Which is a common sign of respiratory alkalosis?

• A. Seizures
• B. Tachycardia
• C. Deep, rapid breathing
• D. Numbness and tingling

Answer: (C)

When the body develops respiratory alkalosis, it’s driven by too much ventilation blowing off carbon dioxide. That loss of CO2 lowers hydrogen ion concentration, raising the blood pH. The immediate, observable response to that excess blowing off CO2 is to keep breathing harder and faster, so deep, rapid breathing becomes the most common sign. This pattern directly reflects the cause—hyperventilation.

Other signs can occur because of the physiological shifts, such as numbness and tingling from changes in calcium binding, or tachycardia, and in more severe cases seizures, but the hallmark symptom you’ll repeatedly see tied to this condition is the rapid, deep breathing.