health problems after stop smoking

This is very normal. I felt the same at that stage and with time it eventually fades away.
Been 20 weeks now since I Quit and all these symptoms you mentioned are more of less gone.
so Hang in there and don't like the little devil gives you idea of going back to smoking. its a mind game that needs patience and will pay off greatly at the end.

Thank you so much for this post. I know it was written a long time ago but for me it is now the time that i am not sure what is happening to me and my body after having quit smoking for 11 months. I smoked for 15 years (about half my life, i turned 32 last month) and had an outstandingly good metabolism. I could eat what i want and always had a six pack without doing any type of sports. It really was unfair to everyone else. Sometimes i would just eat so much chocolate that i was sated, as a meal because it just didn't matter. After quitting smoking everything changed: i got fat (15 - 20 kilos extra !), which i haven't experienced my entire life. Also i have all the symptoms that so many of you posters describe, like my memory is not working as good, i keep forgetting things. I can't breathe as good as i was able to before. I also have the feelig that my immune system is much weaker than it was when i was still smoking.
So i typed "i felt better when i was smoking" into google and landed here. After seeing that so many people are experiencing the same issues and everybody on the first page seemed to be rather desperate i felt kind of depressed but then i read your comment. It made me happy and i noticed a smile on my face because i finally found at least someone who found out that you just have to be patient and that it will get better. Thanks to you i won't be looking for excuses to start smoking again.
Thank you very much.

Sounds like you have bronchitis, mine lasted 4 weeks nothing helped I had all the same treatments as you. Just went away on its own

yes quit 12 months. Chest pain, all the same tests as you. Still tired, feel exhausted most times. Depressed. Cant stand the smell of smoking and will never go back. Was on zero medication before now on cholesterol, blood pressure, steroids etc etc. It will get better certain of it.

I have the same problems with the breathing issues

Yes, that my story, today 5 months quit
I hope u still on this post because I want to Know how are u doing now?

I quit 5 months ago after smoking for 50 years and I feel worse now then I did when I smoked. I don't have the hacking cough anymore but that's about it. I thought I was suppose to be feeling great. Why don't I? I think on a daily basis I felt better when I was smoking then I do now. I know I'm not going back to smoking but DANG!!!!

I suffered for a long time too. It takes one's body years to recover from all that damage and it's prolly doing just that right now. You can help yourself by going for long walks and changing your diet. Eat as much raw veg and fruit as you can to assist your body to heal faster.

Im in the thick of it now myself, Im 32 male, smoked about pack a day for 13 years. a gift from the military... a week shy of two months quit cold turkey. I experience most of these symptoms most of you have. Except I feel like I do it to myself. Like some comments before our society is that of instant gratification, results now! Its been 11 years since ive gotten out of the army and that long since if done regular excersize. Im in decent shape about 20 pounds overweight but not fat. Anyways. I started jogging running almost immediately after I quit. keeps the mind off of it, I go at 10 PM its cool calm and quiet, and nobody can see my shamefull pace :) Well, ive noticed some days better than others but ive really pushed myself on two occasions, really ran as hard as I could, immediately after and for the next two days my body feels insanely shi**y and my anxiety is through the roof. the First time I put myself in the hostpital for a checkup and chest x-rays. all clear. Currently im on day two of anxiety freaking out, after pushing myself. These message boards give a lot of encouragement, People really need to follow up tho, let us all know you made it through! Done forget you were in here looking for answers to questions you came to ask too! im 7 weeks deep now, not doing too aweful bad, I can feel its mental for the most part, but the body must take its time to heal from the horrific damage weve done to it!

