breathlessness relieved by stretching

[SuperRob]

Hello,

I'm a 30 year old man who has had breathlessness and even the feeling it is difficult to breath all the way in to get a refreshing breath...this is within the last several months.  

(I have also had a very major headache disorder for 3 years with a negative neurological workup, and a history of gastritis and mild IBD).  I am on no medications whatsoever, except occasional Tylenol.

I could describe this problem as the intense and constant urge to yawn, but I cannot always yawn or get that refreshing breath of air which my body is craving.  This urge to yawn or gasp for air has very occasionally led me to nearly aspirate or choke on food or drink due to the uncontrollable instinct to inhale at inappropriate times

I also can't take a deep breath and hold it without immediately having pre-syncope.

Sometimes I get breathless talking on the phone, sometimes I get breathless walking up stairs.  Even though I am 50 pounds overweight, I exercise everyday and theoretically am in good cardiac shape with a typical resting pulse of 55 or sometimes lower.  
This is where the confusing part comes in  in that the breathlessness is either exertional or not.  Some days are worse and some are better,   when I experience these symptoms  I also feel other unpleasant symptoms such as continuious vague nausea or a feeling that I am falling in my gut....very unpleasant.  

If I lay down and stretch out, I recover quite rapidly from these symptoms and can breath easy again.   It helps even more if I stretch to the side, for example, lay down on my side and prop up on my elbow as if I bend my torso to the left or right, this then enables me to breath more easily and feel the refreshing breath of air I had been craving so desperately.  Normal tests I've had since this began are Brain MRI, resting echo, EKG, PFT's, chest xray, and standard labs.

Could this be neurological despite my neg. brain MRI, or something else?
Please make any and all suggestions or ideas.

[National Jewish Health]

The episodes of breathlessness you describe are not of a type that we ordinarily associate with either heart or lung disease.  That you are able to exercise to attain a level of fitness that you describe as "good cardiac shape" would provide further support for this interpretation.  However, you and your doctors should be sure you have ruled-out all diseases of the heart and lungs, including abnormal heart rhythms and pulmonary hypertension.

You may be getting some inappropriate signals from your respiratory center as can happen with anxiety and obesity.