Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

[enc] WHERE DID YOU OBTAIN THIS INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE QUOTED? IT ALL SOUNDS LOGICAL & I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE THANKS BILL.

I woke up in the middle of the night and my chest hurt. I realized that I wasn't breathing, I had to gasp for air and had to really work at it for the air to come into my lungs. This scared the crap out of me!(It also woke my husband) I have been quit smoking for 20 days now and I am 38 years old, female about 50 pounds overweight but I HAVE NEVER had an experience like that before. Is it part of the quiting smoking (I have had all kinds of withdrawals) or should I go to a doctor? If so what kind of doctor?

Hey. i started smoking when i was 15 about 9 fags a ay i am now 18. I started gettin out of breath when i was doing mild exercise so i stopped doing it, but carryd on smoking i then started getting chest problems (pains and such) so i quit smoking but it has only go worse since i quit. it gets much worse towards the end of my day, before i go to bed i went to the doctors they checked my blood pressure and oxygen levels they where all fine. i didn't get a chest X-ray though, but i have book one fo the next couple of days. i'm just kinda scared cause I'm only 18 and i don't want to have emphysema or lung cncer. so i was wandering if my breathing getting worse is all part of the withdrawal symptoms or not? any help is greatly appreciated. thanks

I gave up smoking dope, and then cut down on tobacco, and I'm now getting this SOB. Is it due to the cleaning process starting again, and having a hard time succeeding? I would try to stop tobacco entirely, but the SOB symptoms are frightening me off.

There's actually a really easy explanation for people having shortness of breath AFTER quitting.. What happens is this.. 1) When you were a smoker, you took DEEP breaths when you inhaled the smoke, now that you've quit, you're no longer taking these deep breaths, and are 'shallow' breathing. Shallow breathing can can cause slight bouts of anxiety, which will result with shortness of breath. CURE: Practice deep breathing techniques every night before bed, and every morning when you wake up.. This will definitely help! 2) As someone else mentioned on here, your body is repairing itself. The cilia is growing back, and is once again starting to move mucus throught your system.. This can, and usually does cause heartburn, and can 'clog' you up a lot more in the beginning making is slightly more difficult to breath in general.. Actually, there was someone else who responded on here that said just as he/she is falling asleep, they suddenly wake up with a kinda jerk, like they weren't breathing.. The fact is, this person wasn't and it's because of what I just explained.. this is a mild bout of sleep apnea, caused by the body's adjustment to stopping smoking. CURE: Drink TONS of water, and I mean TONS.. Try to aim for 4 Liters/day (1 Gallon) Just my @0.02 guys, good luck!

in order to help & this worked for me, take long walks or runs & this will bring up phlegm, breathing in thru your nose & expanding your stomach @ the same time worked for me , give it a try & hopefully your breathing will improve, it

I have recently decided to quit with Chantix again. Last August I quit for 30 days using the medication. Had no problems. This time all was going great as well, did not smoke for a week when suddenly I begun feeling chest pain, left arm was going numb and could not breath. I got scared that it was some side effects from Chantix. Researched it and a lot of people were saying that they had heart attacks 3 weeks into using Chantix. That scared me so I stopped taking Chantix. The episodes of SOB started on Saturday, on Tue I went into ER because left arm was really feeling numb and it felt that no matter how deep I try to breath my body does not get enough oxygen. They ran tests did x rays, my heart was all good lungs ok. It is Almost Friday and I have gone through one pack now and seems to be much better now though I still get the SOB but not as bad and as frequent. I am going to see a doctor about it tomorrow. I'll try to keep you posted on his findings. I will try to quit again but for now the SOB were too much to deal with. It was getting to the point where I was getting light headed and started panicking.

A lot of pple blame Chantix...meanwhile, we forget we are withdrawling from a highly addictive drug that has over 1000 ingredients I quit 3 years ago, b/c of allergies, SOB, Nighttime wheezing....still have a bit of the latter 2, which DID get better, but feel after smoking heavily for 20 years, it left some damage as a reminder

I smoked for 30 years and quit a month ago. I didn't have the tightness in the chest, or shortness of breath from smoking as much as from anxiety. Since smoking masked it, when I quit, I knew it would be more intense. I'm no stranger to quitting and am actually quite good at it, having quit a number of times....like most people. I've used Chantix, Zyban, the patch, etc. I do deal with the congestion, but accept it's my body repairing itself. There's some mucus, and other unpleasant aspects, but they are all improving. One thing I found has been of value is having Xanax on hand. My doctor prescribed it years ago because of mild episodes of anxiety for me to take as needed. I have found when I encounter a day or period where I'm having trouble getting through the cravings, I can take 1/2 and ride it out. I don't like meds period, and if I take 1/2 a week, then that's about as heavy as the use gets, but it does help. This time around, I used the patch...kind of....sort of. I used the 21mg patch for 4 - 5 days, then dropped to the 14mg for a few more days. I didn't want to become addicted to using the patch, but wanted to break down the process into a couple of steps. Not worry about the cravings while breaking the pattern of "Smoke on way to work. Smoke after breakfast. Take 4 breaks to smoke with lunch in the middle, and smoke during the 1 hour commute back home." I could focus on reminding myself I couldn't take the breaks, without the withdrawals telling me I could if I only smoked half as much. Once I started thinking about when I could have the next one, I'd cut back on the patch and see how I handled it. When I felt the cravings were no more severe at the lower levels, I cut back again. In this case from the 14mg to none at all. I carried the patch just in case, but never had to use it. A month later, I still get cravings and have some withdrawal symptoms, but they're manageable. I remind myself I'm not a smoker only as long as I don't smoke.

