Stopped smoking a month ago

[justdontknow]

I'm 36 and stopped smoking (I hope for ever) almost exactly a month ago.
Primarily for health reasons but also because I was becoming convinced that I kept smoking to feed my health anxieties. Usually lung cancer. Perverse but true.

This is my thread from November 2006.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15208

I'm in almost exactly the same situation again. Now that my system has had a good post-smoking-cessation clear out and I should be feeling better I don't. I have chest and back pain, a hoarse voice and swollen glands.

Went to see my GP two weeks ago. She looked at my throat, listened to my chest etc and said it was usual post smoking. This I know but that was a fortnight and it's a month now.

The longer it goes on, the more I worry and then the distinction between real physical symptoms and those brought on by my anxiety become more and more blurred until I just don't know where I am.

What can you do?

[nanny]

Hi
Well done on giving up smoking :winks: i do know that coughs, etc etc can come after giving up, it's your bodies way of getting rid of the rubbish. Being an anxiety sufferer that doesn't give you much comfort does it.

Unfortunately i smoke have done for years but can i give it up well a resounding NO to that one.
I worry like mad each and everytime i light up but still can't give it up. so i admire you very much and hope you are still a non smoker next time you post.

Sorry not much help on any other advice :blush:

[seeker]

I stopped smoking 18 months ago, and had precisely the same concerns you did. however, my glands and throat are all now normal, I can breathe much more easily and look much healthier. The 'health guilt' over smoking will decrease with time - think really positively about what a fantastic thing you have done to help your body and health.

[syl]

any advice on stopping smoking
i really do need to give up but always have a excuse why i shouldnt
going away tommorow but when i get back i really want to try to give up so any pits would be great thanks

[crystalshimmer]

I stopped smoking on 9th Sept 2005 as I was 65,had been smoking since I was 15 and loved my fags.But I had just watched my ex daughter in law being diagnosed with breast cancer.She also smoked but the trauma of her treatment made her give up and I decided it was time I quit as well. I read Allen carr's Easy way to stop smoking a couple of times before it started to sink in. I also went to the chemist and bought an inhalator and a supply of nicotine cartridges,and they helped for the first couple of weeks. I joined no smoking sites and shared thoughts and progress with other people going through the same and once the craving for a fag had gone,I found it a lot easier.I am not saying it was easy,far from it,and I have had major traumas since i stopped.Moving house and the death of my mother being the 2 major ones,but being wrongly diagnosed as having had a mild heart attack was the real catalyst for staying off them.I buried my head in the sand healthwise,as smokers do,every chest infection was treated with a cough bottle cos I wouldnt go to the doctors in case they told me to stop. I used to make jokes about a bottle of benylin in one hand and a fag in the other,and that was actually true.
At the end of last year I caught a virus that was going around and ended up in an ambulance as I couldnt breath. very frightening,and all the years of smoking came back to haunt me I can assure you. While in hospital they did breathing tests and reckoned I had COPD which is commonly known as smokers lung. I went back for more tests a few
weeks ago and fortunately,cos I have stopped smoking my lung capacity is on the low side of normal which is Ok It means if I get a chest infection I have to get an antibiotic right away ,but it could have been so much worse.Please stay strong and keep off them The hardest part is nearly over now Once the craving goes it gets easier every day.
I am glad I dont have that restlessness now I can sit for hours on a train or a car without that awful craving.I never think of them nowadays till I smell someone elses smoke,and I actually used to like it,but now it makes me sneeze,and it goes for the back of my throat.
Stopping smoking was the best thing I could have done healthwise. I never realised I had copd until I stopped Think how much worse it would be if I hadn't.Until recently I put all my anxiety and stress down to the fact that I had stopped smoking,and had lost my "crutch", but now I can look back and see that it's BECAUSE I smoked I am now having anxiety attacks about my health.The heart scare,the breathing scare,all caused by smoking.
Good Luck to you You are almost there and you won't regret it Stay strong and positive and dont be tempted. The old adage for alcoholics applies to smokers too." One is too many and a hundred's not enough"

[syl]

Hi Jeanb

I have just been reading your message and you have given me a great idea i will be 60 next month so what better birthday presant could i give myself than to stop smoking
like you i have copd but foolishly kept smoking after the death of my husband kept saying cant stop i need the ciggys to get me through the day
i had a severe chest infection two years agao and like you that was when they found i had copd wish i had stoped smoking then but really do need to now
did the inhalers help you at all was thinking of the patches to help a little but not really sure what is best

[Charlottie]

I agree with the post a few posts up that it's just your body getting rid of all the rubbish from when you used to smoke.

