I have an opposite problem. When I went through Duke Pulmonary Rehab program—5 weeks, 5 days a week, 2 1/2 hours of walk, bike, strength, etc they taught and preached breathing all the time, I.e. using your diaphragm, push out your stomach to breathe in deeply through your nose BUT then purse lips to breathe out slowly and fully. Brochiectasis, they said, is less a problem of getting in enough air, more a problem of getting all of it out. My problem now? Although I do nose breathe most of the time, anytime I’m the least bit stressed I start doing the pursed lip. My husband and my daughter call me out on it. “You’re doing it again” when I’m not exercising. They tell me it looks really weird. It’s a habit I’m trying to break.

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