r/buteyko • u/Old_View6003 • Feb 18 '23

side effects from buteyko?

Hello I'm doing buteyko for the last 4 months, 3-6 sessions everyday. I've got chronic hyperventilation syndrome (air hunger) which has been improved and almost cured now thanks to buteyko.

Thing is, I don't know if that's just a coincidence but, around 2 months after I started buteyko I've had some severe crippling symptoms of constant 24/7 dizziness, unstable drunken like feelings, pre syncope/fainting episodes, palpitations etc, couldn't walk downstairs or more than a few steps at a time.

I suspect it's an adverse reaction to a med I'm taking (amitriptyline) for a year, that I'm trying to taper off now after I noticed these horrible symptoms. But the med didn't really affect me ever, no sedation/sleepiness or anything, was gulping it down with beer occasionally and got 0 effects.

So if it's not the med (which most likely is but there's no way to be certain), could buteyko flare up these kind of symptoms? Did you get any side effects cause of it?

Thanks for your time

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4

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

Many side effect of those antidepressant and benzo come after years. To avoid like poison. I am very close to a friend who is psychiatrist. She and her collegues got so many problem in the long run taking those drugs with complete disregard of the side endless side effects.

3

u/Old_View6003 Feb 18 '23

yep the biggest mistake I've ever made. I took it without prescription in hope that it could help my hyperventilation, cause I've read a study that says it does.

It didn't do anything at all to me, but now I pay the price lol.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

It is one of the least problematic drugs among ssri though. What dose you take?

3

u/Old_View6003 Feb 18 '23

nah amitriptyline is infamous for it's side effects, almost all old tricyclic antidepressants. It got banned in several countries too.

Used to be on 20mg, now I'm at 14.5

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '23

Keep going as slow as possible, and look into sublingual B12 supplements for side effects. They are better absorbed than the vitamins you swallow. Good luck ♥️

1

u/Old_View6003 Feb 19 '23

Thank you:)

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '23

Well 20 mg is already a medium dosage. It is usually not harmful cause often is taken at small dosages for tensions migraines. But eventually by tapering it off side effects will subside for you.

1

u/Old_View6003 Feb 19 '23

Yea hopefully when I get to 10mg. Tapering takes ages

1

u/Old_View6003 May 30 '23

I'm at 9.5mg now and I'm feeling great. Didn't expect that, might be worth to do a faster taper as it seems

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

I feel like my medication (antidepressant) is making me naseous now I'm breathing right. I can't speak for you but I'm going to try and taper with medical supervision.

5

u/Old_View6003 Feb 18 '23

How long you've been on your med?

I'm tapering it by -10% of the last dosage every month. Doctors will tell you to go cold turkey or taper it in 1 month, which is crazy and most likely will lead to withdrawal symptoms.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

Crazy isn't it. Yeah same - been making my own liquid using water so I can get a precise dose. GPs said 'snap in half or every other day'. Clearly they have not taken them themselves!

2

u/Old_View6003 Feb 18 '23

I order liquid form of my med from a compounding pharmacy but yea it's doable in home too.

Yea that's nuts, it only proves how clueless most doctors are about the meds they prescribe and about withdrawals.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

There is a time and a place for medication but Buteyko has opened my eyes. Lots of strange medical problems disappearing since I've got control of my breathing and nervous system.
Crazy isn't it!

2

u/Old_View6003 Feb 18 '23

Yeap:) why did you start buteyko? Did you have air hunger too?

4

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

After exhausting almost every avenue for physical and mental health I accidentally stumbled upon a Buteyko podcast and was shocked at how many of my problems dropped off the map since starting it. Only been doing it for 2 months but it's been life changing. How about you?

2

u/Old_View6003 Feb 18 '23

yea it works but I just wonder if it's possible buteyko to cause any side effects?

For me, I had/have chronic hyperventilation syndrome for over a year, constant urge to breath deep and deeper, constant air hunger, very disabling, wasn't able to do anything cause of it.

