This is a classic home remedy and something that we occasionally rely on in the emergency room, but not everyone who is hyperventilating should be given the bag. Hyperventilation is a fancy word for rapid deep breathing. It is usually caused by anxiety or panic, but many conditions can cause hyperventilation including: asthma, heart attack, bleeding, pneumonia, overdoses, and stimulant use. In patients with heart attacks, collapsed lungs, or blood clots in the lungs death can occur if they are misdiagnosed and treated with paper bag rebreathing. Once we decide that you don’t have something serious, we will reach for the bag. So let your doctor make this diagnosis!
Breathing into a paper bag works by making you rebreathe the carbon dioxide that you are exhaling. This causes the blood levels of carbon dioxide to rise, and slows your breathing.
Instead of using the bag, you can slow your breathing by breathing through pursed lips or by breathing from the diaphragm. If you do reach for the bag, know that there is no magic chemical in the brown paper bag, and you probably could use your empty McDonald’s bag or even your Prada purse.
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"Why should you breathe into a paper bag when hyperventilating?" was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 pm.