Please HELP! I quitted smoking cold turkey just some weeks ago, but the last week I started to find it difficult to breathe. I have a very uncomfortable sensation: when I’m trying to take a deep breath I feel like my lung won’t widen the last little bit, and this is very pesky. I decided to have a medical control and I have had a chest X-ray on my chest. But my doctor said that everything is okay and that I have no problem. So I decide to go for a pulmonary function test these days, but I feel so nervous and overwhelmed. I have read many posts about other “quitters” that where complaining about the same problems in breathing, but, unfortunately I found no responses. Do you think it’s normal to feel this way? Is this a normal reaction of the lungs? Should I be worried about this or I’m just overthinking? Please help me.
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finding it hard to breathe after quitting smoking
- Thread starter Ornelas
- Start date
Donald Aspen
New member
Hello there, I'm also trying to quit smoking with the help of champix and I have informed myself about these things so hope I can help you. Don't misunderstand me - I'm not a doctor nor an expert, I'm just saying what I've found out! So, let me explain: When you quit smoking it is said that is normal for your lungs to be under some pressure, that's due to the fact that your body is trying overtime to clear your lungs of those chemicals that were caused by nicotine when smoking. I have read somewhere that every 10 minutes your lungs are getting a little bit clearer. That is why your chest seems tighter than usual and you are unable to take a deep (or even a normal) breath without feeling uncomfortable. Breathing in and out clears your lungs but it is making it harder as your body is working continously. Your lungs are partially cleared up in about a week or two - the term until you will get back your previous normal breathe and the shortness of breathing stops. Obviously, this information is valid only if you're not smoking in this time. If this feeling doesn't stop then I would recommend you to seek some professional help because something could get wrong and that's not the best end of the scenario... I really hope I helped you somehow.
BTW, I didn't notice that you wrote that months ago - I guess that by this time you're feeling normal? Or you've started to smoke again?
I’ve stopped smoking about 8 months ago and I still find it hard to breathe! I mean so much time passed but I still have problems! I can still feel tightness and my breathing can come and go anytime! There are times when my breathing is so hard that my lungs are starving for air, I mean I need to hardly cough a couple of times and then a little bit of my breathing comes back. Sometimes it is so bad that it can put me on my knees and elbows having no air. When I’m sitting a couple of seconds (or even minutes) like that my breathing comes back to normal but this is not something I want to have. I have also noticed that I’m getting hoarseness voice. All of this is really disturbing me! Obviously I have visited a couple of doctors but none of them can tell me what’s wrong with me. I had X-Rays, I had blood tests, urine tests, COPD test and so on and so on. All the results came back to be normal. I really don’t understand what is that and what is wrong, my only and last option remained that tar is responsible for all that but in such cases why I didn’t had all those symptoms prior to quit smoking? BTW my sister also quit smoking about a month ago and she doesn’t have these symptoms, in general she’s feeling fine except the fact that she’s gaining weight very fast. Does anybody know what should I do?
Seemorger90
New member
Hi people, in my opinion you should know that it is suggested to talk to a doctor before and after you quit smoking (as well as prior to start smoking but…). Each doctor can tell you that sometimes, some of the strange symptoms and unusual sensations that you have never felt them before quitting may appear due to some underlying disease that you had them for years but you were never able to know that you had them so they started to break out, therefore you started to feel the way you feel. Or, sometimes, you felt some of them but you just simply put a finger on your smoking habit, but in fact, it was some kind of an undiagnosed symptom that have only now become noticeable. I would really suggest you to have a constant medical supervision, it would help you in getting a proper diagnose in time, therefore you are safe from getting other kind of “strange” diseases you are now on risk. A doctor is able to help you in counter acting the nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Some of you might really keep this information in their mind because for some of us these withdrawal symptoms can be really bad. I was having them too, it was awful. I escaped from them only with the help of a doctor. Difficulty to breathe after you quit smoking can be something really serious. I’ve heard that for many people asthma started exactly in this way. It is very important to have a medical supervision in time.