Hi, I'm a 27 year old man and early this morning, after only a few hours of sleep, I suddenly woke up feeling unable to breath properly, as if something was blocking my throat. In an effort to breathe I was doing this weird cough-like function, like 10 times, which didn't change the situation. I felt that only minimal or no air at all was allowed in. I had a bottle of water near me so I drank some and after that I was able to breathe better, though I don't know if that's what helped me. However I was somewhat scared since this has never happened to me before, so I went to the ER.

There, the doctor did a few basic tests, heard my breathing, checked my throat, took my blood pressure and a blood sample for blood tests, mostly to see the oxygen levels, as well as a chest area x-ray, and asked me the usual questions, like if I've been sick and taking any medication, which are both negative. He also asked me if I felt anything weird still and I said my throat was sore though it may have been just because of the effort it took to breathe earlier.

The doctor found everything normal, my blood pressure was surprisingly good too since I usually have a little bit hypertension, so he sent me home and I was frankly relieved, though I didn't feel like going back to sleep, in the end I fell asleep. It has now been 5 hours since the incident, and my throat still feels sore and weird, perhaps more so than previously, so I'm worried the episode will happen again.

Other information the doctor asked me, in case you need it too, is if I smoke, which I don't personally though I live with chain smokers so the house is often full of smoke, if I have any known allergies, which I don't, to my knowledge, as I only remember having an episode like 10 years ago but we never figured out what it was that I reacted badly to, with rashes and itch all over my body at the time, and it has never happened since. Anyway, I also feel like I may be coming down with a fever now, though the doctor took my temperature as well and while I didn't ask how it was he didn't mention anything about it.

So, what could this be, waking up unable to breathe, and still feeling sore after 5 hours despite the ER doctor finding everythingi n order?