Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

I smoked for 14 years, half to full pack a day and I just quit five weeks ago.  I started feeling what I guess can be described as shortness of breath about a week ago.  But it's not like I *can't* get enough air.  It's just that sometimes I have to take a really deep breath to feel like I get enough air.  Taking a really deep breath, by the way, actually feels very very good :)  Overall, I feel a billion times better. I no longer have to be all paranoid about how I smell, and I can run much, much faster.  I was kind of concerned about this SOB, but now I feel much better since I'm not the only one.   There's no way in hell I'm going to start again.  I think this is probably just part of the healing process, and I'm going to give it a few more months (at least) before I'm going to really worry.Here's how I'm keeping this in perspective and not freaking out:  For fourteen years, I smoked 10-20 times a day, so an average of 15 cigarettes.  Let's say each smoke took five minutes, so 75 minutes of smoking a day.  So for the last 14 years, I spent 1.25 hours inhaling hot, burning, tarry smoke every single day.  So I think it's OK to expect that it might take my body a few years to fix everything I've messed up :)  So I'm just going to try to enjoy the healing process, and allow myself to be happily surprised at all the changes in my health, breathing, blood pressure, personal relationships, etc. as they happen. 

Yup. The stupid things we do.I'm going to try the detox approach next. My breathing is already much better (expectorants and diaphram nasal breathing) but I still cannot seem to cough up all this rubbish. So gonna try and cleanse from within and see if this gets things moving along.I've also been prescribed diazepam for the anxiety, but have not needed to use them yet. Fingers crossed I can keep things at bay without needing to resort to them. But is reassuring to have them.I will post progress soon. LJB

i have had the same thing im thinkin since i had breathing problems when i started my body is getting back to bacis like remembering i have breathing problems i smoked for 18 years and it never was an issue till i quit about 3 months ago i have to carry an inhaler around  just to get through the day as to before i never did i think research needs to be done on this i see more and more ppl haveing similar issues

Update:  Still getting SOB time and again, and still get panic attacks at times. Some weeks are better than others, but this has been going on pretty much since I quit smoking (almost 3 years ago I believe).  It's odd to state at (almost) 38, then sometimes just having my spouse hug me will calm down the episode. Cigarettes at least didn't make me come across as a wuss who needed a hug. lol..,

Guess I have got company. I smoked away 35 years, quit in June 2011. Felt good, feeling good. But breathlessness has caught up. Some friends and doctors have said, this happens to some smokers. Well, let me stay QUIT. Have learned to love my own natural body odor, free of that tobacco stench.

  Hi im 50 years old and stopped smoking 4 months ago, I smoked 20 to 30 a day for the best part of 35 years (how stupid) anyhow I have always been pretty fit up to 35 I was very very fit but now I have stopped smoking Im getting breathless after doing basicaly nothing ! I went skiing for a week just before Christmas and when I was in the alps my lungs were exploding, I was near having panic attacks and not just at excertion but also I was being woken up at night gasping for breath, I hope that this is a short lived side effect of stopping as it is awful.

What exactly do you mean when you state "worse when I am eating". I can't seem to sit and eat , due to sob, and I get a full, miserable feeling after about 3 bites. Is that what is happening to you? Would love to know. I thought maybe I had a tumor in my stomach. Does anyone know if this is a common side effect of quitting smoking? Can't drink any large amount without gasping for breath. It has been 2+months since i quit. Good Luck All!!!

This sounds like sleep apnea. Check it out.

I quit smoking about 4 months ago. I am also having a problem with SOB and when I cough it is dry. I wish I could just cough the trapped mucus out. I have to take ativan to relax me. My docs said Im fine but I feel worst than I did when I smoked.

I quit smoking 5months ago and still have problems on and off with SOB. I very rarely cough and my chest feels tight. Doctor says all my test are normal)PFT, ct scan, chest x-ray) thank god. He also told me that it can take up to a year to fell better. Sometimes I wish I wouldn't have quit, I have never felt so bad. :(

Me too!!!!! It is so disheartening...jerking me up again and again...so I am doing all these youtube breathing exercises during the day.....I believe our body was so used to breathing deep only when we smoked, we don't know how to do it when we don't!

Thanks for sharing. I hunger for each point that you have shared. ....

'Shortness of Breath' - it's like breating 'Diet Air' !This is the greatest thread EVER, for a topic that it so hard to find any information about on the internet, that most people who accidentally stumble across this site probably assumed that they were dying of emphysemia or cancer !!Thankyou ! And good luck to everyone who has already stopped smoking.

No kidding. Let us pray for all those who suffered because of the greed of tobacco companies - Merchants of Death!

Hi, thanks for this thread -   I'm 34 and I quit smoking (cigs) almost 2 years ago.   I had a 12 year,  pack-a-day habit.  It was hard, but I had help with cannabis to distract me.  About a month ago I had a chest cold that would not go away and decided to stop my smoke inhalation entirely.  I quit smoking cannabis too, (that was a much easier habit to break by far!  But that's not the point).  About a week into my new smoke-free life I began to experience shortness of breath (SOB) and Asthma-like symptoms for the first time ever.  They come and go, sometimes days apart.  But when they occur, it can be horrible for me!  I start to wheeze, can't catch my breath ect.  Same as most other posts on this board.  They usually last for an hour or two, then dissapear entirely.    I'm very active, swim for an hour at a time twice a week.  I walk 30 minutes a day as well.  These activities do not bring about my symptoms.  Rather they tend to occur at night, when Im relaxing.  A lot of this is very similar to many other posters, and that is comforting.  I actually went into the hospital last week for a full work up of xray and blood tests thinking it was something worse.  Everything came back normal, and my doctor just told me I had asthma.  I know though its not asthma...   I just wanted to say it's not necessarily a withdrawl symptom to the nicotine.  I've been free of that for way too long.  It seems to be just smoke in general - and its effect on our lungs and cilia function.  Now that my cilia are starting to renew and regrow after years of smoking they are moving junk from my lungs.  That junk sometimes blocks airways and gives us all that gasping choking feeling.   Good luck to you all, and thanks for the posts!  I have been smoke-free for about a month now, and hope these symptoms go away sooner than later...   We will all feel better!