My breathing always did as you described when I was mildly hyperventilating. I couldn't get that deep, cleansing breath without a yawn and when I couldn't then I would get panicky which just made it worse. Bio-feedback therapy really helped me with that. I literally needed to learn to breath and learn what was causing that to happen. When I did, it ended...completely. If I do it on the rare occassion, I'm able to work through it on my own with the skills I learned.

Yes, after so long a period of this, my chest would ache, spasm and everything else. It was horrible.

First, I felt like I could gain some control with meds. When I had that confidence, I was able to stop and learn what was going on then work with it while I had the meds. After that, I was able to go off the meds.

What helps the hyperventilating was scary for me...it entailed blowing every bit of my breath out before trying to take a cleansing breath...my biggest fear when I already felt deprived. With having meds as backup, I could. I learned that, due to anxiety, I was breathing off the top of my lungs...too quickly and getting too much there while the bottom part felt starved for oxygen making me want to breath more but the top part was saying "NO MORE".

I literally had to learn to breathe properly.

I wish you more than well. It looks like you're off to a great start. This can be managed. You're not alone.

Don't hesitate to PM if you want/need.

Welcome to PC!!!

KD