What Does it Feel Like to Breathe on a Vent Other Frequently Asked Questions Life with a Vent

when people see use ventilator to breathe one of the most common questions am asked is what does it feel like to breathe on ventilator this is hard question to answer because it feels so natural to me however thought long and hard about this topic and will try to explain what it feels like to breathe on ventilator will also answer few other common questions and will discuss some complications which may arise when breathing on ventilator having the ventilator breathe for me allows air to easily slip in and out of my lungs my body does not have to work to breathe the muscles in my entire body relax the air rushing in and out of my lungs makes my body feel so free and light if close my eyes it feels as though am weightless and floating like cloud in the sky common question many people have is can hold my breath the answer is no ventilators are pre-programmed to give set number of breaths per minute my ventilator will automatically take breath for me 14 times minute if try to hold my breath and breathe less than 14 times minute the ventilator will use high pressure to force air into my lungs when over exert myself my breathing becomes chaotic and irregular my body goes into panic mode and wants to breathe faster than my ventilator settings it is often hard to control my breathing even with advanced technology the ventilator and the patient may not align person may be trying to breathe in when the ventilator is exhaling this is called asynchrony asynchrony will cause the person to go into respiratory distress the irregular breathing will cause the ventilator to alarm the loud ventilator alarm often only adds to the stress of the situation to get out of this crisis person has to learn to be calm and relaxes breathing also the ventilator settings should be examined to make sure they align as best as possible to the person's breathing when my breathing is irregular and not synchronized with my ventilator often will try to hold my breath although holding my breath is not possible since my ventilator is programmed to give me 14 breaths per minute trying to hold my breath will automatically slow down my breathing to 14 breaths per minute it is very difficult to force myself to stop breathing when my body is gasping for breath however holding my breath allows my ventilator to return back to its normal settings within few minutes of trying to hold my breath my breathing calms down and returns to more normal rhythm during this time tell myself to not panic tell myself to let the ventilator do its job and breathe for me even though use ventilator to breathe still have some ability to breathe on my own when deflate the cuff on my tracheostomy tube and speak use my respiratory muscles to push air up my airway and through my vocal cords one thing to note cannot keep my tracheostomy tube cuff deflated for long periods of time my respiratory muscles are weak and they quickly grow tired when this happens need to inflate the cuff of my tracheostomy tube with the tracheostomy tube cuff inflated my ventilator does all the work and breathes for me this allows my respiratory muscles to rust thank you so much for joining me please remember to like and subscribe down below hope you have great day and wonderful week bye bye