Quit smoking a year ago - sick ever since!

Well I'm over 5 months now and I still feel anxious, bloated, aches, lung irritation, and much more.

At one point in the 3rd month my anxiety was so bad my hair started to thin.


No information available about quitting smoking mentions how intense the physical effects of quitting are and how long the last. I'm convinced they deliberately lie to push their anti smoking agenda.

I agree with you ^ I had some hairloss, where I would be shampooing and have quite a lot of hair on my hands.... I recently started exercising again, and I tell ya, it really makes me feel a lot better. I have a route where its exactly two miles, and I head out at 10 PM almost every night. I took a two month break from it when my anxiety really kicked in, and at the time I was still getting very wheezy when I tried to jog and run. Now thankfully I can jog/walk and my legs tire before im out of breath. I feel like I wouldn't run out of breath if I didn't need to stop for my legs. I also started taking my vitamins again as well. Finally feel like im over the hump, still have harder days than others, but im doing well!

I quit 6 months ago and I still have extreme fatigue, nausea, bloating, anxiety, digestive problems and aching joints. Some days when I wake up I have a feeling in my legs and feet like I have walked miles.

I don't understand why I'm not getting better. I have ever been to my Gp for blood tests and everything came back normal.

It's 5 month quick for me and i have the same issue as you, however my lower belly aches, and my legs also feel weak and funny, just cant explain this strange feeling. I just take one day at a time for know and pray for the best. I would like to feel normal again, but i guest it will take time , just hang in their my friend.
all the best MC

I'm going through same things you mentioned. I am assuming it's mostly anxiety related. When I am busy I don't feel like I'm sick at all. When I let my mind wonder is when I start feeling sick.
I've realized exercising and yoga has helped me tremendously. The more busy I am the better I feel.
Sure there are these times when I feel extremely depressed but the moment I get myself busy I feel better.

Me too! I been smoke free for 9 months. How long has u been smoke free?

I smoke for 30 yrs and i quick 19/03/2017. the only problem i have right know is my belly aches, I really don't now if it anxiety / stress, is killing me but i know that i will never smoke again. i read some people say that they had belly problem for sometime and it took a while before it when away. could someone go in to details about the time it takes to overcome this belly hurt, this is making me depress.
i would like to chat with someone or group about these problem in a live chat room, please send link
MC

I don't know what kind of stomach pain u going through. Tell me what kind of pain diarrhea, constipation or both or what ?
I might be able to help if I know what u mean by pain

First I lost my appetite then i had diarrhea, that last for 2 1/2 month, then came the belly aches just below my belly button with all sort of strang noise. recently on my left side about 6 inches below my ribs, i start getting aches in that reagion, it's like a pain aches that you can live with but you just want it to go away, if you understand what i really trying to say. I did blood works and every thing is all right but am going to do other test soon. It's now 5 month and 4 days that i have quick smoking and i am not going back, this have been hell for me so far, never was I so depress yet in my life. I realised drinking lots of water help, and my appetite is out of this world and i am not gaining any weight, still i lost about 5 p" when i start my quick. I feel like i am going to die most of the time, but I know if quick is killinhg me well it have too, because I am not going back to that old life, smoke free, I love it, this is living. God is love and he will help those who try to help them self, please stay Quick.
MC

Hey stay strong, here's what help me with my stomach issues. Walk a mile a day, get some probiotics take it every day. And don't eat late at night before u go the bed. Also ask ur Doctor to do a CT scan on ur stomach area. That way you will know everything is good with u and u can stop worrying. Which will help u feel better. I stop smoking November 11, 2016. Almost 9 months ago. Remember God is good! Stay quick

I have no idea what to say here. I've been smoke free for 10 months. I'm 53 and smoked heavily since I was a teenager. I've had issues for the past several months. I've been in the hospital for two days. Had stress test done, some kind of ultra sound, somekind of nuclear dye test. test test and more test. I've gained 25 LBS. From 160 to 185. I can't bend very to tie my shoes, I feel like someone is sitting on my chest, heartburn and feels like someone has their thumb on my throat. Thats the worse feeling. Scary too. I have panic attacks because I can't breathe. Going tomorrow a conceltation. Now they are wanting to stick a camera down my throat. Might as well have a colonoscopy done at the same time. I will never smoke again but have been battling since I quit. Hope and pray it gets better. I've anyone is reading this that doesn't smoke don't be a fool and start. If you do smoke quit before it's too late..

Hey mate, sound similar to me. Stopped smoking for 4 months + and the sharp pain that sometimes hit me in the chest makes me crazy. Done ecg 1 time, but turn out its all okay.

This forum and all your stories have an absolute miracle find for me!

