Even CP measurement can trigger negative cardiovascular changes in some heart patients. Note that other groups of people can do breath holds without any negative effects, but blood vessels of some heart patients can constrict due to too quick changes in blood gas composition. This effect was known to Dr. K. Buteyko who described it in his medical publication in the 1960’s.
When doing Buteyko breathing exercises, various pauses and reduced breathing:
If you feel uncomfortable/overstressed after doing the CP test and any other pauses (including maximum and extended pauses) and your heart rate gets higher (3-5 min after the test), do not do any breath holds. It is a known effect that some groups of people get a different cardiovascular response to sudden and sharp changes in arterial CO2. Breathing sessions and exercises should lead to higher CP, lower heart rate and improved feeling of well-being. Hence, you need to adjust your breathing exercises to your current (temporary) state by avoiding uncomfortable pauses and focusing on reduced breathing.
Your goal for Buteyko breathing exercises is to reduce heart rate after the session. Start with the relaxation of the diaphragm exercise that does not create any sensation of air hunger. Practice this exercise for several days and then try the CP test. Later you can proceed to more demanding exercises and start practicing reduced breathing without any pauses (as it is described on the web page Learn Buteyko reduced breathing).
When breathing, after some days/weeks of practice becomes lighter, ability to do pauses is improved (you can safely do, for example, the CP measurement) and they are safe and useful to do. For example, with over 20 s CP such people are comfortable doing the CPs and even practicing reduced breathing immediately after the CP without any unpleasant sensations. Then you can practice a regular Buteyko breathing exercise session.
When such students (panic attacks, heart disease, or migraine headaches) get over 30 s CP, no restrictions are usually necessary, extended and maximum pauses are safe, and these students can join the main group in further breathing normalization.
Keep in mind, that at any stage, it is important that you feel better after the breathing sessions and your heart rate should become lower either immediately after the breathing session or 5-10 minutes later.
Restrictions, limits, and temporary contraindications:Respiratory disorders involving lungs
Respiratory disorders involving lungs (asthma, bronchitis, COPD, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, tuberculosis; pulmonary edema; etc.)
These groups of people should be gentle in relation to their damaged lungs tissue. Intensive mechanical stimulation of their lungs (in terms of amplitude and velocity of inhalation and exhalations) during initial stages of learning should be avoided. Later, they can gradually increase these parameters.
Hence, they should avoid any fast inhalation and exhalations, as well as maximum inflations and deflations of their lungs. All exercises are done in a comfortable way with good care for the current abilities of their lungs.
You should not have more than 30 s for your CP (preferably less than 27 s) at any time of the day to prevent rejection of the transplanted organs. When the CP gets more than 30 s (it corresponds to transition to the next health zone according to the Buteyko Table of Health Zones), the immune system becomes more sensitive to foreign tissues and cells and can launch an attack on these tissues in the attempt to repair them.
The main danger for pregnancy is spontaneous abortion during a cleansing reaction due to very fast CP progress. For example, a pregnant woman starts with about 12-15 s CP and achieves 35-40 s CP in 4-6 days due to intensive breathing retraining. The immune system becomes highly sensitive to abnormal tissues and is able to reject transplanted organs, as we considered above. Similarly, the immune system at higher CPs can easily reject an embryo at the state when it is not yet attached to the womb of the mother (the first trimester of the pregnancy). The chances of spontaneous abortion are much higher, if the growing embryo accumulated medical drugs or if the mother have been taking medication before and after getting pregnant.
In order to prevent this, the woman should have a defensive program of breathing retraining based on prevention of CP losses (episodes of hyperventilation) due to overeating, mouth breathing, poor posture, morning hyperventilation, etc. The rate of CP progress should be limited:
- for women who used medical drugs or were exposed to toxic chemicals by 2 s in one week;
- for other pregnant women by 3 s in one week.
Brain traumas and acute bleeding injuries
Hyperventilation is a normal and useful reaction to bleeding injuries. Reduced CO2 content in the blood decreases blood flow to vital organs and other tissues of the human body. This prevents excessive blood losses and can save one’s life. Emergency professionals even coined a term “permissive hyperventilation” that is used for people with, for example, brain trauma.
Later, when bleeding ceased, it is possible to follow the normal program, if there are no any other restrictions.
Restrictions, limits, and temporary contraindications
Blood clots
Reduced breathing dilates arteries and arterioles and makes blood thinner so that an existing blood clot could get loose and travel via the blood. The released clot may block blood flow through the artery leading to the brain or heart muscle and cause death. Hence, a person with a blood clot will benefit only from defensive measures in relation to breathing retraining (prevention of CP drops due to mouth breathing, sleeping on one’s back, correct posture, etc.). These defensive activities prevent periods of hyperventilation that make blood thicker and the clot larger.
Later, when the clot is dissolved or removed, the person can follow the program of breathing retraining adjusted to their new health state.
Restrictions, limits, and temporary contraindications
Acute stages (exacerbations) of life-threatening conditions
Infarct, stroke, cardiac ischemia, severe asthma attack, metastasizing cancer, septic shock, multiple organ failure, near-death experience, etc.
Modern EM (Emergency Medicine) professionals developed many successful and useful methods and techniques for people in critical care and life-threatening states. Breathing retraining cannot replace these techniques (CPR, breathing pure oxygen, etc.) when people are unconscious or are unable to have a good control of their actions this due to their very poor health state.
Breathing exercises cannot stop quickly progressing metastasizing cancer.
Later, when the person is in a stable state, they can follow the Buteyko method program of breathing retraining adjusted to their new health state.
Restrictions, limits, and temporary contraindications
Insulin-dependent diabetes (type 2 diabetes)
Intensive breathing sessions and quick CP growth increase the organism’s sensitivity to circulating insulin and increase production of its own insulin due to better perfusion and oxygenation of the pancreas. This can happen due to a single breathing session or due to a fast CP growth within hours or days of first lessons. Hence, taking the same insulin dose can easily lead to hypoglycemic shock, which is potentially fatal.
In order to prevent these complications, the student should:
1) eat a small snack immediately after (or just before) a breathing session; for the pre-session go for soft foods, like soy milk and/or honey, or very well chewed bread, piece of cheese, nut butter, etc.;
2) adjust daily insulin requirements to their current state by having good blood glucose control (periodic measurements), consulting their GP or family physician or endocrinologist about decreased blood glucose values, and asking them about reduced insulin intake.
Most diabetics, when they have the cooperation of their doctors, can safely decrease their insulin intake about 2 times after they start their program of breathing retraining described here.
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