Is It Normal To Hold A Deep Breath And Start

Posted on Fri, 1 Mar 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 1 Mar 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : Is it normal to hold a deep breath and start to pass out? I can feel my pulse in my neck and take a deep breath and hold it, after 5 seconds or so, I can’t feel the pulse in my neck anymore

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
It is a physiological effects more pronounced in certain individuals.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome on -Ask a Doctor- service!

Regarding your issue of concern, I would like to confirm your physiological connection between the forceful contained deep breathing and fainting.

This situation induces a Valsalva maneuver leading to decreased blood pressure at the level of aorta, which in turn may be reflected as decreased cerebral blood flow.

When this phenomenon is exaggerated, it may lead near fainting and even syncope.

This is more pronounced in some sensitive individuals.

Coming to this point, I recommend avoiding such stressful situations and a better control of your blood pressure values.

Hope to have clarified some of your uncertainties!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar