Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

Welcome to this forum and congratulations on quitting. I am glad that your SOB is not an every day occurrence like mine is....gives me hope that I will get better. This forum has help me tremendously....

So I just checked my app and today is my 9th month Free! I think tomorrow will be Ralph's. I can't wait until the day I feel like I did as a smoker. A new symptom to add to my anxiety and SOB is my left eyelid constantly twitching. From what I read is stress related. The funny thing is I really don't have much stress other than me quitting smoking. 9 months and still going through crap. Oh well keep pressing on.

Oh my goodness...I get the eye twitching thing as well... how weird. Never thought of it as a symptom related to me quitting.... hmmmmm I can't believe I am still going through stuff as well and 4/26 will be 1 year for me :-(.... And I say the same thing..."I can't wait until the day I feel like I did as a smoker"... I miss those days.....

Good for you. Like I said today is my 9th month and feel so much better than I did in my 3rd or 4th month but I still get SOB and anxiety just not as bad as in the beginning. Now the eyelid twitching to add to the list. Please stay with it think about your kids and your own body. My parents both passed away as well from cancer and they were smokers. I've been through so much that I will never go back since it as been so hard to this point. ~Keith

Don't worry Keith....I will NEVER go back...I am too fearful of being worse than I am right now if I did....that was one good thing of developing SOB...My mind was completely on the SOB so I wasn't craving a cigarette so much, ya know.

I hear you. I think about what if I go back to smoking and then still have the SOB and anxiety? I would really go insane at that point so I just won't take that chance.

Exactly...I would not want to chance it...

My first two months, I was sure I was dying, ended up at the ER 3 or 4 times, my husband thought I was crazy. I found this forum and started reading it every day, you guys are a life saver, this gave me the reassurance, and helped with my anxiety alot. I have never posted until today because I just wasnt sure about it. My worst withdrawels have been SOB, Anxiety, pimples on my face, neck and chest, and the feeling of something stuck in the right side of my throat and chest and pressure in my right ear from time to time.. Has anyone else had these other symptoms? Also, has anyone else coughed up gray stuff. Sorry I know its gross but really worried about it.  

Ok...so, I just read your post and am cracking up because my teen daughter said to me just last night "mom....oh no...you can't go out looking like this...you need proactive!".... I am breaking out like a teenager! I have never had acne my entire life....my one friend said it's toxins being released....So, SOB, anxiety and pimples on my face I can surely relate...my face actually hurts when I sleep because of the acne....as if I am not suffering enough...right?! lol And please, do not apologize... this forum is going to help other's going through the same thing. I have not been able to cough anything up since I quit over 11 months ago.

So how long has it been? I quit 9 months ago and like you my first few months ended up in the ER thought I was dying. That was when I learned about anxiety because I have never felt like that before I quit. Since then my SOB and anxiety has dropped tremendously. I have not coughed up at all and not sure if that is good or bad being I smoked for 28 years? I never smoked more than a pack or so a week but still enough over the years. I think the pimples which I started getting recently the eye twitch, SOB, anxiety is all stress related and part of what we need to go through to heal. Don't ask me why others that have quit had no problems and then there are us. I stopped complaining to my wife because at this point she would not understand as she never smoked so I come here and vent to you lovely folks :) This site has been a life saver and after reading every post I know that all this stuff I'm going through is from quitting smoking. I have been to therapists and all they want to do is place you on anti-depressants. no thanks I have read the nightmares about getting off of those. I now eat healthy, take vitamins and exercise. This seems to be working and I will just stick to this. For the anxiety I take Ignatia Amara works great and you can get it the Vitamin Shoppe. ~Keith

Weii people, today makes 270 days of no smoking, it seems like a lifetime of pain, and just think women go through this to have a baby. crazy+ In a few more days it will be 9 months. God knows it is so much better, I can do things that I did when i WAS YOUNGER. My last hospital stay was a breeze, in and out in 3 days. then walked 2.6 miles home , so hang in there it gettin so dam good THANKS RALPH

That's great Ralph!

Angel, your daughter sounds like my 16 year old lol. Who would have thought quitting smoking would give you pimples. Mine are worse on my neck and chest and nothing seems to help it. But I have heard it is toxins coming out through the skin also. Also Angel, I do not cough at all, I have to make my self cough and sometimes in the morning I can actually get some of the gunk up, it is nasty. I really thought I would be feeling great after the first week or two. Boy was I wrong. And Keith it will only be three months the 20th for me. I have come to the conclusion that if I can keep my anxiety to a minimum, I feel better in general, if not I am in constant panic mode. I have horrible health anxiety now and cant even stand the thought of taking any kind of medication, I just struggle through. I had 3 chest x rays, a ct scan of my throat and all kinds of other stuff in the first month after quitting smoking and they all came back ok. I try to stay busy and keep my mind on other stuff, having five kids to run after and rushing to and from practices and everything else helps keep my mind off of the SOB. But somedays the SOB gets the best of me, not to mention all the sinus drainage I have been dealing with since the middle of my second month in. But it took me a little over a month to get out of my slump, drunk feeling state and get back in gear. My kids needed me and I had to pick myself up and keep going. I still cant believe we feel like this after quitting, you would think we would feel so much better. Thank you all so much for being here and listening, you have no idea how much this forum has helped me with my anxiety,

Yes, my daughter, 19, is quite the character.   And you are right, this forum has been my life savior because none of us on here ever thought this would happen after we quit smoking!  I wish I knew why this happened to some and not others....  Anyway, I have not been able to cough anything up...and I have tried....  The one thing I must say I have not had since I stopped was a sinus infection!  I used to get them all the time....so, that's a plus!...

Hang in there. Like I said my 3rd month was tough too. I was a mess and I remember missing out on my oldest sons football season games which I love going to and working the concession stand and stuff but not as much this year :( I'm better now and will be ready for next season :) Remember we are all going through this so you are not the only nutty one haha.. ~Keith