JParr

Hey.
New member here.
I see alot of anxiety/asthma threads.
Mine is of that sort, but complicated by a few more symptoms.

I've was diagnosed with asthma back in high school.
I got over it though and have only had some minor problems breathing, here and there for a few years. I am also a smoker. (Worst combination, ever, I know) Also, last January, I was diagnosed with a polyp in my sinus. I was undergoing allergy treatment for it, but it was sidelined by the death of my mother in march. (And also because I had felt fine)

One month ago, I started working on my girlfriends rental home. Doing repairs.etc. She was also housing some orphaned cats there.
I am allergic to both dust and cats. However, my allergies to cats seems to be fairly in check, as I have 4 cats living in my house.
These orphaned ones, however, are long haired cats. And I seemed to be MUCH worse around them. For whatever reason, I decided to take one of these orphaned cats into my house. She's leaving tomorrow for obvious reasons.

I had a very bad asthma attack two days later. The symptoms went away about two days later. I went back to work on the house.
About a week later, I started getting a pretty bad sinus infection and sure enough, the next night, my breathing started up again.
This time it went away for a while, but was still present. Then about a week ago, I got another bad attack, this time with my lower rib protruding past the skin. The doctors said that this is common and that i probably sprained it by coughing.
Last week, the symtoms started again.

Yet, I noted that I didn't really need anything. As soon as I called someone, i called down in about 15 minutes. In fact, all of the asthma attacks I had that I went to the hospital for had calmed down almost completely before I even got into the triage.
I had some serious depression and anxiety last year that went away around the end of summer 05. In fact, I had been feeling great. I dealt with the death of my mother quite well. But the constant feeling of being sick has made me a bit depressed.

Point being, these 'asthma' attacks have left the muscles in my back very tight, which sometimes makes my chest tight and a little hard to breath. When i can't get a deep breath right away, i panic. But as I manage to get ahold of myself, the symptoms completely subside, I can get a deep breath, but the muscles in my back remain tightened.

I've been on Prednisone like 4 times since May. I'm now on like 10 different medicines. A decongestant, expectorant, allergy med, inhaler, advair, etc.
BUT NOTHING seems to be working.

So what is the problem here?
I've set a quit smoking date for this upcoming Monday.
I'm getting rid of the cat. But honestly, I don't have very high hopes. The doctors listen to my breathing and say that it sounds normal, but they think it could be allergies, asthma, etc. I was completely healthy only 2 months ago. So..?