I (27M) quit smoking about 3 weeks ago (10-12 pack years) and my anxiety has gone through the roof. I made an appointment with my Dr. but that's not coming up for another week, and in the meantime I've been driving myself crazy with uncertainty:
Pretty much my whole life I've had this issue where every minute or so I feel the urge to take a big, deep breath. It hits, then it's fine for another minute or so. Everyone's told me that it's anxiety related, but since I quit smoking I feel like it has to be something else...
I don't know how to describe it any better than that... not sure if that constitutes shortness of breath; I know I'm a shallow breather and have been trying to work on diaphragmatic breathing, but now that I'm conscious of my breathing it's just got me trapped in this vicious cycle where I can't focus on anything else except my breathing.
Anyway, I'm just wondering if that sounds like it could be early COPD/emphysema. Sorry for the long winded question.