Quit smoking on the first, so this will be my 6th day in. Dry coughing and chest congestion I'm pretty sure are standard as I've had these the last few times I quit. I will say that I think using Chantix the last two times made it easier, but made my heart race and I don't recommend it. I'm going to go for a long hike in the woods with my dog right now. It's about 32 degrees F out and I'm hoping to hack up a lot of this grey matter to speed the process along. Good luck to all going through this. Don't ever go back.
Wow, I am very surprised that after 3 years no one with a healthcare background has posted to try and ease everyone's worry. I hope that this post will help you all not only understand what you are going through, but why it is ultimately a good thing!
First of all, congratulations to everyone here for trying to quit! This is one of the best decisions you can make for your health, DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED OFF by your symptoms. They will go away or at least become much much better over time, far better than you would be doing with several years of COPD caused by smoking.
Now for the medical explanation: as we all have seen here, the primary and most common problem is chest pain, often in the left lung and especially upon taking deep breaths. First we must understand how air goes in and out of the lungs. When you breathe in, air goes down your trachea, then down into cartilage tubes called bronchioles, and finally into the most important part of your lungs: the alveoli. Alveoli are often described as looking like a bunch of grapes hanging from a branch (the branch would be your bronchioles). All along the inside of your alveoli and bronchioles are specialized cells called 'cilia'. Cilia are cool little cells that look like tiny hairs all along the inside surfaces of your lungs. Their function is to wave back and forth in a motion that causes the mucus that builds up in your lungs (which happens in everyone but much more so in smokers) to be pushed up and out into your throat so you can cough it out.
When you smoke, these little hair-like cells become paralyzed and often destroyed. This causes mucus to remain in your lungs and clog up your tubes. This clogging causes the pressure to build up inside your alveoli and they become damaged. If the tubes get clogged enough, you will experience sharp pain when breathing (this is what is happening to people with asthma, and their inhalers are designed to cause the tubes to open up so they can relieve the pressure).
SO, why does it hurt when you stop smoking? As a smoker you have a lot of mucus built up in your lungs, as I mentioned earlier. But when you quit, a wonderful thing happens: you cilia cells are replaced and become active again and all of a sudden you have fully functional lungs! While this is great in the long term, in the short term the little guys will start beating again just like you are a healthy person. The problem arises because you have so much mucus built up, so as your newly functional cilia start expelling it, the mucus clogs your tubes up pretty bad on the way out. This is why you suddenly feel like you have asthma or something and you start to experience sharp chest pains when you breathe. The mucus is raising the pressure in your alveoli on its way out and that is why it hurts. But fear not! Depending on how much you smoked and for how long, your lungs will eventually be able to get most of the mucus out and your lungs will return to as normal as they can be.
Anyway, I hope this helps anyone trying to quit, DON'T GIVE UP!
Wow, great information, thanks for that! And I won't give up~
Thanks so much for this information. I've been stuggling to quit many times and now am smoking about a pack every 6 days but i am experiencing back lung pain and dryness in my left lung. Of course the first thing people think of is lung cancer. This helps to ease my mind somewhat. I went to the doctor and he gave me something for my stomach. I just don't think they give us the information we need so we reach out to the internet. Thanks again.
this is indeeda very useful post to all quiiting smokers
i went thru this, i made a similar post
https://www.steadyhealth.com/Healing_From_Severe_Chest_Pain_After_Quitting_Smoking_t313452.html
So glad to discover other people experience this chest pain too. I've had it for over a year now because I was only ever a light smoker and always stopping and starting so I guess I hovered on that threshold. The fact that it occurs mainly on the same side as your heart is a real freaker. One day last year it felt like a spear being pushed through from my shoulder blade area, seriously thought I was having a heart attack. Had a chest X-ray, all clear. Had my heart monitored, nothing unusual there. The thing that annoys me is when I told the doctor I was sure it was linked to smoking he was very dismissive. Smoking may not be good for you he said but it cannot give you chest pains! Just goes to show the extent of their knowledge!
I also quit smoking cigarettes a month ago today. I have the same pain in the left side of my chest. It goes away when I ly down. But when sitting up the pressure and pain is horrible. My friends are worried that it is not normal that you should feel better instead of worse after quitting smoking. I am 49 now and started smoking when I was 16. I quit cold turkey without anything but the use of halloween candy that was left over. I do feel better that it is not something I should be worried about since many of you are experiencing the same thing.
Thank you to all for your information. Have been smoking for 30+ years. I have quit for about a month and have had chest pains that scare the heck out of me. I get anxiety attacks because of these pains. I am somewhat relieved that others are experiencing the same. I hope that the pains will subside soon. I am so happy not to be smoking anymore. I have gained some weight, but have started walking and riding stationary bike to help with this. To all: keep up the good work on not smoking. Another thing is I'm saving about $3,500 a year not smoking!!
I have started smokince since i was 18 and now im 24. I only smoke during weekends whenever im having a drink with my bodies and i smoke around 10-20 sticks every weekends only. the problem is im having really sharp chest pains on the left side of my lungs. Its not that painful but its just annoying. i was afraid to go to the doctor because they might diagnose me with lung cancer. this forum is really helpful. thank guys for sharing your experiences here.
Awesome information!! Thank you!!
Great post. I gave up 13 months ago and I haven't coughed or brought anything up. I have had pains in the chest and every known symptom from giving up smoking. But, I find it strange that I haven't experienced mucus/tar cleansing. Is it a time thing or are there other ways for it to clear out?
Keep up the good work.
I am currently giving up smoking and in the last two or three days, I have gone down from about thirty a day to about three or four. Would I have been better to just stop completely, or still allow myself the odd couple to help ease myself into not smoking at all?
I have been reading on here about the chest pains – which I have been experiencing already – and I now feel that having the odd one is taking a step back and hindering my body and my lungs repairing themselves.
I'm on day 11 of no tobacco, pains started 2 or 3 days ago. To me it feels like my lower left lung is bruised. First thoughts were the big C, first google search came here.
I'm on the e-cigarettes, definitely helps me. Probably smoking them more than I used to smoke but it's a thousand times better for me. I'm at the 'hocking up alien' stage which is nice and rewarding when one works free. Still coughing as often as i used to but it's so much clearer and I think it's more of a habit than a need to.
Hoping the pains will work free soon and it's causing anxiety which is not what we need right now.
I am still working on quiting. Smoking about two per day. Staredt when I was 30 now 45. I am determined to quit before my 46th birhtday. I do continue to get pains especially in the left side. My guess is things are trying to go back to normal. I sure wish I would have never started these things!