Quit smoking a year ago - sick ever since!

I don't have healthcare but I know these symptoms well.
I quit almost 1 year ago & I've exercised, eaten heathy, and have lost no weight. It just increases. I feel I look terrible and have become reclusive. My body is swollen & it seems I've grown Everywhere, even my feet. Most clothing & shoes no longer fit but I refuse to buy "fat" clothes. I'm also dealing with menopause, since the age of 45. I'm now 47 & can't help but looking back just 4 years ago, I was smoking and thin. Now I am feeling very unattractive, with little self-esteem, self-conscious.

1secretstory hi

Believe me the feeling of "little self-esteem, self-conscious " is NOT REALLY related to your weight gain. It's mostly in your head. Maybe lack of dopamine, or something.

I quit 12 months ago(i am 28 years old), i look 100% better than i looked when smoked. I hear lots of compliments from ladies;) But FOR SOME REASON i feel bad, anxious, i feel about my self as worthless piece of sh1t. And i can't understand why?

They say it takes time and can take up to 3 years for your brain to relearn how to produce all needed neurochemicals.

I don't take any antidepressants and any supplements - want it to be as natural as possible.

hope it helps, good luck!

Two weeks after I stopped smoking I started feeling awful...shortness of breath...spiking high blood pressure. Lots of test but all negative. Being treated for hypertension and very fatigued...definitely did not know this would happen and know it is my body adjusting to functioning without the nicotine.

My update:
I am now 220 days(>7 months) without a cigarette.
My symptoms are still on-off.
The remaining are cold symptoms, heart palpitations, body aches, sore throat (probably hypothyroid), anxiety and boredom.
I still practice a lot of drinking water, take vitamins but are afraid to exercise because my heart rate instability.

From my experience, when I had a sore throat, it will also experience shortness of breath, headache, and upper chest discomfort. This adds another episode of my anxiety and feel like want to die.

I hope I heal fast, I do not want to relapse. I do not want to be a slave cigarettes forever.

My Update

 

5 months without any cigarettes.

I still feel blahh in the morning when I wake up. I still have occasional stomach/digestive problems...Coffee is a no no for me now.

I have some anxiety specially when I think about my health and that's what I need to work on. I'm seeing someone for this and it helps.

 

Good luck to all of us

It is really nice to find this kind of information. I have actually never heard of these quitting symptoms. Well except the weight gain. I've stopped smoking because of my stomach. Referring to my doctors advice i had pains because the burning chemicals in cigarettes have burnt all my protective layers in the stomach, so whatever i ate (especially something spicy), everything made me curl up in pain. Heartburn was horrible, it felt like having a heart attack as the pain was shooting to my back and my left arm. So now i stopped smoking. It hasn't been much but 5 days, but i feel confident. Probably because i stopped with my partner. And now my heart is skipping a beat alot. It worried me so much until now. Thank you sharing people. I cannot wait what this withdrawal of this horrible habit do next to my body, but it's worth it. Because I stopped. 

Iqbal, i assure you at least one thing that this heart palpitation issue will be fixed in few day, just hang in there.

I quit almost 6 months ago, after 47 yrs. of smoking, and I haven't felt good ever since. But the truth is that I didn't feel good when I was still smoking. And it's that truth that keeps me from going back to that poison. 

Everyone who has smoked for any length of time should realize that you're going through an unbelievable shift in energy when you quit. This website is wonderful, because I have been so frustrated.I have andcontinue to go through the symptoms of the healing process. Unbelievable anxiety (I'm actually seeing a therapist), trouble with congestion (diagnosed as early emphysema), skin problems, raw and irritated mucous membranes, etc., etc., etc. But mainly, I just don't feel good. I don't feel like my old, smoking self. I feel like a different, but very uncomfortable person. So to see other people are experiencing similar problems really helps me tell myself to hang in there and let the healing continue. 

Thanks to each and every one of you. Wishing you all the very best for better days.

Hey - I see this post from a while back, wondering if you ever got better? I quit three months ago and I'm going through EXACTLY what you say above: Head conjested; Stuffed Feeling; Fatigue; Respitaory Issues... did blood tests, all normal, did check x ray, all normal... doctor can't find anything wrong other than 'must be ear infection'... it's beginnig to get me down, I can't exercise (no energy)... Does it get better? I genuinely will NEVER SMOKE AGAIN, just hope I can get to that place where you feel normal...

