NOTE: Please accept my apologies for being a day late with this newsletter edition due to technical issues. From here forward you can expect the regular Wednesday delivery. Thank you for your patience!

Introduction

As women go through menopause and struggle with symptoms and poor sleep, dysfunctional breathing is often overlooked but can exacerbate these issues. Hormones and sleep-disordered breathing play a role in this.

Hormonal Changes and Breathing Difficulties

As women transition through the hormonal chaos that is perimenopause, they struggle with a myriad of challenging symptoms and poor sleep due to numerous changes in their body. Amidst these changes lies a much-overlooked component: dysfunctional breathing.

Dysfunctional Breathing Post-40

Women over 40 may begin to breathe less efficiently and notice a change in their breathing patterns or a decline in their respiratory health. Hormones are initially to blame, but dysfunctional breathing can exacerbate many symptoms of perimenopause and significantly impact sleep due to sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

Factors Affecting Breathing During Menopause

1. Reduced Lung Function:
Oestrogen is thought to have a protective effect on the lungs. As its levels decrease during menopause, some women may experience a reduction in lung function and find inhaling less easy.

2. Stress and Anxiety:
Perimenopause can significantly increase feelings of stress and anxiety, leading to hyperventilation – a breathing pattern characterized by rapid, shallow breaths and mouth breathing instead of nasal breathing. This depletes the body of carbon dioxide, essential for oxygen transfer to tissues, organs, and the brain. Constant fight-or-flight mode due to improper breathing keeps the nervous system on high alert, disrupting restful sleep.

3. Progesterone and Breathing:
Progesterone, which increases the strength of the upper airway muscles and stimulates breathing, steadily decreases from the onset of perimenopause.

4. Weight Gain:
Weight gain during menopause transition can lead to fat deposits around the middle, neck, and even on the tongue, impacting breathing efficiency.

5. Muscle Mass Loss:
Loss of muscle mass during menopause can affect throat muscles, potentially impacting breathing.

6. Increased Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):
Post-menopausal women are three times more likely to suffer from OSA compared to pre-menopausal women. OSA causes partial airway collapse during sleep, leading to poor oxygen saturation and frequent wakefulness.

Buteyko Breathing Method: Addressing Dysfunctional Breathing

Developed in the 1950s, Buteyko breathing emphasizes nasal breathing, reducing the breathing rate and air volume inhaled, and proper use of the diaphragm – the actual breathing muscle.

There are a variety of Butyeyko breathing methods and I encourage you to learn more and explore the ones that resonate with you. Below is a link to a great instructional video showing how to perform the one that is my personal favorite:

Butyeko Breathing Method Instructional Video

Benefits of Efficient Breathing

1. Balanced Carbon Dioxide Levels:
Practicing light, slow, and deep diaphragmatic breathing helps maintain optimal CO2 levels in the body, improving oxygen uptake and delivery to tissues, organs, and the brain.

2. Relief from Stress and Anxiety:
The calming effect of nasal breathing can alleviate anxiety, reducing one of the triggers of dysfunctional breathing.

3. Improved Sleep:
Proper oxygen and carbon dioxide balance leads to deeper, more restorative sleep. This is particularly beneficial for menopausal women struggling with insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns due to SDB.

4. Improved Cardiovascular Health:
Nasal breathing promotes better oxygen saturation, beneficial for heart health.

5. Enhanced Cognitive Function:
With better oxygenation, brain fog or cognitive problems associated with hormonal changes can be mitigated, reducing the long-term risk of brain disease as we age.

Personal Experience and Recommendation

I discovered the benefits of nasal breathing in the last few years, and it was a game-changing moment for me. It may be the missing piece for perimenopause health, post-menopause health, brain health, and overall health as we age.

If you are doing everything you can to reduce your menopause symptoms but are still struggling, or if you are supporting your brain but still feeling foggy, consider if dysfunctional breathing is the missing piece.

If you experience poor or fractured sleep, wake with a dry mouth, headache, sore throat, snore, or feel the need to breathe during the night, you may be a mouth breather at night. Breathing re-education to learn nasal breathing could be highly beneficial.

I’ve been working on my breathing consistently and now I nasal breathe most of the time, including at night. What I like about Buteyko Breathing is that it requires very little effort and I feel great immediately afterwards. It’s a high reward, low effort practice that has incredible long-term benefits.

Learn More

In the meantime, I highly recommend watching this Buteyko breathing method video and check out the book "Breath" by James Nestor to get you started.

I hope this helps!

Take Care,

Sophia