Shortness of breath after stopping smoking

Hi hi I seem to have past the shortness of breath stage every time it happened to me I just sat down and took deep breaths from the stomach till it passed also found listening to meditation music whilst laid in a darkened room helped me also hope you feel better soon I'm 68 days stopped now can't say I feel better yet but hoping as time goes by I will do

A couple of days ago i quiet smoking and now i'm facing Shortness of Breathe and Coughing and in Night also Coughing when i go to sleep . Please Somebody let me know abt this Sort of Stuff..Practically

Steve I smoked for 40 years quit 6 months ago can't breath either but it's a wheight related issue too and it seems like I forget to brearh

Exact same symptoms!

Try some strong herbal / menthol sweets in the evening. Buy a Blood Pressure Machine because seeing your normal blood pressure helps. Lie down on back and take slow breaths in and out, this helped with my dry coughing. - I had the worst time quitting. 18 months now, I can still feel ectopic heart beats and the thought of being among a huge crowd of people provokes awful anxiety. I am starting to feel better though. Hang in there.

I was a complete mess my first year. I use to stop at CVS 4 times a week to check my blood pressure. I then purchased an oxygen meter that you place on your finger. That helped me mentally knowing my levels were ok. Now at 2-1/2 years I'm all good. Hang in there it will get get better for some quickly and for people like us a very slow process. Most of this is more mental I think.

hey i can beleive first we are same age smoked same years and i googled this topic becouse i become short of breath really worried then i found you crazy i dont what to add but iam struggling here

I agree that for some of us it is a slow process. It may take a year or two, maybe longer depending how long and how much we smoked. Do get things checked out medically so you have that peace of mind. Mentally it's still a struggle, I'm at 29 months and though not perfect it does get better all the time, Hang in there! Smoking will not help! Doug

Thanks for your prayer Doug, I'm sure I'll need it in the near future! I've still not started my second quit attempt, but I am starting to wheeze again when I lay down. I started smoking when I was about 23, a pack a day, more on bar nights. Now I'm 50 and rarely over a pack a day, but I've definitely noticed the effects of smoking along with the effects of turning 50. I too had the SOB the first time, which brought me to this thread. I can't believe I started smoking again, but past posts will reveal why. I did a lot of research and as my name indicates, I found that the cig manufacturers put bronchodilators in cigs to open the smokers' lungs so they don't notice the ill-effects that the cigs are causing to their breathing. When they quit, their lungs are no longer artificially dilated, and so they notice the effects of smaller airways in the lungs, usually about three weeks into the quit. It happened to me and I know it'll happen again. The one thing to remember is that like alcoholics, we are addicted to nicotine for the remainder of our lives. And like alcoholics can never again drink casually, we as nicotine addicts can never casually smoke again. Keith, in regards to your comment on anxiety meds, I did it cold turkey last time without any meds, not even gum. But what was amazing is that I smoked a cig after being quit for 8 months, and it was like I never quit. I didn't even cough. I would've thought that it would be like the first time I ever smoked and would've coughed my a$$ off!! I'll let you guys know when I start my next attempt which will be very soon. My goal is to beat 8 months. You guys have helped more people than you can ever know. Keep it up as I'm sure I will be tempted again in the future quit. Thanks for everything you do, it is priceless! James

I realise this post is quite old but I just wanted to thank you for sharing what you wrote. I am 46 smoked 30 years and was told by a Pulmonologist that I have stage 1 Emphysema even though my GP said I was close to having COPD but if I quit smoking I would be able to reverse some of the damage and beat it. Making it worse is that I live in Beijing and have few Dr options (Outside the local Chinese Medicine). Like you it scared the hell out of me and now Ive been quit smoking for 2 months. I also have no cough, shortness of breath and Im waiting for the day that I can cough this gunk up. Living in a cocoon avoiding Beijing's extremely high pollution days. What you posted has made me realise how important it is to get that third opinion rather than assuming all these signs Im having are a sure sign of a horrible disease.. Cross your fingers and thank you thank you thank you for a second wind of HOPE

Merry Christmas to all and good luck. Beat it one day at a time with Gods help. Doug

Hello all hope everyone is ok and still quit I'm at 95 days now and yes it was hard but every day now is getting better for me, I'm so glad I don't smell like a wet ashtray in the winter months like people who go past you in the street do its yuk !! anyway the sob is still there but better each day I use the app on my phone smoke free which has really kept me motivated I know I have a long way to go but am feeling stronger each day, I won't lie I had started to crave again very recently but have resisted as I could not go through that withdrawal again !! I hope this offers comfort to others and if you have recently quit hang in there ! Take each day as it comes, hope everyone has had a great Christmas

As I'm also a 57 year old female ex-smoker with horrible SOB and some wheezing - I was interested to know how life improved for you - seeing as your post is over a year old now. Best wishes .

I am 54 and I smoke since 16 about half pack a day. I quit 4 weeks ago. Cold turkey but I use menthol candy to sooth out the craving. I get better about the cough but SOB and CT is still there, on and off. Happy to find this group. Hope we can share the quiting exp to go through this mess.

I'm Kevin 50yr old x smoker I smoked for over 35yrs went cold turkey one year ago shortly after quitting i found myself having breathing problems for me the withdrawal symptom only lasted for 2 weeks