NikkiB's new thread, new life

[DonH]

As I was reading your post, it sounded like it was going to end up being hyperventilation. It is amazing how this feeds on itself and you just can't stop it. I'm a paramedic and have seen this dozens of times. However, I had never expierenced it myself and would never have guessed how difficult it is to try to slow your breathing down. I have had it happen to me a total of three times. The really wierd part for me is it has always happened while I am sleeping. Strange as that sounds. I wake up and after the first time, could tell "it's happening again" and within minutes I am shivering uncontrolable and breathing about 30 times a minute with my arms and even back hurting like hell. I have gotten in the hot tub to warm me and then just try as hard as I can to slow my breathing down. In the old days we used to put a paperbag over the person's mouth so they would take in less oxygen. That's not advocated anymore unless you can monitor o2 levels while doing it.

Now that you know what it is, if it would happen again, you have to really try to slow down your breathing. If you do that, things will come back to normal. If you don't you will likely pass out at some point which is your bodies way of returning you to normal. After you pass out, your breathing should return to normal and "fix" you. And yes, it sucks that your husband had to be there, but does he really know what it's likely related to? Since it took you so much by surprise, I'm wondering if he hasn't put two and two together either.