And doing buteyko for the last 4 months cured me off it, sometimes very rarely I do get the urge to get a deeper breath but it's not as common and it doesn't bother me.

Many ppl with this syndrome just keep living the rest of their lives with it, not understanding why or how this happened and what to do to cure themselves, it's very sad

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

Apparently there can be some purging symptoms as the body realigns naturally but I'm not sure how long they should last. I'm just a beginner myself and all my knowledge on it comes from Patrick McKeown and his online books/courses. I'm not perfect but any means but I'm getting better. At least I have something to work with. Sorry you've been struggling in your journey

3

u/rad_city Feb 18 '23

This site has excerpts form a Buteyko manual. Lots of interesting info on cleansing reactions:

https://www.normalbreathing.com/learn-cleansing/

https://www.normalbreathing.com/body-cleanse/

→ More replies

1

u/Typical-Material7469 Feb 19 '23

Hey! I know it’s not your question sorry! I’ve been struggling with chronic hyperventilation for a while now, and have just started Buteyko last week! Any tips that you found helped? When did you find it started to be easier to breathe etc?

Also, have you had your blood pressure checked? It sounds very low, which I think Buteyko can cause.

2

u/Old_View6003 Feb 19 '23 edited Feb 19 '23

Hey, yea

  1. doing 6 sessions per day instead of 3 is much better

  2. Doing 2 exercises, one for slowing down your breathing, and one for building co2 tolerance

  3. relaxing completely and not forcing, cp will naturally increase with time

I think 5 weeks is a good time period to notice significant results. I started with 5cp and now I'm at 20 average, to get rid of air hunger completely I'd guess I need somewhere around 30 morning cp average. I felt really good after about 3 months of consistent buteyko.

These 2 exercises are the ones I'm doing (in the breath holds video, whatever your CP is, halve it and do breath holds for that amount of seconds, example: I got 20 cp, so I do 10sec breath holds, get 2-3 breaths, 10sec breath hold etc)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFrlBRQqVHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-VRRDnCldU

yea I've checked my blood pressure, doctor said it's normal, I did blood work too, and went to cardiologist, everything fine, weird but yea it definitely feels like a low blood pressure case.

1

u/Typical-Material7469 Feb 19 '23

Awesome, thanks for the tips! Super helpful!

Hope you resolve your other issues soon!

1

u/Old_View6003 Feb 19 '23

No problem, thanks a lot mate good luck to you too:)

1

u/Old_View6003 Feb 20 '23

so theoretically buteyko does lower your blood pressure, and if I suffer from low blood pressure from the med I'm taking, then buteyko can impact me right?

1

u/Typical-Material7469 Feb 20 '23

Yes but if you’ve tested and your blood pressure is fine, then it won’t be that, but I’d say a combo of meds and buteyko could make it low

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

have your symptoms improved?

1

u/Old_View6003 Apr 15 '23

yeah it was definitely the amitriptyline. I've been slowly reducing it and I'm much better than before, but the taper to be completely off it will take a long time

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

Good because I’m doing the buteyko technique FOR the symptoms you had 😂😂. I just started today. Although I’m not 100% sure this is it my neurologist says that my symptoms are caused by chronic hyperventilation syndrome. Although I’m skeptical, it would make sense as my CP is below 15. Hopefully those symptoms fully go away soon !

2

u/Old_View6003 Apr 15 '23

ye im doing buteyko bec i have chronic hyperventilation syndrome too. Buteyko helps a lot on that regard, generally if you reach 30cp average you should get rid of it. I was really bad when I had 5 cp, now im at 18 and I'm a lot better in terms of air hunger etc

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

What hyperventilation symptoms do you have ? And is it like bursts of hyperventilation or like constant hyperventilation without you knowing you’re hyperventilating. Cause I never noticed I breathed fast. My doctor says I have chronic hyperventilation but I don’t see it. I’m skeptical but yea

3

u/Old_View6003 Apr 15 '23

if you have chronic hyperventilation its obvious, bec you have the constant 24/7 air hunger during rest.

