We’ve all seen scary movies where panicked characters start to hyperventilate or “overbreathe” — breathing so fast that they nearly pass out. But did you realize that there is a chronic form, called chronic hyperventilation syndrome, in which a person seems to breathe normally but in fact habitually takes in too much air? It is common — and even can affect people who know the importance of proper breathing. Yet its symptoms often go unrecognized, even by doctors. What happens…
We inhale oxygen (among other gases) and exhale carbon dioxide. But for our bodies to function normally, we must maintain a certain level of carbon dioxide in the blood. Short-term hyperventilation (for instance, during a panic attack) causes carbon dioxide levels in the blood to sink too low temporarily, bringing on a rapid heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, trembling and choking. But chronic overbreathing — in which a person breathes too quickly most of the time — keeps carbon dioxide levels down in the long term, according to Hunter College biopsychologist Robert Fried, PhD, author of Breathe Well, Be Well. Resulting symptoms include tingling in the hands… light-headedness… weakness and fatigue… frequent sighing, yawning and burping… constipation… irritability… and/or insomnia.
Of course, you should see your physician if you have the symptoms above, Dr. Fried said, to be evaluated for various possible medical causes (for instance, diabetes). But unfortunately, when overbreathing is the real problem, it frequently goes unrecognized — because diagnosis requires special equipment and training that doctors don’t ordinarily have. Chronic overbreathers often go from one specialist to the next in a vain attempt to uncover the true cause of their symptoms… and many are prescribed antianxiety drugs that do nothing to address the underlying physiological problem.
Good news: A simple breathing technique may reduce or eliminate symptoms by correcting a tendency to overbreathe and reestablishing normal blood levels of carbon dioxide. Bonus: Proper breathing also can improve chronic medical conditions such as asthma, hypertension and migraine. “The right way to breathe is deep down in our abdomens — just think about the way a newborn’s tummy slowly rises and falls with each inhalation and exhalation,” Dr. Fried said.
If you are prone to the symptoms above and your doctor has ruled out other medical causes, try the following test. Sit comfortably in a chair and put one hand on your chest and the other hand on your abdomen. Inhale. If the hand on your chest rises visibly while the hand on the abdomen scarcely rises at all, you would benefit from learning abdominal breathing — which may naturally slow down your breathing rate.
In his book, Dr. Fried lays out a detailed daily program for mastering abdominal breathing. Though he does not recommend shortcuts, you can get a sense of the techniques by trying the following exercises. If you feel dizzy, stop.
Exercise 1: Imagine that your body is an upside-down eyedropper. Your mouth and nose are the dropper’s opening and your stomach is its bulb. Sit with your hands on your stomach and breathe in, imagining air filling the bulb as you let your stomach expand. Then exhale, tightening your abdominal muscles as if squeezing the eyedropper bulb. Inhale and exhale through your nose, Dr. Fried said — mouth breathing tends to promote overbreathing.
Exercise 2: Sit with a book on your lap. Without worrying about your breath, push the book out as far as you can with your abdomen. Now inhale — as you fill with air, your abdomen should move out about as far as it did when you pushed the book. Then exhale slowly (but not so slowly that it creates discomfort), pulling your abdomen back in as far as it will go.
With daily abdominal breathing practice, people often notice improvement in symptoms within a few days to two weeks, Dr. Fried said. Eventual goal: To breathe from the abdomen automatically — at which point the overbreathing problem becomes a thing of the past.
