Was I just Hyperventilating?
My family and I got in an out of hand argument where I started crying and Hyperventilated for at least half an hour, I was dizzy with a sore chest and back and my hands were numb. What was this? It is the first time something like this has ever happened to me. (I have suffered from depression and anxiety in the past).
Hyperventilating To Make You Make You Stay Underwater For A Long Time?
The reason you can stay longer is that you have purged (through hyperventilation) much of the CO2 from your body. Therefore it takes longer for the CO2 to build back to the level where it makes you want to breath - it is the body's stimulus for breathing. I have found that 30 seconds of hyperventilation equates to just over a minute of comfortable breath hold (for me). Your breaths should be slow with really deep inhalations and maximum exhalations and the last one taken in to about 80% maximum. Now, there is a downside to all this; You can lower CO2 so much that your body is critically low on O2 but you don't get that "I need to breath" warning and unconsciousness can result. Known as 'Shallow water black-out' it comes without warning and is the cause of many drownings - be carefull & have someone watch over you.
Why is my Parrot Hyperventilating?
It might be a respiratory infection. But since I'm not a psychic vet, you should take the bird in to an avian vet to be checked. (We have one amazon who used to hyperventilate whenever I'd get ready to leave for work. She wasn't sick, just pretending to be so I'd stay home with her. She gave it up after a few weeks when it didn't work. She had previously tried screaming, singing pretty songs, lowering her head for scritches, and pretending to be asleep so I couldn't put her back in the cage. None of those worked, either, but I admire her persistence and ingenuity).
Can hyperventilation cause paralysis?
I have only hyperventilated once in my life, and the experience was too horrible to describe. I was about ten years old, and I was in the car with my mom after a doctor's appointment. I wasn't really that anxious, or it seemed that way. I told my mom my hands felt tingly and I had pins and needles, and my mom told me I was just hyperventilating and to stay calm and take deep breathes. I did as she said, and I really wasn't even that nervous. I stayed calm, but it got worse and worse. I tried taking deep breathes, and I even breathed into a paper bag and I was actually not that anxious at all. It felt like I was okay, until I tried to open my hands. I didn't even realize it at first, but my hands were clenched into tight fists and I couldn't open them. This is when I started panicking. It got worse, until the point I was partially paralyzed. I couldn't move my shoulders, arms, or hands. I tried prying my hands open, but it felt like they were held together by strong magnets. My mom drove me to Children's Hospital, and as soon as we were in the door and I saw a nurse, I could move my hands again and my breathing went back to normal. I have no idea what happened, but I was okay. Does anyone know if the hyperventilation caused the paralysis? I would really appreciate it if someone would let me know.
Why do I Sometimes Hyperventilate when I get Really Upset and start to cry?
When you get really upset and start crying, it disturbs your normal breathing pattern, and you actually start overbreathing. Meaning you are pulling in oxygen faster than your body can use it and get rid of carbon dioxide like it should. It does sound like you are having panic attacks, because usually just crying does not make you hyperventilate. My advice would be to realize what you're going before you get so far that you do this to yourself and really try to take slow deep breaths. If you do end up hyperventilating, that whole paper bag trick really does work, because it makes it so that you're not taking in as much oxygen to help restore the balance in your body.
Why is it not a good idea to deeply hyperventilate before diving?
If you want to experiment, right now, without preparation, hold your breath. After a bit you will be trying to breathe in as a sort of reflex even if you keep your mouth closed.This happens because carbon dioxide dissolves in your blood and makes carbonic acid. Your body is very sensitive to carbonic acid and that makes you want to breathe in. In your lungs the carbon dioxide leaves the blood again.Hyperventilating purges your blood of dissolved carbon dioxide and even when your oxygen is completely depleted you don't have enough dissolved carbon dioxide in your blood to let you know to breathe. This means you just pass out.It is actually the partial pressure of oxygen dropping below a certain level that means you pass out. Partial pressures increase with depth and decrease as you come up. Having an idea you need to breathe is handy because as you ascend the partial pressure of oxygen naturally drops. Most free divers pass out in the last few metres. Being aware you need to breathe at least gives you a warning.I should add when I was about 10 years old practicing breath holding whilst sitting in my bedroom reading the Silent World by Dumas and Cousteau, I did some hyperventilating and passed out before I even held my breath! It seems you can have too much of a good thing. As a grown up just have a few moderate breaths before I go down.
