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View Full Version : Hyperventilation...how to stop thinking about it



phix95
05-07-2007, 10:22 PM
may have posted this before...
I was diagnosed w/depression and panic about 16 years ago. It's gotten better.
But whereas I used to hyperventilate when I felt like I 'couldn't breathe good', now I think about my breathing, just think it, and it sometimes happens. If my mind isnt occupied, it will go to my breathing. And I think about how slow I should be breathing and how much time should be between breaths (i dont count out it seconds or anything; I just breathe rhythmically). So it becomes not automated but a controlled thing.
How do I stop thinking about it? All my "downtime" (as my therapist calls it) is occupied w/these thoughts. I just want my mind to be blank when i'm relaxing, not thinking about breathing!

Does anyone have any techniques or even a med that helps w/the thoughts? I'm currently on (and have been for quite a while) prozac and xanax.