Buteyko Breathing

[basildev]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm an old timer on this forum and haven't posted for a long while. Alto asked me to share my experiences in regards to a breathing method called 'Buteyko Breathing', so here goes;

 

A brief history:

 

I began tapering Citalopram at the end of 2012. I got down to 11 mg and then a stressful event in Feb 2013 triggered an almighty wave of insomnia that would not let up, even after the stressful situation was resolved. I quickly realised that my taper was too fast and so in a panic, I updosed to 20mg.

 

What followed was bouts of insomnia (sometimes trouble falling asleep, other times early morning waking). Around June 2016 I got serious about my health, stopped drinking alcohol and prepared myself to wait out my symptoms.

 

Things progressed, albeit very slowly. Many of you probably know that when you don't sleep well it's harder from the CNS to heal from a trauma such as this.

 

So that where I had days during the month where I slept great, there were also many days where my sleep was inadequate. (I'd say it was 50% good sleep, 50% bad sleep).

 

In January 2015 I had visited a brand new dentist to get a second opinion about a cracked tooth, and he told me what I already knew - that I grind my teeth at night. I've tried 3 different expensive night guards and all of them made the problem (and my sleep) much worse (hence the cracked tooth).

 

This dentist said 'you need to get your breathing right.'. He suggested Buteyko Breathing, which I had heard of before but never tried.

 

The basic premise behind BB is that human beings tend to 'overbreathe' (BB calls it hyperventilation) and as a result we don't retain enough CO2 in the blood. It's the total opposite from everything you've heard that says deep breathing is good for you!

 

This website explains the concept better than I ever could:

 

http://www.normalbreathing.com/

 

 

So I thought 'why not? I've tried everything else'. I booked myself in to do the course and learnt the method (which is incredibly easy to learn).

 

The theory is that we do most of our hyperventilation when we're sleeping (since we have no control when we're asleep), so the first thing my teacher suggested was to tape my mouth up at night when I go to sleep (yes! You read that correctly!)

 

I was incredibly sceptical, but then having been in withdrawal for nearly 2 years at that point, and having wasted literally thousands on useless supplements that made the problem worse, I thought it was worth a try.

 

So...that night I taped my mouth up and went to sleep. It was incredible. I slept 7 hours and woke the next day refreshed (before I needed 10 hours to function). The sleep was still broken, and there was a period during the night where I was awake for 1 hour - but the quality of the sleep I did get was so good that it didn't matter - I felt great the next day.

 

From then on I religiously practised my reduced breathing every day and taped my mouth up at night. In the last year I have had some major healing. There were a few wobbles along the way but they never lasted more than a couple of weeks.

 

I'm pleased to say that I am close to 100% back to normal. The only thing I have to deal with now, is that occasionally, usually at ovulation time or before my period, I wake during the night to pee and can't get back to sleep. But that period of wakefulness only lasts an hour at the most, and I'm usually able to get enough sleep to feel refreshed the next day.

 

So...I'm no longer tired all the time and now I only need 8-8.5 hrs sleep each night, whereas before I needed 10 hours.

 

 

So anyway, I hope this info has helped. Everybody is different and what worked for me may not work for you; but hopefully you can digest this information and decide for yourself whether you want to try it.

 

Any questions, let me know I'll be happy to answer.

 

take care and be well everyone

 

x

[Altostrata]

!!!!

 

Thank you for posting this, basildev. Dr. Weil has a video here http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/VDR00112/The-4-7-8-Breath-Benefits-and-Demonstration.html

 

I wonder if this could help me -- when my allergies act up, sometimes it interferes with my breathing and my sleep.

[basildev]

 

 

 http://www.drweil.co...onstration.html 

 

I've seen that video before. I tried it before I discovered BB. It didn't do anything to improve my sleep but it could work for breathing issues.

 

It employs the 'deep breathing' method that is often recommended. The Buteyko guys would have you doing the opposite; practising generating a feeling of 'air hunger' instead.

 

Heaps of people who have breathing problems do well with Buteyko.

 

It's most popular with people who have asthma. Many are able to get off their meds once they learn the technique

[peggy]

hello basildev!

nice to 'see you', and so happy that you are feeling better.. I think i might have looked into the BB breathing technique a couple of years ago and couldn't get the hang of it.

 

are you off citalopram?

[basildev]

Hi Peggy!

 

Great to 'see you' too!

 

No love, it took me 3 years to stabilise.I'm still on the 20mg dose.  I'm nearly feeling 100% now. Long story. I just came back to put an update on my personal thread.

 

I see you're tapering again! How's it going?

 

Re Buteyko, I find it's best to find a practitioner who can teach you. Trying to learn off the internet is a bit like playing Chinese whispers - you may not get the whole story and you may miss important bits of the process.

 

xx

[peggy]

i started a slow taper again about 12 months ago.. not sure why i decided again after the horror of last time but i was fortunate that i had stabilised after a few months back on my dose - so i had two years of feeling solid - you might decide again in a couple of years to dip your toes in.  I am now down again to near my tipping point, so i am taking very small cuts. I will probably also start to take longer holds.

 

i might take a look at Buteyko to see if there is a practitioner around here - i am all for finding as many tools whilst well to help keep me stable!

 

be well xx

[basildev]

Hey Peggy,

 

congrats on starting up again.

 

I'll send you an email to say hi:)