Excessive yawning and thermoregulation: two case histories of chronic, debilitating bouts of yawning

Background This report details the case histories of two women who suffer from chronic and debilitating episodes of excessive yawning in the absence of sleep problems. Methods Each woman independently provided information and answered questions about their excessive yawning symptoms and medical histories. Results Both women show signs of thermoregulatory dysfunction, and each reports symptom relief and/or the postponement of yawning attacks through means of behavioral cooling. One woman recorded her body temperature before and after bouts of yawning, revealing a significant drop in temperature following each episode ( p