CCSVI and yawning

BBE · Post by **BBE** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:08 am

I don`t remember if it was mentioned somewhere, but I noticed that my girlfriend is yawning too often in the mornings, until she gets up from bed. It`s like once a minute. I think that happens also before going to sleep and also when she wakes up in the middle of the night. I never do that in that times, only sometimes.
I know that it is not clear why people yawn, but there is some connection to lack of oxygen in brain.

My own theory is that people yawn when they are bored while in resting positions, or in other words when there is a will to sleep but the brain is at least little active (e.g. I yawn often when I am on seminars or workshops and have to watch them). Like I think that my girlfriend is yawning because she wakes up and thinks about something and that`s why she can`t fall asleep. "Mindfulness" theory may help with that...but that`s another story.

What about your experience?
EDIT: maybe the best way to find out is to ask your partner, because my girlfriend didn`t notice that.

ErikaSlovakia · Post by **ErikaSlovakia** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:29 am

Hi,
I am sure I have had the same problem. It was more often during the day and I am sure it has/had something to do with not enough oxygen in my lungs - well I had the feeling at least. I often had situations I was not getting enaugh oxygen for my lungs - at the end it was maybe my brain I do not know.
I must thing about it now.
I only know more MS people talk about it.
Erika

wonky1 · Post by **wonky1** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:11 am

I also yawn a lot. Often when friends are talking I find it really hard to stifle a yawn. I had to explain that I don't find them boring.
I also go deaf while I yawn, is it just me?

zap · Post by **zap** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:32 am

oh, wow - I've been interested in this connection for awhile now ... let me try to throw out a quick overview before I hear out the door ...

MS and yawning are connected in some people:

Pathological yawning as a symptom of multiple sclerosis
http://www.springerlink.com/content/ur62h315535v0824/

More personally, when I was having my major relapse, I was yawning constantly. Over and over again, it was bizarre.

I found some papers indicating that this can be symptomatic of pontine (brainstem) lesions - and I did have one of those active at the time. I would feel better for a few seconds after every yawn.

ABNORMAL YAWNING. Abnormal repetitive yawning may be the consequence of opiate withdrawal; intoxication with CNS depressants; drug side effects (tricyclic antidepressants, reserpine); lesions to the CNS such as postencephalific conditions, CNS tumors. apallic syndrome, cerebral malformations, transtentorial herniation. Yawning is associated with diminished brain oxidative metabol ism. Such is the case of anemia or cerebral anemia (occlusion of the carotid arteries), hypoglycemie states. In these situations, yawning through its action on the cerebral blood flow, is a protective homeostatic reflex to increase brain oxygen levels in situations of decreased brain oxidative metabolism.

I do think there is a connection to CCSVI - I think yawning was my body trying to get oxygen to my brain and get old blood out of it, when I had a stenosis form (note: however, I have not had an MRV and don't know for sure that I have a blockage), before the colalteral veins could form and take some of the pressure off.

Hypoxia response - yawning is the response of the brain being starved of oxygen when it cannot get the old deoxygenated blood out successfully.

Yawning opens the eustachian tube and lets air up into the middle ear, where the bloodstream flows through, absorbing oxygen directly into the blood. (Pilots who have used all their cabin oxygen up in flight are trained to use the 'valsalva procedure' several times to ventilate the middle ear, in a practical example - to avoid painful problems later.)

... yawning may be an arousal behavior caused by higher brain ischemia.

Yawning responses induced by local hypoxia in the paraventricular nucleus of the rat
http://baillement.com/suzuki-hypoxia.html / http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11099765

Also, yawning triggers the omohyoid muscle - which briefly compresses the internal jugular veins, ... possibly increasing blood drainage afterward? Or is it causing the very constrictions we are looking to stent?

evidence of a significant increase in the venous surface was found above the omohyoid muscle. These data confirm the role of compression of the vein by the omohyoid muscle, leading to modifications in intracerebral venous hemodynamics, which can be affected in yawning.

... it is quite possible that compression of the jugular vein by the omohyoid muscle leads to an anti-reflux phenomenon, equivalent to venous valvules, which plays an important role in cerebral protection ...

http://baillement.com/echographie.html

Actually, that whole website is an amazing research resource about yawning (with full papers available that can only be acquired as abstracts elsewhere) - see some of these links too - and note that there are usually good English translations lower down the pages:

Yawning is a multifarious reflex possibly subserving the purposes of: ... b) reversing mild brain hypoxia or hypoxemia ...

http://baillement.com/aloe.html - this page has the Navigation bar in English, yay!

I don't pretend to really know how yawning ties in exactly, but I think it can - and I know that if I have a relapse or start feeling fatigued and MS-y, I'm likely gonna be trying to pump oxygen to my brain by yawning as much as possible ...

chrishasms · Post by **chrishasms** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:27 am

whyRwehere · Post by **whyRwehere** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:01 am

I don't have MS, but when I exercise (which hasn't been in a while!), I can't stop yawning, and I think it is from a lack of oxygen.

layniesmom · Post by **layniesmom** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:09 am

I wondered this very same thing the other day...could yawning me a sign of not enough oxygen in the brain? I am not a really bad yawner...but, I do sigh a lot, without taking notice. My dad does the same and it's suspected that he has MS, as well...it's a thought!

This is documentary will be on Canada's CTV channel and available for viewing afterward free of charge worldwide on their website. Here's a preview of tonight's documentary regarding Dr. Zamboni and his discoveries linking CCSVI to MS http://watch.ctv.ca/news/top-picks/w5-p ... clip237767

oreo · Post by **oreo** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:09 pm

Read an article some time back that suggested that yawning has nothing to do with oxygen supply to the brain - or anywhere else. They did say it was directly related to the brain however. Air conditioning for the little grey cells. Seems a yawn doesn't bring in any more air (or oxygen) than regular breathing but it does move large volumes of fresh air much closer to blood vessels that serve the brain allowing for better heat exchange.