Throat tension, hoarseness, and/or voice changes shortly before, during, or shortly after these episodes?My first thought is along the lines of your docs. Look up vocal cord dysfunction or paradoxical vocal cord motion and see how well that matches your experience.(Edit: also, Id not consider this acute respiratory failure unless you became hypoxemic/needed supplemental oxygen or needed to be mechanically ventilated in some way. These things can happen due to vocal cord dysfunction in fairly severe cases of it)
Acute Respiratory Failure from strong scentsAge27SexMaleHeight194cmWeight104kg 14% BodyfatRaceCaucasian, Irish/DanishDuration of complaintLifelongLocation (Geographic and on body)Ontario Canada. Lungs, esophagus?Any existing relevant medical issues (if any)AsthmaticCurrent medications (if any)Salbutamol Turbuhaler, Ventolin, FloventInclude a photo if relevant (skin condition for example)N/AThis question is going to be short, and concise; with examples.When a strong smell is present, my airway cuts out completely. I have theorized that it it may have something to do with what I call "thick air".Examples: Diesel exhaust scent, frying greasy or oily things, the smell of certain algae (like near a pond), occasionally with foul smells (this will seem odd, but it's innocent in my exposure((a day old corpse, animal or otherwise)).It's not particularly tied to smoke, cigarette smoke does not bother me, and I use an E-Cigarette. This has been something I've dealt with my entire life. It is quite painful when my airways suddenly close, and I can only breathe again when I place a cloth over my mouth (if the scent is still present) or move to fresh air. My doctor has told me he thinks it's something called laryngospasm, but this doesn't seem exclusively correct, as from my understanding, this is caused by your vocal chords... and that doesn't quite make sense to me.Edit: I should mention that once I am able to breathe, I typically uncontrollably cough, and sometimes vomit because of my coughs.