Somatic OCD

Hi all, I have been working through my somatic OCD of my breath for the past month or so with an excellent therapist. I have a few burning questions but let me give a bit of backstory to how I have this. I briefly had an episode in 2019 where I thought to myself “what if I can’t get my mind off focusing on my own breath?” That caused me distress for about a week and eventually just fizzled out of life without much thought. However, in September 2020, I began meditating to alleviate everyday stress and anxiety. In December 2020, the same thought occurred “what if I can’t get my mind off focusing on my own breath?” This was, in my experience, made worse by my meditation as i had a focus on my breath with meditation. Every time I meditated (including before December 2020) I sometimes would come out with more anxiety than before I meditated. Throughout the year of 2021, I had immense issues trying to not focus on my breath and eventually stopped meditating in October 2021. Fast forward to today, and I still have this issue. I am much better at managing it, but it is still a pressing issue that affects my life every day. Do you think the reason I still have this issue is because I meditated wrong? Focused too much on controlling my breath? What solutions have worked for you or do you have any recommendations? The main problem is I worry that I’m going to have breathing issues during the day, and when I think about my breathing, there is a tightness in my throat that makes me feel like I can’t breathe OUT in particular, and I have to swallow mid way through breathing out, almost like a hyperventilation state. This was a long-winded post but I would appreciate any advice you may have, medically, personally and recommendations you may have (what’s worked for you, maybe it is something else entirely, etc). Have a wonderful day!