Hi guys, some advice from me (been around the block when it comes to autonomic issues)

OK so I have recently had similar symptoms as those described above. Basically had been in psyche med withdrawal for last two years, was doing better so I was starting to enjoy normal life again, and after a night a out in early Jan, suddenly experienced massive shortness of breath issues. Almost had to call paramedics. things haven't been anywhere as bad since that night, but I have consistently been feeling air hunger, like I cannot get enough air.

Explored all medical possibilities apart from asthma which I haven't tried yet: all tests are normal (chest scan, blood tests, blood O2 levels, ECG).

Essentially, it's almost definitely an issue with my autonomic issue, possibly made worse by my recent anxiety around it.

It's not my first 'rodeo' with autonomic issues: I've had chronic gastritis in the past, and a huge bout of chronic insomnia which is what I was put on antidepressant for in 2019.

The idea is always the same: lifestyle (work stress+ unhealthy habits) take their toll and cause autonomic system to break down, then I get anxious about it and can't stop thinking about it and develop an anxiety related to it.

I think many here will have similar issues: autonomic issue for whatever reason (could be you got sick, or a vaccine, or stress or whatever - it happens), and then for some reason the autonomic system gets stuck in a pattern, and you need to get it unstuck.

The key to let the body heal is not think about it, but that's really hard because the more you tell yourself don't think about it, the more you think about it, and the more you try and shut down the thoughts, the more you push your CNS in fight or flight mode.

What really helped me with insomnia was acceptance and commitment therapy. essentially, slowly work towards accepting the discomfort, as well as the negative thoughts and anxiety around it, and progressively replace them / challenge them with positive thoughts.

Here's a bunch of assertions I write down every day (many of these are from my insomnia days - that was pure hell).

-Air hunger is nothing to worry about: it's just a sign that my autonomic system (AS) is overly sensitive.
-My mind and body will work together to reach a perfect equilibrium eventually, and I will feel normal again one day.
-This is a marathon, not a sprint: healing takes time, and the best way to help the process is to accept the discomfort as a part of life while I do my best to live life to the fullest.
-I need to welcome and accept anxious thoughts. Don't shut them down: it's important to be able to sit with them comfortably in order to be able to alleviate the issue posed by intrusive thoughts.

The underlying principle is this: we can't stop intrusive thoughts from occurring because we have no control over the thoughts that cross your mind. what we can do however is control how we react to those thoughts. if a thought stops bothering us, we do not activate the fight or flight response, and we let the body heal.

If the we continue to try and stop the thoughts, or let ourselves get run over by them and indulge in spending hours a day thinking about SOB, we remain stuck in fight or flight mode, and the body cannot heal itself. makes sense when you think about it: you already have air hunger, and top of that your mind is racing, you've got thousands of intrusive thoughts all day, and when it gets bad your heart rate goes up, you're sweating: your mind is in panic... how could air hunger heal if this ha[[ens multiple times a week (or even, per month: it takes a Long time to heal a destabilised autonomic / nervous system).

Note that I have also started doing the buteyko method this week to help the healing. I think it's likely it will last for months (most of my bouts last minimum 3 months, often 6-12 months to get better, but let's see how it goes.

Would encourage people interested in googling acceptance and commitment therapy