.)/M.E. and referred for cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise therapy. By this time I was feeling desperately emotional as well as very ill but felt unable to accept this so called diagnosis, I looked for another explanation. My G.P. had casually mentioned the word ‘hyperventilation’ as an explanation for the ‘fit’ I had suffered a few months earlier. As a nurse my only experience of hyperventilation was the acute sort which is very easy to spot and this had not been what was happening when the ambulance was called. But after very little research I discovered that there is also chronic hyperventilation carrying with it every symptom I was suffering. Researching chronic hyperventilation it is impossible not to discover the Buteyko method and its cure for the condition. I immediately spoke to Dr. Janet Winter my local qualified Buteyko practitioner and she was more or less confident that hyperventilation was the problem. First instructions before even meeting her was to ‘ keep my mouth shut’. The effect of this simple action unbelievably proved to have almost instantaneous improvement and relief of my disabling symptoms. My one to one course with Janet was arranged quickly the benefits continuing to be astonishingly obvious very early on. The whole scenario was explained by her as to what was happening in the body and how the breathing exercises reverse the situation. Diet plays a role too and this was also fully explained.

I first saw Janet in November 2009 and in December I was able to return to work part time. Since February 2010 I am back working full time. I have no doubt that the Buteyko method was directly responsible for my cure from the so called C.F.S as the effects were so dramatic. The method does take commitment and practice (and I’m still practicing!) but this is a very small price to pay for having your health, and life restored.

(Qualified nurse Rosemary, High Peak 2010)

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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).

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

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

I teach natural health control with no drugs, gadgets or manipulation. You can sign up to my newsletter here.

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

What I do

Breathing education gently retrains a disordered breathing pattern and helps people naturally recover from breathing-related health problems.

The Buteyko Method relieves asthma symptoms, and has been listed in the UK Asthma Guideline since 2008.
I am a member of the Buteyko Breathing Educators Association and am fully insured.

I am also a qualified postural alignment specialist (PAS) Egoscue method. Good posture is essential for good breathing and proper function in general.

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 looking for new 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, worried about how we would feed the family if I lost my job, come home and eat and sleep and spend my weekend recovering.

I had no social life. I was lucky to quickly get to a consultant who diagnosed me with candidiasis, and anti-fungals and a yeast and sugar-free diet helped a lot, but not enough.

I felt I had been “written off” and had nothing to offer. I was a mum, partner and employee with massively reduced physical and mental output compared with previously.
For me (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, from a very traumatic bereavement, on-going work and family stresses, then a really bad summer respiratory infection and cough that was not shifted by two different antibiotics (but they 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, and 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 and unless you know about it, it is sometimes hard to recover. Luckily you CAN retrain your breathing by doing a series of gentle exercises and making some life style changes, 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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Recent Posts

  • Facemasks against coronavirus; tips
  • How to breathe for immune health: self help for Coronavirus protection
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  • Is ME/CFS/SEID linked to disordered breathing/overbreathing/hyperventilation?
  • A new name “systemic exertion intolerance disease” (SEID) for ME/CFS?
  • Self-improvement is a big job. Breath retraining requires personal discipline and effort.
  • ME/CFS/fibromyalgia/anxiety: are you stuck in fight or flight?
  • How did we get a disordered breathing pattern/hyperventilation in the first place?
  • Better breathing enhances sports performance
  • How hyperventilation harms: part 3 hyperventilation can unbalance the blood gases and reduce transfer of oxygen from the blood to the organs and tissues that need it.
  • How hyperventilation harms: part 2 hyperventilation can narrow the blood vessels and reduce blood and oxygen supply.
  • How hyperventilation harms: part 1 hyperventilation can narrow the airways.
  • Five health benefits of breathing with your diaphragm
  • Three more good reasons to breathe through your nose and not your mouth.
  • I know how to breathe or I would be dead wouldn’t I? –5 Interesting responses I have had when I tell people that I am a breathing educator!
  • My Blog Tour – meet Viviann, Gillian and Nicola – all three have inspired me
  • The disease of deep breathing? Three dysfunctional breathing patterns; have you got one?
  • ME/CFS/fibromyalgia? You are not broken: Never give up hope, I recovered, so can you.
  • Unhealthy breathing patterns and low oxygen: link with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia?
  • Five ways that chronic cough can damage your health; and how better breathing helps
  • Do you ever feel out of breath or dizzy or exhausted after only minimal exercise? How are you breathing?
  • Seven reasons why you should always breathe through your nose

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Tags

abdominal breathing asthma belly breathing blocked nose breathless bronchodilation carbon dioxide chest breathing chronic cough Coronavirus cough deep breathing diaphragm dizzy fibromyalgia fight or flight hyperventilation ME/CFS nose orthostatic intolerance oxygen poor circulation red alert self compassion sinusitis threat yoga breathing

Asthma allergies sinusitis

Anxiety stress panic

Snoring sleep apnoea insomnia

Sports performance

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