Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

I really could not find out which of these cause our S O B , I asked a lot of folks but no good answers. Thanks RALPH

I'm sure that when all mixed together then smoked causes the SOB. What make me wonder is who sat around and said these are the needed ingredients to mix with tobacco leaves? Let's just throw in every chemical we can think of one of them has to get people addicted to smoking. ~Keith

Well friends and fellow suffer today makes 280 days for me, some days are great no S O B at all, then there is days I can hardly catch my breath. This whole week has been really bad A total relasp. what causes this is somkething I just cant get a hold on. I think it is caused by to much exercise, it seems as if i push a little the next day the S O B is there if I dont push my self to exercise then I can go a long long time with out S O B. So I think I"m gonna cut out the exercfise for a month and see what happens. Good luck to all. THANKS RALPH

Great for you 280 days. I feel the same this whole week I have been set back when things were going so well. I would continue to exercise just go a little more easier. Movement is good gets the heart pumping and the blood flowing. I think we are really close hang in there. ~Keith

Coming up on 7 months for me and my SOB is getting further and further apart. I also quit my anxiety drugs and i actually started feeling BETTER when i did. Im not recomending anyone to do that but it seemed the medicine was a good temprary support in the beginining. 

I'm coming up on one full year without the stinkies and started experiencing SOB about the 6th month in, it is completely random and feels like I can not get a deep breath in so of course anxiety and panic ensues--I used to smoke at least a pack and a half a day and was also overweight (still am but am working it down slowly but surely) I noticed that walking and getting out to get a little exercise helps, not to mention helps get some of the excess weight off, as do some of the other options posters have provided-still it creeps you out when it happens and your mind races about all sorts of scenarios. I am so glad to have found this forum as everyone who has posted has some of the same experiences and alot of people seem to be getting better. So ty all for posting and commenting and helping people like me understand what is going on and major props and cheers to all who have given up the habit! 

Steven I to have smoked 2packs a day for 32 years. I quit cold turkey Feb, of 2012 its been two years and I feel worst than when I smoked. I pick things up I get winded, up stairs, winded, run 10 feet , winded. Why ? It sucks.

2 packs is a lot of cigs a day over 32 years. I would think 2 years or more for your body to expel all that gunk you have infested it with. Hang in there it sucks. I'm only in my 9th month and have a ways to go myself, but I know I cannot pick up another after what i have been through to get to this point. ~Keith

Well today makes 290 days for me. I am so short of breath , it very hard for me to type this, I have a cough that is dry but it burns when I cough, this has been going on for 8 or 10 days. never had A cough like this, gonna call the doc in a few mins hope I dont have to go back in the hospital. Good lucik to you guys THANKS RALPH

hang in there this is so tough. I too still have some SOB and anxiety but I just deal with it and go about my day. I try will all my energy not to let it get to me. ~Keith

Hello everyone....sorry to hear that some of us are not doing well.  I had 2 weeks off and had a variety of tests done and I am so glad I did... The most important test I had at Deborah Heart and Lung was a pulmonary functioning test.  It revealed that I am only intaking 60% oxygen and that something is compromising my breathing....so, I had additional blood work and based on that they thought I had a blood clot, I had a CT Scan where that was ruled out, thank goodness (I guess)....I say that because I also found out I am now amemic which will cause SOB but not to the degree that will get me 100% back to normal....we are working on getting that level up without the need for a transfusion...So, still no answers as to why this is happening.  Mind you...the two people ahead of me having the test were there because they stopped smoking and developed SOB....hmmmmmmm And, since I stopped smoking 11 months ago my metabolism is shot and I have put on approximately 27 lbs which is a lot and according to my doctor unexplained even though weight gain is common once you stop...but, because I put on 27 lbs and I am only 5' 1" and I complained of always being tired because I am once I quit .... I had a sleep stuydy test that showed I now also have sleep apnea!   They set me up with oxygen at night...ugh.... So... now I have to have an echocardiagram to check my heart out more thoroughly, but my doctor promised he will not just give up on my because they are coming back normal because he saw that something is compromising my breathing....it's almost like my brain and my lungs are not on the same page and it's not letting me inhale anymore! So, anyway, I would recommend a pulmonary functioning test...at least there is proof.  My family doctor said...oh...it's just your lungs healing....!   Me quitting has literally made my lungs rebel! Angel  

