I was short of breath upon minimal exertion for 91/2 years. No real bad pain. Just a stinging pinching in the left chest area and tingling down arm which was suggested to be angina. No back problems . Went to Cleveland clinic johnshopkins and Hershey medical … all said not my heart or lungs and we looked at a dozen other possible cause or more to no avail. My husband thought of my spine finally and they did an X-ray and it showed a herniated discs at C 5/6. I had an ACDF dec 2 and finally can breathe again. The other problem of short of breath is different but I began to experience that kind only maybe a year ago. I still have it somewhat but not sure as I’m still healing from surgery. Perhaps it will settle down and go away and maybe it’s a different problem. That’s why I’ve been searching for answers for this hyperventilating kind of SOB.