Excessive Yawning and Constant Need to Breathe Deep

Hey there, just wanted to let you know I'm right there with you. I've been suffering from this for 6 months now and after two specialists and thousands of dollars, I was given a clean bill of health. So now I just break down and cry once a week, because I don't understand why my body can't just do what it's naturally supposed to. It's just breaking me down.

what does your therapist think it is?

My dear, don't cry. Firstly, a few things you must remember. When we yawn or breathe excessively, we'll develope a symptom called HYPERVENTILATTION. And this causes all those problems we are facing. When our lungs are full, how are we going breath in more right? So relax, always remember that God is with you all and I will pray for all of us here. Keep the msg coming... and pray../||..

It is more like of a psychological thing that leads to hyperventilation and triggers the whole cycle over and over agin...

Dear Liz, I totally feel your pain! I have been living with this condition for over 10 years now. You just get used to it... At times is really frustrating, but it ends up becoming part of your life and we learn to cope. I have tried medication once and it made it worse, I did therapy and improves for a while but ends up coming back. Meditation and sports can be a struggle to do when you are breathless but in the grand scheme they help. I hope you get well soon!!

My therapist does not think it's anxiety. It's chronic and started so long ago. She said she can't advise anxiety medication in good conscience.

Hey thank you! I'm sorry you've been living with this for so many years. Six months has been torture enough.

I think I may have discovered part of the mystery for me. After going through all the comments on here, I found one that mentioned a possible connection to GERD. I do have acid reflux along with other digestive issues for some years now, so I decided to make an appointment with a gastroenterologist. He said since I already ruled out problems with my heart and lungs with other specialists, he said it is possible that this is an inflammation of my esophagus or some type of food allergy. My allergy results will come in today (curious if I have a dairy allergy), but he also got me a prescription of strong anti acids to take before meals. I have also cut out all dairy, grease, and acids from my diet in only the last 36 hours and I swear my shortness of breath has gone down significantly. I feel the best I've felt in months.

Again, this is just for me, and diet clearly has something to do with it!

i think i may have undiagnosed gerd. how did you find that out? do you ever feel your chest heavy?

Yes I did have a chest pain and and tightness and I also often felt bloated after meals and had bad uncontrollable burping for an hour after heavier meals.

Chest pain and tightness came and went, but for me it was mainly bloating and burping. When it comes to acid reflux and digestive issues each individual will feel different levels of symptoms.

I don't know if I specifically have GERD, it's definitely very possible, but I know I have bad acid reflux, belching, and stomach pains. I also had an endoscopy a couple years ago that showed stomach inflammation.

My allergy tests came back and aside from minor allergies to some pollens and trees I have no other allergies. And after specialists cleared lung and heart problems this really leads me to believe it's connected to my acid reflux.

I highly recommend you make an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Also of course make sure you rule our heart and lung problems.

Also take note of your diet... do you eat and drink acidic foods, do you also eat fiber rich foods to offset it, how do you feel after eating, etc.

I hope you get some answers!

I honestly feel i have acid reflux and gerd ... i was supposed to do a coloscopy but it was cancelled because of covid. i drink a lot of coffee, eat not so good.

I'm sorry your appointment was cancelled. Have you asked your doctor if they do video calls? My appointment yesterday was via whatsapp video with my doctor and he prescribed medication on the spot after I described my symptoms. Of course, an inside look of what's going on in our bodies would be the best option, but until you're able to go in person, at least ask what can be done right now and I'm sure they'll be able to prescribe some anti acids and medication to help with GERD symptoms. What you do have in your control is your diet. Make a plan just for the next week to remove coffee, red meat, fried foods and other acidic foods like tomatoes and oranges from your diet and see how you feel! Also include some high fiber and acidic suppressing foods like whole grains, oatmeal, baked fish and lean meats, apples and bananas. Definitely worth the shot and your body will thank you!

thank you for your reply. i have had this problem for 3 years.... its so frustrating. every doctor i have gone to see just say its anxiety. how old are you? are you from the states?

I actually got on this forum about a year ago because I was having the same problem with yawning, and I couldnt figure our why it was happening. but I did realize and figure out a little while after I got on this forum that it was because I had gotten off opioids . and yawning was the first signs of the withdrawal.

and I think it could be from really any type of medication that is stopped or slowed Down.

at least that’s what the issue was in my case but, I’m sure there are other reasons as well. such as not enough oxygen in the Body .

so try doing some jumping Jacks or jumprope, Maybe jog in place. get yourblood pumping for 10 min. see is that helps. good luck!!

-EDM

You're very welcome. I'm sorry you've had it for so long. I've had it for going on 7 months now and have been breaking down recently thinking this would be my life going forward, so I really can't imagine 3 years.

I also had two specialists tell me it's anxiety, and what I told them is that "this is giving me anxiety!"

I'm excited for you to tackle this from a different angle. I hope it works out for you. Yes, I'm from the States and am 31. What about you?

It is anxiety - it's a form of OCD (read my previous comments). I had every test known to man and still had constant shortness of breath which consumed my every thought every day. When I finally accepted there was nothing medically wrong with me (which took years and a million test and lots of money) I accepted that it was something mental (even though it was such a physical feeling). In short the feeling of needing to take deep breath/yawn is you actually checking that you can do it (the compulsion). It's no different to checking a light switch a million times or that your hands are clean after washing them (what most people think OCD is). Of course when you go to check if you can take a deep breath your anxiety spikes which is the feeling of being short of breath. It’s a vicious cycle and the only thing that relieves

that feeling is checking you can take the breath over and over again (it is literally never ending) . Start to think of it in a different way, not that there’s something medically wrong you feeling short of breath – say to yourself I don’t need to check if I can take a deep breath – you’ll get an overwhelming feeling that you do need to but eventually your mind won’t associate that thought with anxiety and the feeling will go (it's called ERP therapy). I 100% cured myself by admitting that I had OCD rather than something medically wrong with me. You need to expose yourself to the feeling/anxiety you get and just hold out as long as you can while saying I don’t need to check I can take a deep breath I’m breathing fine. It takes time and hard work but it works. Do some research – it’s called sensorimotor or hyperawareness OCD. Google Jon Hershfield or Steven Seay – OCD experts in sensorimotor.

