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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
I will try to make this as short as possible, but this has been going on for over 5 years, so it might be farily long.
Beginning in summer of 2012, I began having shortness of breath (SOB) with no other symptoms. I felt a constant need to yawn, and every few breaths wouldn't satisfy the SOB. I would take a deep breath, and felt like it would get "stuck" before satisfying the air hunger feeling. About every 3-5 deep breaths would satisfy it, only for it to return a minute later.
I got an endoscopy and other tests done, which revealed that I had some esophageal erosion due to acid reflux and a slight hiatal hernia and was diagnosed with GERD. I had always have bad heartburn, so I was prescribed with Prilosec, which I have been taking daily since them. I've tried stopping it a few times but the reflux always comes back a lot worse.
Lung tests and x-rays were normal. Heart tests normal. Blood test revealed a slight anemia but otherwise pretty normal.
I did some research reading forums where someone suggested taking vitamin B-12. Strangely, I took it and the SOB disappeared almost instantly. However, it only lasted a few days for it to return just as bad. I then started taking an iron supplement, which again made the SOB disappear quickly- same thing; symptom returned days later.
After further research, I came across a breathing exercise method called the Buteyko method. Essentially you do a lot of breath holding to build up CO2 and reduce breathing as the theory is that I had chronic hyperventilation causing too much CO2 to exit my body. After applying the method and reducing my breathing, the SOB disappeared after only 2 days and I felt completely normal. I continued the method a few more days then no longer felt the need to pursue the exercises. I was normal for a whole year when the SOB once again returned with some chest tightness. I applied the method again and the symptom went away, this time with a little more effort; after about 3 weeks. I included physical exercise which also helped with my breathing.
After that, I was normal for about 2 years. I mistakenly stopped or at least slowed down exercise and the SOB returned once again. I applied the method and began running for exercise but the SOB kept getting worse. It got so bad, I had multiple panic attacks and the feeling of completely empty lungs with the inability to satisfy it with deep breaths. I had to stop exercise altogether, apply the Buteyko method and do breathing exercises very carefully with very light and slow exercise. This helped, but it took many weeks for the SOB to improve. Then, it was almost normal when over a year ago as I was running, I couldn't get a deep breath to satisfy exercise-induced SOB. I have had SOB continuously since then (a year and a half).
I once again started doing breathing exercises and slowly building up physical exercise, but I can't do any prolonged cardio activity because the SOB gets to a point where deep breathing will not satisfy it. While the breathing exercises have helped, they have had very little effect compared to previous efforts. It seems that every time the symptom returned, greater effort yields few results.
I suspect there is something, some underlying cause that is causing the SOB that has alluded me this entire time.
So for the past few months to a year, the SOB is worse on some days, better on others, but never gone. There's no rhyme or reason or pattern for it. It's just there, sometimes affecting my sleep. I sometimes can't get a deep breath to satisfy it every now and then, but for the most part, a big gulp of air will satisfy it. But it returns seconds to minutes later. It's as though every breath doesn't deliver what it's supposed to, the SOB builds up, and then I have to take a big gulp of air to get rid of the feeling, pattern repeats. My breathing pattern is normal, however. I don't feel like anything physical is happening, but sometimes it feels like my airways and nostrils are slightly inflamed due to allergies, but when I don't feel inflammation the SOB is still there.
Recent lung function tests show normal- I don't have asthma, or any other problems with my lungs. Heart tests are normal though I did have about a two week bout of heart palpitations which came and went. Haven't had any for a while- it just mysteriously started happening then stopped. Blood tests are normal, though tests always show a slight elevation of biliruben which my doc thinks is Gilbert's disease.
I don't have sleep apnea (normal test), bloody oxygenation is normal, heart rate normal.
I recently saw local naturopath (since mainstream docs aren't able to help) who immediately suspected a liver problem when I described my SOB, possibly liver inflammation. He used an electrodermal testing machine to test his theory which did seem to show a problem with my liver and gallbladder. He gave me digestive enzymes and a gallbladder formula to help clear a bile duct clog, thus reducing liver inflammation. He also determined with the machine that I have an egg sensitivity so I've been avoiding eggs.
