breathing

[strangedork]

I have a lot of hyperventilating with my anxiety--especially while talking.  If I have much to say, after about 3/4 sentences, I start hyperventilating, lose my train of thought, and have to stop because my voice becomes so wobbly.  By this time, I usually feel like I'm going to faint.  It's like my voice has been taken from me, and I'm no longer allowed an opinion.  I'm starting to do some breathing exercises to strengthen the diaphragm in hopes to somewhat control some of the anxiety.  I was wondering if anybody has had any success with these exercises.  If so how long did it take?  What exercises brought about the quickest best results?

[Pum]

I have had success with breathing exercises. It's hard to know what caused the improvement though, the exercises or the reduction in anxiety I started to feel around the same time. Maybe the exercises reduced anxiety.

Every night I sat up in bed and imagined my lungs were three balloons, the blue one being the top part of the lung, the red one the middle part, and the green part the bottom part. Then I breathed slowly and calmly. At first I'd only be inflating the blue part then I'd concentrate on trying to fill the red balloon  then finally the green balloon. If I was too stressed it was impossible to fill the green balloon but finally it came right. It takes about 15 minutes and I recommend doing it during the day as well as before sleep.

I also checked and no-one else seemed to be noticing my shortness of breath when talking and it didn't get worse with exercise so I finally convinced myself it was nothing to do with my heart. Once I forgot to notice it, it went away. When I got a cold it came back a bit but then again I ignored it. Also reduced my wine, which I think I may have an allergy to, but might have a bit more now the breathing is under control.

Take care.

[strangedork]

Thank you so much!  Your success story is inspiring.  As am 42 years old, & I've been suffering with anxieties my whole life, off but mostly on, I'm desperate enough to really gives these exercises a shot.  I've already done my exercises tonight, but in the morning, I'll add in the visualization technique, and see it that also helps.  ty again!

[cj29]

I agree with Pum here on this.  There are many exercises one can do to help control anxiety.  But sometimes there are no quick and easy results.  Quite often it takes patience and understanding of the condition for long lasting relief from this.  Talking it through with a professional and learning about this process has really helped me to understand this cycle.  With understanding comes knowledge and you know what they say; 'knowledge is power.'  

[strangedork]

I just wanted to post a follow up.  I'm 42 years old, and have had anxiety almost my whole life. It was controlled for approx. 10 years with medication.  I wrote the initial comment when I was still going off of paxil and having excessive anxiety that seemed almost constant and regular panic attacks--at least once a week & usually more.  I continued to do the breath exercises until it became quite natural for me to use my stomach to breath.  I also took up regular meditation and exercise.  I quit smoking and cut down on my caffeine.  I also read "Hope and Help for Your Nerves"  by Claire Weekes, and began applying the principles she suggested.  When i got off paxil, I began taking St. John's Wort.  
Now for the first time in my life I feel I have controlled my anxiety on my own with no medication.  I haven't had a panic attack in months, and I can talk to people without hyperventilating.  I feel almost as happy and confident as I ever did even on medication, and know that i won this battle on my own.  There is hope.  It certainly hasn't been easy, and has brought about a lot of changes in my life.  Good luck to everyone, and keep trying!

[cj29]

I am VERY happy that you are doing so much better!  There is so much hope and I am glad that you have decided to share your experiences with us.  Just remember, if the anxiety does come back, that you now have the knowledge to deal with it this time around, even though it can be more frustrating.

Confronting it and learning to embrace it, is a huge step in thriving with it in my opinion...good for you!  Don't be a stranger around here...let us know how things are going!

[strangedork]

Thank you so much for your kind words, cj29!  

  I don't plan on leaving this site any time soon.  It was invaluable for helping me feel I wasn't alone when I was struggling so much.  Also, I wanted to point out to those who are battling this, that the steps I took were not temporary;  they are things I continue to do.  2 weeks worth of meditating won't cure you.  One of my insights during this process was how powerful the mind/body connection is.  Working on both, was probably one of the reasons I'm doing so much better.

[cj29]

Good for you once again!  It is not a temporayry process which you undoubtedly know by now.  By changing long term habits and learning to deal with it, you have/will attain long term relief from this in my opinion.

I agree that this community is so very valuable in the journey with anxiety because it shows how many people actually have to deal with it and that the 'symptoms' are quite often the same even though there are variations on how we deal with it and thus there are so many successes that we can learn from shared knowledge and experiences.

I am glad that you have decided to stick around.  Continue to share your experiences with this...it will help many other people through this...see you in the forum.