shortness of breath/frequent yawning

[kellb]

I am a 41 year old female with a 2 year old, in good health other than being about 10 pounds overweight. Two months ago I began experiencing shortness of breath. I yawn constantly in an attempt to get air. The doctor thought asthma, especially given my family history of lung problems, so though my lungs sounded clear I tried advair/albuterol.  No change in condition.
I had a ct scan to check for a pulmonary embolism and everything looked good. I have been taking previcid for 2 weeks to treat possible acid reflux, but there has been no change in my condition. I feel better when I sleep and wake up feeling great, only to have the sob return within a few hours.
A possibly relevant fact: the day before this started I was at yoga doing a twist when I felt a very, very sharp pain in my right side under my rib, along with a feeling as if a rubber band had been snapped in the same place. The pain was excruciating and traveled through my breast and shoulder, but was gone in a few minutes and I was able to continue class. Also, I was in the desert for a few days and it went away but returned about a week later. I fairly certain it isn't stress/anxiety as the trip out of town was not relaxing. The breathing seems better when I stand/worsens sitting down, and I may have been standing more than usual on the trip. I am feeling so frustrated, scared, and depressed.

[Ettaz]

I had the same symptoms, I tried a combination of Benadryl & bronchial dilator, it goes away.  Ongoing I am taking herbal lung support and allergy homeopathic remedies.

[therockhound]

I had many of the same symptoms as everyone else.  I started using Dexilant last year and it has worked like magic.  I was having heartburn without the burn.  Symptoms were SOB, feeling like I couldn't get a full breath in.  Exhaling was fine, just on the inhale.  Allergy test, chest X-Rays, PFT test....all that came back fine.  I ended up getting an Rx for Dexilant (1 pill in the morning when you get up) and within 5 days I was fine.  It's been almost 8 months symptom free for me.  Worth a try for others..

[Shazzie11]

Sorry my late reply.  We use more oxygen when we eat, it aids digestion.  So I went through a couple of months where i barely ate a thing, lost ALOT of weight, because I couldnt eat as I struggled to breathe.  I did find it was worse with carbohydrates and caffeine. Once I started Buteyko I was afraid to neat, but over time as I got "better", I noticed I wasn't struggling to breathe when I eat so much, and eventually not at all.  And I would be good alot of mornings too, I think because my breathing patterns would normalise in the night.  Then in the day, when I felt short of breath, I'd deep breathe (or try to) and start the vicious cycle all over again.  I went through nearly every symptom mentioned in this forum (I read every single one) and I also thought it had to be something more.  But in the end it was Chronic Hyperventilation triggered by Anxiety (evenly though outwardly you wouldn't have thought I was an anxious stressed person).  
I wouldn't have accepted this self diagnosis if I hadn't experienced swuch quick results in doing Buteyko and reading the Linden Method (to get the root of the anxiety problem i didn't believe I had lol).

I hate to see people suffering, I know exactly how you all feel. I hope that this helps and you all get better .

P.S  I still have bad days now, but I know what to do about it, and every time it works =)

[telasubmucosa]

hey, could you describe more, what you do, when you have bad breathing days? buteyko breathing practice? (btw. where did you learn that? i can barely find videos, i live in germany and there are not many courses to visit). Thanks!

[glj88]

I have had these problems as a small child. My parents took me to the hospital and had x-rays and breathing test done. They could not find anything wrong with my lungs. I have noticed that my triggers normally happen after eating or drinking ANYTHING for any sort of stadium, like football games, soccer games, concerts or if I drink from a waxed paper cup from a fast food chain. Most drinks at concerts come from the wax paper cups but I have learned to stay away them so I would drink bottled water instead. This past week I ate a chicken strip basket and had a beer and noticed only minutes after eating the chicken strip basket my problems started. The actual basket was one of those paper kind and it had a piece of paper the chicken laid in. I have looked into this several times and the only think I have found is that most wax paper cups and plates have formaldehyde in them. Maybe I have a severe allergic reaction to formaldehyde?

[clh3766]

Hi everyone, I know these are old posts, but I wanted to respond because I am having the same issues with my breathing. I have had this since I was about 17 yrs. old. I have also been diagnosed with different things just like you. It is so darn annoying to try to catch a breath that it gets to be frustrating and then I do get anxiety from not being able to breath. I am going to the doctor Aug. 16th for a stress test and x-ray, so we will see what they say. If you smoke everything is blamed on that. I know it's probably the biggest problem, but I also know people with this that has never smoked. I hope we can find some help. If anyone out there finds out what this is and recovers let me know. Thanks Chris  

[EmileLeon]

Hi,
I wonder if this case is more serious than we think but medicine has not identified it yet.  Does anyone know if this could be a mild symptoms of mild idiopathic pulmonary embolism which dissolves spontaneously hence the episodic nature.  Between 5 and 20 percent of people have a thrombophilic condition due to factor V Leiden mutation.  I wonder if anyone knows if people diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome (or misdiagnosed) have been followed up for a long term to see if their PE rate or death from PE rate increased with age?  Or have these people ever been put on blood thinners to assess effect on the symptoms?