Difficulty Breathing & Yawning: Potential Causes & Relief

Question
Why is it that sometimes it is hard to get a deep breath or complete a yawn?  I have talked to several people that have had this happen to them also.  What causes it?
I notice that I feel gassy and have heartburn, can that have something to do with it?
This is not an all the time thing, in fact before now I don't think I have had it happen in a year or more.
Just curious, thanks.

Answer
Are you yawning frequently?  What about taking a deep breath unrelated to yawning, is it hard to breathe deeply?  That, combined with the heartburn/gassy feeling makes me think there might be something more serious here.  Heartburn can be chest pain in disguise.  Cardiac pain is caused by decreased oxygen to the heart muscle.  Decreased oxygenation anywhere is a signal to your body to yawn to try to get more air in.  Or, there may be something going on with your lungs--inability to get a full breath combined with the heartburn-like pain could indicate fluid in the lungs.  I don't like to ignore heartburn, because male and female patients coming in for heart attacks have commented to me that they just thought they had heartburn.  Get a doc to listen to your lungs and do a thorough exam on you, please.
Maggie, RN, MSN