Been taking this and avoiding eggs for a couple of months, but there has been no noticeable improvement. Everything else is normal. Emotionally I'm normal- no anxiety, depression, etc. The SOB seems to be the only symptom of something, but always comes back worse, until a year and half ago when it came back and has remained since. I feel like I shouldn't have to do breath holding exercises every day just to maintain my breathing well enough to do every day things.
Does anyone have any idea of a possible underlying cause?
2021/2022 UPDATE:
Since my original post about 3-1/2 years ago, a lot has happened, so I’d like to update the post to share with others who come across this what I’ve done since then.
I have maintained a weekly Buteyko method breathing exercise regimen where I do a few of these breathing exercises 3-4 times a week in the morning. This, in combination with daily light to moderate exercise (specifically weight lifting, with 1 or 2 days a week of walking and light jogging), I feel has kept the air hunger symptoms tolerable and manageable. I have mostly good days with some not-so-good days, but doing a breathing exercise and knowing that it’ll get better again helps me get through those times.
I also have sinus inflammation which can exacerbate the symptoms, but I’ve also managed this, which in turn reduces the severity of the air hunger symptoms.
So, while I haven’t found a cure nor is the problem completely gone, I have been able to maintain normalcy in daily life and manage the symptoms through the strategies I described.
This discussion remains active, alive and well through the comments section where others who have similar symptoms have shared what has helped them as well as suggestions for possible solutions to explore.
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Dear @tburdon, Thank-you! : )
@j178452- You are absolutely correct on too many pills being prescribed. However, when it's a possibility to solving a question and when no tests are available, it might be an answer. I don't know of any reliable blood tests for depression or anxiety. Do you?
Hey my yawning started when I was exposed to dust mite and became Oral I noticed that everytime I eat garlic and other spices it makes me yawn more and also when I eat at restaurants, even drinking juice from bottles, milkshakes, smoothies all of that makes me yawn and also eating certain fruits as well any time I try eating other things like cereal, cheese, ice cream, chips it makes me yawn and short of breath couple minutes after and I have these episodes of yawning that last forever it’s scary when I don’t eat them I don’t yawn I do have other environmental allergies idk if thats causing it I’ve been to so many doc they can’t find the cause and all my test come back normal. it’s a scary feeling Now idk if I’m going crazy but if i am in a room that’s not well clean with dust around or the AC didn’t work there’s usually a strong smell I start feeling air hunger and I have to yawn.
@yaramarthe- Good morning. When I used to drink more wine than I do now I used to yawn at my sister's house when we sat down to dinner. It never failed! Maybe it's her dog (I've had dogs all of my adult life and have been around hers all of their lives.) Maybe it's a medication that I take, like my anti-depressant or even one of my supplements? I hated all the yawning and of course got joked with that I'm bored with their company. It was one yawn after another, grrr. I don't really know what changed. Was it the wine? I don't think so because I was at her house for dinner last weekend and although I did yawn (not as much) I had nothing to drink other than water.
I'm not sure what you mean by being exposed to dust mites. Dust mites are everywhere, every room, building, outside, inside, and upside-down rooms. 24/7. But a dusty room or any mechanism that pushes air around can be irritating. SO you have a choice to make- either avoid those places or know that you might yawn a lot.
You mention a lot of dairy products int he list of food that irritates your breathing. Are you lactose sensitive? I imagine that you have been tested for for allergies among your many tests?
Wow, I see its been several years now but I will reply too, just in case.
Since I was a young child (am now mid 20s), I can recall going thru periods where my chest feels tight, like I am not breathing. The ONLY thing that makes it go away is a deep, forced, sigh or yawn like you said. Sometimes it lasts for a week, sometimes it lasts several months. There are no related triggers and it is not a panic attack. There is nothing wrong with my lungs (I've seen 2 pulmonologists) and no asthma. I've seen an ENT and gotten the camera to look at my larynx, not that. I've seen a speech pathologist; she gave me breathing that didn't help. I've been to therapy (including CBT), and while it helped me, it hasn't helped the BREATHING issue. After all these medical visits, NO ONE, not a single medical professional I've met with, knows what I'm talking about. The best I've gotten is sympathy, the worst was being dismissed and told that I'm making it up.
