Shortness of breath - quit smoking? -
I recently quit smoking and lately I have had more severe shortness of breath than I had when I was smoking. It feels like I-m not taking deep enough breath-s and I keep yawning, could this be serious or just a symptom of quiting? What could be the causes?
There is a reason why you-re more short of breath after quitting.
When you smoke, the smoke paralyzes your lungs- natural cleaning mechanism, hairlike things called cilia, that clear out mucus. Therefore, you get alot of mucus that gets trapped in the lungs and can sit there for long periods of time.
When you -quit-, the lungs- natural cleaning system -wakes up-, if you will, and begins clearing out junk that-s been sitting in there for who knows how long. This mucus ends up blocking up small airways as it-s being cleaned out, and the result is increased cough, and increased shortness of breath. You can also experience brochospasming as a result. I-ve seen it in scores of people who-ve told me they recently quit smoking and now feel worse.
Trust me, it will go away over time. You will find that you breath better than you have in years. You should consider seeing a doctor, who can prescribe medications such inhalers or expectorants to help with the symptoms.
Papa Freak sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I have brown spots in the yellow/greenish mucus Im coughing up after I quit smoking past 5 weeks. Some say its blood or tar...??
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I felt like crap for the first 15 months after quiting
Even made 5 trips to the hospital for SOB
My Dr finally got a oxygen and a nebulizer set up for me
Odds are your time will be less than mine, I quit a 5 pack a day habit and 55 plus years of smoking
its just caused by quiting, you will also cough a lot more to. dont worry about it, believe it or not your lungs have to heal. its just part of the process. in time it will go away
strangely enough you feel worse before better.stick with it and see your doctor he may be able to give you some medication to help.well done.