Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

How to Prevent Many Seizures in 2-3 Minutes (Simple Breathing Exercise)

Sat, 08/28/2010 - 12:14

In 1960s, leading Russian Physiologist Doctor KP Buteyko, MD PhD and his medical colleagues applied this breathing exercise on hundreds of patients with seizures and epilepsy in the former USSR-Russia. These MDs used the Buteyko breathing medical technique to prevent and treat partial and simple seizures.(I translated many medical people written by Russians.)

Many seizures can develop within some seconds. Hence, to apply this exercises asap is crucial for success. It is sometimes so that one can anticipate seizures and able to control own breathing so that to change the usual development of events.

Steps to follow (or how to execute the exercise)

Start this breath exercise as soon as you anticipate or feel that something wrong is going on with your body and/or mind. Fear and anxiety often trigger ineffective respiratory pattern. Breathing usually becomes even deeper or more irregular, and fast too. These are symptoms of breathing too much.

You have a different and opposite goal. Breathe regularly and only through the nose, while taking small or short inhalations using the diaphragm, instead of taking your large and quick inhales and exhales using your chest muscles. In order to exhale just relax the diaphragm and count for about 3-4 seconds for each exhale. You have to breathe regularly all the time during this exercise.

Due to this shallow/reduced breathing, you should get air hunger or desire to breathe more. It should appear in some seconds after you start the exercise. Maintain this air hunger so that extra carbon dioxide in your blood and brain will calm down the overexcited nerve cells and lessen their threshold of excitability closer to normal numbers. CO2 will also improve blood delivery for the brain. Improved blood supply to your brain
will raise oxygen and glucose transport and increase CO2 level in the brain as well. This is the physiological mechanism and cause of success for this exercise.

Additional parameters for your success

Epileptics are generally chest breathers. This significantly diminishes blood oxygenation and worsen symptoms and duration of seizures. Lower parts of the lungs do not get fresh or new air. Consequently, the success rate for this exercise is higher if you can employ your diaphragm or abdomen or belly for your inhalations, instead of chest.

Note that mouth breathing drastically worsens symptoms of seizures and can lead to more severe types of seizures (especially during sleep). Hence, you should take care about nasal breathing 24-7 or long before you get any signs of seizures. Find an internet Manual "How to maintain nasal breathing 24/7".

Many night time or sleep seizures can also be prevented by correction of risk lifestyle factors. More details about these techniques can be found on this page:http://www.normalbreathing.com/diseases-stop-seizures.php This resource page also quotes many western studies where medical doctors used CO2 to treat seizures or applied some techniques to prevent ineffective or heavy breathing in patients with epilepsy. 

 

Comments

Breathing to prevent seizures

Submitted by Eileenmorr on Wed, 2019-03-13 - 00:12
Are you still practicing Buteyko breathing? How are your seizures? I am just starting Buteyko and am very interested in learning more. It is disgraceful that neurologists are so unhelpful. I really want to get off meds.

Re: How to Prevent Many Seizures in 2-3 Minutes

Submitted by croesus on Thu, 2013-09-12 - 09:25

 

The importance to epileptics of breathing properly does not receive enough attention.         

 

The importance to epileptics of breathing properly does not receive enough attention.         

Re: How to Prevent Many Seizures in 2-3 Minutes

Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2013-09-12 - 14:35

Breathing can help for some. It will not help me because I have no warnings. As for auras those are seizures in themselves

I am not saying these procedures will not help anybody I just know I am in a seizure when it hits me as are many people. Letting people know this will help them if they use the information and they do have time.

Breathing properly can also help when applying for a job or going into an imprtant meeting. It clears the head and keeps the body functioning right.

I have atreial flutter which causes my heart to beat faaster than it should and I get it to go away relaxing and breathing deeply

Breathing can help for some. It will not help me because I have no warnings. As for auras those are seizures in themselves

I am not saying these procedures will not help anybody I just know I am in a seizure when it hits me as are many people. Letting people know this will help them if they use the information and they do have time.

Breathing properly can also help when applying for a job or going into an imprtant meeting. It clears the head and keeps the body functioning right.

I have atreial flutter which causes my heart to beat faaster than it should and I get it to go away relaxing and breathing deeply

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.