http://www.drdonnica.com on excessive yawning

The questioner asks: I have for the last couple weeks been yawning all the time to get a deep breath and if I don’t I feel like I’m not getting a good deep breath while I am breathing.� I don’t feel sick and I don’t have shortness of breath.� I have been still been exercising and feel fine but I am constantly trying to get a deep breath like yawning.� Is this something I should be concerned about or not?�

Dr. Donnnica responds: “excessive yawning” is a potentially serious condition.� Usually, it means you are drowsy or not getting sufficient sleep.� This can also be a side effect of certain medications, most notably anti-depressants in the SSRI class (e.g. Prozac).� Yawning itself is a normal response to fatigue or drowsiness, but excessive yawning, especially as you described it as trying to get a deep breath, may be caused by a vasovagal reaction and can even indicate an underlying heart problem.� It is time to call your doctor and get a check-up. In the meantime, keep a log of how often you yawn per hour or per day, how much sleep you get, what medications you may be taking (including cough/cold medications and herbal preparations), what makes it better or worse, and whether it interferes with any activities.� I recommend stopping your exercise routine until you have your check-up.

In my case, the yawning and lightheadedness and lethargy is interfering with everything I do. Just sitting here typing is a strain. I’d lay down and try to sleep but I’ve had plenty of sleep; if I did manage to go to sleep I’d just wake up and feel the same way as I do now, so what’s the point?

My condition is getting worse, I haven’t been having this level of problem for but a few days, although there was a time some years ago that I went to the doctor but the primary symptom I reported was the incredible sleepiness and lethargy, to which the doctors response was to prescribe sleeping pills and not do any tests to determine what was actually wrong with me.