Quit smoking a year ago - sick ever since!

Reading fellow quitters posts has really reassured me and helped. 

Thanks Rob!  Exercise really does help more than enything else I tried.  I recommend that  if any of you are dealing with anxiety after quitting to go for a jog/swim to not only get your mind off of things but to relax the body.  I don't even care that my muscles are sore from running the hills, because at least I know exactly why I feel that way.  Anxiety and tingling fingers scared the hell out of me, because I didn't understand why it was happening.  This is a great thread and I thank you for helping me! 

Hang in there - yes - we all went through this. The recovery time is different for everyone. You should read through previous post to see what everyone went through. I suggest you take long hot showers and retrain your lungs with breathing excersises. The top of your back may feel tight as well. Like a balloon trapped underneath your skin. Good luck to you and try to relax, it does get better.

Hi Guys...

 

This is it...1 year....(and a few days : quit on june 18th 2012).

 

Well...ROB said it...we all have our ways of detoxing...and yes we're all ex drug addicts.

So. whats left are minor digestive/stomach issues and low anxiety. For the first one, it's much more better now but it took a year...I remember at the peak, I would wake up at 4-5 in the every morning with abdominal pain. Now 9 out 10 days I wake up normally and I can say today they're most probably liked to my Anxiety.

Anxiety : I control it much better now. I noticed that my anxiety comes specialy when I'm more tired : more work, personnal issues, less sleep. Less and less I think that I'm sick and more and more that I'm getting use to a new life...the life without a cigarette.

Overall it's much better finally. So that time does come at some point!

Keep on posting!

Istop

 

Bababooey - It has been six months for me now.

I'm sitting here after calling into work out sick --- again. I'm waiting for them to tell me to just not come back because I'm out so much. I didn't use anything to quit, just cold turkey.

I'm tired all the time and it seems I never get enough sleep -- EVER!

JOleneAL, My first 8 months where so bad!!! I even had ideas of quitting my job....Hang in there and I know this will sound bad but you need to go against the current....even when you feel sick go to work and/or go do an activity...By doing this, you avoid anxiety to set in... Istop

Hi JoleneAL, Just pass at least 6-8 months more somehow and then u will start feeling better. Well when i was in my 6 months and under i used to have problem concentrating while driving ... i was not active at work ......did not feel like working and could not concentrate on work but after 15 months into quit things are looking fine but i am only 37 and in the last visit to doctor my sugar level increased ..... i am so pissed in the last 15 months my blood reports kept fluctuating and now the last is high uric acid and high sugar level ......my BP also stayed bit high and before quitting smoking i never had any problem with BP or blood tests ...i hope every exsmoker will get back to normal .........i realized that quitting cold turkey is not good. your body go insane .......... if new quitters come and read this forum probably they will be in a better postion to get rid of this filthy habbit .... but the thing is you dont realise whats gonna happen with you after quitting smoking because u think u will be more healthy after quitting but the case is opposite

So glad I ran into this thread. I had no idea the withdraw symptoms were going to be so bad! I thought it was going to be like quit smoking - bam - healthy haha. I will share my experience with you guys and maybe some of it can help you out.

 

