You should look into the possibility that you have vocal cord dysfunction! I have that in combination with asthma, and it can be scary! It's essentially cramping of the vocal cords. Problem is; when your vocal cords contract, they close your air way. This condition can get worse with tension in your neck/shoulder, stress/anxiety and post nasal drip. I don't know about the snot, but it sounds like you have plenty of muscle tension going on!

I first got help at National Jewish Hospital in Denver. They specialize in breathing disorders. They have something called the Lung Line that you can call. They might be able to give you some tips on who to see in your area.

Good news is: It's pretty easy to fix! I met with a speech therapist a couple of times who taught me some breathing techniques. Breathing out through pursed lips forces the vocal cords apart and makes it easier to breathe in too.

At Natl. Jewish they said a lot of their patients would come there as a last resort, when nobody else could help them with their asthma. And then it would turn out that they had VCD! This would sometimes be the only reason for their breathing problems. Other times it was something they had in addition to asthma, but since the air way was partially shut most of the time they couldn't even get the meds down in the lungs.

I'm going on and on here. This might not even be what you problem is If you (or a doctor) think this what's going on, feel free to PM me if you want to know more about what has worked for me.

I just googled this, and found this article:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2007-...function_x.htm