My mom has been suffering from anxiety attacks for a couple of years now. Whenever she gets nervous or these attacks start she says she is hyper ventilating. She feels dizzy and her body starts tingling. Then she takes a paper bag and puts it on her mouth and breathes with it, so that these symptoms can go. Can anybody explain to me what exactly causes this hyper ventilation? Thx in advance
Hyperventilation happens when a person, overcome by their fears, begins to breathe at an inappropriately rapid rate, 40 to 100 times per minute. This fast breathing causes the level of carbon dioxide in his blood to fall rapidly. The symptoms are dizziness; fainting spells; numbness and tingling in the hands, feet, and around the mouth; muscle spasm in the hands and wrists; and, occasionally, seizures. She places this paper bag over her nose and mouth, breathes in and out of this bag, and re-breathes her own expired carbon dioxide. This contributes to normalization of the level in the bloodstream and correction of the symptoms.