I suffered from these symptoms for 14 years. Went through anumber of tests and was told that I was healthy and that nothing was wrong with me. I had the chest tightness, difficulty breathing, yawning constantly trying to get oxygen. I felt like I had been buried alive like I was going to pass out. Here is a link to my site with lots of links that will actually help you. You should notice an improvement within a week. Basically you are hyperventilating. Breathing deep causes loss of Carbon dioxide. Loss of CO2 causes constriction of airways, this causes less oxygen to be released to the cells and tissues (hypoxia). It makes you feel like you are suffocating so you take another deep breath which only causes more co2 loss and constriction of arteries and airways and hence less oxygen delivery.
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Can you please send me the links re hyperventilation. Thank you.
I had the same problems but I am happy to share by the Grace of God I have figured it out. I went to ENT & 2 different GI doctors. Both of the prescribed PPI's for 8 weeks. I did not take them because I did not feel like 1) they were listening to me 2) they were what I needed. I did have reflux, I did have constant urge to yawning and get a deep breath. Could not figure it out but I did learn a few things: 1) no eating 3 hours before bed 2) sleep on incline so the reflux wouldn't be as bad 3) I did not have too much acid, I didn't have enough acid so I started on an enzyme and a couple ACV pills with each meal. 4) I had to correct my slouching posture 5) small meals 6) Apples seemed to help. Now for the explanation. All my blood work came our normal, xrays of lungs were normal which didn't surprise me but I still had difficulty with deep breath. I finally found a video that sounded exactly like my symptoms. I will attach the links. I had a hiatal hernia. Now before you discount this, watch the videos. So basically if you have a hiatal hernia, your stomach is forced up into your esophagus. This push up (can be caused from many different things: throwing up, sneezing, constipation etc this in addition to low stomach acid either by natural causes or because your doctor incorrectly put you on PPI's will allow your sphincter to remain open which allows for the reflux and the stomach to enter. If the sphincter closes on part of your stomach then this is where you have all of these other problems. You basically have two stomachs: a big one with acid needed to digest and a little one. This is why you can't eat large meals and feel like you have a lead weight at the top of your abdomen. In addition if you do not have a strong core (which I don't) then all the pushing up on your diaphragm will cause your air to be restricted thus the urge to yawn. I hope this helps someone - It was an answered prayer to me.