To help some of you get up to speed, here is a link to the question I posted a few days ago.
I am very grateful to all the responders and all of the advice. The most common piece of advice was to see my doctor. That is what I decided to do. With Covid going on, anything breath related needed to go through a designated clinic dedicated to Covid-19. Thus I could not see my own doctor, which is fine. Here is what happened:
- Covid swab - anything breath related gets a Covid swab. (I do not have Covid-19 
)
- Blood Pressure - Stage II Hypertension (No surprise, already knew)
- Oxygen Saturation - 98
- EKG done because of the shortness of breath feeling (Normal Sinus rhythm, all good)
- Pharynx examination (Big tonsils w/ lots of phlegm, no surprise, working with ENT to get them out)
- Breathing Exam - listened all sorts of ways....fast and deep, slow through nose, and deep breath w/ big blowouts (Clear lungs, no crackling, carbon dioxide expulsion very good)
***Because it was shortness of breath related, the Doc wanted me to go to the ER to have the enzyme test, other blood tests, and a chest xray. She was terrific!***
ER summary
- Another EKG, All good
- More breathing exams, All good
- No heart attack enzyme present
- Hooked up to a vitals monitor
- Consistent High Blood Pressure
- Oxygen consistently in the 95 - 98 range
- Pulse good
- Chest X-Ray - Radiologist sees zero concerns at this time (Just FYI, with Covid, all chest x-rays are being run through with a fine tooth comb)
- Stress EKG scheduled as another layer of precaution next Monday
- No presence of a lung blood clot threat in the blood tests
- So what is causing the shortness of breath?
- Anxiety and Withdrawal symptoms
- Phlegm from three sources
- Large tonsils (that will need to be removed)
- Large Sinuses (they will get better with continued smoking cessation)
- Regrowing cilia sending junk up the airway
- Stress (job situation, daughter missing graduation due to Covid, smoking cessation, and living near the protest sites
- Laryngeal Pharyngeal Reflux (LPR) can cause shortness of breath and heart attack sensations
To bring it full circle, with some high blood pressure treatment, diet modification, tonsillectomy, exercise under consultation with my doctor, some meditation, and a sleep study determination, it looks like I am A-OK! I guess I just needed it confirmed. The anxiety is subsiding and being further into my quit (4th week), I am settling and becoming a bit more comfortable. Things have been very stirred up and now with a care plan / diagnosis, the anxiousness is getting better.
A HUGE thank you to the Ex community for your support and advice! Your consensus was pretty much spot on! Anxiety, withdrawal, and some other things were feeding my fear which created a monster under my bed. The medical community helped debunk that, and now i plan to move forward with the care plan. I am embracing my smoke free world with much excitement, yet I also am not without caution as I know I must be vigilant about NOPE.
Thank you all once again. I am very grateful for all of you.
