Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

I'm 32 and quit cigarettes using Chantix last May (I used it for 2 weeks then didn't need it anymore) when my wife got pregnant.  I was smoking about a pack a day for 15 years.  Since then, I have had a real bout with shortness of breath.  Xanax and Klonopin seem to help not make me feel so anxious about the SOB, but I feel like I quit one drug and am now substituting with another.  I have never been an anxious person (although my doctor seems to think I smoked because I was anxious).  The anti-anxiety drugs allow me to not worry about my breathing, although I know I'm still short of breath.  It seems like my SOB happens at certain times during the day and gets worse with certain foods.  Gassy foods such as raw fruits & veggies, milk, etc seem to make my SOB worse than usual.  I think it's due to being bloated and will usually subside when I pass gas.  In a typical day, I wake up, take a 12-hour 1 mg Klonopin with a bottle of water, eat a healthy lunch, take a 4-hour 0.5 mg Xanax when my SOB ramps up (usually about 1-2 hours after eating lunch), then another Klonopin at night after work with another bottle of water and possibly another Xanax before bedtime if my symptoms are bad.Exercising does not affect me at all.  In fact, I'm able to run much longer distances being smoke-free than I ever was as a smoker.  I lost 30 lbs at the beginning of last year, then my wife got pregnant, I quit smoking and put the weight right back on.  I'm back down about 15 lbs of it and trying to get in shape hoping this will help with my shortness of breath.  I have also been through the gambit of doctors.  Been to the ER a few times because I thought something was seriously wrong with me when I couldn't take a deep breath.  That's always fun waking your pregnant wife up at 2am on a work night to drive you to the ER!Pulmonology tests were all normal.  Upper and Lower GI tests were all normal.  Had a normal chest x-ray and stress test.  Took a sleep study and found out I have very mild sleep apnea (which should go away with weight loss and is not contributing to my SOB).  Also had an abdominal MRI done to check my liver, kidneys, gall bladder, etc.  Everything was normal. At this point, I don't know what to do.  I have heard these symptoms should start to dissipate 12-18 months after quitting and losing weight will help (I currently weigh 235 lbs).  Someone told me they had similar symptoms, but they went away after a year.  She would hold her breath as long as she could when her SOB symptoms got real bad.  I have tried using this technique and it helps, but it doesn't totally subside.  I feel like every doctor that I spoke to about my symptoms had no idea what caused them or how to cure them (if there is a cure!).  I basically got in an argument with my primary care doc last time I saw him because he was trying to tell me that anxiety was causing my SOB and I was trying to tell him I became anxious because that's what happens when you get SOB.  I guess it's just something you have to experience to understand.Sorry for writing a short book, but I hope this helps some of you control your symptoms.  I'll be sure to update my story in the future if anything changes.  Until then......-Scott

Thank you all so much for compiling this thread. I'm 29 and have smoked diligently for the past 14 years. It's been almost a month since the very last one and my SOB servers as a very badass reminder of my terrible crimes against my lungs :) Knowing I'm not alone in this eases the discomfort though and good news!...All signs point towards infuriatingly gradual but in contestable improvement. Keep squeaky clean and happpy comrades.We will feel like rock stars again.

At the end of February I had pneumonia. I haven't touched a cigarette since. After almost 35 years of smoking, I have been scared straight. I am a 53 year old female who hopes it wasn't too late to quit, as I also have been feeling the SOB. I'm not sure if I am completely healed from the pneumonia, but do feel the sob at varies intervals. I've had a few good days and then it's back again today. Mucinex does seem to help keep things moving. Thanks to everyone here who has shared their story. Keep at it and never take another puff. I've read even one puff can bring us right back to being smokers.It's a tough addiction to kick, but trust me, you don't want to end up in the emergency room with oxygen, because your lungs are too weak to fight infection.I am 66 days smoke free!