I smoked a pack of cigaretts for about 30 years. I quit about 4 years ago. When I quit I expected that I would feel like a new person in time. However, since I quit I have had chronic sinusitis, GERD, shortness of breath and a general lethargic feeling. ENT specialists didn't help, GI specialists didn't help and Pulmonologists didn't help. I sometimes suffer SOB going from an air conditioned room to one without it, or simply taking a shower or going swimming. Some days i am constantly clearing my throught or struggling to breath. I have tried all kinds of medication, but nothing really helps. Does this sound familiar to anyone.

gave up smoking 6 weeks ago and feel like i am not getting a full lung full of air,when i breath i yawn to get a full breath.it can happen at any time of day or night ,and work or rest.have not gone too a doctor yet but am glad to see that i am not alone with these symptons.

Hi everyone thanks for all the sharing ive read it really help me out. same here about SOB i smoke for 27 yrs give it up in about 6 mos. never been to a doctor since I know the feeling of SOB its not a good thing but i have another strange feeling like heart heart palpitations or someting i dont know its like feeling that your going to have an heart attack or something i dont know ANYONE PLEASE ? thank you ..

That is your gallbladder, you may have to get it checked out, I have quit for 6 months, and the past 2 months have been hell with the SOB, it almost causes me to pass out, It is not a panic attack by the way, it just feels like one, I was at my doctors when one came on, unfortunatley I have this other pain under my ribcage feels like some one is hitting it, kind of dull somedays and sharp others, both of these things SOB and gallbladder attacks cause the band of pain, where your back muscles contract to protect you. but unfortunatley when you quit smoking they tighten up a lot more and your lungs expand even more, so you feel constricted, because the muscles that make your ribs expand are working against them. You aren't having a heart attack, when you quit, your blood pressure drops as well, which can be very hard on some people, and feel like a heart attack, but also your gallbladder can cause the same symptoms as Heart attack and asthma and emphesyma. My symptoms go as such, from the nape of my neck to the middle of my nack and between the shoulder blades, the muscles tighten up a lot, then my breathing gets cut short and I can not breathe deep Like I am used to then I end up breathing to quick to make up for the less deep breathing, then I get nausiated then I almost pass out and then tremors as though I just had very low sugar levels. this is all my quitting plus I have a gallstone the size of a coke bottle lid causing the band of pain as well. It helps, to lay flat on your back, breath in with your diaprham meaning instead of your chest going out when you breath and your shoulder raising just your stomach should lift.... so in through your nose for 2 seconds, then out with your mouth in a perked whistle shape for 3, When we smoke, we forget how to breath properly because we inhale to deeply and carbon monoxide gets stuck in our lungs, because we breathe out shorter than we breathe in rather than breathing out longer. to the person having pain under your right side of your ribcage, go ask for an ultrasound of your gallbladder to see if the lining is thick or if you have stones, they need to come out if you do and the pain will go away, plus try this test if you can't afford to go to the doctors, eat a meal consisting of eggs, bacon, peanut butter, and very fatty foods. If it is your gallbladder this will send you into pain withen 15 minutes to 3 hours after you eat. I am glad to find others with the shortnes of breath and I hope the breathing excersize works for you's it helps me, a muscle relaxent at bedtime can stop the shortness of breath as well, because it relaxes the nuscles around your ribs so they can contract properly while your lungs enlarge when you sleep, Garanteeing you a good nights sleep with out waking up in the middle of the night. Not just robaxecet either... it needs to be a prescribed muscle relaxer, one that makes you limp.. I only needed mine 3 nights in a row, and so far I have only had one belt of SOB in 4 days. :-)

Thank you so much for this wonderful and helpful reply that is exactly what im feeling right now after 6 mos. quitting. Should i go to a doctor for that gallblader check or it will go away ?? Thank you so much..

Besides SOB, how about on the shoulder blades? I feel like a muscle or a ball is behind my left lung, feels like a small tingling sensation and when I move in any direction I can fell it. Is this normal? Sometime there is tightness in the same area. Are my lungs having withdrawals? Is it normal to feel the same in the right front of my chest? Have not experienced any mucus out of my body. Is there a way to detoxify the body from the nicotine? Is your chest supposed to feel tight or hurt a bit?