I've met two people who described to me identical symptoms and I've read similar stories on the internet, which is how I heard that this is a symptom of anxiety. Its a VERY frequent complaint on the r/anxiety subreddit, I've found blog posts from other frustrated people and there are even medical reviews on the condition if you search Google Scholar (its called 'sigh syndrome,' 'compulsive sighing,' or 'psychogenic dyspnea.' can send links). But most studies are kinda outdated, and at least two suggest "reassuring the patient that they are fine" as the "treatment." Importantly, I do NOT believe I suffer from anxiety, but it seems that many say they are connected.
However, I have noticed it seems to be connected to stress. It was the worst for me in college. I was very involved and very busy, so I believe it is related to stress. But again, its not acute.... It almost seems to work like a cold: if I am stressed for too long, I get 'run-down' and it sets in for a few weeks. I did track and field in college, ran 50+ miles per week, maintained a pretty normal sleep schedule and ate a pretty good diet. After I graduated a few years ago, I took a pretty relaxed but unfulfilling job, and for those two years, the sighing stopped. I certainly went thru periods of relationship and COVID-induced stress, but the issue was gone. Except I recently returned to school and last week it started again, ]the same week that I had to submit a scholarship application worth a lot of money. I didn't feel too stressed, but then again, it doesnt seem coincidental. Anyway, I'm not having it this time. I had a taste of freedom and I know I can't do this anymore. I forgot how AWFUL it is to sit thru meetings and go about life faking a normal, blank face while inside I feel like I'm literally drowning. I scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist for the 1st time, but the appointment is 2 months away and I'm worried it will go away by then, making it impossible to judge whether meds help.
anyway thanks for reading my life story lol. I'd love to hear if anyone here has any updates!!!
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2 Reactions@chai- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can feel your frustration through the screen! Aww, isn't it just awful? Do you have any other symptoms with its return: coughing, phlegm, new health issues, moved into a new building? And I could go on and on.
I asked these questions upfront because you seem to be very good at researching SOB and have probably read what I have. What kind of meds are you thinking that you might need? I'm a pretty anxious person and use CBD oil to help, but stress is definitely a different animal. I think of stress as an outside force that we have inflicted upon ourselves. I find that exercise (I know, I know who has the time?) calms things down. Perhaps not completely but enough so that life is at least tolerable.
What have you done in the past to help reduce stress? Do you have any other respiratory illnesses or have COVID that might have snuck in?
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1 ReactionI was Dx with Bronchiectasis and NTM from a CT scan in 2016. Dr. asked me if I had any shortness of breath. At the time I didn't even realize that I was experiencing shortness of breath. But, I can remember many years ago, LONG before my Dx, asking my mom if she ever felt like she needed to yawn and just couldn't. I didn't know THAT was shortness of breath. I still get that once in a while. I do know that when it happens, then it seems to happen more, the more I am aware of it. Never really realized what causes it. And never knew that it had a "name".
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2 Reactions@ginak- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect and the lung health group. Yes, it has a name and is the nemesis of a lot of people. I don't think that pulmonologists realized that through all of the other lung diseases that plain ole' SOB could be a problem and that there was a need to deal with even if no known cause was found. It's so difficult for some people to get a diagnosis because a lot of it is subjective with asking patients for their histories but not having the tools, a machine, or some other thing to find the cause. Some doctors don't deal with it well because it is so difficult to diagnose as an illness by itself.
Here is a history questionnare that has been given out to patients:
https://www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com/history/shortness-of-breath/
I am assuming that you have a pulmonologist. Have you addressed this with her?
@merpreb Hi Merry, Thanks for the welcome. I’ve actually been a member of Mayo a while now. On the MAC/Bronchiectasis thread. I guess this was a new thread I started seeing. Yes, I do have a pulmonologist and have been going since 2016. I guess the “yawning” comment caught my attention. Years ago I used to say I could never do yoga because when someone tells me slowly to “breathe in, breathe out” all of a sudden I couldn’t breathe! LOL Anyway, thanks again for the welcome.
GinaK
@ginak - Oh dear, I did see that and went ahead and welcomed you again. Have you tried pursed lip breathing?
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