TREATING FOOD INTOLERANCE: HYPERVENTILATION AS A SOMEWHAT LESS COMMON PROBLEM
Those who specialize in treating food intolerance regard hyperventilation as a somewhat less common problem, but one which can masquerade as food Sensitivity. More importantly, they recognize a minority of patients who are both food sensitive and hyperventilators. They suspect that the anxiety caused by the food reactions was originally responsible for the change in breathing pattern, and that the two disorders aggravate one another. A number of these patients are very seriously ill and appear to react to almost every imaginable food and chemical. Some doctors call them ‘universal reactors’.
Another school of thought maintains that a mild form of hyperventilation can be a feature, perhaps a symptom, of food intolerance. According to these doctors, when the incriminated foods are avoided, or neutralization therapy provided (see p286), the hyperventilation automatically disappears, without the patient even being aware of it. They suggest that the adverse reaction to the food has some direct effect on centres in the brain which control breathing.
Anyone who shows a large number of the symptoms listed in Table 2 should consider the possibility that they are hyperventilating. The most characteristic symptoms are numbness, tingling and a ‘spaced-out’ feeling. Hyperventilation can be tested for, but not necessarily treated, at home. To test yourself, choose a time when your symptoms are severe, take a fairly large, clean paper bag, and hold it over your mouth and nose. Breathe as you normally would for a few minutes. If you begin to feel better, then it is likely that hyperventilation is the cause of the trouble. By rebreathing expelled air from the bag, you are increasing your intake of C02, which raises its level in the blood.
If you are hyperventilating, but also have food intolerance, you may find that the hyperventilation clears up spontaneously when you undertake an elimination diet. If it does not, then you need to be retrained into a normal breathing pattern, and your family doctor should be able to refer you to someone (eg a physiotherapist) who can do this.
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