To start, I am 30/m and have been smoking .5-1 pack a day for 15 years. I quit about 18 days ago, but have been smoking the Blu Ecig. To get the full picture, I will tell you everything. On May 23, I was diagnosed with epididymitis (e. coli infection in the testicles). Doctors loaded me up with antibiotics, but it didn't kill it, so it spread to my bladder, then my prostate. I was on all kinds of antibiotics for a month. During this time, I was smoking weed as well as cigs (i quit weed about 5 days before cigs). I just had enough. The combo of the weed and cipro/flagyl gave me massive panic attacks. I eventually got off the cipro/flagyl and took bactrim which worked and killed the infection. The first week off of cigs (with the ecig) i felt good. But, from what I have read, the ecig just prolonged the withdraw symptoms. Been off the meds for about 2 weeks, eating a ton of yogurt and probiotics, so I won't link the gi upset with the antibiotics, but the lack of cigs. My bowel movements have been different everyday. Really annoying and starting to feel like there was something else wrong with me, but all tests come back normal. This week has been the worst. I feel greasy, sweaty, lightheaded, spacey, slight chest pains, trouble taking deep breaths, depression, and hungry all the time. All normal stuff from what I have read. So, I started to think and take action. I learned about the celia (sp) in the lungs, and how they force everything out once they grow back. The tar from cigs kills all the cells in the esophogus (sp) and lungs. That's what physically hurts - the cells growing back and cleaning your system. The greasy sweat is the body kicking the toxins out from your skin, among other places (throat and bowels). To combat the lightheadedness (which gets so bad sometimes i start getting a feeling of surrealness and then ready to pass out), I'll eat a banana and get a vitamin water, juice, or powerade. All of those things replenish something, whether it is sugar or electrolytes. Both are very important in recovery. Water is the best thing to drink, but I'm pretty sure my body needs the sugar/electrolytes ... plus, sometimes I want something with flavor haha. It always seems to help. With the surrealness and spaciness I try to read something that grounds me (these forums for example. I also call my wife and just talk for a few minutes to remind me who I am. Even if it is just "Hey, how is your day going?") I bring a small bag of Fiber One cereal with me to work and munch on it throughout the day. That helps with the hand to mouth motion and I get my fiber to help me with the bowel movements. The ecig helps too, but I'm trying to ween off of them and eventually smoke nothing. As far as the chest pains and deep breathing, I have to convince myself that it's just going to take time and don't dwell on it, because that's when the anxiety kicks in. Same with depression. I, too, have thought about quitting my job and for a while was coming in late, leaving early, etc. But if I drag my butt in, it's really not that bad. I know it gets worse when I think about it. I have seen in several posts - When I keep my mind busy, I have no symptoms. That is mostly true for me, if I play guitar, watch a movie, play a video game, or exercise, I feel better than when I do laying in bed thinking about how bad I feel .. but sometimes that's all we want to do: lay in bed. I do find myself sleeping 9-11 hours a night when I used to get along just fine with 6, however i was eating junk and smoking pot/cigs, so maybe that "false energy" allowed me to do that. I have read in numerous places when you change your diet, you get your "true energy" which is typically a lot less than what you are used to.

 

With all this being said, I know it will get better from reading all these posts. I find it unbelievable the cigarettes are legal considering what they do to the body, during and after. Many of these people are right, the body is miraculous and will in time repair itself, but as soon as you smoke a cig, everything restarts at 0, so don't do it!

 

(kind of feel like this post is all over the place, but it's just my thoughts through text)

JoleneAL, Have gone through the same state... Wanted to quit my job. Used all my 3 year accumulated leaves. Stay focused... keep yourself busy. Introduce discipline in diet and exercise. I know even with all these precautions you will see health issues flares up, not give up. Only with time things will recover.

Hi Smokefree,

Even I had fluctuating BP until 12 month mark. Now it is always normal.

I am 35 and my blood sugar level is high since quitting. Diabetes runs in my family so not sure if it is from smoking cessation.

My pulse is normal usually but when I do jogging my pulse increased very fast and reaches THR(Target heart rate) very quick then it used to be. I will have energy but I cant run because I go out of breath. Most of the days I have this issue... although some days it is less sever. I still feel since quitting I cant breath properly while jogging .

Hi Kumar, if you google on internet there is research which says that there are are sugar chances when u quit smoking ... but it is temporary for some people.......... even here few guys had increase sugar but then it went back to normal....your breathing issue or stamina this is minor issues and u will build up your stamina over time.... even if you have sugar in your family but they would not acquire it in their thirtees ...... lets hope for the best .....

