Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

I actually stepped my smoking way down. I am 30 years old and have smoked since I was 15 years old. I was a heavy smoker smoking anywhere between 1 and a half to 2 packs a day. After I got bronchitis for the first time in my life three months ago and actually quit completely cold turkey for 8 weeks. My breathing really improved after a week but about two weeks ago I started smoking again only about 3 to 5 cigarettes a day. I am able to take a satisfying breath and half yawns are back but they come and go through out the day and it feels like I have alot of mucus and nasal drip. There is some wheezing sometimes. I have had two chest xrays and I have been told my lungs look great (praise God!) but still there is this weird trouble deep breathing. I can't really call it shortness of breath because I can run go up and down stairs and ride my bike with out a problem but trying to take a deep breath sometimes is a struggle. I think it is anxiety because it seemed to flare up really bad while I was on this job interview today. I also have these flare ups lately when I have caffeine. Today, I didn't smoke at all and the nasal drip and trouble deep breathing was terrible until I had a couple of cigarettes this evening. The person talking about laughing has a good point because when I am exceptional active I can get those deep breaths. I think alot of this deep breathing problems that some are having are totally due to anxiety and sinus irritation and drip from those soft sinus tissue healing and tar breaking up in those passages. Breathing exercises and antihistamine will help. It is easy to hyperventilate to do when you are healing from years of smoking. Those with SOB I think the lungs and bronchi are probably really irritated from the tar and debris that are cleaning up from your lungs. Point is it has been so tempting to just throw in the towel and buy a pack of cigarettes but ultimately when I think about all the things in my life that I am going to be able to keep doing for my children and myself with two healthy lungs I put away those ideas and find something else to do. Keep on keeping on everyone! God bless you and good luck!

Same here....Im 29, smoked 15 years (little more than 1 pack per day). I just quit 3 weeks ago, and I have shortness of breath now, when I never did before.

I am 37, have smoked on and off for 22 years, and quit 18 days ago. Every time I quit I feel short of breath at strange times... it's either 1) nerves or 2) lungs adjusting to air. Some people have speculated that this is from Chantix but no... I have quit at least 5 times and have always had shortness of breath (sometimes it's almost like I "forget" to breathe!) and every time I went cold turkey. I also get restless legs, probably from increased circulation to the extremities. What I find very odd indeed is that this is the first quit where I've coughed up lots of tar and I smell/taste tobacco sometimes when I wake up in the morning. Why wouldn't I have had those in previous quits? 2 other times I quit when I fell pregnant and I never had the coughs!

Im sooooooooo glad i found this forum.I thought I was dieing but i guess SOB and TC is a natural changes you have to through.Now i haven't been smoking for long as alot of people here have been.(started 18 stopped at 22) However it's been about 2 weeks since i quit and I feel liek im going to die especially at night. Im glad that im not alone and it's normal. Just knowing that is making me rest easy.thanks and keep off of cigs!

18 years, 1-2 packs a day.. started with Marlboro's.. ended it with Camels.. 35 years old. I do not have sporadic breathing problems like I have been reading here, but I have been getting acute chest pains since I quit 1 week ago.. these are random. I took a run this morning for the first time since I left the Army in 1998.. wow.. I had to stop every 20 feet to not have a heart attack.. Couldn't breath at all. I will be going back out for a run every morning until I can get back into shape.. both physically and respiratory. I have to say, I did have to get some herbal sleep aids to sleep at night, but I feel really good. I have tried to quit many times.. even went to the desert for a month with no smokes, and came scrambling back to the first gas station to get a pack.. but this time.. I don't know.. I am just done, and I was able to walk away. I have to say, day one was the worst, but now it's a momentary thought, that passes. I have never been more active either.. all that time spent smoking is now spent.. like.. doing stuff.. odd.. lol.

This is a good thread - 42 yr old - smoked for 25 years - given up one or twice prior to this but not for longer than a few months - never had shortage of breath before this time - gave up at the start of december, had a terrible xmas - couldn't breath, kept waking up gasping for breath, I did find some comfort in this thread that helped me stay off the smokes until I had made the decision to go to the Drs to get checked out - Dr was very sympathetic but had heard it all so often before and re assured me that it was very common - he had plenty of people come in and say they were better off smoking etc and informed me that it would probably get worse before it got better and there was not much to be done other than grin and bare it. Stay off the fags and wait it out - knowing that its quite a common side effect if giving up smoking does lessen the anxiety some what and help make you feel less "smothered".

This has been SO helpful, thank you. The cold air works for me, exercise outside where I push past the feeling of tightness in my chest helps, deep breathing helps tremendously, but here's the trick - the breathing. You must inhale through your nose, (FILL your lungs to the point of discomfort) and exhale through your mouth - so that the proper respiratory circle is completed. AND, exhale, as deeply as you possibly can. Keep exhaling when you think you no longer can. Keep going, it's remarkable how long you can keep exhaling for. Really. My Pilates instructor taught me that, she learned it through a life spent as a professional ballet dancer. She said you must get the bad air out. At first, you will feel like you can't do it. You can. You will get better at it. And in the process, you are strengthening your lungs. Thank you to all of you for sharing your stories and experiences. We are on the road to health, we have turned the corner, we are there. Thank you. ~ heidi 'XD'

i was starting to get worried when i was looking up side effects of quitting smoking and not seeing anything really about shortness of breath. but im 20 years old. ive been smoking for about 5 years. im currently trying to quit (again). it seems like everytime i do i get really bad shortness of breath. especially at night when im about to go to sleep. it comes out of nowhere pretty much. one minute im fine, next thing i know i cant catch my breath. but thats why all the other times ive tried to stop have failed. it seems like if i light up another cigarette, i can breath easier. im thinkin about goin to see a doctor if an inhaler would be helpful because like ive heard, the shortness of breath just has to go away with time. but anyway. great thread and wish me luck :-D

