Weird intermittent quick inhale/exhale at random intervals

Hi @ljmontgo, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Those of us on Connect are not medical professionals so we can’t diagnose conditions. However it is a place to learn from shared experiences and insights.
It looks like you’re not alone in having these intermittent breaths. I did a little research online as well and found a few links to sites with people asking the same question...but not really answers.

Like you, the patients are concerned about the breathing, but it appears it’s not a serious medical issue and more of an annoyance. However, looking through them I did notice that the onset of the symptom usually, but not in all cases, began some period after an event, such as surgery, periods of stress, impact to the chest, a cold, influenza, asthma, sleep apnea...the list goes on...
Do you remember anything taking place before your symptoms began?
For your peace of mind, it might be worth a trip to your physician to make sure there’s no discernible cause.

Here’s one of the links I found, though the entries are quite dated. See if these stories sound familiar. Hopefully we’ll get some community members responding who may have had similar experiences as yours.
https://www.medhelp.org/posts/Respiratory-Disorders/Strange-Involuntary-Breath/show/14555

Thank you very much. I didn’t have any obvious precipitating lung related event but recent blood test keep showing below average blood sodium levels. At one point I felt so weak that it was a struggle to get to a sitting position after lying in bed. Of late I have been adding salt tablets but the breathing issue hasn’t stopped yet. I have some other blood work that’s still outstanding. I will update when the results are in but these episodes happen hours apart so it’s hard to figure out what is the trigger.

@ljmontgo I’m so sorry you had such a frightening experience. Amazing how our bodies can get so out of whack. In your case it may have been the low sodium which was the triggering event. Having low sodium can have an serious impact on your body’s normal function. The fact that you were so weak shows the level of the disruption from being too low.

Were you given any idea why your sodium is so low? Did your doctor recommend the salt pills?
I’m only asking because when the sodium level in a body is low, often other key elements such as potassium and magnesium are affected. Replacing electrolytes in a balanced formula such a Pedialyte or Gatorade is preferable...it is possible to go too far in the other direction. ☺️

On a personal note, because of meds I’m on, I have to drink at least 64 oz of water daily to keep my kidneys and liver happy. So my blood is monitored all the time to make sure I’m not flushing too much of the electrolytes down the drain and I do have to take daily magnesium supplements. 😂

Yes, please keep in touch with your results. This is a wonderfully supportive community with members supporting members. The experiences you share will benefit others.

Wishing you good health. Lori.

Thanks for the reply. My doc did not suggest salt tablets or pedialte but did order more blood test. I hav been taking pedialite on my own.

Thought I’d update that the breathing issue eventually cleared up on its own. I think whatever mechanism controls hiccups might have been involved but the events were much more spread out than hiccups, at least in my experience. The bloodwork I mentioned led to identification of a liver issue. The low sodium cause remains a mystery.

Hello - I just found this string and wanted to mention I have experienced the weird involuntary exhale scenario twice. The first time was after hip replacement about 10 years ago and the second time is now, after the 2nd hip replacement. For me it only happens when I am resting in bed (middle of the night). It was happening quite a bit last night so I thought I would try and video it (lips moving involuntarily to expel air). But nope. Apparently just tensing my hand/arm to hold the phone stopped the involuntary exhales. Once I put the phone down and rested again it started up again. I am also taking opioids at night to help me sleep which is course depresses the breathing. So, I'm thinking, a surgical event, opioid use and deep relaxation brings on the involuntary exhales for me. Once I completely recovered from surgery the first time the involuntary exhales stopped. They didn't hurt. Just an annoyance.

Hi my name is Laurel and I have been experiencing the in voluntary exhale also. I do this often and have even blown when I am drinking water and it goes everywhere. I talked to me pulmonary doctor and he had no clue. I stage 4 COPD and Stage 3 Congestive heart failure. They don't hurt but like you said your lips are moving. Not happy that you have this but I have never talked to anyone else that has it. It is annoying.

Hello @amour49 and welcome to Connect. I am glad that you found this discussion and chose to share your own experience. It does sound like this problem has to do with recovery from surgery. You said the first time you experienced it was after your first hip surgery. Do you recall how long this involuntary exhaling lasted? Was it weeks or months?

Do you have any other lung problems?

Hi everyone,
I am in the hospital and can't seem to really get any answers. All I am getting is according to your test results, you are fine. I to have burst of involuntary exhale, at first it was just embarrassing because I didn't even realize I was doing it until others asked me about it. I have been doing this for about a year now and it's daily, quite often but was only annoying and embarrassing at first. It seems to be getting worse and I can't find any answers. I have Myasthenia Gravis and it is now to the point that it causes diaphragm weakness, which means it's triggering Myasthenia Gravis. I usually can just put ice on my chest and rest to get strength back to my diaphragm. A little nervous but it works so ok. Now I am in the hospital being treated for congestion with severe consistent coughing which I thought was the normal sinus/seasonal allergies draining and turning into bronchitis but they ran test and did X-rays and can't seem to diagnose me with anything. I am still here because of the unknown everything is normal has triggered my MG again causing diaphragm weakness. I was stuffed with steroids and back to back breathing treatments and finally got the coughing under control and the drainage reduced as well as the wheezing reduced. I just had my mestinon and this unexplained outburst of quick, deep, involuntary forced exhale has my upper chest through my back in pain and back to weakness in my diaphragm and I can't seem to make it stop. I don't even know what specialist doctor to ask because no one seems to know. Is there anything you do to help it stop. I actually tried the clinching of my cell phone and it did not seem work for me. I have been able to slow it down some with closing my eyes and going to my happy place and practicing relaxation techniques I learned to help when I go into a MG Crises, but it doesn't last. I need this to stop because with Myasthenia Gravis, it is more then just annoying for me. It can get dangerous. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

Very interesting comments! I have had intermittent breathing all my life!!!!! It is like having sleep apnea while awake as well!!! Saw respiratory specialists from when a child---and as an adult and have had sleep apnea testing---no worries----makes no difference to life as the body gets the air/oxygen it needs by breathing when it needs to!
When I am speaking at a conference, or with a person, or am walking, it seems I breathe normally. When at rest, like reading, watching TV or even actively making meals --I experience intermittent breathing. So at times my body makes a great big uhhhhhh to get air and then that is that. I am over 55 , had it all my life and has not caused me problems as am used to it .