I became 'human' again

I started therapy with Del Ferro in 2019 because of my hyperventilation.

My complaints started in 2016. I was often dizzy and not sure where this came from. In the beginning there were periods of months in between, after that these periods became shorter and shorter.

I went to the doctor who said I had BPPD (crystals in the ear that come off and cause vertigo) and gave me some exercises at home to fix this. The exercises only made me sicker and this lasted for weeks. Then I ended up with a chiropractor, which brought some relief. Actually, my complaints to this incident have not gone away. Sometimes I felt good for a while and then I didn’t and so it went on and on.

In 2017 I went to Turkey to get a crown in my mouth. This was a terrible experience and the complaints got worse and worse. I was nauseous, dizzy, palpitations, restlessness, shortness of breath, an overall feeling of malaise and many other complaints. Back in the Netherlands I got so sick that I had to throw up for hours at work. I felt so bad. After arriving at the doctor, he indicated that I had an inflammation in my stomach and gave me Omeprazole for stomach pain and vomiting. This seemed to provide some relief after a week, but not enough. The medication was increased and increased, but none of this worked. Then I was sent to the hospital for a gastroscopy. They then look into your stomach with a camera. It turned out that I had a tear in my diaphragm. This occurs regularly. It varies for each person how many complaints they have. I received follow-up investigations and it was established that the complaints that I had for years (it was now 2018) come from the tear in my diaphragm.

Surgery was scheduled for April, 2018.

The operation was heavy and intense. The recovery was difficult. I couldn’t eat well and everything was mashed and this for months. The complaints I had prior to surgery didn’t disappear, they just got worse.

I no longer knew what was wrong with me and I entered a circle of nasty complaints that were only reinforced by my thoughts because I became hopeless because I did not know what was wrong with me.

After a while, my mother gave me the tip to talk to a psychosomatic physiotherapist. I did that. He quickly indicated that I had chronic hyperventilation and that is where my complaints come from. I made an appointment in the hospital to have this investigated, after all, I had no energy for a diagnosis that would not be correct. Through an arterial blood test they tested me for chronic hyperventilation and this was evident in the results.

I started following all kinds of exercises and therapies, but nothing seemed to help. I gradually became so listless from all the complaints and my body that did not cooperate.

Doing fun things, making day-trips, social contacts, shopping, everything was on the back burner. I didn’t do anything anymore because my body let me down again and again and I started to develop fears.

In November 2019 I ended up with Ingrid. I read a lot of good reviews via the internet and I thought I would try this, I have nothing to lose.

I had an appointment with Ingrid the same week. She was critical and helped me out of that negative spiral.

My thoughts were negative and I learned that this also has affect on my body and my well-being.

We had appointments twice a week where we applied the Del Ferro Method. The first session was difficult, I suffered a lot from burping because of my surgery and when I applied the therapy this was reinforced.

At the 2nd session this burping was a lot less. In the 3rd session I went to therapy in Amsterdam, while I had not been outside lately.

During the other sessions my life only changed positively. I started playing football again, I started doing more fun things and became ‘human’ again.

I now know that I do not have to be afraid of what I feel, but that it is my own breathing that makes me sick and that I get it under control again with the exercises that Ingrid has given me.

Joy • Overcome hyperventilation course