I am from Singapore. And it seems like nobody in Singapore have this except me. Any Singaporeans here??? Well they are shy or selfish to share, that's sad. Anyway, I am 59. Thanks and God be with you all.

Hi Rick,

I am from Malaysia but staying in Singapore. I have same issues for 20 years. How can we contact each other?

I am getting better now after I take the anxiety medication Zoloft and Xanax. I have seen many western doctor and TCM. Finally my friend recommend a doctor in Melaka for me who is a professor.

Regards,

Lynn

Hi Lynn, thank you for your response and it is really not easy for 20 years and happy to know that you are better now. There is always a solution in anything. God bless.

I 100% agree with this. I am 22 years old and this OCD is ruining my life. When you hold out on the breathes, is it not uncomfortable? Do you not get lightheaded and feel your entire body get numb? When I try to hold out and not take the deep breath my anxiety worsens, my body gets numb, I get weak and feel as If I am going to faint and die. As extreme as that sounded, its easier said than done to not take that deep breath when your body signals to you that you need it. How did you do this? Can you go into detail please? Thank you so much.

What will happen if we don't take those excessive breathes? What will happen if we choose to ignore it and just breath normal to prevent the Hyperventilation? Its truly the most uncomfortable feeling.

Yes it was extremely distressing and uncomfortable to not take the deep breath (and virtually impossible). I just stuck with it and persisted and gradually got better day after day (it took well over 12 months). In saying that I still do take the odd deep breath but I can always get that perfect deep breath and I do it sub-consciously and don't have to do it constantly. You HAVE to lower the anxiety - it's the glue that holds it all together. You have to change your whole mindset - you can't be thinking I just want to go back to how I was before all this started - you have to think this is how I am now and this is what I now do - I don't care if I have to take a deep breath it's not going to stop me doing anything. It's the anxiety of thinking you are going to be like this forever and why can't you just be like you were before all this started that keeps the OCD going and going. I actually got to the stage where I realised I was also feeling anxious about taking a deep breath even when I could (it's very hard to explain) but the whole thing was just a vicious cycle of anxiety specifically about my breathing.I just let go of it all, exercised (got out of breath figuring what was the worse that could happen to me - basically collapse and make a fool of myself) and finally got my head around that there is nothing medically wrong with me and I don't care if this is how I am now. It is very very difficult but at some stage it just clicks in your head. You can still be happy and notice your breathing - it doesn't have to be one or the other.Start doing things you've been avoiding. When it comes down to it there is actually nothing to get rid of - these sensations are naturally present and experienced by everyone - it's only our misinterpretation and hyper-awareness that make them feel unbearable. There is actually no correct way to breath just keep that in mind - every person in the world breaths their own way.You think your body has forgotten how to breath but it didn't. The only thing that's stopping your body from breathing sub-consciously is your fear of not being able to (breath that is). You will only start to recover when you realise that any attempt to stop the awareness is unwinnable. Good luck - small steps and wins day by day by day and you will get there.

Hey Carol,

I'm not sure if you're still active on here, but I thought I'd message you anyways. I've had this deep breathing issue for about two months now. I didn't realize it was OCD until I started developing new obsessions. My breathing actually went back to normal for two weeks because I was so focused on those other obsessions (go figure).

In addition to doing exposure therapy, was there anything else that helped you? I'm confident that I can get better in the long-term, but all of the suffering in the short-term is definitely taking a toll on my mental health. I heard that cleaning up your diet and exercise can go a long way, but I'm curious if you had any extra advice to offer?

Also, I just wanted to say thank you for all your previous posts on here. A lot of people have breathing OCD and don't even realize it. Getting a proper diagnosis and treatment is key to recovery, and I wouldn't have made it this far without people like you raising awareness for this issue.

Hi - I don't look on here anymore but found an email alerting me to your comment in my junk folder!

I feel like I have fully recovered - although I can still think back to how I felt (that constant feeling of just needing that satisfactory breath) and I can get that feeling back but now I can move on from it.

The only thing that helped me in the end was just accepting it and getting on with my life - I started exercising again (doing spin classes to get out of breath) and didn't say no to anything which I was starting to do. I stopped researching looking for the magic pill that was just going to make it go away and it just gradually got better and better. I also stopped trying to think back how I felt 'before' and just concentrated on now.

At one stage I was having a party and was blowing up a whole lot of balloons and I couldn't believe how good I felt (expelling all that air) when I'd spent years trying to get more air in!!! That probably makes no sense at all but it was just a whole lot of little things that clicked together in my mind - you really have to breath very very little - sometimes an outward breath can help get rid of that feeling rather than an inward breath. I'm talking a very very gentle longer outward breath - not a big whoosh.

I can 100% say though it was in my head - I'd become totally hyper-aware of my breathing and the different sensations I felt and that feeling of needing to take the perfect breath to feel 'normal'. I agree that the amount of people who have spent years and years and years having medical tests and looking for a medical diagnosis when it's actually a mental condition is very sad. There is no magic pill it just takes a bit of work.

Good luck.