Well, lets start by saying i'm 52 and have smoked since I was very young. I haven't touched anything for 4 months. I have read everything that everyone here has mentioned and I tell you now,"your not alone". I have done a ton of research because of the s***y way I was feeling and the things that have happened to my body since I quit. You all are experiencing the same things I have or still am experiencing. Everybody is different and depending on the damage you have done it will take different timelines to recover. So first thing I wanna say is"congratulations on quitting", its not easy but it will be worth it. ok, Now I wanna mention some symptoms and you all are talking about and things I have read about and tried.
Sleep problems- Affected me for approx. 3 months, it did fade and getting better. Unfortunately nothing helped me with this but time and a sleeping pill occasionally. Melatonin may help for some.
Gaining weight- hit me too. Stick to eating protein, and veggies and a little fruit. You gotta get mobile with exercise. Jogging, running, biking, rowing, the gym. Start out slow and progress. All this will help. Also eating fibers will help fill you up longer and improve bowel habits. Oatmeal is great, fills you up for a long time and doesn't add weight.
Breathing problems- Oh ya, had and still have this. This takes time but again, get exercise. Get your lungs working. You may need an inhaler from your doctor to open your airways until all the c**p works itself out which again, takes time.
I also have experienced c**p coming up into my throat. This is your cilia working out the c**p that you put in your lungs for so many years. Mine is finally starting to get a bit better after 4 months. I was also prescribed a pill for acid reflux. It has helped with my sore throat. From what I have read, the long lasting sore throat is from bronchitis. Your lungs are producing extra mucous to clear out your lungs, bringing it up into your throat. It is kinda acidic and is causing that sore throat.
I have also experienced a weird numbing feeling in certain parts of my back that come and go. I just started to understand that this is part of the bronchitis and feels better once I take a puff off my inhaler. It also goes away sorta, once I work out.
So, I also want to mention why we all feel worse after quitting and felt better while smoking. You have all seen the little ad's about there being chemicals in cigarettes. that number is approx. 4400. Crazy huh? The tobacco companies add chemicals to open up your airways so you feel good when you smoke. The add chemicals that numb pain receptors so you don't feel the bad effects on your body, lungs, muscles...etc. They add chemicals to kill your food cravings for those that are overweight. Anyways, you get my point. They have thought of everything and get rich off of us. The gov't doesn't step in because they make excellent sales tax. Im guessing that the sales tax they receive offsets the medical bills they receive from the hospitals for patients.
So, the most important thing of all of this is,"its all worth it". Its hard to give it up but stay quit. Things will get better as your body heals. We aren't 20 years old anymore and as we get older it takes longer to bounce back. I can honestly say for the first time in my life that I will never go back to smoking.
Last week I went and bought myself a brand new motorcycle which will be totally paid for in 2 years with my smoking money. WOW HUH?
"STICK WITH IT MY FRIENDS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE".
If you have a question I will do my best to answer.
Cheers to all of you. :)

Update, im now just shy of ten weeks. Ive made a couple realizations, while I still needlessly google symptoms and freak myself out, I tend to not have the anxiety effect nearly as bad. I got it bad a couple times both times after a VIGOROUS workout, that I pushed myself hard. Firstly I decided to quit running, and instead quickly walk for 2-3 miles 4-5 times a week. I cant force quick results, and risk hurting myself. Secondly. With my newer healthier lifestyle, I decided to really focus on all areas of health, Diet, teeth, and vitamins. However this is where I think I found one of my worst issues. I was taking mens 1-a-day vitamins. And it clicked that maybe this was triggereing my anxiety and worry. So I stopped taking them about a week ago, and find myself more in a relaxed state. I have anxiety on 2 of 10 scale at worst, when a couple times I hit 10-10. I looked into vitamins causing anxiety, and there is quite a lot of support, that too much b6 b12 and magnesium can trigger anxiety. anyways its working for me. I find strangely that I think about smoking more now than I did at first. still 0 cravings. Not Moody at all anymore. Still not coughing much. Some days I feel more congested and cant breath as deep, till I clear my throat (no cough) a few times and produce some brown specd c**p a few times, then im good again for a few days. Its clearing out slowly. I feel like I can breath deeper, and the air tastes so good. I still find I take shallow short breaths most of the day out of habit. Gotta find a way to work them lungs all day. Don't feel very tight in the chest much anymore either, and the reflux seems to have subsided. I quit taking the over the counter reflux stuff even. Still getting the sore upper back muscles and shoulder blade areas. haven't gained weight, instead of hunger I have no appetite sometimes. Not sure if smoking cessation can cause swollen lymph nodes in the chest, nobody seems to write about them, lots of people get em in the neck. I feel like a have a couple in my chest that are swollen and painful to touch. Been getting deep tissue massages to help with a triggered piriformis muscle and the shoulder tho no injury is locked up so she says, tho I have full mobility in it. she worked the muscles in my armpit super hard and probably got some bad blood moving to the lymph. Just another thing to worry about right! As always stay strong guys and update us!

I quit after 43 years of smoking......I could not breath one day was getting very little air! I quit and it has been three weeks today! I feel great so far with no side effects are even any cravings ......if I even think about a cigarette I get sick! I am praying there will be no side effects like I have been reading about! I have had no problems breathing after three days of stopping...... I never smoked in my house only out side and have quit with no help at all just mind power!

How do you feel now

Hi there. I have similar problems since I quitted smoking. I want to know more.
I'm really interested in to your theory. I'm just started to take antibiotics few days ago cause I'm starting have suspicion to Lyme d...

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So far ive found the best thing is to (at least try) to focus on the Highs. Im hitting 4 months now. And I can say if theres a way to take your mind off the quit, all these weird pains and ailments we experience almost completely fade away. I was having another health anxiety spell about 3-4 weeks ago. Nobody could convince me I wasn't dying. Then I decided id better have my wisdom teeth taken out while the timing was right, so I did, and just having to focus on eating and drinking carefully, plus the constant aching for a couple weeks, completely took my mind over. today is two weeks since surgery, and the pain is gone and im back to normal minus careful eating, and I feel great. My mind does try to go back to the old thoughts but its easy now to brush it off. I had a 10 day vacation reciently and I thought that it would subside from being able to relax. But no I thought about it more, need a good distraction!!!!