Quit smoking and dont feel good!? -
I just quit smoking a week and a half ago. They say you are supposed to feel better, but I feel worse! My breath was better when I was smoking, I feel tired all the time and I have this weird feeling in my stomach, not pain really but an emptiness (feels like if you swallowed gum or something) Is this normal..does it go away?? HELP!?
I can offer a little guidance. I worked as a Registered Respiratory Therapist for around 30 years before I changed to computers, so I know some about it. I also quit about a year ago, after smoking for 42 years. First thing of course in hang in there. Don-t even consider going back to it. When the thought crosses your mind go immediately to another thought. Refuse to dwell on it. Watch for -triggers-. Sometimes old acquaintances and hangouts can become a problem.
On the physical stuff, it-s all real, kiddo. Your lungs are pretty much numb while you are smoking. When you stop, feeling comes back and THEY HURT! That usually starts around the second day, and can go on a couple of weeks. You-re probably in about the worst of it right now. There is actual inflammation involved, which has to heal. If you have any asthmatic tendencies, get on your meds and stay on them for a while. The other main issue is sputum (phlegm, mucus, snot). You have a lot of old sputum in your lungs you-re probably not aware of. The normal clearance mechanisms are suppressed by the smoking, although your body actually makes more while you smoke as your body tries to trap the smoke particles. This sputum settles in, looses it-s moisture, and forms solid plugs, or -casts- in your airways. These are tiny, about the size of a pencil dot, cylindrical, and brown colored. Drink lots of water (around 4 liters/day). At some point you will start to notice these in your sputum if you look. Because the airways fork DOWNWARD, as a plug moves up it temporarily blocks off more lung area until it gets high enough. Then it stimulates a cough reflex and you will cough it out. A lot of the shortness of breath comes from that. It depends on how long you smoked, but this can go on for years, even after everything else is past. The shortness of breath will get better or worse on a day to day basis for a while.
Finally, if they haven-t offered you Wellbutrin, or put you on it, go talk to them about it. Unless there is a medical reason you can-t take it, I-d highly recommend you do. It basically helps with anxiety, which the withdrawal causes. I thought it was unnecessary until I went through this. I was doing just fine until I went back to work, then OH BOY! Stress city. It does help. If they put you on it, don-t feel like you have to come right off. Stay on it as long as you feel like you need it (at least that-s what they told me). I hope some of this will be helpful. Good luck and God Bless. And Well Done!
Withdrawl symptoms can fell awful! Just keep it up and they will go away. Drink more water and try to exercise more, this will flush your system faster and help you get back to feeling good. Congratulations on giving up a nasty habit!
Yes it is normal, and yes it will go away.
Just DONT LIGHT UP again.
Go out and get some excersize. It will help immensely.
What you are experiencing are withdrawal symptoms. Keep in mind your body has become addicted to the nicotine from the cigarettes, and your body now has to adjust to not getting it anymore, and try to return to normal.
Probably, you just got used to your breath back then. But anyway, yeah, I think you might be having withdrawals. Just try to keep yourself busy. Shop, chatter away on the phone, cook, etc. Just make sure it-s something that you-re pretty much interested in, so as not to lose focus. :) Good luck!