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baratronThis is stupid. I am miserable and in pain, and afraid to post in my own goddamned livejournal in case people have a go at me for worrying about my health instead of the war.
I'm sure when my doctor said last week that my problem was chronic hyperventilation and sent me out of the surgery with a printout, he honestly thought that was all I needed. But since then I've done some research, and realised that I've probably never breathed correctly my whole life. It would seem that chronic hyperventilation is a growing problem in asthmatics. Years ago, when there weren't so many drugs available, an asthma diagnosis would be routinely followed up with breathing retraining to make sure that people were using their lungs as well as they could - but this has fallen by the wayside since inhalers became available. It's unfortunate, really.
I've now got and read this book. It is crap. Half of the book is dedicated to convincing you that hyperventilation might indeed be the cause of your problems, and the other half is bordering on new age wishywashy bollocks. There are only about 10 pages of actual breathing exercises to do, but they are entirely unhelpful to me. Clearly, I have never breathed properly in my life. So how am I supposed to work out for myself how to do it, just from a text description and a silly cartoon, only slightly relevant to the subject matter? I need diagrams, lots of them, with arrows to show movement, and explanation of the difference in physical sensation. Actually, I need someone trained in breathing retraining to hold the various parts of my body and physically show me what it should feel like.
I am feeling completely awful, because I am getting worse, not better. And now I have this constant nagging feeling that I'm not getting better because I'm not trying hard enough - this is, after all, a comparatively minor problem with a simple treatment. But now I'm conscious of my breathing all the goddamn time. I haven't slept properly in days because I lie awake worrying about whether I'm breathing properly, then when I do eventually fall asleep, my nose gets blocked, I have nightmares and wake up dizzy and light-headed from oxygen deprivation. Tonight it's all coming to a head, because my shoulder, neck and intercostal muscles hurt all down my left side - I don't feel wheezy, but the last time they hurt like this was the lovely Christmas day when I had such bad asthma that it needed hospital treatment. I'm not sure that bronchiodilators would do anything to help, because I don't think there's anything (particularly) wrong with my lungs, and I don't really feel like spending out money for a taxi to go up to the hospital and have them say they can't really do anything. I'll call the doctors' in the morning for an emergency appointment with anyone and beg for a referral to a specialist physiotherapist. I've even got a list of specialists in my area! I just need a GP to take me fucking seriously for once in my life.
I'm sure when my doctor said last week that my problem was chronic hyperventilation and sent me out of the surgery with a printout, he honestly thought that was all I needed. But since then I've done some research, and realised that I've probably never breathed correctly my whole life. It would seem that chronic hyperventilation is a growing problem in asthmatics. Years ago, when there weren't so many drugs available, an asthma diagnosis would be routinely followed up with breathing retraining to make sure that people were using their lungs as well as they could - but this has fallen by the wayside since inhalers became available. It's unfortunate, really.
I've now got and read this book. It is crap. Half of the book is dedicated to convincing you that hyperventilation might indeed be the cause of your problems, and the other half is bordering on new age wishywashy bollocks. There are only about 10 pages of actual breathing exercises to do, but they are entirely unhelpful to me. Clearly, I have never breathed properly in my life. So how am I supposed to work out for myself how to do it, just from a text description and a silly cartoon, only slightly relevant to the subject matter? I need diagrams, lots of them, with arrows to show movement, and explanation of the difference in physical sensation. Actually, I need someone trained in breathing retraining to hold the various parts of my body and physically show me what it should feel like.
I am feeling completely awful, because I am getting worse, not better. And now I have this constant nagging feeling that I'm not getting better because I'm not trying hard enough - this is, after all, a comparatively minor problem with a simple treatment. But now I'm conscious of my breathing all the goddamn time. I haven't slept properly in days because I lie awake worrying about whether I'm breathing properly, then when I do eventually fall asleep, my nose gets blocked, I have nightmares and wake up dizzy and light-headed from oxygen deprivation. Tonight it's all coming to a head, because my shoulder, neck and intercostal muscles hurt all down my left side - I don't feel wheezy, but the last time they hurt like this was the lovely Christmas day when I had such bad asthma that it needed hospital treatment. I'm not sure that bronchiodilators would do anything to help, because I don't think there's anything (particularly) wrong with my lungs, and I don't really feel like spending out money for a taxi to go up to the hospital and have them say they can't really do anything. I'll call the doctors' in the morning for an emergency appointment with anyone and beg for a referral to a specialist physiotherapist. I've even got a list of specialists in my area! I just need a GP to take me fucking seriously for once in my life.
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-20 05:50 pm (UTC)Secondly. Do you want possibly useless possibly useful advice on breathing?
If so.
I would try Pilates breathing exercises.
First, stand (or lie down) straight. Relax your shoulders, feel your fingertips extending down to the ground, and lengthening your arms. Make sure your spine is as straight as possible.
In through your nose, expand your ribcage rather than your abdomen. Breathe completely, until you feel your lungs fill all the way.
Hold.
Out through your mouth, actively expel the air (so you can hear it. Some people like to say "whooo".), using your stomach muscles, "pulling navel to spine". Exhale completely, envisioning "wringing out rags".
Hold.
Inhale again, this time trying to keep stomach muscles tucked.
I'd do this for 10 breaths, and then quit for a while. Do it again later. At the very least, it'll get some more air into you and stop your hyperventilating for a little bit. Small improvement, but significant, maybe?
no subject
Inhale again, this time trying to keep stomach muscles tucked.
These sound like the complete opposite of what the book and all the online sources say I should be doing! Apparently, my problem is that I do all my breathing in my ribcage rather than my abdomen. Also, that I take "big" breaths instead of "deep" breaths. I think this exercise would make me about a hundred times worse.
What I need to learn is how to breathe deep inside my abdomen rather than only in the top part of my lung. I managed to do it today lying on my stomach, which is the easiest way for hyperventilators to learn to breathe properly, but it took all my concentration. (I spent a fun hour in bed doing breathing exercises, which would have been the most boring hour of my life if I hadn't needed to concentrate so hard). Trying to do it on my back, sitting up or standing up - let alone whilst having a conversation - will take a LOT more practise, and like I said, having a physiotherapist or nurse holding the various bits so I know what it is supposed to feel like.
This is why I'm really quite reluctant to go to anything like yoga and pilates until I've seen a specialist several times and know what the breathing is supposed to feel like. And this, plus every other problem I have, means that "gym"-style classes, where there are 20 or 30 people in the class, would probably do me more harm than good. I need the intensive kind of class, where there are only 5 or 6 people, so the teacher can make up exercises suitable to each individual's ability and problems, and constantly correct each person. At the moment, I don't have anything like the money for this, or any way of getting to it, but it's definitely something to look into over the summer.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-20 09:57 pm (UTC)There's a difference between breathing with the "top" of your lungs, and using your chest muscles to breathe all the way down, which is what Pilates is doing. In the U.S., it's often possible to find small classes at dance studios where the first lesson is free. The one I went to a few weeks ago only had 5 people in it.
And the way it's taught in Pilates class, it's most often done lying down. I wish I were there so I could demonstrate this to you, as I know it's confusing to read. The Pilates breathing is exhaling with the abdomen, and inhaling with the ribcage. Not like yoga breathing, or singing breathing, but the reason I recommend it (in my unprofessional, amateur capacity) is because I've always had trouble doing the abdominal breathing exercises, but I can manage Pilates, and it's also helped my posture and abdominal strength.