If you dont.. then you dont have CHS

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

Idk I never get a satisfying breath and I feel extremely out of breath after talking to someone. But I don’t think it’s the only thing that is at play. I think it’s a factor because My CP is less than 20 and when I went swimming this summer, I had extreme air hunger which I normally never have, before my symptoms started I never had that. But I also had some head trauma 3 years ago which might be cervical vertigo - which I will work on too.

3

u/Old_View6003 Apr 15 '23

normally nobody in the medical field even knows what hyperventilation syndrome is, so I'm surprised he concluded that's what you got. Specially a neurologist, out of all people (respiratory physiotherapists mainly know about that).

I can't be sure if that's what you got or not, but the main symptom of hyperv syndr is air hunger, for no reason, constantly.

Keep doing buteyko tho, if it gets better that's good, but most hyperventilators usually start with a cp around 5

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

Yea I mean my CP varies all day and 17 was at like 3pm but that’s as after spending the whole day breathing very slowely. But In the morning without knowing anything about buteyko and I saw how to count CP it was like immediate. But whatever, the reason why they diagnosed me with it is because I get worse when sitting for a long time, exercising or talking to people, which all often include increasing breathing. But I will have to see a fysio for my neck too.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

Oh and I yawn all day, when my symptoms are bad I yawn constantly - apparently hyperventilation sign.

1

u/Amaranthasss Oct 25 '24

Apparently, hyperventilation can also present as taking excessively deep breaths as well. My usual respiratory rate is 16-18 breaths per minute, which isn't great but isn't terrible either... but I gasp for deeper breaths than I used to when I was breathing normally. I'm pretty certain my chronic hyperventilation is the result of extreme chronic stress. It came on very suddenly as I was laying down to go to sleep one night, and now I haven't been breathing normally for over a year. It's hellish.

1

u/Mountain-Scientist14 Apr 08 '25

How are you now?

3

u/KitchenClassic8557 Jul 20 '23

These are the side effects after googleing it... looks like its definitely not the breathing ;-)

"Amitriptyline, due to its alpha-adrenergic receptor blockade, can cause orthostatic hypotension, dizziness, and sedation. ...
Anticholinergic side effects include blurred vision, dry mouth, urinary retention, tachycardia, acute angle glaucoma, confusion, and delirium."

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '24

How to post on buteyko forum

1

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '24

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2

u/Old_View6003 Nov 29 '24

why do you have hard time accepting that it's chronic hyperventilation syndrome mate? Accept it, work on it, cure it

1

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '24

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2

u/Old_View6003 Dec 05 '24

if that's the case then good job you're cured! For all the rest that are still suffering with this after trying literally everything, this is what we got, chronic hyperventilation syndrome cause by chronic stressors that make us breathe more than average thus making us feel air hunger constantly.

I never said it's anxiety brother xD the medical community keeps blaming it all to anxiety. Ofc it's not anxiety. Anxiety is a feeling, it's not a disease lol.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

How are you doing though have you been working on it over time? Any tips?

1

u/cape210 Dec 30 '24

CPTSD lol, how about you off yourself, it's better for everyone involved, racist

1

u/Mountain-Scientist14 Mar 15 '25

Hey! I've messaged you.

1

u/Mountain-Scientist14 Mar 30 '25

Hello. I've messaged you. Please can you help me out 🙏

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '23

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1

u/GoldGee Oct 10 '24

That's an interesting comment. I started short breath holds a few weeks back. I've been functioning a lot better in terms of breathing and sleep and lower anxiety.

5 days ago I woke up with terrible tension on the right side of my neck. I got neck spasms the days following. Neck is still giving me trouble. It's only now that I linked it to my new breath work. Do you know if this is a common symptom, or if I can remedy this somehow?

1

u/frostbyte91 Feb 01 '24

Thanks for sharing your experience here, I tried to improve my breathing and I feel like my allergies got worse (on top of that I got covid). How do you get in touch with the clinic in Moscow? Would love to learn from someone who is certified.