Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

I am 32 years of age and have been a smoker since I was sixteen. I've tried to stop smoking a handful of times in that period, finding it relatively easy to do so, yet then stupidly taking it up again. It's been 2 months since my last ciggie. I have alot of natural energy, and love to exercise. However, since quitting I have experienced shortness of breath. On a constant level. Even as I sit here typing this! As a result of this shortness of breath, I am fatigued all the time. I am hoping this will pass, and hope it is a result of quitting.

Hi, I found alot of your comments to be quite comforting. I am a 31 year old male, have smoked for the past 12 or 13 years. I had wanted to stop all three vices for 40 days and 40 nights. I have made it to day 36 and I too have had alot of problems worried about my breathe. As it feels like I could not inhale fully, the more I think about it the more breathes I take and before you know it I am hyperventilating? This is panic/anxiety yes? How long untill your breathe returns to normal? The other thing I have noticed alot is my veins are more noticebly blue underneath my skin, it seems as the weeks go by I am noticing more and more of them. It is the beginning of winter so that does not help. I have seen many doctors thinking this was a blood disorder but they have said that it is normal and it is healthy, as it shows that the blood is becoming more oxygenated and the heart is pumping normally again. Has anyone else had these symptoms? I think this abstinence is going to be much longer than just 40 days.

Thanks guys for the information you gave me .... you saved my life .. i was beginning to think that there is something wrong with me but now thanks TO YOU guys I know that this is normal withdrawal symptoms ... i am nicotine free for 11 weeks now ...

Hello, I had similar symptoms, I have quit for 3 weeks and have shortness of breath, its annoying and discomforting. I think its a cycle of tension that increases itself. My shoulders, back and chest muscles are really tight especially my back underneath the scapula. After doing some self massage I feel better breathing. I encourage people to go get a deep tissue massage and see if they dont breathe better after that. Epsom salt baths also. I think the withdrawals set off tension in muscles and then it makes itself worse because we are anxious. I also feel very fatigued like I dont want to get out of bed. Smoked about 1/2 pack a day almost 20 years. Thanks everybody for posting these comments and glad you are quitting.

Wow, I also have this weird shortness of breath after quitting. Some interesting points here...maybe related to anxiety, inhaling promotes deep breathing....but in no way will I start smoking again, darn smokes just compound the problem. I was a very light smoker and can't imagine how heavy smokers must feel. I would think that after quitting that breathing would be vastly improved, but i guess these are the consequences of smoking and withdrawal symptoms. I was also afraid that the shortness of breath was bad news, but i guess it's my bodies job of cleaning itself out! Good Luck to all!

I am 55 and smoked about 2 packs a day for 35 years. On Feb8/10 I made a decision to quit smoking, and did it. Cold turkey and never cheated once. I have never stopped smoking before. I have had so many symptoms from shortness of breath to whistling in my lungs, hot flashes and a toxic odor coming from my armpits. I am canadian and therefore there are many more chemicals in the cigarettes. Now just over 5 monts after quitting I have horrific sob and tightness in the chest. I am very tired as well. I do not cough but there is a lot of phlegm in my chest. I also have air trapped in my ear and congestion in my nose. Often my nose drips for days which is also awfully annoying. I hope these symptoms get better as I can barely take my dog for a walk. Even though I had an air cleaner on all the time, I wonder if dogs can go through secondhand smoke withdrawels as my dog iis coughing lately.The vet has given him a clean bill of health;

I am 28. I have been smoking for about 15 or so years. As I have tried to quit cold turkey. I have found that when I lay down to sleep It is like my body can not seem to extract the oxygen from the air properly,, As If the air didn't contain enough oxygen. I am clearly suffocating. It is a struggle to get a nights rest. Beforehand I didn't have this problem. It is clear that smoking paralyzes your lungs, And when you don't smoke they're no longer paralyzed. I have learned from this thread, one could go as long as 1.5 year having SOB. No One has yet to come back and state it went away... NOT ONE PERSON. I have also considered Other Drugs to get a good nights rest, Which I am Newly quitted and suffering early into the Cold turkey process. Perhaps Tonight I will not get the feeling I am suffocating, Perhaps Running and working the lungs will speed up the heeling process, Or yet Rid of the suffocation At night.... If I feel as If I am going to suffocate when I lay down for sleep, I will try and run to see what that brings. Or, I may just die in my sleep. Its scary... It sucks....

