Straining to complete yawn, yawning all day, feel i just need a deep breath.

[Cloefish]

I have had this problem for a long time, but in the last year it has gotten worse and I cant stand it.  I regularly go through periods where I feel the need to yawn or get a deep breath and I just cant. I try and try over and over to yawn (causing me to get head aches), and finally accomplish it just to need  to yawn again. I am a sleepy person all the time,  but  the  straining  to yawn thing  makes me  crazy! I also have increasingly bad short term memory problems (at only 25), could this be connected to the yawning, and lack of oxygen to the  brain? could I  have asthma?  thank you so much for any help you can give me.

[tlphenry]

Hi... I find this all very interesting.  I have been reading numerous entries in a variety of forums that all  relate to the same symptoms, but i haven't seen any plausible, concrete advice or evidence that anyone has any real knowledge about what could be causing this.  I, too, am suffering from this wierd "need to yawn, SOB, frustration with breathing regardless of the circumstance~rest, exercise, vertical, horizontal, etc."  I do notice it more at rest than I do when I'm up and around, although it did it on the treadmill at the gym yesterday.  I also notice it when I am eating??  It is REALLY frustrating and can be embarassing to be gasping for a deep breath when you are out and about with friends or whatever.  I do not believe that it is all related to stress.   I am a school teacher, and have not worked since May 31, so my stress level is lower now than it ever is.  Does anyone have any answers here?  It seems like an aweful lot of us are out here suffering the same symptoms in silence.  I do have to say that it is comforting (in a strange way!)  to know that there are others out there, though, and that I am not dying or anything (I hope!~)  Please comment if you know of anything that can be done about this besides asthma treatments and yoga.  Been there and done that.  thanks...

[Pansy 1]

I am 58 years old and have started having the same weird "need to yawn" and most times can not.  It started several weeks ago after I had taken hydrocodone for 2 or 3 days.  I am scheduled to see a pulmonologist but is there any other type of doctor who may have more knowlege of the problem? Right now, all I can do is take xanax to keep me half way calm but it is affectivng my appetitie, relationships etc.  Somebody, please help!!!!

[tinymatches]

i feel the say way. i feel like i need to yawn or sigh wth  a deep breath constantly. i mean we are talking every 5 minutes all day long for 6 months now. i have had heart tests... nothing but PACs, i had a breathing test and all normal so why do i still feel the need to contstantly take a deep breath or yawn to get it. is this happening cuz i am thinking about it too much?? how many deep breaths a day is normal... if anyone has any advise please let me know and good luck volsy i hope we can get an answer...  

[MdJerseyGirl]

I too feel the same way...for about 2 months now and just about everyday, some days it's all day long. Some days are worse than others & on top of the breathing issues it makes me feel very lethargic, not to mention that my chest & throat start to hurt from all that deep breathing/yawning!  I am a little scared because I know this isn't normal breathing.  If anyone finds out anything I would be grateful to hear the diagnosis.  I can't believe how common this is...good luck to everyone!!!

[Isaiahsun]

I think alot of what we are experianceing is the body releaseing adrenaline through the flight or fight response. A type of anxiety that causes the body to release high amounts of adrenaline causeing the muscles to be tense giving the sensation of squeezing or the inability to breath in deep. This in turn causes a more downward spiral effect causeing the symptoms to appear real, which sends us into it again and again mentally and our stresses manifest physically. You cant seperate the thought life from the physical body. Look what a sexual  thought does to physical parts of the body.  Ever notice the symptoms are less when your busy doing somthing or not thinking about it. Ask yourself how much in a day you are thinking about the yawning, which is a reaction to the obsession. A way we cope or recieve temprol comfort.  Your all not dieing which if folks were honest enough is the underlying fear that sends so much in motion. Fear of Death is the king of terrors and we as humans just dont like excepting it yet we are forced to think about it. Then the burden of false shame or embarassment which leaves people suffering in silence. Thats to much of a load to carry. Thank God for sites like this where we can be comforted. Sometimes knowing others understand and feel you is 90% of the cure to anxiety. I would say that what your all experianceing is a form of anxiety either real imagined or post traumatic in nature.

