Coughing, choking, feel like I can't breathe

[Robbs]

Just been lying in bed and had a constant feeling of mucas in the back of my throat which made me start coughing, this gradually got worse till I felt like I couldn't breathe properly so i started panicing so I got up, tried to divert my attention but couldn't and felt worse, anyway i freaked out and called NHS direct, didn't speak to a nurse they just took my details and will call me back, suprisingly as soon as the call was over I've started to feel a bit better as my attention was diverted for a bit, so obviously was alot more a panic attack than I was thinking at the time as it felt very much like I was having trouble (I overbreath all the time but this felt/feels slightly different).

anyway what I want to know is this symptom

Throat tightening/Choking/Swallowing problems

What you feel:

Often one of the first symptoms of anxiety. People complain of feeling as though they will choke or being strangled. In reality its not nearly so dramatic - the muscles in the throat contract and salivary glands produce thick mucus leading to a feeling of restriction around the throat, it can produce a feeling that you are having difficulty swallowing or breathing. In fact you are not having difficulty, it just feels as though you are. You also get a dry mouth and it can feel like you cannot drink but you can.
You feel as though there is something stuck in your throat or sometimes feel there is a lump in your throat. Other times you may feel that you can barely swallow or that there is a tightness in the throat, or that you have to really force yourself to swallow. Sometimes this feeling can lead you to think that you may suffocate or get something stuck in your throat.
What causes this:

When in danger, stress biology produces a tightening in the throat muscles which produces the choking or 'something stuck in the throat' feeling. When in a nervous or stressful situation, many people will experience this feeling. It is often referred to as 'a lump on your throat'.
There is minimal danger of choking or suffocating under normal conditions, however, some people are very sensitive to things in their throat and therefore caution should always be observed when eating. Chewing food thoroughly andslowly will prevent inadvertently swallowing something that may provoke someone to gag. This symptom can come and go, and may seem to intensify if one becomes focused on it.

does what I've explained sound like this ? and can this cause me to cough alot ? and is it likely that I would get just this sypmtom on its own with no other feelings of anxiety or symptoms ? just the mucas in my throat and chocking feeling, as i felt no anxiety at all till i started coughing and that came on slowly over about an hour and gradually got worse.

thanks

[Anxious_gal]

ok first you cannot access your symptoms until you calm down
when you are calm enough, take a few slow deep breaths.
do you have a cough? cold? chesty, asthma? Maybe a blocked nose?

It was good to ring the Nurse, hope they call you back.
I've rang them myself a few times.

tell me your symptoms again if you can, was it just the mucous in your throat that made you feel like you could not breath?

when you panic you breath too fast, you neck mucles can tighten making you feel like you are chocking, your chest may feel tight and your heart pounds all adding up you really feel like you cannot breath.

slow breaths, drink some thing warm or cold, splash cold water on your face
make sure when you breath to breath deep so your belly pushes out.

[Robbs]

yeah i often overbreathe and can deal with it ok just this time it was loads of mucas made me feel like i was choking.

I dont have a cold but have been getting lots of mucas in my throat over the past few months (I smoke too much).

Im ok now it settled down, still coughing a bit though and now having alot of heart flutters and palps today and its getting on my nerves .