I don't smoke I never have, just having someone smoke near me makes me wheeze. But I do work in Boots as a trainee healthcare assistant so I know some advice on Nicotine Replacement Therapy for the post above me.

Nicotine inhalator's are useful if you miss the hand-to-mouth habit as well as your nicotine cravings.

Patches are a good way to help nicotine cravings because they release it continuously into your bloodstream the whole time you're wearing them so you shouldn't get any cravings. If you wake up and need a cigarette straight away then go for a 24 hour patch. If you can wait a few hours after you wake up then go for a 16 hour patch.

Nicotine gum you have when you get a nicotine craving.

And there are also things called Microtabs which are the same as the gum but dissolve underneath your tongue if you don't like chewing gum.

You can also get certain drugs from your doctor, and joining a Smoking Cessation Program can also help.

My god sorry that was a lot of information. I hope it could be of some use to you.

[crystalshimmer]

Hi Syl,I think you should set a date to stop and your birthday is a landmark.I personally wanted the hand to mouth habit,thats why I chose the inhalator,but to be honest once i got past the first week or so I didnt use them any more.I sipped water,ate sweets,and unfortunately, tea biscuits(had to be the finger shaped ones,wonder why). I put on a stone,but now i don't eat biscuits or sweets and my weight has come down .I just needed the extra comfort at the time.Reading Allen Carr's book, he was not in favour of replacing nicotine with more nicotine,and I tend to agree,but everyone is different.Some people can only cope with a gradual withdrawal,and the patches and other aids help them. I personally thought if I could cope for a month till the craving had gone completely then i would only use the inhalator as a back up,and it worked for me.One of the tips I got was to cut a straw in half and when I felt like having a cigarette I just sucked on the straw and got air instead of smoke,but it worked ,because I was mimicking the actions of putting a ciggie in my mouth,and the moment passed.
I feel very lucky that I have not done any more damage to my lungs as I smoked for nearly 50 years,although I only smoked a few a week at the beginning,but i made up for it in the later years.it's never too late to stop though and if you stop now your COPD won't get any worse.Feel free to e mail me any time you want to chat,and Good Luck in whatever you decide to do.
Cheers,
Jean

[justdontknow]

any advice on stopping smoking
i really do need to give up but always have a excuse why i shouldnt
going away tommorow but when i get back i really want to try to give up so any pits would be great thanks

I'm no good at advice and you'd want to ignore it anyway - I've given up more times than I can count!

I think you just have to accept that you'll never be able to have another cigarette ever, and once you come to terms with that you'll be okay. (I haven't yet but I'm hopeful). The reason I say that is (for me anyway) "just the one" leads to another and before you know where you are you're a full time smoker again.

[justdontknow]

I stopped smoking 18 months ago, and had precisely the same concerns you did. however, my glands and throat are all now normal, I can breathe much more easily and look much healthier. The 'health guilt' over smoking will decrease with time - think really positively about what a fantastic thing you have done to help your body and health.

Thanks. Health guilt is right - I spend ages agonising about how I'm going to tell my 4 year old daughter that I'm going to die.

[justdontknow]

now I can look back and see that it's BECAUSE I smoked I am now having anxiety attacks about my health.The heart scare,the breathing scare,all caused by smoking.

Too right. Thanks.

[justdontknow]

Nearly 3 weeks on and I still feel the same.
Maybe I should go back to see my GP - it's nearly 5 weeks since I went.
Family holiday starts tomorrow though and everyone is really looking forward to it.
I don't know whether it'd make me happier (and we'd all have a better time on holiday) to go to the doctor or hope that a relaxing time will help it all go away.
I just can't stop thinking about lung/throat cancer. I just don't know what to do.

[Blackstar]

Hello there,

As others have said - well done on quitting smoking! I did the same last year and haven't had a single one since. Considering how hard this year has been for me health-anxiety wise I can't believe I ever did smoke. :shrug:

Anyway, I'm sure that the coughs and pains are probably normal. It could be a post-smoking clearout, or perhaps you've caught a bug. It might be useful to note that the airway lining regenerates pretty slowly after damage, so your lungs are probably still in the healing stage. That's bound to give rise to the odd tickle and some discomfort!

Perhaps try setting a time limit (I find it useful sometimes) - say, if the symptoms haven't gone in three weeks, see your GP. In the meantime, try to avoid worrying by distracting yourself and keeping busy.

Good luck :)

x

[justdontknow]

Thanks Blackstar.

Saw my GP last week and came out with a prescription for antibiotics for my sore throat. Still no improvement so I have to go back this week, as per his instructions, as apparently my throat looked bad.

When I tried to mention my bad chest and back he just said: "yes yes, you can get that when you're ill".

I'm still convinced I have lung cancer...