What Causes Breathing Difficulty With Tightness In Chest?
You could be having asthma.
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX
Your symptoms suggest that you could be having asthma. You do suffer from allergies as suggested by you taking zyrtec? Are you uncomfortable in dusty and smoky environment?
Only thing that sounds unusual is you feeling better with eating ice because normally asthma gets worse with extreme cold but then every patient is different.
Yes, if you have allergies, your symptoms could get worse while caring for the dog.
You need to consult your local pulmonologist and get a thorough check up done. It should include routine blood tests, chest x ray and a spirometry.
You will need inhaler medicines like levolin, seroflo, tiova etc, anti allergics like monteleukast and levocetrizine. You may even need a short course of oral steroids to get your symptoms under control, hence an appointment with a pulmonologist is a must.