I have the same problem im reading about. Ive had it about 1 year now! Cant seem to get a full deep breath and my throat gets tight like my air gets cut off. I either have to yawn or distract myself in some other way like tapping or some other movement. And by left shoulder blade hurts through to my chest,sometimes my husband will pop my back and it tends to help for a little while. Makes me think it coulod be a nerve or something,or maybe its just anxiety! I my never know but at least im not alone!!

I've been suffering with this for 3 years and my doctor put me on Propanolol which are beta blockers. I am pleased to say they worked miracles and I am now (after 3 years) coming off of them slowly. I am now down to 2 x 10mg per day after taking 80mg per day. I have had absolutely no side effects on cutting right down and am on course to stop completely next week. My doctor said to keep some on hand in case I feel the symptoms returning when I get anxious and I can just 'pop' one as an when needed. This advice in itself has really helped make me happier as I wont have to keep on taking tablets for much longer. Please try them, they worked for me. Best of luck everyone!

For about 18 month now I have the breathing symptoms you all described before me: need to yawn or deliberatly taking a few huge breath to fill my lung with air. Gets worth in horizontal and at times I'm quiet sleep deprieved. Sometimes I'feel' my heart or tiny bit of numbness in the arm, perhaps both caused by the stress of being without air. Also, I can't pinpoint any trigger or pattern. I don't panic when without air as I know it wont kill me, there is more needed to do that, but I understand it is easy to freak out.( My husband does the freak-out thing when he sees me gasping)
I'm the healthiest 52 years old you can imagine,strong both physically mentally.Organic food if possible, minimal preservatives and chemicals etc. Living out of town on fresh air. No reason to be stressed or anxious. The only thing is that I have a few allergies in recent years. I do get skin rush from peanuts, some plants and chemicals with fume. When it comes I take antihistamins and courses of antioxidats to fight it off. I did find out the causes myself through elimination. There were quiet a few test done on me recently, to make sure that my heart and lung OK. They find out that I have thyroid nodules and that may put pressure on my windpipe. The nodules been removed last month and the breathlessness stayed. I'm pretty sure now that this is caused by some sort of irritant in the environment or by chemical.Some of you mentioned typical allegy symptoms (runny eyes, stuffy nose) they have along with the breathlessness. Also I will do some investigation on what someone mentioned: condition worsed when taken some muscle building enhancer.I do take WPI regularly in the last few years and remember when I took a creatine, HMB etc combination few times I almost fainted in the gym for gasping for air.
I think that tranquillisers help some 'cause they got anxious over not knowing what's wrong and irritated by the condition. Don't think you were crazy before it started - - but we will be soon if medicos treating us like one!they like to say that it's mental if they don't know the answer for something,anyway.

Im 16 years old and i also suffer from this annoooying condition. i found that instead of breathing with stomache.. (watching your stomache go up and down) try to open your chest and expand it while you breathe it. It helps for temporairy relief. i can't gaurentee that this technique will be helpfull for you, but as for me it gives me short satisfaction.

if theres anyone out there also that can relate to me.. mostly i feel like there are weights on my chest and sometimes throat which makes it feel very heavy. i often get sharp striking pains in my hard and lower rib cage. anyone know the cause of this?

for me-i wonder if i have the anxiety-i feel shortness of breath but my pulse is normal at 67, My blood pressure is border line and i am now on birth control but last week I got an allergic reaction to some food that i have cut out and yesterday i was at the gym and at the movies and shopping and had no problems with the breath then today is a lazy day and i am concentrating on the breathing. i however did take benadryl and slept for a few hours-is all this in my head? I have no other symptoms.

DO NOT BREATHE INTO A PAPER BAG FOR RELIEF!
IT CAN CAUSE CARBON MONOXIDE TOXICITY. YOU HAVE TO RETRAIN YOURSELF HOW TO BREATHE CORRECTLY....BUT MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT HAVE SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS THAN Hyperventilation Syndrome FIRST.