22 yrs old - smoked for 6 yrs (about 5-10 a day, up to 20 on a night out). Its been 2 weeks and 4 days since I quit. I've noticed that in the last few days I've developed an insatiable cough - where I just can't get anything up! It feels like I have heavy mucus in my lungs preventing me from breathing. I have also developed shortness of breath (SOB) - I caught a cold after the first week of quitting, so I thought it might have had something to do with that, but I've recovered from the cold and the SOB is still there. I go to the gym and run 3-4 times a week and have found that I get more out-of-breath while exercising now as a non-smoker than I did when I was a smoker. I'm finding it very difficult to do any cardio as it feels like there's a layer of mucus covering the entrance to my trachea and suffocating me! I'm constantly coughing and panting (the other gym-goers think I'm a bit odd and disgusting I think). I exercise quite intensely, but am worried this might be damaging my lungs due to the coughing and SOB. I was wondering if anyone else has had problems with exercising after quitting, even though they exercised before quitting just fine? I hope this will go away soon. Has anyone experienced SOB after quitting and has had it go away? How long did it take? Thanks (Good job on quitting everyone!)

Hello....I just turned 40..and have smoked 1/2 pack a day for 26 years. Today is day 4 of NOT smoking. I am using the patch and all is going well with withdrawl simptoms. The ONLY problem I am having is the SHORTNESS OF BREATH! I NEVER had this while smoking and was REALLY thinking something was wrong with me. I am SO GLAD to read this thread to find that this is NORMAL! I guess I was expecting to feel better INSTANTLY???? LOL.. Stay strong everyone.....smoking STINKS...and more than litterally! XD

I am 24 and have been smoking for 10 yrs. This last year I really cut my smoking back before I quit and I am surprised at how hard it is to breath since i quit. I have found that exercise is the hardest thing in the world for me to do. I quickly run out of breath, and breathing deep seems to be a thing of the past. Deep breaths even when sitting on my couch relaxing are quite painful, and because of this it always seems like I am out of breath. Whenever I sit down and force myself to breath deeply it is followed by coughing. I quit smoking just a couple weeks ago and I'm glad I did, but I am ready to feel healthy again.

I am 54 years old, I have been smoking since I was 13 years old so I have 41 years in as a smoker. My last cigarette was on Feb. 9, 2010. I am using chant ix to help me quite. I do get cravings from time to time but I can fight them off with out to much resistance. The big problem.... I can't breath! I am constantly short of breath. It seem as though I can not do any type of physical exertion. If I do I struggle to get air. Even as I type this my chest is quite heavy. How long does this last? I see one guy on here says he quite 6 mo. ago and still has the same problem. Will I ever be able to breath right again? I might be better off smoking again if it makes me breath better! I do feel good about not smoking! I just want to breath!!!!!

Happy to have found this post! I quit smoking 2 weeks ago.. pack a day for 8 years. I also play competitive soccer and do regular intensive exercise. I have never had trouble with my breathing until i quit and it is so dissheartening. I feel amazing about my quit in every way except for this SOB. Had a soccer game yesterday and i just couldn't run! One sprint up the field and i thought i was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. I'm a midfielder too... running is my thing! I deperately don't want to start smoking again but i need to find some sort of solution here. 6 months till i feel better?? That's the entire season :'( I'll investigate musinex and perhaps a bronchial dialator... albuteral maybe. If anyone has found something that works for them please let me know. Thanks for reading! This will all be worth it in the long run people! :-D

Dont you just love google! Well i have been experiencing sob for around 4 months now, it all started when i ended up in A&E when i thought i was going to have a heart attack, this i think was brought on by using cocaine ( i know stupid ) All the tests came back clear except high blood pressure. Doctor said i was having a panic attack. Eventually i calmed down and appeared to be normal again. I 32 yrs old and smoke around 18 per day or did!. In the last 3 months i have been trying to quit using patches, they do work except for when i am drinking. Anyway i experience sob and tc on and off as i am trying to give up, in fact smoking now seems to bring on the sob, i have had enough of smoking now and feel i should go back to the doctors as 4 months has passed and im still getting problems. I went to the Alps snowboarding 2 weeks ago...my god it was a stuggle to breathe up there. After reading all the posts here i now know im not alone in this but as i have now only gone 1 day without a cig i reckon i have a long way to go

I smoked 1 to 2 packs /day for 31 years. I was never unusually short of breath all the years that I smoked. I have been cig. free for 1 year 1 month and 3 weeks. STILL short of breath to the point that sometimes I get winded just slowly walking our dog on a level street. All tests have been clear and normal. Doc says it's just the lungs still healing. I thought that after a month off of them I'd be feeling like Superman, but instead, more than a year later I feel like Slothman. I don't get it. :-(