I have been smoking since I was 18, and decided to quit for good this January. I am currently on my 6th months completely smoke free and this has been my second try to quit (last time I held out 7 months and STUPIDLY went back). Boy has those 6 months been exciting. Lets recap:
Month one - I got sick and decided that this should be it, gonna use my sickness to my advantage and quit for good. It wasn’t too hard to do, as I couldn’t breathe or stop sneezing. So a week went like that and I decided to prolong it with Wellbutrin, which the doctor was so kind enough to give me. She forgot to mention that it can make you crazy, but you know :). So first two weeks of me taking Wellbutrin, I didn’t notice any withdrawal because I was too focused on my newfound depression, and WILD mood swings. Did I say wild?? I spend hours crying non stop over the most stupidest stuff and I normally cry twice a year.
Once the moods stopped going up and down, it became great, or so I though. On about the 3rd week I woke up with excruciating pain in joints on my left hand and some extra pain in my knees. Apparently thats a known side effect of Wellbutrin. So I stopped taking it and hoped that this would go away (it did about 2 months later). So BACCKK to those mood swings we go. Now it wasn’t the crying bits, but more along the lines of “wow my life is so worthless, its not worth living, I should kill myself in one year if this doesn’t get better”. I discovered that feeling suicidal is a thing and kept myself rational knowing that this too shall pass. Thankfully it did. In between my craziness at Britney 2007 level, my ears started acting up and my glands were swollen and painful. Working in a medical office, I was told its just the flu - drink tea and rest.

Month 2-3 were pretty good, this was the honeymoon stage. I started doing almost daily walks in the park and let myself eat whatever and whenever I wanted cause thats what kept me happy and occupied during times I would usually smoke.

Month 3-4 - the real fun started. I went on Naturethroid to “boost my thyroid”, stupidest decision I ever made to date TRULY. It was great for the first 3 weeks, I was full of energy, getting amazing sleep and just feeling like I was finally doing sh*t. Then came….
May 30th - my amazing night which I spent in ER. After 5-6 coffees during the day, I went to sleep, thinking nothing of it as this is how much I could drink when I smoked and it never bothered me or my sleep. I woke up at 1:30am, feeling like my heart was about to jump out of my chest. I had this feeling twice before - once after I used my friend’s asthma inhaler and once after trying cocaine. So I knew this wasn’t good, and I knew I def didn’t do no cocaine. I tried to calm down, and walk it off, but it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. Finally I woke my mom up and told her that her plans for the night changed as of right now and I’m gonna need her to drive me to the ER, asap cause I’m about to die. She looks at me and tells me Im crazy, I’m like OK measure my pulse, she took my BP and heart rate and Im not sure what she saw there, but she got up and started getting ready. By the time we arrived in ER I was convinced I was dying from a heart attack, thinking f**k - how could I ever feel suicidal, I really don’t want to die. I am not ready, I still haven’t figured out what happens after death and I’m really not feeling like finding out tonight. Apparently it was my first panic attack, and a pretty strong one. I was given Xanax and sent on my merry way home. I am pretty certain that the thyroid medication and withdrawal set off the anxiety and its been a crazy ride since. I went off the medication, but the palpitations stayed. I would wake up at night with my pulse in 120’s and feeling like I am about to die - sleep disappeared.

So months 4-6 have been spent in one long anxiety attack. Best so far was my vacation in Mexico, each night I was 100% convinced that I’m having a heart attack and I prayed to just survive the night. My digestion became so bad due to anxiety that week that my food would just pass through me in like 3-4 hours because I was in my “fight or flight” mode 24/7. This was the worst vacation I had to date lol. I was so jealous of people just drinking and having fun, while I spent my day watching my pulse and dreading the nights.
In-between all of this my enthusiasm for my job dwindled to such low levels that I was surprised each day how am I still employed. I did just the bare minimum, as I was busy either googling my symptoms or drinking gallons of chamomile tea to calm my pulse from 110 to at least 70.Some days my bare minimum consisted on clocking in and out, from my bed as I worked from home. Other days I just called in sick and slept, esp if my night was spent doing breathing and taking benadryl to knock myself out and not end up in ER again. At that time I was convinced that the panic attack would kill me if I don’t calm down.

As of a month ago I had a turning point with all of this, as I quit my job and finally had the time and energy to focus solely on my health. I am getting my anxiety in control and learning what my triggers are - alcohol, hooka and caffeine. So I have fully quit all of that. I have stopped taking supplements to help me sleep and learned a breathing technique to stop the anxiety in its tracks. Look up 4-7-4 breathing, this does the trick for me.

In terms of all other symptoms currently at 6 months:
Digestion - back to normal finally.
Insomnia - still wake up once a night, but go right back to sleep.
Anxiety - much better once I eliminated any caffeine, alcohol and hooka.
Random pains in body - happen here and there on daily basis, but at this point I stopped caring.

New symptom - blood pressure jumps - so far 173/122 being the highest. I think this is a symptom of anxiety, and happened only 3 times so far lasting only five min or so.

During all this time I have NEVER had the urge to smoke, and the more symptoms I had the more I became determined to never ever go back to it. My body and mind can go through this hell only once. :)

I also had to quit my job because the anxiety and physical symptoms from quitting were just too much.

Im at 5 and a half months now

CONGRAT ! On ur 5 and half month. Im 9 months smoke free, I'm trying to get this stomach back in order, and deal with my sinus issues. I been to the doctor about my four times over the last 9 months. But I glad to say I'm smoke free. So let us keep up the good work!