bradypnea... respirations 8-10 normally

[fyrelight74]

I'm in medical assisting school, and right now we've been practicing vitals in one of my clinical classes. My question is with respirations. I know normal is 12-20 per minute, but my personal respirations run 8-10 per minute no matter who takes it, so I know its not a flub.

Anyone know why my respirations would be so much lower than everyone elses? My pulse rate is 80-100, so we're ending up with a ratio of 1:10 R:P rather than the usual 1:4.

I'm not on any medications that would affect this, and as far as I know, I've always been like this, even in my childhood (I remember watching my parents breathe while sitting in the car and wondering why they breathed so fast, but I chalked it up to they were older and they were smokers)

So, anyone else here have bradypnea normally or know why someone would?

[MMARN, BSN, RN]

Well, usually if you are an athlete, reps and pulses would be much lower. Are you an athlete? However, it's a little perplexing b/c you say your pulse usually runs at 80-100 bpm. (An athlete's will run as low as 60 bpm or maybe even lower) So, I'm not sure. Sorry I couldn't help too much.

[fyrelight74]

Nope, that's what's confusing... I do work out daily.. but often only a 30 minute walk, (I only do my 1 hr+ workouts 2-3 days a week). I'm overweight, too, so its not that I'm all that athletic... lol.

I've also had times when I frequently had tachycardia... over 100 bpm, but STILL had the respirations of 8-10..... that's why I'm confused.....

Am I an ALIEN? :chuckle

[Noryn]

I used to know a doctor who told his patients something like normal was a guy in Arizona who ran 5 miles a day. "Normal" by most definitions I think just reflects statistics. Most of us have been taught along the way that a normal temperature is 98.6 but if you take 100 peoples temp I bet you are going to see quite a variant. Of course it depends on where you take the temp.

The whole point of this is the most important thing and that is deviation from the norm and how the patient feels. When I was 18 my normal blood pressure was 80-90/60. I made a few nurses do a double take--by some standards I should have been started on Dopamine or had a fluid challenge but it all depends on the patient. If you have someone who is used to 300-400 blood sugars and you lower theirs to 80 I am willing to bet you are going to make them sick.

All of us are different. Always mention any concern to your doctor but if you have done this all of your life, have never had problems, and have gotten checkups I wouldnt be too worried. If there isnt a good reason for the tachycardia (like exercising :chuckle ) then you may want to have that checked out.