Possible help for breathing attacks
I typically only have a breathing attack a few times a year. It usually occurs at night when I'm asleep. I wake up and feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. I grunt and struggle to breathe and feel like I'm going to pass out or die. It often take 30 - 45 seconds before I finally get a small amount of air going to where I feel okay.
I recently came down with a viral infection (cold). My throat was very sore and during a one hour period, I had 3 such attacks. My wife took me to the Emergency Room, where I promptly had another attack. (at least that got me to a nurse real quick). One nurse was going to put me on oxygen, when another one said no, to check my levels first. My oxygen was fine. The second nurse said I was experiencing vocal chord spasms, something that she's beem living with for many years. She sought out a lot of medical advice and found the best solution for any suck attack is to breathe from the nose, not the mouth!
The mouth and nose have different passageways and the nose passageway bypasses the spasm. She says the worst thing that could happen during these attacks is that you will pass out, go to a more relaxed state, and then the spasm relaxes and you can breathe again. When you can't breathe, the typical reaction is to use your mouth to get the air, because you can force more air in and out through your mouth than you can your nose, but the vocal chords are obstructing that air.
I was somewhat relieved to hear that breathing through your nose might be the solution, but not haing ever tried that before...........
Guess what? After getting home from the E R, I had another episode. I immediately tried breathing from my nose and it worked! The spasm was gone in less than 10 seconds. Later that night I had another attack and I breathed through my nose again and it absolutely worked again. It's almost like I'm not afraid of these spasms any more.
I don't know if this is the one thing that will help everyone else who has a similar problem, but if it helps any of you, I will have done my good deed.
My very best to all of you!