Why do free divers hyperventilate before diving?
As said before, hyperventilation lowers your CO2 level below normal and is directly related to shallow water blackouts. It does not give you more oxygen.Moderate hyperventilation still makes sense in skin diving. In skin diving you are under surface, but you do not go deep (there is no exact number, but let say 3 meters max.). Three to four rapid deep breaths before dive can extend the time before you feel the urge to breathe again because of high CO2 levels. This is far before you are actually low on oxygen (which is good for your safety). Experienced free divers train to overcome this initial urge and relate on other signs (e.g. abdominal convulsions) and experience. Practice, adopting yoga breathing techniques and relaxation make the hyperventilation unnecessary. Hyperventilating or not, never skin dive / free dive alone.
Dogs (pets): What are reasons your dog would hyperventilate?
Whenever a dog begins to hyperventilate, there are specific signs that occur. The most common symptoms in dogs mirror the same symptoms of hyperventilation in humans. You will notice that your dog may find it extremely difficult to get enough air into his or her body. He or she may begin to breathe much more rapidly as a result. You will also probably notice that your dog attempts to take deeper breaths but is unable to succeed in getting enough oxygen into the lungs.Your dog may be hyperventilating for a number of reasons. While the reason for the hyperventilation may be as simple as your dog getting far too excited over visitors at your house, there could also be medical reasons for the condition. This is why it is so important to have your dog examined by a trusted veterinarian if you notice that he or she hyperventilates more than once. Your vet will examine the heart and lungs, as well as perform a thorough examination of the entire body in order to determine if there is a medical cause. It could be caused by metabolic acidosis, for example, which is a condition characterized by a blood pH that is too low. Serious conditions need to be treated with the help of your vet.If your dog's hyperventilation is caused by benign factors, such as over-exercising or excitement, you can take steps to reduce the level of stress your pet endures during these situations. For example, do not push him or her to exercise for longer than he or she can handle, and perhaps use natural herbs to calm him or her if he or she gets nervous around visitors. Unless the dog's hyperventilation is caused by an underlying medical condition, no treatment is necessary. However, if hyperventilation episodes are very long or happen too often, definitely have your dog checked by a veterinarian.
Why is it easier to hold your breath after inhalation than after exhalation?
Fun fact: the painful desire to breathe you feel when you are "out of breath" isn't due to lack of oxygen, but too much carbon dioxide (CO2)! Likewise, the feeling of faintness, tingling, and dizziness when you hyperventilate isn't due to too much oxygen [which hyperventilating can't cause anyway], but too little carbon dioxide. In fact, most people's bodies can't detect low oxygen at all!When you breathe in and hold your breath, you have plenty of oxygen (which keeps you from blacking out) and little CO2. Over time, you run out of oxygen, but your blood CO2 levels rise. Your brain actually uses blood CO2 as an indicator for blood oxygen, so when CO2 levels are too high you are signaled to take a breath. If you find it hard to believe that low oxygen isn't what makes you want to breathe, consider carbon monoxide poisoning. It happens because you are breathing air with low oxygen, but the CO2 levels are the same and your body regulates your breathing as usual, so you die without ever realizing you were oxygen deprived. You will blackout without any warning.When you exhale, you are forcing out the CO2. Why is holding your breath here harder? Because you've lowered your lung volume, the CO2 concentration of your lungs is now higher than your blood. Gasses diffuse from air to blood passively, from areas of high concentration to low. Lungs full of a breath of air have a higher oxygen concentration and lower CO2 concentration than your blood does, so oxygen flows into your blood and CO2 out of the blood. When the lungs become as concentrated as your blood with CO2, the CO2 no longer leaves your blood, but builds up until your next breath. Recall that concentration is dependent on volume: empty lungs have lower volume, so fewer CO2 molecules are needed to get the same concentration as your blood. Thus, CO2 stops leaving your blood faster if the lungs are empty, meaning the CO2 levels in your blood reach critical faster and you need to breathe sooner. Oxygen levels in your blood are likewise not rising fast enough (or at all, since you just exhaled), but it's the rise in CO2 that makes you gasp.