Hello, new member here but been following this thread for a while now. I'm an ex smoker, smoked about half a pack a day for a good 10 years, smoked weed from time to time also but only on a once in a while basis. This thread has helped me a lot. I have been smoke free for approximately 233 days and counting. It took me a good amount of tries but I believe I'm passed it. I had quits in which i would just buy packs to smoke one cig and then forcefully just throw the rest of the pack away right after to realize I'm wasting my money. I used to to marlboro reds, then switched to american spirits for a few months, then to an e-cig, and finally to nothing. I thought switching to american spirits helped a lot because they were hard to smoke and I would really only smoke half the cig and throw it out. I'm sort of a clean freak, so whenever I smoked in the car and I would see ash all over the dashboard and carpet, I would have to go to the gas station a lot to vacuum all the ash out of the car and get a car wash too to get rid of the ash on the side of the car. Smoking was the dumbest thing I ever did in my life. I wasted so much time and money to such a stupid, stinky, and hurtful habit to myself and others. I wonder how my life would've been like if i never smoked cigarettes. As for the withdrawal symptoms....basically everything you guys have been talking about...I've had all of it, went to the ER twice this year because I had symptoms/feelings of "I feel like I'm going to die". Heart palps, dizziness, nasal issues, sore throats, diarhea, achy bones, unsteadiness, feeling like your going to fall, anything and everything which would make you think twice about if you were going to be ok or not. Most of these symptoms aren't as bad as they were before but I still get dizziness and unsteadiness from time to time. Does anyone else have this after this long? Seen a good amount of doctors and did some tests and they all say it's either dehydration, stress, or anxiety, but what the f**k? I quit for this long already can i just be normal again? I guess I just have to be patient and ride it out. How did I really quit smoking? You gotta surround yourself with clean people. Don't hangout with your friends that smoke, I cut those people out and to tell you the truth...it was worth it. I also stopped soda and coffee too the same time I quit cigs. If you wanna take it to the extreme this is what I did for the first two weeks I quit everything: Call in sick and take your sick/ holiday leave for a good two weeks. Lock yourself in your bedroom away from everyone and do not talk or text anyone. Go thru whatever you gotta go thru. I had the worst flu and initial withdrawal ever in my whole life. If anyone of you watched the 90's movie basketball diaries, I really felt like Leonardo Dicaprio in that one scene withdrawing in the room from cocaine, getting crazy nightsweats, scratching myself like a dog with fleas, and having a dry/crusty mouth and nose while coughing and sniffing like a little kid. To combat the withdrawals I stayed in bed, drank a ton of water and cranberry juice, ate oranges, took day quil/ny quil, cough drops, hot spicy soups, read allan carr's book, and watched TV for 2 weeks straight no distractions. The day you start feeling good, walk out the house, see the sunshine and tell yourself. "I can do this"...

Hi guys – My Update

Today is my ONE year mark. I did it people, I am proud of myself and never thought I could have done it. It takes a lot of will power and I am grateful for it. I quit on JULY 12, 2012 and like everyone here, I went through hell. It was really bad and this has been my toughest year of my life. A lot of things happened to me physically and mentally. Bad things came up with other parts of my life as well, so it enhanced my depression and anxiety.

Withdrawal symptoms are real and can last awhile or I should say recovery symptoms. The people that doesn’t affect for a long period should be grateful. But to all who is still suffering then you need to be strong and don’t give up. Try not to think about it because anxiety and stress enhances your physical symptoms.  It took me awhile to train my brain again.

So a quick rundown – I had every damn test you can think of my first 5 months – that’s how paranoid I was. All the physical symptoms you can think of – I had.All the mental issues – I had.  I also had bouts of dermatitis, psoriasis, I had cysts grown around my body and I am sure I had ulcers as well. I just kept on getting different stuff. I looked awful in the beginning because of depression. Now my family says I look healthy and great and I smell great. The retraining of the brain is the hardest part for me and will always be a continuous battle.

I am 100 percent grateful I quit and I am glad I took steps in making my body more fit. I will never go back. Live your life with happy thoughts people, every day is precious – don’t dwell on the WHAT IFS in life.

Good Luck to everyone and best Wishes. 

I was like you - I quit caffeine my first two weeks - so your body is going to go in shock - that is a giving. Ive seen that movie and I can relate to what you are saying. I was literally laying on my bed similar to a detoxing heroin addict. I had cold sweats and my body was twitching. You didnt want to do a damn thing, i just laid there depressed as hell - you literally thought you were going to die. This was after i went to the E.R and they diagnosed me with GERD. Which is c**p because i dont have any heartburn anymore. So much what the doctors know, Nicotine is a hell of a drug.

Yes- stress and anxiety is sneaky. Even when you dont think its anxiety - it actually is. I know that sounds funny but its tough to figure out. It takes time to retrain your brain. When i was stressing at times my left side of my brain and body would tingle. There are alot of scenarios that your brain can cause or physical symptoms. There are times when i started to shake and i was nervous all of sudden. I was thinking what the hell is wrong with me. To answer your question, yes it can last this long. It sounds so repetitive but excersise and drinking the adequate amount of water does help.

Good Luck

Thanks Smokefree, My sugar levels are dropping now.
Almost 14 months completed, I have started to feel normal myself now except for occasion acne flare-ups.