Hyperventilation and menopause: what you need to know

Normal breathing is calm and effortless. When you are physically active, your breathing speeds up because your body requires more oxygen. This happens automatically. 

When you hyperventilate, it’s as if you’ve lost the ability to control your breathing. You breathe deeper and faster than normal. You feel like you can't take a deep enough breath. This can lead to feelings of anxiety or panic, which further exacerbates the situation.  

Many women experience a host of symptoms as they go through menopause, such as hot flashes, sleep problems and mood swings. 

This form of hyperventilation has a psychological cause. It can, for example, be caused by stress (which you are more sensitive to at this stage of life), feelings of panic or anxiousness. Also, a lot of things are changing in your body. It is common for women on the path to menopause to 'not feel like themselves'. This, too, can make you anxious. If these feelings are overwhelming and too much for the body to process, this can lead to hyperventilation.   

Besides mental challenges, physical symptoms such as hot flashes can also be a factor. The stress of experiencing a hot flash can unintentionally alter the rhythm of your breath. The result is that you start breathing in and out too quickly. Your body gets too much oxygen, which can lead to hyperventilation. 

You can have breathing problems or feel dizzy without hyperventilating. Research shows that changes in sex hormones around menopause can also affect lung function. Lung function decline generally starts at around the age of 35 years, but low oestrogen levels in postmenopause can accelerate this process. This is because the elastic properties of lung tissue are also affected by the loss of oestrogen around menopause.

Fortunately, only a small proportion of women suffer from breathing problems during menopause. Nevertheless, these problems can still be very disabling for those affected. Due to the fact that menopause is different for everyone, it’s difficult to pinpoint the stage when you are most likely to experience respiratory problems. 

However, shortness of breath and other breathing problems caused by falling oestrogen levels and reduced lung function seem to be more prevalent in postmenopause.

In many cases, hyperventilation, breathlessness and panic attacks can be controlled. Here are some helpful tips: 

• Do regular breathing exercises. Breathing exercises help calm the nervous system. 
• Be physically active and sing! Walking, running, cycling, but also strength training and Pilates, are good for your heart and lungs. Evidence indicates that singing also has a positive impact on lung health. 
• Reduce stress and take breaks more often. Make sure you get seven to eight hours of sleep a day, step outside for some fresh air every day, and do things that relax you and make you happy (like walking, reading, calling a friend, doing a sudoku puzzle). 
• Talk about your feelings. What causes you to start hyperventilating? Anxiety or certain thoughts or feelings? Just the act of talking can relieve the stress being caused by whatever the problem is.  

If you start hyperventilating, the goal is to raise the carbon dioxide level in your blood. Cup your hands and encircle your nose and mouth, then breathe in and out. It also helps to relax your body, and to sit in an upright position to create more space in your chest cavity.