Connect
← Return to Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Discussion
Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (3467)Comment receiving replies
I hear you—this whole thing is incredibly frustrating, especially when so many people seem to struggle with it, yet no one can give us a clear answer. It sounds like you’ve been through a lot trying to figure this out, and I really respect how much effort you’ve put into managing it.
It’s interesting that your symptoms started after taking Pristiq. Have any doctors acknowledged a possible connection, or has it been more of a personal observation?
It also sounds like you’ve tackled this from multiple angles—sleep apnea, GERD, breathing exercises, and even experimenting with vaping/weed. I can understand the temptation to use something that gives even a moment of relief, but I totally get your concern about long-term effects. Have you noticed if certain strains or methods of use (like edibles vs. vaping) make a difference in whether it helps or worsens things?
Taking a year off work must have been a huge decision. Has it helped at all in terms of stress reduction and your symptoms, or has it been more of a mixed bag? I really wish there was a way for you (and all of us dealing with this) to get the kind of deep medical investigation that could finally connect the dots.
You’re not alone in this, and I’m really glad you shared your story. Hoping we can all piece this puzzle together one step at a time.
Replies to "I hear you—this whole thing is incredibly frustrating, especially when so many people seem to struggle..."
Connect
Thank you, yes my doctors seem to accept that pristiq was a sort of trigger for it to begin. The medication itself also came with "excessive yawning" listed as a side effect. My neurologist is ready to prescribe me a new serotonin drug to see if it affects the issue but I am not ready to try it right now, I think I need to exhaust other options first.
One personal theory is that yawning a lot formed some sort of dysfunctional neural circuit, where my body has decided that the releif from a yawn is necessary to deal with discomfort caused by other sources.
Vaping a menthol flavour seems like the best option for immediate releif with the least harmful results. Smoking fancy expensive weed from a dispensary has had the best lasting releif but still sometimes seems to hurt. Vaping weed at a low temperature feels like the safest option with a very thin vapor that provides some immediate releif. Dabbing extract has the most powerful effect with intense immediate releif but also I suspect has led to some pretty bad periods, depending on temperature, cleanliness, and the type of extract. Higher temperature mostly intensifies the effect. Having the nail not be completely clean seems to make things worse. And more full spectrum extracts like live resin seem to be more helpful than somethng like shatter or distillate. I haven't paid much attention to strain. My weed habits have been mostly just about getting high, as I don't really feel like I can justify it as a proper treatment for a breathing issue. I don't think edibles help at all, however I have an unusual high tolerance for edibles.
Taking time off work was a very mixed bag. It was very helpful in proving to myself that I still have some control of my life, and I don't have to make myself suffer extra when I am at my worst. But it was very much not a solution, and I am back at work now with flexible part time hours. Sleep was also a huge factor in this, as when I left this issue was affecting sleep the worst, while currently I have been able to get lots of full nights of effective sleep in a row.
Also, I owe it to claude.ai for learning about the connection/possible connection to GERD. When I get the chance I may feed some of the stories from this thread to it and see if there are any more insights.
I have more info posted here, as well as some simple tips/techniques that have helped me a ton.
Reddit user u/yawn_problem
Thank you and good luck to you too.