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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?

Lung Health | Last Active: Oct 23 10:20am | Replies (3405)

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@bluebutterfly

I have read a lot of the comments here, but not all. Just curious if anyone has the same symptom I do. For the past few years, I will have bouts of heavy yawning and gasping for air during the yawn, that will happen every few seconds and the whole thing will last for 5-10 minutes and then go away. It happens 2-3 times a week, at random times of the day or night for no apparent reason. I will begin to feel weak and extremely exhausted first and sometimes a feeling of just not feeling well overall and then the yawning/gasping/hyperventilating for air starts. I usually have a lot of body pain in muscles and joints a few minutes before this as well. After about 10 minutes, I feel about 50% better, but feel the need to rest and take a nap. I have Lupus and I have told my Rheumatologist about it, but he says he has never heard of anything like this and basically brushed it off. Any idea what it could be or if anyone else has had this happen? It’s been going on for a little over 4 years. I’m in my early 50’s. I have Poland Syndrome, I have also had brain surgery in the past for Chiari Malformation and a spinal fusion from top to bottom when I was a teenager for severe scoliosis.

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Replies to "I have read a lot of the comments here, but not all. Just curious if anyone..."

Hi @bluebutterfly, meant to reply earlier but must've not hit send! It sounds like there may be instances of low oxygen. Have you gotten your oxygen checked or considered getting a small, finger oximeter to monitor and track? It'd be interesting to see if there's a correlation with the bouts of yawning.

I too have bouts of yawning and feeling very weak and tired and needing a nap. I always associated those with getting a migraine. Maybe it’s something you’re eating. You can keep a food diary. You write down everything you eat and the time that you eat it. Then you write down any symptoms that show up and the time. You can look back after about a week and see a consistent pattern sometimes. I can’t eat gluten and then I have other things that will trigger a response as well. Not everyone has food intolerances, so your problem may be something else. I also have been experiencing extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and weakness. Just found out that I am anemic, but I have a lot of heart and lung issues. I also associate it with my heart rates in the 40s and my blood pressure is low. You should be checking these things, and also get a pulse oximeter to check your oxygen levels. I hope that helps.