Great thread. 60 yr old, quit 5 months ago after 43 years smoking. Terrible first 2 months. To hospital via ambulance on day 5 - heart arrythmia due to quitting ......said goodbye to my kids as I got taken away in the ambulance. Heart rythm stabilized in hospital....back in ER at 2 weeks....back in ER for my 60th birthday.....terrible SOB continually for the first 2 months. Forced myself to cough up brown and grey phlemn. Was placed on bronchodilators....this really helped from month 1-4. Starting at month 4 the SOB started to diminish and I started having some SOB-free days. Month 5....rarely SOB....drink lots of water.....walk every day...I force cough in the morning after a long hot shower to hydrate my lungs and loosen phlemn......on the road to recovery. I now feel very much better compared to months 1-4 and know that this recovery will continue. As a medical professional in the area of pharmaceutical development I did extensive reading on COPD (obstructive lung disease usually, but not always caused by smoking) etc.....unfortunately most of the clinical story that is so well documented on this thread has never been published or studied. It remains in the realm of each individual physician's practice (OR NOT!!!) as the case may be. Good on all you who have posted here. It certainly will help many others and will comfort them as well and I don't mean that in a preachy way whatsoever. Some tips that may help from what I have read and know to be factual: 1. It has been shown that staying well hydrated reduces the viscosity (stickiness) of phlemn and this will help clear the phlemn from recovering lungs. 2. Phlemn production often increases for several months post cessation. This reduces oxygen and carbon dioxide conductance between the lungs and the bloodstream. Gaufenesin or other mucolytics may help you...but ask your GP about this because it may help or make matters worse depending on what is going on to cause your SOB. HUMIDIFIERS, BREATHING IN A HOT SHOWER, HOT DRINKS ETC ALL LOOSEN PHLEMN AND HELP UNBLOCK MUCUS FILLED AIRWAYS. 3. Whether or NOT you have some stage of COPD, maintaining moderate exercise, hydration, breathing exercises have all been shown to improve symptoms in smokers who have quit. 4. When individuals quit smoking they can develop hyperactive airways...or if you have mild COPD you may already have this condition.....this results in constricted airways......this condition resolves within a year in individuals without COPD unless they have asthma (IN WHICH CASE ITS TREATABLE). Even in patients with COPD this condition improves although it takes 3.5 years to show statistical improvement. 5. Symptoms such as SOB all improve following smoking cessation AND the more rapid decline in lung function seen in smokers returns to the normal slow decline seen in non-smokers. 6. Even in patients with COPD, long-acting bronchodilators make this condition very-much treatable and reduce or eliminate dyspnea (SOB). For all of you out there with SOB who have quit the butts (or not)....you need to insist that spirometry (lung function tests) be done. If your FEV1 OR your FEV1/FVC (ask your doctor about these) are below normal values for your age then the present medical guidlines indicate treatment (Europe, USA, Canada guidlines). Large clinical studies have shown that these recommended treatments ameliorate or may totally resolve SOB. 7. The symptoms of SOB in ex-smokers can be caused by hyperventillation as a result of EITHER hypercapnia (elevated carbon dioxide in the lung/blood - poor gas exchange - causing "air-hunger" - which will resolve if one does not have permanent lung damage) OR hyperventillation due to anxiety. Deep slow diaphram breathing has been shown to help. Anti-anxiety therapy helps if that's the cause....brochodilators help if gas exchange is the cause. But this latter area according to recent articles does not seem to be fully understood or very well recognized in medicine.   Thanks to all who posted here. It has helped me and I'm on the road to feeling much better after several months of hell!  

Thanks to everyone who has posted here. I haven't quit smoking, but I cut back severely from about a pack or more a day to maybe 5 cigarettes on most days, a little more on days when I'm stressed or on social occasions or days when I'm spending significant amounts of time with other smokers. I've really noticed the shortness of breath lately and was getting worried about it. Mornings are really bad. Sometimes I'll wake up and feel like somebody's sitting on my chest, or I'll cough for a solid 5 minutes or something like that. Then there are these horrible times when I'll just be standing around doing nothing and all of a sudden I won't be able to get enough air when I breathe, but it dies down once I light up. So, cutting down, healthier in the long run (although kudos to you guys who have been able to quit and stay quit), and there are just some things I'm going to have to deal with while my body works on fixing itself.

