A recent study found that a certain subgroup of CFS patients may have a disordered breathing pattern, and might benefit from breathing retaining. 5 out of the 20 subjects that they studied had an asynchronous breathing pattern and could correct it with retraining. The study did not say whether there was any improvement in symptoms once this correction was made.

There also have been other breathing issues found in patients. Such as the feeling of “air hunger” or sleep apnea.

The feeling of air hunger or not feeling like you can get a full breath of air is often found with the co-existing problem orthostatic hypotension. In this case the body isnt keeping maintaining adequate blood flow, and the body feels starved for oxygen.

Sleep apnea is another breathing problem which may be common in CFS patients. It is a disorder in which a person take long pauses between breaths during sleep. This can occur many times thoughout the night and can caused lower oxygen levels in the blood. Daytime fatigue and concentration difficulties can result from sleep apnea.

For a subset of patients, breathing disorders like sleep apnea may be the cause of their chronic fatigue. But many times it is another symptom.

Also here is a post by a forum member that has recently been diagnosed with a breathing disorder.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Treatments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.