Active male, 73, walk several miles daily, have had recurring bouts of respiratory difficulty multiply-diagnosed, all inaccurately, ranging from "returned childhood asthma", to "left-ventricular thickening", to COPD, to emphysema, condition lasted a year, then disappeared gradually, with two acute but short-lived returns in two widely differing geographgical/climate locations (Midwest, Desert Southwest). Any advice, other than find a good doctor? Have run out of funds seeking that! impish
The fact that your respiratory distress is not constant but intermittent would point to something less systemic and more a reaction to something, say an allergy that triggered asthma. Can you have yourself tested for allergies?
Where do you live now? Are you retired? What are your functional abilities? If you are active and healthy, keep walking!