Mar
I always have to take a deep breath each 2 minutes. and its hard to breath sometimes! like i dont have enough air. then i get dizzy a lot. please help
Answer:
No, you don't have asthma, but I think I have the ability to tell you what you do have. I think your body has adjusted to a low level of carbon dioxide in the blood. If the level is low for a time, then the body adjusts and keeps it that way and you can't get back to where you should be without re-training the breathing. Air hunger such as you’re experiencing, and dizziness are two very common symptoms. When the carbon dioxide is too low, the oxygen in the blood binds to the haemoglobin instead of circulating around the body so various body parts can become deprived of oxygen. There isn't enough oxygen getting to your brain, causing dizziness. Your body demands more and more air because it is getting too much, a bit like being addicted to a drug - it's addicted to air. But the more you breathe, the worse the problem gets.
In time more symptoms can develop, like pins and needles, numbness, pains in muscles and joints and chest pain.
All this is fixable, but it requires a bit of work. Some people find that the air hunger and dizziness respond well to simply taking a few weeks out of work and relaxing. They can control the problem this way but can rarely completely get rid of it. To reverse what has gone wrong, there are three methods that I know of:
1 You can go to a respiratory pysiotherapist and learn exercises which should fix the problem in about 3 months. This doesn't always work,
2 You can learn to do Buteyko exercises. The time taken varies greatly and can be anything from 6 weeks to a year. If you learn to do them properly, they are more effective than the exercises taught by physios. I highly advocate paying for a Buteyko practitioner to learn to do them properly, although I’ll give you a link to help with self teaching.
3. There’s a breathing device called cosmic health which is very effective. You just order it over the web. It should give you a permanent cure, and takes up only 20 minutes per day, unlike Buteyko exercises which take a minimum of 2 hours per day. Time taken for a cure varies between 3 months and 2 years. If you are lucky enough to be cured in less than 3 months, you should still carry on for a bit longer to avoid a relapse - a minimum of a year is suggested.
The following link is to a Buteyko site. Ignore all the references to asthma. The site owner is very knowledgeable and will answer any questions by email. His email address is on the site.
http://members.westnet.com.au/pkolb/bute…
You will also find on this site a support group which may be useful if you decide to do Buteyko.
You may like to read the following
http://members.westnet.com.au/pkolb/lum….
It's a bit technical but if you read the gist of it you'll recognise your symptoms.
Finally here's a link for cosmic health
http://maul.samara.ru/~paracels/
Good luck
Answer:
sthma and Allergies
Asthma and allergies often go hand-in-hand. Asthma is a disease of the branches of the windpipe (bronchial tubes), which carry air in and out of the lungs. There are several different types of asthma.
Allergic asthma is a type of asthma that is triggered by an allergy (for example, pollen or mold spores). According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, half of the 20 million Americans with asthma have allergic asthma.
Air is normally taken into the body through the nose and windpipe and into the bronchial tubes. At the end of the tubes are little air sacs called alveoli that deliver fresh air (oxygen) to the blood. The air sacs also collect stale air (carbon dioxide), which is exhaled out of the body. During normal breathing, the bands of muscle surrounding the airways are relaxed and air moves freely. But during an asthma episode or “attack,” there are three main changes that stop air from moving freely into the airways:
Asthmatic Bronchioles
* The bands of muscle that surround the airways tighten, causing them to narrow in what’s called a “bronchospasm.”
* The lining of the airways becomes swollen, or inflamed.
* The cells that line the airways produce more mucus, which is thicker than normal.
The narrowed airway traps stale air (carbon dioxide) in the lungs. As a result, people with asthma feel they cannot get enough air into the lungs. All of these changes make breathing difficult.
What Are the Most Common Symptoms of Asthma?
Symptoms strike when your airways undergo the three changes described above. Some people can go a long time between asthma episodes while others have some symptoms every day. Common symptoms of asthma include:
* Frequent cough, especially at night
* Shortness of breath
* Wheezing
* Chest tightness, pain, or pressure
Not each person with asthma has the same symptoms in the same way. You may not have all of these symptoms, or you might have different symptoms at different times. Your symptoms might also vary from one asthma episode to the next. Symptoms may be mild during one asthma episode and severe during another.
Mild asthma episodes are generally more common. Usually, the airways open up within a few minutes to a few hours. Severe episodes are less common, but last longer and require immediate medical help. It is important to recognize and treat even mild symptoms to help you prevent severe episodes and keep asthma in control.
If you suffer from allergies and asthma, a reaction to any offending allergy-causing substance can worsen asthma symptoms.
What Are the Early Warning Signs of an Asthma Attack?
Early warning signs are changes that happen just before or at the very beginning of an asthma attack. These changes start before the more prominent symptoms of asthma and are the earliest signs that a person's asthma is worsening. Early warning signs and symptoms include:
* Frequent cough, especially at night
* Losing your breath easily or shortness of breath
* Feeling very tired or weak when exercising, in addition to wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath
* Decreases or changes in peak expiratory flow, a measurement of how fast air comes out of your lungs when you exhale forcefully
* Signs of a cold or other upper respiratory infections, or allergies
* Difficulty sleeping
If you have any of these symptoms, seek treatment as soon as possible to prevent experiencing a severe asthma attack.
Asthma Causes and Triggers
No one really knows the causes of asthma. What we do know is that asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. The causes of asthma symptoms can vary for different people. Still, one thing is consistent with asthma: when airways come into contact with an asthma trigger, the airways become inflamed, narrow, and fill with mucus.
When you have an asthma attack, spasms of the muscles around the airways, inflammation and swelling of the mucosal membrane lining the airways, and excessive amounts of mucus contribute to airway narrowing. This makes airway resistance increase and the work of breathing more difficult, causing shortness of breath, cough, and wheezing. You may have coughing with asthma because of the irritation inside the airway and the body’s attempt to clean out the accumulations of thick mucus.
So why do you have asthma and your friend doesn’t? No one really knows for sure. We do know that allergies play a role in many people with asthma but not in all. As with allergy, you can blame your family history, as there is a strong genetic component for asthma.
If you or a loved one has asthma, it’s important to comprehend the many asthma triggers. Once you identify and reduce exposure to the specific triggers or causes of asthma, you can take an active role in controlling your asthma and reducing the frequency of asthma attacks. For example, if you find that allergies are the cause
Answer:
Ok. I am going to try to keep this one short and with no world wide web links. LOL!!! This is all based on my medical experience.
It sounds more like an anxiety attack.
An Anxiety attack makes your chest feel tight and you feel short of breath. You get dizzy and feel like you are going to faint.
You need to blow into a paper bag until it calms down. You can also close your eyes and take deep breaths until it goes away.
Asthma is inflamation and bronchoconstriction of the airways. It would require medication for it to go away.
Is there a history of anxiety disorders in your family?