yep I "yawn" alot too ..... Its a form of hyperventalation

Well it is certainly a bit of a comfort to know I am not alone. I am going to a hypnotherapist to see if they can help. I will let you all know how I get on. There must be something that can be done. Are you all able to still work or has it effected it so much that you are no longer able to.

For me just to be able to see straight and not get off balance/dizzy so regularly would be a huge improvement in quality of life. As this illness can be totally debilitating. Quality of life is hugely effected. It could be described as a disability in some of our extreme cases.

Oh well good luck to you all.
Merry christmas.

My panic attacks are really bad at the moment so much I cant go outside or take my son to school
its horrible

im going to my doctor tommorow to as them to put me back on prozac as I found this helped last time I were on it

anyway I hope you get sorted

and a merry xmas to you too he he

Every time I leave my office in rush hour, I cant breath properly, I dont know if any of you have had the same situation, sometimes I got fever as well. My doctor gave me a prescription for asthma.

don

interesting point you made there, I had a rough period with heartburn two years ago and have now been wondering if this breathing problem is somehow related. I still get heartburn (no gerd) if I eat the wrong food but basically have it under control. But bad heartburn can feel like a heart attach or even a back ache. I am still experiencing the breathing issue (which rules out allergy-related since there is now snow on the ground) so now I have been looking for other possible triggers. For the worse periods, my breathing problems seem to follow a meal. I will have to pay attention to that more...

I know all the symptoms, the feeling of lack of oxygen, the yawning, the tension in upper back and neck, the difficulty of swallowing. It has been a difficult year with my father dying last june but also, strangely enough, it also happened after I stopped birth control pill. I have found one method for temporary relief: lie down on the ground, all parts of the body touching the ground, and feel the earth pull you - let all your weight go. It is very relaxing but it is also a very relaxing position to be able to breathe properly. Massages of the back and neck migth help you relax all those muscles around chest and lungs. Meditating helps, sit in lotus position and try to ban all thoughts - do breathing exercises like the buddhists: breathe deeply and let all the air go out of your lungs until you double over before you start taking air in again. In the beginning it seems scary but you get better at it.

I have had this problem since march and this also started when I came of the contraceptive pill due to a virus affecting my liver, but have only just realised after looking on this site. Very bizzarre! Am gonna do some reasearch on this, as not being able to take a deep breath is horrible. Can take over your life if your not careful and makes everything worse! Having this site to look at is a great help though as you realise you are not the only going through this!!!!

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and am experiencing the exact same problems that everyone that has posted is....It can be very distressing. And I am telling you all it is anxiety, if you just try and preoccupy yourself you will forget about it. At one point you will remind yourself, and think "wait a second- I have been breathing ok....". Funny how that happens......But once you start to think about it again bam the problem arises again. I have suffered from anxiety and panic disorders for a few months now, trying to deal with it the natural way (without medications)....I think we all just need to convice ourselves that we are ok! And it is all just in our heads.....Which is kinda scary in itself that the mind can be so powerful as to cause physical symptoms. Anyone agree with me here, or am I just speaking the obvious? Breathing techniques are helpful, and also tai chi excercises will help with the breathing and anxiety. I am not completey cured.....But I have faith that I will be someday....Good luck to you all and god bless!

I'm so glad I found this site...

^that is exactly how I feel. For me it's worst at night...A lot of times right when i'm about to fall asleep I have to gasp for air.
It's not every day for me but I have been feeling bad since last night.
I remember a really long time ago feeling like this...I was like 10 or 11 when it started. I'm only 16 now and it really scares me...I don't know how this can really be stress related for me though...The only thing stressing me out is the breathing problem.

Hey last year I had to have a lung surgery to correct a problem you are describing... I had a cancer growth :!: not to scare you but make sure you remember when it happens and if it gats worse
stay positive

wow I had just gotten off ortho evra "the patch" when my breathing issues started to happen. I am beginning to wonder if it has something to do with that since now I am the third person with that same issue. I have been having this problem since april and some days are better than others but all in all it has not completely gone away ever. I just want to be able to breath again! I drive my husband crazy with all my worries, if anyone has any advice or cure for this please let me know! :?

I've gone through this too, on the left side of the chest where I cant seem to take a deep breath without it becoming too painful. I found one thing that sounds like it could be it: chest wall syndrome but im not sure. Also when this happens to me I usually inhale very deep and very fast because it gets very painful for a bit but I feel something in my chest "pop" or release and I feel just fine, I can breathe normally and act as if it never happened.