I must tell you that I could cry reading these posts.  I smoked for 35 years and quit 4 months ago.  I have felt like c**p ever since. My anxiety level is outta this world.  My husband thinks it is markedly noticeable increase.  I ache all over, am fatigued all the time, in general am jut bummed all the time.  This is horrible and if I didn't know better I would just smoke again.  This is awful.

I don't want to make you people scared to death but you need to stop running around like headless chickens.

There was a poster who suffered the symptoms like all of you do and the doctor did a blood test and turned out she was B6 deficient (you might need to read back a few pages).

Do you know what causes problems with detoxifications,and who might have such a positive response for vitamin B6?

A metabolic disorder called Homocystinuria affecting 1 in a million and it's pretty serious and require lifestyle and dietary changes for the rest of life!

Well,guess what.I am positive for the cystathionine beta synthase deficiency or CBS deficiency [proven through genetic testing] which is the known cause of Homocystinuria.

1 in a 1 000 000,it seems there are already 2 people here who MIGHT have this rare metabolic syndrome (I know I do,but not sure of other person,need to know other symptoms eg. marfanoid build,scoliosis,khyposis,malloclusion etc.) and I advise you get checked by your doctor,you might not have this but if you do,then it can save your life! 

Go get checked please,it's better to be safe than sorry!

I'm relieved to have found this forum.  I quit smoking 20 months ago, (after 37 years) and have never felt worse.  First, I developed a gluten intolerance, then my thyroid took a hike, now I'm having (big) trouble breathing.  I can't walk out to my mailbox without using the inhaler.  My life, as I knew it, is over.

I really don't want to start smoking again, but if this is how the rest of my life is going to be - no thank you.  Maybe I'd live 10 more years as a smoker, but at least I'd be happy and "healthy".   Another 30 or 40 years like this ... well, that's not a life. 

Does anyone have any idea if I just need to be more patient?   (another 2 years?)  Or, has anyone experienced all the  *$%^&*  I'm going through, and started smoking again .... do you feel "normal"? 

Thank you for any guidance. 

This is exactly what i am going through!

It's been 13 months for me, and it's still hell. I have to adjust my diet and eat ONLY healthy foods to feel at least not dying. Since quitting my life is hell, mental health - crazy anxiety, mood swings, etc... And i am only 26!

Check this study posted by someone:

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PARIS (EGMN) – Smokers who have recently kicked the habit could face a significant increase in the risk of developing new-onset hypothyroidism. The risk is greatest within the first 2 years of quitting, when it can run as high as 5 times the risk of someone who has never smoked, or who has been tobacco-free for more than 2 years. There’s no obvious explanation for the phenomenon, Dr. Allan Carle said at the International Thyroid Meeting. However, he said, a 2007 study suggests that current smokers actually have a significantly lower risk of developing hypothyroidism but an increased risk of hyperthyroidism (Arch. Intern. Med. 2007;167:1428-32).
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I've read people saying that they started feel better after 1.5 year - 2.5 years mark.

p.s. how did you quit, did you use any nicotine replacement?

Hi Jess,

Thank you for the reply. Boy, I feel for you, since I understand what you're going through. Wow.... my best friend and I quit at the same time. She's as happy and healthy as can be, while I'm suffering. I keep asking her .... doesn't your stomach bother you? Do you have energy? Are you breathing alright? Of course, she's doing great ...... and I'm happy for her, but I guess we're "special", eh? No wonder so many people have trouble quitting.

Hmmmm, so 1.5 to 2.5 years, eh? Well, I'm almost at the 2 year mark, so I guess I'd better hang in there for a while longer. I know we need to detox, but .... argh .....

When I quit, I tried Chantix (horrible stuff) then I went cold turkey. After 3 weeks, my stomach was so painful (the gluten intolerance starting) I tried an e-cig. It's gotta be better than the coffin-nails, right?

If you've made if for over a year, I'm proud of you. It sounds like we're both very determined. Yay you!

Can I ask whether any medication has worked. Like you I went from going daily to now every 4 days if I'm lucky. When I gave up smoking I imagined I would feel the stress by not being able to smoke, but in all honesty I haven't felt anything like this other than the anxiety and discomfort I am feeling at this precise moment by not being regular.