This is in response to the previous poster mentioning that no one has thus far mentioned SOB going away. I’m a 44 year old pack a day for 26 year smoker. Last Nov I quit cold turkey no meds no nothing nadda. For the first three months I had shortness of breath, quit zits, brown phlegm, insomnia and blood originating from my nasal passages which traveled down the back of my throat (scary). My SOB and lung congestion was so bad I went to the emergency room which resulted in x-rays and blood work done which all came back negative. In my mind I was convinced I had cancer. I found this thread and must have read it daily to help calm my nerves. During month four and into month five my symptoms diminished significantly. No at month eight my SOB is gone infact I’m breathing easier then I can remember. I’ve had colds that have come and gone in record time as they used to linger for weeks. I have more energy and cash in my wallet. The only lingering symptom I have is insomnia I usually wake up once a night. Quitting is the best thing I’ve ever done.

I have the shortness of breath too. Started after 28 days of quitting smoking. I am on the patch. 14mg. I am pretty sure it is a combination of my lungs healing and anxiety. I used an albuterol inhaler, and that helped some. I also used .25 mg Ativan (antianxiety meds), and that helped. I guess its just something we have to ride out until its gone. I guess this is my consequence for smoking for 15 years, and seeing this now, I will never smoke again. I know its worrysome, and by all means see your doctor if you are worried.

i too have had the shortness of breath. :-( However my boss, who quit smoking told me to see my chiropractic and get manipulated and or get a massage this is supposed to move the gunk in your body I am trying this this week. I too never have felt worse and whats funny i do not crave and have not craved a cigarette since i quit 42 days ago but i want to start smoking to feel better ,,,,,crazy huh?????

Hang in there!!!!!! I also have SOB and have just quit smoking. It's called hyperventilation and it means you have too much oxygen and super low levels of carbon monoxide in your bloodstream. This is happening because your body was overproducing red blood cells while you smoked in order to get enough oxygen. Now that you've quit, your not getting all that carbon monoxide that your body had become used to. In other words...you are now over oxygenated! This also explains why it seems to happen during periods of low activity...you are breathing in too much oxygen. THERE IS A SOLUTION!!!!! Take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can. Do not try to continually draw large breaths. Close your eyes and think calming thoughts. Pace around a bit to get your muscles to start converting all that oxygen into carbon dioxide. I'm 8 days into quitting and this method is working for me. God give us all strength to get through this and begin living normal, healthier lives.

I am on Day 12 of no smoking & have had the SOB for about the past 5 days. I smoked at least a pack a day for 20+ years. Quit 10 years ago for approximately 6 months & did not experience this. The only thing that helps me with the SOB is forcing myself to yawn and get a good deep breath from that but it is getting very bothersome. Never had a smoker's cough & I'll be pretty p.o'd if I start to get one after quitting...UGH!

can anybody give me areply that is less than 2 years old to the SOB problem after quitting smoking?

I'm 25 and have an approximately 4 pack year smoking history. I wasn't in decent physical shape when I started smoking. Then I quit working out, starting eating badly, and put on about 80 pounds in five years. In the past year, I cut back on smoking to 4-5 cigs a day, started working out every day, sometimes twice a day (couldn't keep that up for more than a couple months, heh). I've lost 50 pounds and have put on a fair bit of muscle. In the past few months I've cut down to 1-2 a day and began noticing odd shortness of breath. Oddly, it occurs only when I'm at rest. I never get it when working out, and I work out hard. Heck, exercise has brought my resting heart rate down from approximately 80 to 60. My doctor chalked it up to withdrawal. After reading these boards, I suspect it's hyperventilation as a symptom of withdrawal. The first thing I noticed that helped was to take a deep breath and hold it for a good long while. I'm up to 2 minutes, which is about the longest I've ever been able to hold my breath. The second thing I noticed was moving around and taking my mind off of it cleared it up. Or I'd exhale normally, stop myself from taking the next breath, and see how long it takes while walking before I need another one. Usually 15 seconds. After that I'd breathe normally. The third thing I noticed is I can sit down and take shallow breaths (really shallow) and very slow ones through my nose and not get any SOB or light headedness, though I seem to have an inexplicable urge to take bigger breaths. When I walk around, the urge goes away and I have no trouble maintaining my small breaths. It's caused me to remember one time in college before I started smoking that a friend of mine in nursing school was demonstrating on me to other friends how he does checkups on patients. He took my pulse, then said that he got a misreading and had to do it again, to which I acquiesced. After 15 seconds he said, "Okay, I got your pulse the first time. The second time, I took your breathing rate. I didn't want you to be conscious of your breathing, so I said I misread your pulse. You took one breath in fifteen seconds which means... you're dead." I had a very slow breathing rate before I started smoking, and I think I need to retrain myself to take smaller breaths now that I've quit smoking and my body is releasing its CO2 better. I'm going to quit completely soon (probably have to give up alcohol for a year to do that, and coffee as well), keep working out, and maybe see about some yoga. I'm seriously considering Buteyko breathing as well. My roommate has asthma and I noticed he sighs a lot if he hasn't exercised for a week. Hope some of this helps!

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