How I manage breathlessness - Ian's story

Ian lives in a fishing village on the north east coast of Scotland. Before retiring Ian was a regional director for a European vending company.

“I’ve experienced breathlessness for about thirteen years, ever since a leaky aortic valve started to get worse. I found I couldn’t walk uphill without getting out of breath. I used to go walking with friends, and I started to notice they were way ahead of me. I would walk a bit quicker to catch up, and I would be out of breath. The other things that would bring on the breathlessness were bending down or reaching above my head, for example tying my shoelaces or putting up a picture on the wall. Before that I was very active, walking with friends and playing golf.

"After I had a mechanical valve replacement it improved for a time, but the breathlessness gradually returned. I’ve had different tests to try to find out why I still get breathless, but my doctors haven’t yet been able to establish why.

"I’ve adapted my activities to help me feel less breathless, so for example I will do DIY in the upstairs of the house where the ceilings are lower and where I don’t have to reach above my head to do tasks. I sit to tie my shoelaces and I rest and recover my breath after doing the first one. When I walk, I will try to stay on the flat all the time and keep to two miles. It frustrates me that I can’t walk further and get fitter, but I know from experience that I am out of breath if I do anything more than two miles. So I manage it by staying within those parameters.

By controlling my breathing, I was able to calmly deal with stuff instead of becoming totally frustrated

"It causes me frustration. But I don’t feel anxious about it. One thing that I’ve learned is that although breathlessness can be frightening, panicking is the worst thing you can do. If you start feeling panicky and then hyperventilating, that may mean you are breathing out too much carbon dioxide. It becomes a vicious circle of over breathing and feeling more panicky. So I practise slower breathing.

"When I was managing 200 people at work, I would practise controlled breathing when I found myself in very stressful situations. I wrote a book on breathing techniques for panic attacks and recorded an accompanying CD. By controlling my breathing, I was able to calmly deal with stuff instead of becoming totally frustrated, and it still helps me now.”