Honestly, I don't think doctors really know much of what happens to the body once we quit after taking in so many chemicals for that many years. I really think it takes over a year or more for the lungs and brain to somewhat function properly again. I think yoga and learning proper breathing techniques help a great deal. Like you said, your brain and lungs are not working together. I read in an earlier post, when we smoked it was like we were doing deep breathing exercises with each cig which is why we need to practice deep breathing now that we stopped. I wish you all good luck and hope you feel better soon. ~Keith

Thanks Keith...I think you are right...

To all of you that want to know how long you will suffer it depends on how long and how heavy you were smoking, as well as individual susceptibility to damage, which varies considerably. Some people smoke heavily and do relatively little damage, others smoke much less and get a great deal of damage. In general, the lungs clean themselves out in 3 months or so.Now you need to rebuild. Stopping smoking is like putting out a house fire. The house is still burned, and some of it can be rebuilt. That takes months to years depending upon how you measure lung function. Some damage cannot be undone, but it can definitely be worse if you keep smoking. Congrats on accomplishing the single best thing you could to improve your short and long term health.Now you need to rebuild. Stopping smoking is like putting out a house fire. The house is still burned, and some of it can be rebuilt. That takes months to years depending upon how you measure lung function. Some damage cannot be undone, but it can definitely be worse if you keep smoking. Congrats on accomplishing the single best thing you could to improve your short and long term health. THANKS RALPH

This is the crap they put in cigs to make them go out when not puffed on it is what causes S O B and all the other crap that we suffer from, meaning they easily pass through the filter and are inhaled. This combination can then be applied to the cigarette p In 2000, Phillip Morris began using what they called "fire safe technology" in their Merit brand of cigarettes. Once again, this was done without any public notice whatsoever, just like the current FSC laws. They were sued by The Department of Justice in 2004 which forced them to change to the newer "government" standard of FSC cigarettes soon to be implemented for the first time in New York in 2005. Phillip Morris' version obviously did not contain all of the unnecessary toxic metallic nanoparticulates. It's interesting to note that the state with the highest amount of population within the US at the time, was the first to implement these newly formed FSC standards. Ironically, FSC cigarettes are called Reduced Ignition Propensity (or RIP) cigarettes by the Tobacco Industry. In US Patent 7,640,936 filed September of 2005, Phillip Morris scientists explain in depth, the introduction of metal oxide nano-particulates to their products. The same type US patent was recently granted to RJ Reynolds in 2010 (#20100122708). Note that these patents were granted AFTER US-CEO Barry Soetoro signed the Tobacco Safety Act of 2009, supposedly giving the FDA and the US "government" control over tobacco additives. The nanoparticles are incorporated into tobacco filler material cigarette paper and/or filter material, according to Muslim inventors Sharyar Rabiei, Firooz Rasouli and Mohammed - or filler using an adhesive such as VINYL ACETATE, forming bands along the length of the cigarette. This toxic metallic mix, supposedly cuts down on carbon monoxide emissions from cigarette smoke, but in my opinion, there's a far more sinister agenda. Smokers are now inhaling a mixture of toxic metallic nano-particulates which explains the metallic taste and sicknesses expressed by so many smokers to date. Nanoparticulates are more deeply ingested on a cellular level, meaning once they're in the cell, they cannot be removed by conventional detoxifying methods and the above mentioned are known to break cells DNA strands and cause mutations. The result will be a myriad of new, aggressive forms of cancer which do not respond at all to conventional chemotherapy "treatment". This, in combination with IMF/Soetoro proposed budget cuts to water treatment facilities and newly relaxed EPA standards on agricultural toxic waste disposal and the numerous "profit poisons" in our food will lead to a rapid decline in human population and health. The "official" FSC website conveniently refuses to mention these toxic metallic nanoparticulates. The question is...why are these now being added under the disguise of FDA tobacco regulation via "The Tobacco Safety Act of 2009? Please research the above patent numbers for yourself.  ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed*** Please read our Terms of Use