It is now 6:00 in the morning on a sunday and I can't sleep. Why? I can't breathe very well, I'm in constant fear of having a heart attack because my heart is beating, even though I know I'm fine, and every time I try to sleep, anxiety wakes me up. The worst part is- I'm only 13-years-old. I'm so afraid. I don't want to have to go to the hospital, and I have no idea what's causing this anxiety! My life's great, but I'm not.

Hey I got acne and this thing about breathing and im 16 both of them started the last year (2008) probably i got this breathing because i am anxious about my acne . I suggest all with this problem go to massage specialist they really help.

i, just like everyone here, thought i was the only one! tested and tested for asthma...i couldnt breathe well enough to complete the stupid test. the eucalyptus breathing treatment they gave me seemed to help a little. but for as long as i can remember, i feel like im breathing through a coffee straw. i gasp, twist, turn, lay flat out in odd places, yawn and stretch trying to just get a breath! its embarrassing! i have been told it is anxiety. of course, by the time i get to the hospital after three or four days of this crap and the doc hands me a paper bag to breathe in- how am i supposed to NOT be anxious!? they give me atavan, but thats silly because, while i do enjoy the "happy pill" it doesnt make me breathe any easier...although i dont care that i cant breathe!! lalala no air, life is great! but i am rendered useless on that stuff and i do NOT like putting things like that into my body. i thought maybe COPD since it runs in my family but the docs say that isnt it. heart problems, shortness of breath, chest xrays, cat scan...nothing turns up any results. some days it is better and some days are miserable! im a social worker for CPS, so its very embarrassing to be yawning twisting and gasping in front of my clients i just want an answer for what this is and what to do about it!!!

I feel exactly the same as most of you. It all started 2 months ago when I went on Ritalin for ADHD. Some might think thats rather late for such a diagnosis, but I always had a suspicion that I indeed suffered from this disorder. Anyway, after taking the medication for about 5 days I got a panic attack and had to go to the emergency room. Since the attack I haven't been the same person again. I have been nervous and generally anxious. I was prescribed Valium at first, but I felt that this was too intense for me. I was later prescribed propranolol, which literally made me almost go out of my mind. As of a week ago I started feeling I couldn't breath. It is the feeling most of you describe as, 'not being able to take that big satisfying breath' like when one yawns. At the same time my heart rate is extremely fast and I started getting chest pains. Of course I figured that this was all physical symptoms and immediately thought that there was something wrong with my heart or lungs. I went to my doctor; and at the time my heart was racing, so he prescribed me beta-blockers to lower my heart rate. At this time I am not sure what to do, but after reading what everyone else has said here, I am convinced this is psychological and I need to deal with this my own way without medication. I think it is indeed important to admit to one self that you do suffer for anxiety disorder and then start thinking of ways to better oneself.

i have had it the last three days and it is really annoying...i also googled and came to this page...ive had this for over a year and i take rivitrol an anti-anxiety tablet and it doesnt seem to be working. please help.

Hi there!

I used to get this all the time round exams times or times when i had to move around! I know how you feel and I too used to have to try and yawn to try and catch my breath! I used to try and hold my breath. It does come down t anxitey. Its nothing to worry about, it will pass in time. But the more you worry the harder it will be to get rid of it as it wil become a vicious cirlce, so as you are doing distract yourself!

VITAMIN C DEFICIENCY. At least for me, that's what it was. I now take 500mg of timed release Vitamin C each day and it's MUCH MUCH better. Look it up - you'll see that a vitamin C deficiency can cause shortness of breath. I had the same issues - had to lean over, sit up differently, yawn, etc., to finally get a satisfying full breath of air in. I even ended up in the ER once - they tested everything, did an EKG, a breath test, etc., and came up with no results. They even gave me albuterol which made me absolutely psycho and made my lips and extremeties feel like they were being poked with a thousand needles. Vitamin C is the only thing that has helped!

I thought I was the only one with the "trying-to-yawn-to-catch-my-breath" kinda thing.

I've had this problem earlier in life around 16, I'm now 22 and it has come back out of no where. Recently, I have been taking a weight-loss pill that I am supposed to take for 30 days and have been working out a lot more than I used to, watching what I eat more often that not -- and staying active with playing ice hockey about twice a week.

