Hello everyone, figured I would post a comment after 3 years. I still haven't found what caused the initial shortness of breath. But my day-to-day life has completely gone back to normal.

I started taking a mixture of hydroxyzine 1x a day and buspirone 2x a day for several months. About 3 weeks into taking these medications, my breathing started returning to normal. It's been about 6 months now since I've taken any of these medications, and my breathing remains normal. Even before taking the medications, the breathing slowly got more manageable over time but no drastic overnight changes.

But oh my, it was a terrible year when I originally got this terrible condition. Literally thought I would be gasping for air like a goldfish forever. I spent nights crying myself to sleep thinking about possibly suffering for the rest of my existence.

Hope everyone is doing well and has a good New Year. Thank you for the continued input, always informative to read this post.