1. < Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19

Deep Breathing to Stop a COVID Crash

Posted by baker00l @baker00l, Jan 15, 2022

Hello Everyone, my OT and PT therapists both witnessed one of my "covid crashes" today. The kind that make you breathless and dizzy and unable to do much of anything. So instead of the scheduled therapy, today we focused on recovery only.
They recommend that recovery take place when you are lying flat on your back. Take in a deep breath, then without exhaling, take in as much additional air as you can. So a double breath. You should feel the expansion in your ribs. This will flood your lungs with oxygen. Then let the air out as slowly as you can. Again when you think you are done exhaling, try to force more out. Do this until you are feeling more clear headed and less dizzy. I did it for about 10 minutes. Then sit up very very slowly. And do the same thing sitting up for several more minutes.
My crashes usually last 2-10 days. We are going to try to reduce the amount of recovery time by doing these breathing exercises laying down repeatedly through out the day. I am going to try lying down and doing double breathes for 10 minutes every hour.
I will let you know how it goes.

UPDATE: I used the deep breathing technique many times through out the day yesterday, sometimes lying down, sometimes sitting or walking. Whenever I thought of it, I did it for 2--4 minutes. By the end of the day I was feeling significantly better. Now today, I actually think I can do a few of the therapy exercises that I missed yesterday. Not going to go crazy, but am definitely better than I was this time yesterday

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.

liz58 | @liz58 | Jan 19, 2022

I just learned about the deep breathing from the class. I don't have the hang of it yet but have tried a few times yesterday.

REPLY
2 replies
RMS | @rinadbq | Jan 20, 2022
In reply to @sueinmn "@rinadbq @adelem and all of you having post-Covid "crashes" - here is a past discussion about..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@rinadbq @adelem and all of you having post-Covid "crashes" - here is a past discussion about how some people with chronic illnesses have learned to organize their days and weeks: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-do-you-plan-your-day-and-conserve-energy-are-you-a-spoonie/

Have you heard of it before? It can be very helpful, and by rationing, can help prevent sudden "crashes". Best of all, it can be adjusted day-by-day and even hour-by-hour as needed.

Sue

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A lightbulb just went off in my head!
Thanks
Rina

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RMS | @rinadbq | Jan 20, 2022
In reply to @adelem "Thanks for sharing. This sounds incredibly hard! I’m really sorry this is happening to you. I..." + (show)
@adelem

Thanks for sharing. This sounds incredibly hard! I’m really sorry this is happening to you. I am an ICU nurse recovering from infection in Oct 2021. I can identify with your term “crashes” and some (but not all) of the symptoms you describe particularly that “leaden” feeling (for me it is mostly my legs), the short windows for activity (mine also are about 2hrs/day) and the “boom-bust” cycles from testing my limits. I have found an activity diary quite helpful with this, and am currently trying to break my activities in shorter periods with more frequent rests to see if that helps. I truly sympathize with your difficulty adjusting to the impact on your life - it totally sucks!! I also struggle with this (and I think am still somewhat in denial). Try to be gentle with yourself and take one day at a time. And keep reaching out - hopefully we can learn from each other, because as my doctor said today, they are learning from us!

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Thanks for responding! I am looking to start a thread with nurses who became ill while working with covid patients. One of the moderators is helping me. I think either here or elsewhere would be great for us to talk to each other. I have been part of a couple of post-covid support groups, but haven't connected with other nurses.
I was just sent info on "the spoon theory" in which a woman tries to explain to a friend what is like to have a very limited amount of energy to parcel out through the day. It is a great description.
Are you interested in keeping in touch?
Rina S.

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Jan 20, 2022
In reply to @rinadbq "Thanks for responding! I am looking to start a thread with nurses who became ill while..." + (show)
@rinadbq

Thanks for responding! I am looking to start a thread with nurses who became ill while working with covid patients. One of the moderators is helping me. I think either here or elsewhere would be great for us to talk to each other. I have been part of a couple of post-covid support groups, but haven't connected with other nurses.
I was just sent info on "the spoon theory" in which a woman tries to explain to a friend what is like to have a very limited amount of energy to parcel out through the day. It is a great description.
Are you interested in keeping in touch?
Rina S.

Jump to this post

Rina, that is a great idea to start a new discussion about medical professionals recovering from COVID. Here's how to start a new discussion:
1. Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 group. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/post-covid-recovery-covid-19/
2. Click "Start A Discussion"
3. Create a title asking a question or describing what the discussion is about.
4. Write your message.
5. Click POST DISCUSSION.

REPLY
adelem | @adelem | Jan 20, 2022
In reply to @sueinmn "@rinadbq @adelem and all of you having post-Covid "crashes" - here is a past discussion about..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@rinadbq @adelem and all of you having post-Covid "crashes" - here is a past discussion about how some people with chronic illnesses have learned to organize their days and weeks: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-do-you-plan-your-day-and-conserve-energy-are-you-a-spoonie/

Have you heard of it before? It can be very helpful, and by rationing, can help prevent sudden "crashes". Best of all, it can be adjusted day-by-day and even hour-by-hour as needed.

Sue

Jump to this post

Thanks Sue, I had heard of it but good to read the whole article 🙂 My first challenge is to accept my quota of spoons, the next is to work out how many spoons each activity consumes! By trial and error it seems…and no two days the same!

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1 reply
Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Jan 20, 2022
In reply to @adelem "Thanks Sue, I had heard of it but good to read the whole article 🙂 My..." + (show)
@adelem

Thanks Sue, I had heard of it but good to read the whole article 🙂 My first challenge is to accept my quota of spoons, the next is to work out how many spoons each activity consumes! By trial and error it seems…and no two days the same!

Jump to this post

Yes, with my own health it's the same. Sometimes spoons can just disappear in the middle of the day!
But it is one way to figure it out.
Sue

REPLY
1 reply
adelem | @adelem | Jan 20, 2022
In reply to @sueinmn "Yes, with my own health it's the same. Sometimes spoons can just disappear in the middle..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Yes, with my own health it's the same. Sometimes spoons can just disappear in the middle of the day!
But it is one way to figure it out.
Sue

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Come to think of it, it’s actually true for everyone - just a matter of different cutlery drawers! 😆

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rpjsnehalata | @rpjsnehalata | Jan 21, 2022
In reply to @liz58 "I just learned about the deep breathing from the class. I don't have the hang of..." + (show)
@liz58

I just learned about the deep breathing from the class. I don't have the hang of it yet but have tried a few times yesterday.

Jump to this post

There are several versions of 'deep breating technics' available on the computer. Select one and use it regularly.

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Jan 23, 2022
In reply to @liz58 "I just learned about the deep breathing from the class. I don't have the hang of..." + (show)
@liz58

I just learned about the deep breathing from the class. I don't have the hang of it yet but have tried a few times yesterday.

Jump to this post

Liz, how are you doing with the deep breathing? Are you getting the hang of it?

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liz58 | @liz58 | Jan 23, 2022

I do it when I have the tachycardia but I don't think I'm doing it right, but whatever I'm doing it stops my heart from racing

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