I noticed it on the bench while playing hockey about 2-weeks ago, I had to skip a few shifts. I think a lot has to do with the pills I'm taking and the sudden change of trying to "better" my body. I also work at a supermarket as a manager so stress could be a cause, although I do not feel at unease. Reading through everyone's stories has helped me a great deal and it feels good knowing that I'm not the only one with the problem.

I'm gonna immediately stop taking the weight loss pills and do a little more research and hopefully I can dilute the problem to allow me to be fully active again at the gym and in hockey. Thanks for all the help!

I'm 33 years old and have had this issue for a couple of years now. I was diagnosed with anxiety & panic disorder 4 years ago; however, I found out 1 year ago I had Diabetes, which was making the anxiety worse. Before I found out I had Diabetes, I would work myself into a panic with the heart pounding symptoms and not being able to take a deep breath, which caused chills and sometimes pain or shaking. If you smoke, as I once did, it makes it worse. I have learned to cope with it, and when I am eating well and exercising regularly I don't have the symptoms. I have found that I can be lying in bed and can hear my heartbeat or I feel like I can't take a deep breath and I panic so quickly that I make it even worse. Sometimes working through it and calming yourself down is the only thing that works. I live alone and when it's really bad, I get up, get a glass of cold water and turn on the TV until it subsides.

i have the same problem now... yaawn to try to catch my breath...i notice when i use to work out my problem went away... i did suffer from drepression and anxiety, but once i started working out it went away little by little.. i had stopped working out for a year when i moved to Texas and started eating different and my breathing problem started all over again...im 24 years old and weight about 165 lbs. im sure once i get back to working out my breathing problem will better it self...

...i suggest working out

...cures deppression and anxiety and you look good feel better...

Thank you all for these posts...I honestly thought I was alone and was a little embarrassed to tell anyone I have to "yawn" to catch my breath. It gets annoying to keep yawning while your having a conversation with someone...it's like you're uninterested in what they are saying. I'm only 21 years old and I can't believe I'm having these problems already. I wouldn't say I am a stressed out individual nor do I have anxiety. I am debt free, worry free. I've been having this problem for about a year now. I can say that last year, a few things happened that were very stressful and maybe triggered this problem. I have tried to stay calm and attempt to take deep satisfying breaths, but at the time it occurs, you really can't stay calm. It's very exhausting; just thinking about it makes me unable to breathe right.

Hey guys.
My name is Stina ive been suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder since i was 5 years old.
The lasdt year ive developed a form for ''i cant take a deep breath unless i force myself to yawn'' kind of thing.
Its weird cause i can sit normal relaxed and suddenly i cant get all the way down breathing its like its blocking down im my stomach . First when i try over and over again to breath and get satisfied with it i panic and think ohgod im gonna die now, i cant breath etc - but funny enough ive caught myself in these situations, and when i have the problem i notice myself breathing with my chest instead of my stomach, when i try to breath my shoulders goes up to the ears without me realizing really. ive been to the doctor and she listened to my lungs and heart and told me everything sounded fine so was my bloodpressure - so i guess she's riht although i have a rd time beliveing so seeing as how much it feels like a condition of some sort. I then search on the internet for exactly thism and it could either be asthma, lung cancer or stress / anxiety related - asthma i dont have - lungcancer is RARE for people under 50 years old. And i didnt have symptoms other than this to it but i DID have all the symptom the anxiety related condition said about this - thats how i figured it was mental. I do not have a cure although when i focus on something or when i fall asleep suddenly it goes away and i then think about its gone and ofc it comes back if u had anything wrong with you guys, you would feel this breathing issues all the time not only random so dw ! - next time you have it try take a PAPER bag and breath down in it helps for some people - others - call someone when u feel like this and talk to the person and suddenly u will feel better.
hopefully my doctor is right i mena she listened to my heart and lungs and told me it soudned fine so nothing can be wrong .

*hugs* Stina.