I just saw a couple of posts about this happening after people came off the pill? What a coincidence...I never thought about it before. I had this problem about a year ago--almost every day, especially at night (so bad I could only sleep every other night, when I was too exhausted not to)--and I had also only stopped using the pill 3 months or so prior to that beginning. I thought I was dying or something. (my mom has a much worse case, and told me not to worry--if you pass out from not breathing, you'll just automatically start up breathing again when you're unconscious!)

my dumb doctor diagnosed me with acute bronchitis :roll: the pills helped nothing, and made me feel even weirder. Finally, some smart woman put it together and gave me some elavil. Once I realized that those pills helped, I started meditation techniques, breathing techniques...All of which helped some (and the elavil helped when those didn't). I had these anxiety problems until september, when I finally got on my figurative feet with my own apartment and a good job in a new city. I haven't had any alarming symptoms since then (and it should be noted that I started the pill again the next october, so who knows what part that played).

I didn't realize there were so many people experiencing the same thing I have been for about the past two years. All the same symptoms that I have read......Not being able to get a good deep breath, yawning a lot with no relief, finding a good sleeping position so that I can breath deeply.
Because of my past experience with anxiety/panic attacks, I do believe that it is stress related, even though I don't feel stressed out and am not taking any kind of anxiety medication and haven't for about 2 and a half years. When I took myself off of ativan I started taking a bcomplex vitamin daily because of the affects I heard it would have on anxiety sufferers. It seems to work, whether or not it's in my head I don't know. But I would much rather take it than the ativan. Anyway, it has been reassuring to find this site, to know that it's not just me and it's not just in my head. The only difference I have noticed from most of the comments is that I feel more out of breath when I eat.
Thank you for posting your comments, I really appreciated reading them

I should have mentioned that the b vitamin I mentioned in my previous post didn't help the breathing problem but I haven't had a full blown anxiety/panic attack for the past couple of years :)

i have had some kind of popping going on, I describe it like a knuckle cracking sound. It does release some of the tight feeling I experience. I don't experience a lot of pain though, just the feeling that something is wrapped around me chest.

this is a gas bubble. Well, that's what my parents called this. I get these every once in a while, where it really hurts to breathe very deeply, and when you finally do, you feel a "pop" and then...Voila...Like nothing happened. Pretty sure this is a completely normal thing.

Wow, I cant believe I have found this forum..Its comforting in a wrong way to know other people are experiencing the same thing.
Its psychosomatic really.The shortness of breath and sometimes chest pains are from the anxiety. Your body tenses up and that closes the airways..Making it hard to breathe...Making you more anxious etc etc. A bit of a vicious circle if you like. I experience this all the time really. I sometimes try to hold my breath so I can try and somehow get a bigger breath the next time. It never happens.
Ive started seeing this hypnotherapist for my anxiety. Well he is a psychotherapist as well...I am trying to learn new ways to calm myself down and to relax.
Everyone out there who is suffering like me - please get some help ( as in talking to someone) as it will only get worse...The physical symptoms get worse. Anxiety doesnt go away on its own unfortunately...Although I wished it would for five years. Im 25 now, and taking each day as it comes.
Its nice to know im not alone though..So thanks.

Welp, here I am, joining the club. I've been suffering from this off and on for 15 yrs. At first I related this to possibly an eating disorder. I was so scared of gaining weight and I love to eat! Everytime I would eat what felt like a little too much, the breathing thing would kick in-or should I say, the "lack of breathing thing". I am not overweight either and really don't have a problem with gaining weight, even at 41 bit I do think about it constantly. Everytime I mentioned this "yawning" thing to a Dr., they would look at me with a blank stare. I notice my lack of air mainly when I lay down. I sit down to relax at night, and as soon as I get horizontal on the couch watchin my favorite show, (thinkin that i'm completely relaxed) here it comes. No one else has mentioned the watery eyes that come along with it and the runny nose and how you get all stuffed up in the nasal passages. The watery eyes are what bugs me the most. I know that i'm not going to die from lack of oxygen and I don't really worry about that or panic about it. It is almost like having a tick (spelling). I do suffer from allergies, but never thought it was very bad. Most of my allergies are a 2-3 on a 1-5 scale. I had assumed that it was related to anxiety but what the heck to do but go on medication. I have nothing against meds if you need them but like others have said before, "i don't feel stressed". Meds would be a last resort for me. I also suffer from ulcers inside the mouth and have always related those to stress. I went thru a period in my 30's (which now I can look back and see much stress) when I was suffering from either the yawning attacks, acne, or mouth ulcers. But don't remember ever having all at the same time (thank god!). I am a pretty mellow person all in all, very patient and don't have much to worry about in life. I am a married, stay at home mom of two little well behaved boys, but hey, like I said before, you don't think you are stressed, but your body tells ya different. This (my diagnosis) is just how my body deals with stress. I'm sure that doesn't help anyone, but once again, it helps to know there are others out there. Like chocabloc said, it is comforting in a wrong way! You don't wish it on anyone, but it is such a comfort knowing i'm not alone.

Hi every one I enjoyed reading the messages I think I might try the brown bag trick with thanks