Hey i am fade, 17years old, and i have quit smoking approximately like a week ago. I'm going to say it's hard i don't feel the same, at times when i go to places, like for exsaample i went to the store yesterday with my mom and i felt like if i was anxious for something and get parinoid,i'm guessing : Smoke! I think it's my lunugs that are not as healthy as they used to be, i'm not going to lie it feels good to find out i'm not the only person that feels like this. Hopefully it i start feeling better soon if not i am going to get a check up at the doceter, well anyyways thank you for having being patient on reading this and may you have a good day/night.

I felt worse 2 months after I quit than when I was smoking.  I am 36 and smoked for 22 years.  I have also done yoga and jogging despite my smoking and never had a problem breathing.  I had shortness of breath after I quit smoking and thought it was anxiety related. My nose was stuffy, I had a tightness and heaviness in my chest and I was afraid to fall asleep because I was afraid I might stop breathing.  Based on all the literature out there I thought I'd be feeling great after 2 or 3 weeks.  I'm now 3 months in and am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel but I think this whole process is going to take about a year.  I also think that all the chemicals in cigarettes have some kind of anesthetic that keeps you from feeling how badly your lungs are being affected. I have finally cured my shortness of breath.  I now know it was more than anxiety. I wasn't coughing and I think that there was so much junk in there that needed to move out and was inflamed.  Here's what I did: Tumeric - 800 mg a day I like the New Chapter brand form Whole Foods. Tumeric is an anti-inflamitory but also has extensive healing properties including anti-cancer Benadryl - though I have seen other people used Mucinix the benadryl helped me sleep Cinnamon - also an anti-inflamatory like tumeric. I mix it with Apple Sauce and 2 tbsp of ground Flax seed before bed Breathe Deeply Tea - the Yogi Tea Brand Get Regular Tea - the Yogi Tea Brand Cayanne Pepper, Lemon and Maple Syrup Drink - Cayenne Pepper has so many healing properties. Cayenne helps support better overall pulmonary health. The antioxidants in cayenne and many other peppers support the lungs, and the capsicum thins mucus, allowing you to expel it easier Flax Seed and Apple Sauce - before bed so I wake up have a big bowel mvmt - since so many toxins are coming out of my cells it is important to make sure they are getting out quickly so they don't continue to poison me. Renew Life Brand Organic Bowel Cleanse - can be purchased at Whole Foods Renew Life Absorb More Toxins - bentonite clay and charcoal absorb and eliminate toxins Vegetable Juicing Salads Elimination of bread, pasta, rice - no grains, flour or anything constipating Eliminating sugar - no high fructose corn syrup, sugar or high sugar fruits (only low sugar fruit like berries)   The key for me has been: Tons of liquids - teas, lemon drink, water, vegetable juice Serious Bowel Cleansing Veggies   After one week on this routine my shortness of breath and chest thighness are gone.  My sinuses are draining and I can breathe much better.  I am also coughing and have coughed up a few thick, hard sticky mucus balls that may have been blocking my airways and causing the shortness of breath. I hope this helps someone else. I appreciate all the other comments here and you have all helped me through a really tough time.  I never though I could really quit smoking but I am doing it!  

