Quit smoking a year ago - sick ever since!

What can i say, it has been good to hear all of your stories! I felt like i was going crazy for awhile. Thanks for taking the time to share, now i feel i ought to reciprocate. I have read through this thread in its entirety and refer back to it now when i am having a tough go of it.

Like everyone else, i gave up smoking. I am a 32 yo who smoked half pack/day (sometimes more, sometimes less) and started when i was 15. I had never quit before and quit cold turkey 2 months ago. What a ride it has been. The first week was obviously tough, breaking the physical addiction, but i got through it ok. In weeks 2-4, the general feeling of malaise and major fatigue set in I couldn't get motivated to do much of anything, which is tough because i farm. Also, it didn't help that it was smack dab in the dead of winter here in Central Canada where i reside. Most people are feeling the winter blahs at this time. However, i rode that deep dark place out and thought i had prevailed over this nasty addiction... But, like many here, i feel like in many ways, the battle really just began at the 4 week mark. It was then that i started getting chest and back pains along with shortness of breath, which are awful things to deal with, psychologically if not prepared for them! My stomach got very gasy around this time, too. Weeks 4-6 were absolutely awful. Sometime in there i found this forum, which was a godsend, because i thought i was very ill. The chest pains and SOB being more on and off now, but still get upper back pains and a bit of pain in throat. Also, at about week 5, i woke up with a dull headache and soreness in my sinuses. Not too much nasal congestion, but just a persistent dull pain under my left eye and forehead. I have had this since, which is going on 3 weeks. There is a bit of blood in my snot too, which is a bit worrisome, but it is also really dry here in the winters, so... I stil get bouts of tiredness, where i just want to sleep. Things seem better when i get outside and work, get my mind off the symptoms, which leads me to believe much of this is anxiety related. But not all of it is. Anyways, feels good to share. Feels good to not be a slave to the smokes anymore, though i miss the idea of smoking sometimes. Just the idea. That will pass with time. Keep it up, all! Will report back soon. 

I think iposted ealier in this thread and since lost the link - thought  would post my update, it's been now 8.5 months since giving up

 

Things are slowly getting better - I used to have periods during the day of feeling really faint and light headed. These seem to have slowly reduced in severeness. Change is so gradual its hard to remember exactly how i felt 3-4 months ago, but im sure it was a lot worse than today.

 

SOB has diminished too. Only not so good thing is i seem to get more back pain / shoulder / back of lungs ache type pain. Pretty constant, sometimes quite easy to forget about it, sometimes quite noticeable. Had all the usual test, chest xray, blood tests.

 

Occasionally coughing up phlegm in the mornings. I think i will try out steam / vicks / salt pipe to see if it can accelerate the process

I persuaded my gp to give a precripription for a drug to help with acid reflux as a kind of test to see if i could be suffering from that - im almost a month in andhard to say if its really had any effect, so maybe thats not the cause. 

 

Good luck all

Great to hear all of your stories, as hellish as it has been for all of us. Very similar- am 34 years old, smoked for 20 years more or less.  Quit on 10/13 of last year. I was ok with the physical addiction after about a month, but swung into a major depression, gained a ton weight, had a lot of very frustrating gastrointestinal problems, no energy. Then comes January: 4 bugs in a row- basically 2 months of sickness....  This past Thursday I bought a pack of cigarettes and smoked them all and freaking loved it, first time (and let's go for last time) I lapsed. Within  a day I felt the depression lift, things felt very much more do-able. This is not encouragement to start again!! It is to say this: I almost went out and bought another pack, then I googled: "quit five months major depression" and found this discussion.  You all are great. It's ridiculous to start to smoking again. It's somehow very helpful to know that I feel how I feel because of quitting smoking. So yeah. went out and bought some tea tree oil toothpicks and celery. Feel great. Let's all stay quit and tell philip morris and his friends to go screw. Plus, it's spring, at least in the northern hemisphere. that's got to make things easier.  Thank you all! 

Hi All,

I have posted before(Page 32).  Here are my updates after 10 month quitting.

Still have gastrointestinal problems. Texture of my poop has changed ever since quitting it is soft little oily and never formed bulky like before. Still get unusually pains at  lower back, sideways. Stomach cramps is the new thing I am seeing from last month. Every now and then also have stomach bloating.

Relapsing is very bad idea. Early Feb in party with old friends just dragged 2 ciggys thinking that I have overcome the cravings and a week later started with irregular BM loose poop, floating poop, undigested stuff in poop. LFT shows high SGOT/AST 49 Ref(5-40), SGPT/ALT 93 Ref(5-45) and Gama 58 (Ref 10-50)) although mildly elevated but they were all normal in November. I had elevated  LFT in 2nd month of quitting when  I had this irregular BM. 

USG of abdomen shows mildly enlarged liver. I was drinking little more since quitting. From last 1 week my BM has little improved with no floating/loose poop. My LFT is returning to normal.

Looks like quitting has slowed down my digestion and metabolism. Have accumulated more fat around belly. I am trying to be  active as much as possible and doing workouts 5/week. Since quitting I was stressed from all these symptoms and continues stress can induce IBS like symptoms.

