Hi everyone, this thread has been going for many years, and I am unsure if people are still active on here, however, I would like to share my thoughts to see what you all think, being someone experiencing these symptoms.

Once again I am another person experiencing nearly the exact same set of symptoms as everyone in this forum. I would be fascinated if there was not an appropriate medical diagnosis that the majority of us are all seemingly experiencing. I noticed somebody linked research on 'sighing syndrome' also known as 'sighing dyspnea'. These conditions seem to encompass the exact symptoms, however, there are only two or three articles I could find on it, so it's either extremely rare or outdated in some way? Some of the research also seems to suggest that a majority of people with symptoms of 'sighing syndrome' had suffered a recent traumatic experience, however, I do not think that is conclusive, as myself and many others in this thread had no significant or mentionable causing experiences. Additionally, the only recourse researched on the limited articles on 'sighing syndrome' seems to be through doctors reassurance to patients of the benign course of the condition, and I suppose they suggest this treats it? I also noticed 'pseudo-dyspnea' linked on this thread, perhaps this is another form or a replacement of the sighing dyspnea?

Nevertheless, I am extremely thankful for finding this forum. I felt like I was going crazy trying to put into words the symptoms I was facing, but the words used in this form made complete sense to my situation. I am a 20-year-old male, and my symptoms developed this week. I have absolutely no history of any type of mental health condition and was never under the impression I was subject to such a condition. I have been to three general practitioners, and they have all said similar things, with the last one apparently seeing 'many people' 'particular of my age group' come to him describing my symptoms (although he never had a specific medical diagnosis other than generalised anxiety), and suggested that I need to understand that I am healthy, and need to meditate and to resist the urge to take the deep breaths. The doctors took my oxygen satiation levels which were nearly 100%, listened to my heart and breathing, blood pressure, all simple tests that indicated nothing was wrong. The doctors did not seem to offer any further recourse or referral to specialty, other than general anxiety remedies. But once again, I never have experienced any form of mental illness, so I struggled to believe the doctors, ironically though the symptoms did begin when I was studying for my uni exams, however, I have been subject to many exams in the past, and have only felt mere anxiousness that any student would feel, never a more serious disorder of general anxiety.

I noticed a lot of people are very hesitant on this perspective of generalised anxiety, I have read several pages on this form, but considering the forum now goes to over 160 pages, I am unsure what type of consensus has been developed, so I was hoping perhaps the post creator or someone else who has been following the thread over the years could provide insight on what has been concluded. I noticed one person in particular, @tonyagregg who was suggested that the deep breaths are a form of 'ticks', and that resisting this tick, albeit extremely difficult to begin with, will eventually result in the urge leaving. Has anyone found success with this strategy? And perhaps has the OP still been free from symtpoms since she was recommended this? This type of perspective is one that my doctor seemed to suggest, stating I need to relax and resist that urge. He did explain to me that the SOB causes a downwards spiral, as the more you believe something is wrong with you or the more you believe you will live with this condition and have a poor quality of life, the more anxious you get, which will worsen symptoms.

To me, it seems there is merit to these claims. Perhaps 'sighing dyspnea' or 'sighing syndrome' is an unknown or outdated term because it is just another term for general anxiety-induced pseudo-dyspnea (meaning anxiety causing a sensation that makes one belief the yare short of breath). I write this still experiencing symptoms, and I am trying my best to resist the urge, however, I am finding it extremely hard to do so. However, as I experience and many others experience, these symptoms feel so extremely real that it feels impossible that it is just in our heads. Which is why I suspect so many people go to such extensive testing to see any medical conditions, however to their detriment, usually nothing surfaces.

On a side note, I have been experiencing two unusual symptoms, which could be and are likely entirely unrelated to the phenomenon that we are all experiencing, however, I thought I would mention it in the case anybody else also feels this, or perhaps anyone has an opinion on how these extra symptoms could explain the SOB.

I estimate for the past two to three weeks, I had felt a significant amount of muscle twitching or fasciculations of some sort at rest. That is, whenever I am sitting, lying down, not moving, I often feel one muscle somewhere across my entire body moving, in a non-painful yet irritating way, for approximately 20-30 seconds. One would believe this is a clear symptom of anxiety which would support the diagnosis of anxiety for the SOB, however as I mentioned I have felt this for weeks, before I had any exams or stresses of that nature, in the beginning, I put it down to a lack of activity as my city was in a harsh lockdown at the time, however this is in fact not any cause to twitching of this nature, it was merely an excuse I used to ease it in my head. My second doctor took a blood test to check for some type of antibody that indicates muscle weakness just to make certain his diagnosis of anxiety, however, I am awaiting results.

I have also noticed an increased amount of stomach growling the past few days, usually after digestion of some food or liquid. This can be a normal sign of digestion, it has however occurred a little more than I would normally notice, hence why I thought I should mention it. However once again it could be just an unrelated symptom of digestion.

TL;DR
I would love to know if there is any consensus on how to treat this condition. I observed from my doctor and others in this forum that 'resisting the urge' is a way to completely eradicate it, so would love to hear people's experiences, although I am finding it extremely hard to resist. I have only done basic diagnosis tests at my doctor's clinic however my doctor does not seem to think I need any specialist testing, and based on the posts in this thread I am pretty confident that unfortunately, they would come back as normal and healthy.