I'm experiencing this as well.  I can't believe this thread seems to be the best and most solid source of information for people like us who are suffering SoB from quitting.  I also find it discomforting that so few people have returned with updates.  I am 29, and I quit smoking about three weeks ago  (I started at 18, smoked till I was 26, quit and started again at 28).  The first week I felt amazing, then by the second week I was having SoB.  It has been awful.  It gets worse as the day progresses.  Some days I have it, some days it isn't really all that bad (I mean barely noticable).  I've had it so bad though that I was doubled over in tears trying to catch my breath, scared to death I was going to pass out and not wake up, and very dizzy.  I can't even explain to anyone (besides you all who understand) just how terrifying this can be at times.  It really does feel at moments as if you really might die.  I've never experienced such a fear before this...  What might be the worst part is I think this fear gets your anxiety going only to make the breathing worse.  It's very frustrating to try and explain it to someone, the severity of it, the reality of it, and how it is almost paralyzingly terrifying at moments...  only to have them brush it off with 'you're lungs are healing.  It will get better....'Like others I find myself having to yawn a lot to get what feels like a 'real' breath in, and sometimes that's just not enough.  I will also find myself every few moments taking a deep breath, as if I am just not getting air.  When I breath deep I'm not sure what happens, it's not satisfying at all.  It's as one person said, almost like the air has no oxygen in it.  I can't feel it moving through my chest really either. Everything in my chest/lungs feels heavy, thick, suffocating.  I too have had the chest pains.  I went to the doctor in part because of the chest pains.  I was told it was due to quitting smoking, and that my lungs not moving air as they should (from his listening).  He said he sees this a lot, and that it was 'reactive airway disease'.  After looking up reactive airway disease it just seems like a name for something that is undefinable.  On paper he marked it as bronchitis, and gave me anti-biotics and steroids.  I haven't taken either.  As someone who has suffered bronchitis on and off since childhood I know anti-biotics are ineffective in treating it.  This is because bronchitis is a virus.  I can't not fathom why doctors still give anti-biotics for it.  Either way though, I am not even sure if it is bronchitis.  I think this doctor is a quack anyways, he works at a clinic and I have had problems with him before.  He rarely listens to anything you says and is quick to sling back at you that he has been in medicine for 38 years and etc, etc, etc.  Luckily, my GP is amazing so I will be making an appointment with him tomorrow just to ease my mind.  I'm going to try the mucinex, deep breathing, hot showers, and eliminating a lot of dairy.  I will post back to let you guys know how it all works, and I will keep everyone updated for future people who come to this site.  Hopefully, soon enough I will be back here posting that I can breath again!Cigarettes are so stupid.  I really should have listened to my grandmother when she warned me about smoking and how scary it was not to be able to catch one's breath, but of course we all think we are invincible when we are younger.

I have not smoked cigs in about a month and the only thing that helps the shortness of breath is a bowl of chronic. Effects will last for three days then tightness in chest and gasping for air begins again.

It's been about 4 days since my post.  Things are actually improving...  I am noticing that certain things agitate my breathing.  Caffeine is a big thing that I notice if I drink too much of I am breathless.  It's still with me, and I still find myself yawning and having to take the occasional deep breaths, but the difference is now the severity.  I'm sure in part it was anxiety, but also I think my body is just recovering.  I haven't gotten to the point, thank god, the last few days were I couldn't catch my breath, was dizzy, or felt faint...  or afraid that I wouldn't wake up in the morning.  So, here I am, saying...  it gets better.  How much better?  I'll let you know.

Just to follow up with my post on 4/19, my symptoms haven't gotten any better/worse.  I'm still on the anti-anxiety pills and have yet another follow-up with my doctor tomorrow.  It's been over a year since I quit at this point.  I hope my doctor has a brighter outlook than I do right now.-Scott

I quit at same time as you (Last May) and had SOB since this April up now. I have heart rate about 54-56 bpm after quitting and I think it partly makes me feel SOB. Have you check with your heart rate Scott ? Thuan LC

Thuan, so what you're telling me is that your SOB was caused due to an increased heart rate and it has gone down since you've quit?  Your SOB has gone away because of this?  Did you do anything to get your heart rate to drop?-Scott

Thuan, so what you're telling me is that your SOB was caused due to an increased heart rate and it has gone down since you've quit?  Your SOB has gone away because of this?  Did you do anything to get your heart rate to drop? -Scott

My HR has gone down 55 from 70 bpm since I quit smoking. My SOB is still there and I think it is partly caused the slow heart rate of under 60. Have you ever checked your heart rate whenener your SOB ramps up ?