Dr. Andy Galpin

So it could be a CO2 intolerance thing. If you're highly sensitive to that CO2, your brain can sometimes get miscalibrated. It thinks there's way too much CO2 in the system than there actually is. So you're either hyper-stressed or hypersensitive. And so it starts asking you to dump and offload that CO2 way sooner than it needs to. You're intolerant or hypersensitive, one of those two.

In that case, we can confirm that. So we see your respiratory rate is elevated. We also then run that CO2 tolerance test on you. Oh, that's also poor? Then great. We don't need to do anything else with your respiratory rate. We fixed your CO2 tolerance and that respiratory rate will take care of itself. Other things to think about here if your respiratory rate is high.

In that case, we can confirm that. So we see your respiratory rate is elevated. We also then run that CO2 tolerance test on you. Oh, that's also poor? Then great. We don't need to do anything else with your respiratory rate. We fixed your CO2 tolerance and that respiratory rate will take care of itself. Other things to think about here if your respiratory rate is high.

It could just be a long-term pattern. Remember earlier when I talked about how these can go from initiating factors to sustaining factors? We've experienced this a lot in our middle to later aged adults, right?

It could just be a long-term pattern. Remember earlier when I talked about how these can go from initiating factors to sustaining factors? We've experienced this a lot in our middle to later aged adults, right?

These are often folks that came from high stress environments, high stress careers, whether these have been lots of former surgeons, military individuals, entrepreneurs, things like that, where they just had high stress for a long period of time. the over-breathing was appropriate because they were in a stressful environment. And then they sell the company, they retire, they reduce their hours.

These are often folks that came from high stress environments, high stress careers, whether these have been lots of former surgeons, military individuals, entrepreneurs, things like that, where they just had high stress for a long period of time. the over-breathing was appropriate because they were in a stressful environment. And then they sell the company, they retire, they reduce their hours.

And then years later, they're still over-breathing. And in the cases where we've had years of data on people, we've seen this confirmed pretty well. That pattern just exists. You're just over-breathing and you don't know it. So that has happened a lot. You got to go break that pattern. One of the biggest causes of this has actually been pregnancy.

And then years later, they're still over-breathing. And in the cases where we've had years of data on people, we've seen this confirmed pretty well. That pattern just exists. You're just over-breathing and you don't know it. So that has happened a lot. You got to go break that pattern. One of the biggest causes of this has actually been pregnancy.

A lot of things can happen post having a child for women, and those patterns can be established and stay permanent unless you go back in there and actively reframe and rebuild a new pattern. Last one then here is what we would finally call general elevated allostatic load, whether this is physical or mental.

A lot of things can happen post having a child for women, and those patterns can be established and stay permanent unless you go back in there and actively reframe and rebuild a new pattern. Last one then here is what we would finally call general elevated allostatic load, whether this is physical or mental.

Remember, allostatic load is that colloquial term for kind of like global stress on your body, no matter how it comes in or not. I went through all that list for a bunch of reasons, but one of them is I want you to realize that that stress thing is the last one. We don't look at respiratory rate and go, oh, you're stressed.

Remember, allostatic load is that colloquial term for kind of like global stress on your body, no matter how it comes in or not. I went through all that list for a bunch of reasons, but one of them is I want you to realize that that stress thing is the last one. We don't look at respiratory rate and go, oh, you're stressed.

That could be, but it could simply be the fact that you can't breathe out of your nose. It could be something, you're not hydrated. It could be the fact that you're just intolerant or sensitive to CO2 or any number of reasons. And that is the pecking order. That's the strategy we go off of when we try to solve those simple problems first.

That could be, but it could simply be the fact that you can't breathe out of your nose. It could be something, you're not hydrated. It could be the fact that you're just intolerant or sensitive to CO2 or any number of reasons. And that is the pecking order. That's the strategy we go off of when we try to solve those simple problems first.

And in our experience, you get through one through four, mechanics, breathing problems, hydration, and CO2 tolerance. Most of the time, your situation is solved. Whether you pick any of the metrics I just talked about today, heart rate or respiratory rate or anything else, or you pick something else entirely different. I think most of us in this field would agree.

And in our experience, you get through one through four, mechanics, breathing problems, hydration, and CO2 tolerance. Most of the time, your situation is solved. Whether you pick any of the metrics I just talked about today, heart rate or respiratory rate or anything else, or you pick something else entirely different. I think most of us in this field would agree.

You should not be overly fixated on one metric. There is no best number here. And there's problems with data and interpretation and normative values and so forth. Things like stress, things like recovery are multifaceted. You need multiple objective and subjective measures before you get too excited.

You should not be overly fixated on one metric. There is no best number here. And there's problems with data and interpretation and normative values and so forth. Things like stress, things like recovery are multifaceted. You need multiple objective and subjective measures before you get too excited.

Let's actually finally talk about what some of these interventions are and how we can improve overall nervous system resilience. It makes sense for us to start off with the acute changes. This is the stuff you can do right now in any given moment, and it will change how you're feeling and experiencing life. It will shift your state. You already know this.