The hyperventilation attack

the first panic attack in chronic hyperventilation
the first panic attack in chronic hyperventilation

One of the most unpleasant things that can happen to you is the first hyperventilation attack. Such an attack is usually caused by chronic hyperventilation. A hyperventilation attack is also called a panic attack or an anxiety attack. The first time is always the worst. Many people end up in the emergency reception of a hospital or a doctor’s post immediately after their first attack. They are completely lost and extremely anxious.

The first aid person will always be very careful

Most first aid services fortunately quickly recognize the usual symptoms. However, one must always be very careful, because the hyperventilation symptoms can also be consequence and not cause of the attack. So they will always take you to hospital to do a full investigation in order to determine the real cause.

What do you experience in a hyperventilation attack?

The effects during a hyperventilation attack vary from person to person. But the following phenomena are almost always present: 

  • Extremely fast breathing in a high thoracic form.
  • Extreme anxiety and panic feelings.
  • Excessive sweating, shaking and very rapid palpitations.
  • Pain in the chest, often on the left side. This makes many people think that they have a heart attack, which often puts the care providers on that track too.
  • Cramps and tingling in the hands and sometimes also in the feet.
  • Dizziness and a light feeling in the head. A sense of losing consciousness.
  • Fear of loss of control over one’s own body.
  • Extreme tightness, the feeling of not being able to breathe, as if the throat is being constricted.

The feedback loop

It is these extreme experiences that make the patient think their lime is up and death is imminent. The fears that occur provide a feedback loop to the respiratory center. A lot of adrenaline is released as a result of those fears. The respiratory center responds by boosting the breathing frequency further. This then increases the symptoms even further.

In the most extreme cases, the patient even loses consciousness. That is because the blood vessels narrow due to the low acidity level in the blood. The blood supply in the brain becomes so low that the consciousness can no longer be maintained. In itself that is better for the patient, because that breaks the connection of the feedback loop. The respiration frequency can then normalize again…

What is really happening in your body?

In the body, a large range of effects occur as a result of the attack. The most important are:

  • Blood vessel constriction. Due to the extremely rapid breathing, the acidity in the body decreases rapidly. The buffer systems in the blood – that normally compensate for hyperventilation – can not compensate for the enormous loss of carbon dioxide in time. The narrowed blood vessels aggravate the anxiety feelings. This also creates the feeling of imminent loss of consciousness and control.
  • Lactic acid production in the muscles. The muscles rapidly release lactic acid to compensate for the loss of carbon dioxide. The consequences are cramps, tingling and often the pains experienced in the chest area (the thorax).
  • Adrenaline rush. The stress and fears cause the brain to inject adrenaline into the bloodstream. That adrenaline then further stimulates the respiratory center. And that then causes the feedback loop as discussed above.

Psychologically speaking, an attack is a traumatic experience

The bizarre thing about this story is that the hyperventilation attack is not actually harmful to the body itself. There is no real danger. Because in the most extreme case, the patient loses consciousness. And then automatically the body returns to normal functioning and breathing. Psychologically, however, it is a traumatic experience. People can suffer from the psychological damage for a long time. The fear of repetition in particular, often contributes to the unpleasant aftermath to which people are confronted. The first hyperventilation attack usually occurs when one is already deeply involved in the chronic hyperventilation syndrome. It is the beginning of a long agony that people often have to go through.

To counter the hyperventilation attack

the HyperFree can help to counter 
the  hyperventilation attack
the HyperFree can help to counter
the hyperventilation attack

The first attack almost always comes unexpectedly. And because people are usually not aware of the fact that they have been hyperventilating, they will not be able to do much to counter the attack. For the people who have already experienced an attack and know that they are hyperventilating, there are various methods to counter the attacks.

This is what you can do

As soon as you feel the attack coming, you can apply one or more of the following:

  • Self-regulate the breathing. That may sound like a too simple a solution, but fortunately we can influence our breathing with our consciousness. Sit upright, lay your hands on your stomach and push your belly forward with an inhalation and backwards at the exhale. This way you regulate the breathing yourself for 10 to 20 minutes. As a result, the carbon dioxide in the body increases and the anxiety feeling decreases.
  • Accept that you hyperventilate. This is often easier said than done. But acceptance breaks the anxiety =>accelerated breathing =>more anxiety feedback loop. If you remove the fear component, it rarely leads to a real escalation as described above.
  • Save carbon dioxide. You can do this in various ways. An example is placing your hands in a cup shape on your mouth. And then inhale the exhaled air again. This ‘saves’ your carbon dioxide and reduces the feeling of tightness. Other options are breathing in a bag or the HyperFree breathing cassette, which you can buy in many places.