How do you help someone with hyperventilation?

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asked Apr 12, 2023 in Other- Health by Walkopopper (2,210 points)
How do you help someone with hyperventilation?

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answered Apr 12, 2023 by Marybeth122 (3,140 points)
You can help someone with hyperventilation by having the person breathe through pursed lips, as if they're are whistling.

Or pinch one nostril and breathe through your nose.

It is harder to hyperventilate through your nose or through pursed lips because you can't move as much air.

Slow your breathing to 1 breath every 5 seconds, or slow enough that symptoms gradually go away.

You can also try breathing into a paper bag and breathing in and out to suck the paper bag in and then breathe out to blow the paper bag back outwards.

To stop heavy breathing from anxiety you can do breathing exercises.

Let your breath flow as deep down into your belly as is comfortable, without forcing it.
Try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Breathe in gently and regularly.
Then let it flow out gently, counting from 1 to 5 again.

When you hyperventilate, you exhale too much air.

This can decrease the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) you have in your blood.

Low carbon dioxide levels lead to narrowing of the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain.

This reduction in blood supply to the brain leads to symptoms like lightheadedness and tingling in the fingers.

Severe hyperventilation can lead to loss of consciousness.

The reason people hyperventilate from anxiety is because the body is sent into a fight or flight mode when the brain signals to your body that danger is around or afoot.

When this occurs you will automatically begin breathing quickly because doing so oxygenates the blood which prepares the body to respond to a threat by fleeing or fighting.

Hyperventilation syndrome is an anxiety related dyspnea and tachypnea that is often accompanies by systemic symptoms.

Hyperventilation is most often caused by panic or anxiety.

Panic attacks and emotional distress are the 2 most common causes for hyperventilation.

Anxiety and getting scared and being fearful of something may also cause hyperventilation.

The three signs of hyperventilation are difficulty in getting breath, tightness in the chest and very rapid heartbeat.

Hyperventilation is breathing that is deeper and faster than normal.

It causes the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood to drop.

This may make you feel light-headed.

You may also have a fast heartbeat and feel short of breath.

Hyperventilation is when you experience rapid or deep breathing that is usually caused by anxiety or panic.

This over breathing, as it is sometimes called, can even actually leave you feeling breathless.

When you breathe, you inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.

What does hyperventilating feel like?

Feeling that you can't get enough air (air hunger) or need to sit up to breathe.

A pounding and racing heartbeat. Problems with balance, lightheadedness, or vertigo.

Numbness or tingling in the hands, feet, or around the mouth.

Unrecognized and inadvertent hyperventilation may contribute to the currently dismal survival rates of cardiac arrest.

Excessive breathing creates a low level of carbon dioxide in your blood.

This causes many of the symptoms of hyperventilation.

You may hyperventilate from an emotional cause such as during a panic attack.

Or, it can be due to a medical problem, such as bleeding or infection.

In very rare cases, people who hyperventilate can have low carbon dioxide blood levels that can cause a spasm of the blood vessels that supply the heart.

If a person already has heart disease, this spasm may be enough to cause a heart attack.

The signs and symptoms of hyperventilation are difficulty in getting breath, tightness in the chest, very rapid heartbeat, sweating, tingling or numbness, faintness, feeling of unreality, visual problems, rigid muscles, cramps, sudden emotional outburst, for example crying, feeling too hot or too cold.

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