[pregnant and breathless]

It is NOT stess people!! Yes, it is stressful to not be able to breathe, but stress is NOT the cause! I have had this problem since I was a child (about 5 years old), and now I am 30 years old and 6 months pregnant. It is also NOT from the baby pushing into my lungs. I wasn't stressed out OR pregnant at 5 years old!! It scared me so badly that I went to my ob/gyn and she scheduled me with a pulmonologist and a cardiologist. My lung funtion is perfect--as though I work out all the time, which I don't because I can't breathe!! My oxygen levels were at 98% too which is great. My EKG was normal too. The problem does get worse when I ly down and when I eat. The cardiologist thinks it's acid reflux which can cause wheezing, coughing, shortness of breathe, etc; even without having heartburn which has not been a problem for me. I have been on Nexium for 5 days now, and I feel slightly better, but was up all last night because I couldn't breathe, then around 3:30am I was fine! I have an echocardiogram shceduled for this afternoon. I'm sure it will be fine too. I've also read that anemia or hypothyroidism can cause this. I'm not anemic and my thyroid levels are perfect at a TSH level of 1.8.
I'll keep you posted on the echo, and if I feel better in a few days on the Nexium. I'm praying for all of us who suffer!!

[niffer31]

I have a severe yawning problem, which has worsened now that I am 31. I sleep more than usual, when 7-8 hours of sleep would be enough, now I sleep 11-12 hours at night. I yawn all day long and I have noticed increased headaches and short term memory loss. I also have no energy to do anything. I used to be entergetic and always getting up and doing athletic things, and now it takes everything I've got just to go to the store. I am on Lexapro, which is an anti-depressant, and I know that taking such medications have side effects and one of them is excessive yawning. I just want answers and to get my life back on track and my energy level where it used to be. Good luck to all and hope to find the answer to our unusual yawning problem.

[pregnant and breathless]

I have been taking Nexium for about 2 weeks now...there has been about a 40% relief with my breathing symptoms. I never get heartburn anymore though, which is great. I didn't realize how upset my stomach was until I started the Nexium; but I'm pregnant, so I just expect to not feel very well. I know it takes 4-8 weeks for the Nexium to actually heal the damage, so I will still give it a shot. I just read on another forum that several people feel like they have something stuck in their throat--I do too, and they said it was acid reflux too...even without severe heartburn. Hopefully this is the answer. I would love for it to be! I have a hard time not eating late at night because I always need to eat due to the baby, so maybe my symptoms will take a little longer to subside. For those of you who can, try to see a Gastroenterologist and have some tests done, or at least talk to the doctor about trying Nexium. It may just be the answer. I still don't have my test results back from the echocardiogram done on my heart--they also took pictures of my throat, so maybe that will reveal something; I will keep you all informed!

[pregnant and breathless]

I've been on Nexium for acid reflux for over 3 weeks now and I can breathe SO MUCH BETTER!! All my lung function test and heart scans came back perfectly fine. I guess the reason I couldn't breathe was acid reflux. Even without heartburn, acid reflux can cause shortness of breath, wheezing, and a feeling of not enough air in the lungs, which can make you feel like you need to yawn in order to get a good breath of air. I know sometimes the breathing difficulties come and go, so I am still a little bit weary that it may return even being on Nexium. But for now, I can breathe and I'm SO happy!!! Check into this!!!! You can do a search for "breathing difficulties + acid reflux" and you will find a lot of information on it. I understand this isn't the cause of everyone's breathing difficulties, but I bet it's a cause of many--it was for me! Too bad my lung doctor NEVER mentioned anything about that!

[StarryNight23]

So interesting! I'm so glad I found this thread because I too have been experiencing the same problem. I am 23 and a few weeks ago I went to the ER (2 different ER's actually in 2 days!) because I thought I was having a heart attack. A week or so before I went to the ER I woke up one morning with a pain in the upper left side of my back that felt sore or strained when I leaned or stretched a certain way and also felt a tightness and a dull ache when I inhaled deeply. That persisted and then about a week after I felt very short of breath and like I couldnt get a deep satifying breath in. It felt like instead of the air filling my lungs all the way, the air would go a little into my lungs and the rest would just sort of evaporate in my throat. I also noticed I was CONSTANTLY yawning, or trying to yawn. Once again, it was like my breath was just getting caught somewhere in my throat and wouldnt go all the way into my lungs