My breathing has improved a bit, less coughing of phlegm. Strange is that I reach my target heart rate very early at speed 7. It used to be 8.5 before quitting.

I will post again intermittently.

-Kumar

34, Quit cold turkey on May 10th 2012. 10 a day habit of 7 years.

 

Digestive Issues and GI (gastrointestinal) Problems:

That seems to be a reoccuring thing with those of us who quit.  I used to love a cigarette after a meal.  I always thought like it felt I was jumpstarting the digestive process.  When I had indigestion on rare occasions, a cigarette always seemed to make it feel a little better.

After about two months after I quit, my digestive issues started.  Basically, it was like everything inside was 'irritated'.  Everything was moving through too quickly.  I also become more susceptible to stomach bugs - it seems like I caught one every 4 or 5 weeks, and those would make the whole digestive situation worse.  The details are much worse, but if you're having digestive issues, you're aware of the problems.

I'm a bit over 9 months quit, and am happy to say that right now things are better on that front (or should I say end?).

Here's what I did, and I'm not sure which ones helped:

-Eating healthier, trying to avoid fried, greasy, and processed food - easier said than done, I know

-Eating smaller meals.  Rather than bombing my digestive system with two big meals a day, I try to eat 4 smaller meals a day, with dinner being smaller than lunch

-Never eating within 4 hours of going to sleep, and never laying down right after I eat

-Taking a soluble fiber suppliment

-Taking a probiotic suppliment.  I tried a few, and kefir probiotic yogurt drink did wonders

-Probably most important: TIME.  8 months went by before I started getting back to normal.

Hopefully this helps someone.

me too.....dont bother quitting youll live longer......i gave up 6 months ago and now catch every passing virus....colds coughs, stomach flu......dizzy spells.......anxiety attacks......loss of appetite .ill be back on a pack of twenty pretty soon

Quit over a year ago. I feel terrible and have gained 23 pounds. My diet is the same, now my knees hurt in fact my whole body hurt have no energy. I don't know if it's worth it.. The weight is killing me. I smoked for 60 yrs without any problem. Quiting is the easy part.

Hi everyone,

I quit smoking smoking about five months ago. I went cold turkey, may be it was not such a good idea but I know reducing it gradually would not have worked for me. One stressful day and I will be back on pack a day again. Anyway, after quitting withdrawal symptoms were horrible, constant sore throat, heaviness in chest, insomnia, fatigue, light headed and dizziness. Most of the symptoms were gone after three months but dizziness is still there, well it is more like feeling off balance now. It is not as strong as it used to be but sometimes especially when working on the computer I feel off-balance. I feel like I will fall from the chair and other times I feel that whole world tilted to the right then to the left and then back to normal again but this sensation lasts for less than a second but it is horrible feeling. Now I am not sure if it is withdrawal effect or I have developed something else. I went to see my doctors so many times that he is annoyed from me.

Hi MBH,

I did had the dizziness. It was like I was ready to go office suddenly felt like off balance and feeling like I would fall anytime. 2-3 Similar episodes repeated between 2nd to 3rd month then after that dizziness was gone.

-Kumar
34, Quit cold turkey on May 10th 2012. 10 a day habit of 7 years.

Thanks for post bababooey.

Your post made me laugh this morning, I am at my 3 and half months and feel just like you do however I gained 20lbs. I feel like sh** and the mood swings are terrible. Keeping it up good luck in your journey.

I wish someone could tell me when this dizzy feeling will go away. I am 56, the last time I quit smoking was over 20 years ago, one pack a day. Last cigarette was January 1, 2013. I am past wanting to smoke most of the time, I just don't feel good. I've been to the doctors and have been told nothing is wrong with me.

HI Ann,
Hang in there.. I know how it feels...
It did happen for me around 2-3 days and gone for good.
I think it depends on people to people and smoking history.
You have visited doctor and he thinks everything OK then give it some time.

Honestly I don't know what to do so that it helps to accelerate the recovery.

I have started back smoking because of weak metabolism and digestive issues after almost 10 months of quitting.
Limited to 3 per day. I dint had any cravings, So I wont be addicted again. I will quit forever soon.

-Kumar
34, Quit cold turkey on May 10th 2012. 10 a day habit of 7 years.

I just want to let all know I have started back smoking because of weak metabolism and digestive issues after almost 10 months of quitting.Limited to 3 per day.

I dint had any cravings, So for sure I wont be addicted again.

I am in no way suggesting anyone to start smoking again. For me quitting cold turkey was bad.  Since I strong don't have any  cravings and I am taking ciggys as medicine just one after the meals. I have plans to quit forever soon.

 

-Kumar34, Quit cold turkey on May 10th 2012. 10 a day habit of 7 years.

Ah no really kumar? were your symptoms really bad in order to resort to getting back on the cigs? I've still got a variety of symptoms (including metabolism ones) and i'm at the 9.5 month stage. I'm going to get to the 2 years before worrying why i'm not feeling pretty much normal again.

 

Ann - my dizziness has very slowly improved over the months. I still get spells/days of dizziness, but nowhere near as bad as first 6 months, where i really thought i'd faint at work many a time. Not a nice feeling at all.

 

(32 male, smoker for c. 15 years at half-to-a pack a day, quit 9 months ago)