I am with user turnitaround on this subject – have low confidence in current science. A top researcher in NYC that I waited 6 months to see prescribed diazepam and CBT. The former is toxic to the body, the latter is not covered by insurance. Upon becoming familiar with the writings of Buteyko and especially his follower Artour Rakhimov, and trying out some of the methods they propose (such as mouth taping at night, breath retraining), I’ve become convinced that this is going to be my permanent cure for all problems, especially anxiety. I’ve already defeated pre-diabetes, high blood pressure and sinus problems with their method, permanently. For the first time in my life I have real hope of defeating PPPD for good. Just as soon as my control pause reaches 50 (current value is about 25).
Do you have PPPD? I have struggled severe anxiety my entire life with panic attacks. The fact that i got an actual organic neuro-otologic illness like BPPV, I believe, (partly) has set off my brain to believe and worry that it is dizzy all the time.
The definition of PPPD fits me exactly and I am hyper alert constantly and constantly checking to see if I am dizzy. Can you recommend some literature?
yes, was diagnosed with PPPD a month ago by 1 of the very best research MDs in NYC.
Also have experienced recurring panic attacks for 9 years but not any more, ever since I started breath retraining.
Do yourself a favor, measure the so called control pause. Share the number here if you don’t mind.
There should be no gasping for air on breath resumption for the number to be valid.
How do I do that?
Please also share if you have similar symptoms:
Unbalanced
Panic/anxiety
Brain fog
feel motion trail when turn the head - feels like there is an increased sensitivity to motion
Can’t stop thinking about being dizzy
Heavy head
Light sensititivy
Sensitive to noise
Swaying while at computer
Strong sense of disequilibrium when moving around
Dizzy when looking up from computer
Feel dizzier when talking like not getting enough oxygen
Feel derealization
If I’m doing it correctly while holding my nose - I got 4.68 before the time I took my next breath
yes, i have most of the above. Symptoms are at their lowest in the morning. Late afternoons on my way home they are the worst. I speculate that exposure to computer monitors and my smart phone for 8 hours is making things worse.
Motion, especially head bobbing is making my PPPD worse. I try to look ahead at some distant point to become less sensitive to motion. I also try to focus on other objects or people, to stop self checking for dizziness.
Flat, smooth sidewalks are the worst.
Uneven, bumpy sidewalks are best for maintaining balance while walking. I also try to follow lines along crevices between tiles unconsciously, a line tends to give me greater stability. Speeding gait up tends to help too but only a little.
Google “control pause rakhimov” without the double quotes to find out how to measure it.
I did twice and first time was 4.68 before I needed another breath without forcing it and second time was 6.8… what does that mean
Find out more what it means on the net.
The control pause is a measure of how big your oxygen stores are in the blood.
Buteyko stated that values below 4 are death territory.
Below 20 is pretty bad also. 40 and above is considered good. I am trying to raise mine from about 25 to 50.
It will take some time but I’m very determined to get there.
Wow than I’m seriously hurting
Do you feel your symptoms wax and wane throughout the day? Around afternoon I am so dizzy and sitting in front of the computer makes me feel like i am on a boat - i just want to hold to something.
yes, computer screens and smartphones make my dizziness worse. I’m pretty sure that if I quit my job and live on a farm, away from TVs, computers, etc I’d feel much better. But it’s not a viable option.
I’ve noticed correlation with quality of sleep, good sleep less dizziness, bad sleep more dizziness. Cold wind in winter also makes my dizziness worse.
you sure you don’t have pre-diabetes? What is your A1C reading? Consistently above 5.8 means you have it.
The sad thing is most doctors won’t even think of measuring it. My dizziness was similar to yours at the height of my pre-diabetes, like having to hold on to my desk to prevent falling down. It was that bad.
I’ve measured it before meals and it’s 4.3
A1C is not correlated with meals at all. It measures blood cells that have a lifetime of 2 to 3 months. Thus ppl can’t cheat even if they wanted to. It’s a blood test, you can’t measure it yourself. Usually takes 2-5 days to get the results.
Oh ok I’m going to check that out !
Do you think hearing fluctuations could change within 5 minutes? I went to get a hearing test today and the first time, the Audiologist said my right ear was weak for low pitched sounds indicative of Menieres. I asked her to repeat the test because I had my daugther in my lap and she was rustling through my purse.
Second time, 5 minutes later, it was normal. Could Menieres fluctuate that fast?
here is a thought, try supplementation with magnesium for a month before making judgements about Menier’s. Squirt liquid magnesium chloride into a cup filled with freshly squeezed lime juice and water and drink that twice a day. If you don’t get better then it may be worthwhile to undergo another test.
The second test was normal and she said she used different head phones… could be my daughter was making noise I couldn’t hear the low pitched sounds! The fact that my dizziness waxes and wanes through the day, PPPD sounds more likely.