Question
I am 50 year old female from Australia,I suffer from panic and agoraphobia since I was 21 year old ...I lived by the sea for 2 years then shifted to Queensland which is sub tropical...when I was here for a few weeks I got a eye virus...it seemed to go on from that to terribly burnt out sinuses and blocked ringing pulled up ears and electrical zaps through my ear.
    I had catscan on the brain that said all clear...lung xray all clear ...EKG normal.
I was eaking each day dry heaving and tummy burning and I could not eat, so they did a cat scan and ultra sound on the abdomen which showed all clear but for a simple cyst on the liver,...then i had a barium swallow that was all clear, my ears get so bad that I could not open my mouth without them squelching and the noise drove me crazy.
   I had a spirometor test which was excellent and I had 100% oxygen in my blood...I caught a gastric bug that really knocked me around ...I had blood tests...allnormal but B12 a bit low and iron low but next test it went up
    For an hour everyday my friend and I walk and where we have shifted to is really very hilly, of a night we walk for 2 hours as well.My question is why do I feel so weak and breath wat too fast and my body feels exhausted and drained and yet I can walk for hours up hills and all around.The mornings my legs feel empty ,stiff and tight,and if I sit with crossed legs on my lounge my legs feel weak and numb.
    I mainly sit crossed legged on the floor, I seem to breath too fast and feel weak while at home but alright when walking,I have not been eating well really only one meal a day but good meal.Am I unfit or is this just nerves?
 
 Helen  

Answer
Dear Helen,

You've given me a clue about your situation with your description of your breathing.

I would say that a good starting point would be to normalize your breathing patterns.  There may be several things going on, from abnormal breathing (chest breathing vs. diaphragmatic breathing), to incomplete exhalation and hyperventilation, to a habitually-triggered startle reflex.

I might suggest getting a copy of Thomas Hanna's book, Somatics -- Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility and Health.  Learn about the three reflexes of stress and start to get control of them with the exercises found therein.  Those exercises are also found on Biokinetics/Hanna Somatics, program 1:  Reflexes 101.

I have also done an audio-instructional program on CD -- "Calm and Energize" - somatic breathing training to reduce stress.

Both programs can be ordered from Somatics on the Web (somatics.com).

Finally, you might look up a practitioner of NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP) and have some sessions.

Your problem sounds functional (dysfunctional), not organic.

best wishes on your progress,

Lawrence Gold