askjoel

Hello Michael:

Personally, I always think that if a person is questioning whether or not they should be seeing a doctor because of symptoms they are having after quitting that they should follow through and see the doctor. While not smoking may be responsible for a specific symptom--there are other conditions that can also be responsible, and putting off seeing a doctor may result in a person suffering longer than necessary and in the event of a symptom being from a more serious condition, it may put the person at some kind of unnecessary risk.

Below are numerous comments I have up at the Freedom board that discuss this issue. Hope they help.

Joel

"Is anyone else experiencing the symptom of...?"

Every now and then a person will experience a specific symptom and put up a post asking whether or not the symptom is one that is normally experienced by people who have quit smoking and if others here had experienced the same symptom when they had quit. As far as if a specific symptom is one that "can" occur after cessation, we have put together a pretty inclusive string titled Possible Withdrawal Symptoms.

As far as whether or not another member or numerous members experienced the same symptom, it does not really make a difference if they had or had not. It is like someone writing and saying that he or she is having a tingling sensation in his or her arm and wondering if anyone else experienced the same symptom when they quit. Then a person who had slept on his or her arm one night when quitting smoking and woke up with that particular arm tingling writes back and says that sure enough, he or she had a tingling arm the week he or she had quit. Now the recent quitter feels a sense of relief because he or she has seen that one other person had the same symptom. So the person does nothing.

The problem was that the person who wrote the question was not having tingling from having slept on his or her arm, but rather, was experiencing a symptom of a heart attack that he was now ignoring. This action could result in a fatal mistake of not seeking what was immediately needed medical attention.

Read the posts Giving and getting medical advice online., Possible Withdrawal Symptoms, and Life goes on without smoking. If you have a concern of a symptom that you are experiencing consult your personal doctor. We say it often here, that the only medical advice that we can give is that to reduce your risk of a host of illnesses and conditions is to stick to your commitment to never take another puff!

Joel

Life goes on without smoking

It is important for all people who quit smoking to recognize that life goes on without smoking. Over time after a person quits smoking there will be changes: medical, psychological, professional, economic, life roles, relationships, etc. What is important to recognize though is that most of these changes would have occurred whether you had quit smoking or not or even whether or not you ever smoked. As many of my friends are now in their mid-forties and fifties, it is amazing how we share stories of new ailments and new medications being introduced into our lives. Some of these people had quit smoking decades ago, some of them never smoked. None of the ex-smokers bring up a new disorder and say or think to themselves that it must be happening now because they quit smoking ten or twenty years ago. It would be like a person who never smoked who finds out they now have high blood pressure and then thinks to him or herself that it must be because he or she stopped using some product twenty years ago. As we age things happen—it is just the way things go.

If a person gets diagnosed with a smoking related ailment like emphysema or lung cancer years or decades after quitting it is likely that their mind is shifted to think about their past smoking. But medical and psychological conditions that are experienced by smokers and non-smokers alike, the concept of smoking or quitting should not be considered a primary focus anymore.

Smoking did not cause everything. It causes a whole lot of things though and many things that it does not cause, it makes worse. On the same token, quitting does not cause everything. Quitting is usually accompanied with many repairs, but there are also some adjustments (see Medication adjustments) that go on that may need a partnership with your physicians to get worked out.

My general rule of advice is whatever happens the first few days of a quit, whether it is physical or psychological reactions, blame it on not smoking. It is probably the cause of most early quit reactions. If it is a symptom to a condition that could be life threatening, such as severe chest pains or signs or symptoms of a stroke—contact your doctor immediately. While it is probably nothing and just a side effect of quitting, in the long shot that it is something else coincidentally happening the week you are quitting, you need to get it checked out.

Things happening weeks, months, years or decades after your quits though should not ever be assumed to be a quit smoking reaction. It is life going on without smoking. Some of these things may trigger smoking thoughts—especially if they are similar to conditions you did have in the past when you were a smoker. The situation now is a first time experience with a prior feeling where smoking was integrates thus creating smoking thoughts. But even in this case, the condition is creating a smoking thought, it is not that your smoking memories or your smoking past is creating the condition.

Life goes on without smoking. It is likely to go on longer and it is likely that you will be healthier at each and every stage than you would have been if you had continued smoking. Your life will continue to stay better and likely last long longer as long as you always remember to never take another puff!

Joel

I normally tell people who experience wild or bizarre reactions the first few days not to be surprised or unduly alarmed, it is likely from not smoking. But at the same time they should not totally ignore certain symptoms, in case in the long shot that something else is happening just coincidently at the same time as they are quitting smoking. The symptom of muscle tightness is often felt through out the body. Back aches, neck pains such as those experienced from times of extreme stress, even leg cramps can be felt by some. Chest tightness too can be experienced. While quitting smoking is the usual reason behind the reaction, for obvious safety reasons it is prudent to get the symptoms checked with ones doctor. You just don't want to take the chance that you were the exception to the rule, that the chest pain was actually a signal of real heart trouble.

I have literally had over 4,500 people in smoking clinics over a 26 year time period and had only had two people actually have heart attacks within a week of quitting. And they were both people who were quitting because of doctors advice that a heart attack was an imminent danger because of pre-existing conditions. So while I am not trying to say that the risk of a heart attack is high from quitting, in fact your risk of heart attack decreases upon cessation and relatively quickly, there still is a risk as there is with all smokers, ex-smokers and even all never smokers. Ignoring a cardiac symptom is just an unnecessary risk that no one should take. It is better to check in with your doctor and to be safe than sorry. Doctors are often very receptive to work with a person when they are quitting for they often recognize the serious nature of the effort.

So as for symptoms, don't be surprised or alarmed by anything, but be cautious and stay aware. If you experience any symptom that would normally be a reason to get checked out immediately, follow through with the same expedience now. Life goes on without smoking and things can always happen.

Also, once over the first few days, be really cautious of blaming symptoms on smoking cessation. While some reactions can linger, especially coughing and excessive phlegm reactions, other factors can happen too, especially during cold and flu seasons. Pretty much stay aware and follow the normal precautions you followed before while smoking. Unless as a smoker you never did anything, for some smokers are intimidated to go to the doctor when having symptoms for shear embarrassment that the doctor would just chastise them for smoking and tell them to stop. Rather than putting up with the admonishments, they would ignore problems in the past.

As an ex-smoker you won't face the same complications. Again, doctors are often more prone to work with you when they see you working for yourself, and not to ignore symptoms writing them off to a normal smoker's ailments. They are often more supportive when you quit.

So to stay healthy, learn to listen to your body. Smokers are notoriously bad at this, for their body was likely telling them to quit for a long time and they ignored it. But the day the quit smoking was a good indication that they were now working with their body to maintain health. To keep a good partnership going with your doctor, other health professionals, your family, friends and your own body always remember to never take another puff!

Joel

Every Quit is Different.

Every quit is different. Not only that, when a person quits multiple times, each one of those quits are different also. Some people quit and have a terrible time, relapse down the road and are terrified to quit again because they "know" what will happen the next time. Well, actually they don't know, the next time may be a breeze in comparison. On the alternate side, some people have an easy quit, go back with the attitude, "Oh well, if I have to, I'll just quit again." They may find the next quit horrendous, and possibly not be able to pull it off.

The reason I mention this is it is possible that you won't have any major symptoms this time. I have had a lot of four pack a day smokers who smoked 40 plus years who toss them with minimal withdrawal. The reason they never tried to quit before is they witnessed people who smoked one fourth of what they did go thorough terrible side effects and figured, "If it did that to them, it will kill me." But when the time came, their quit was easy in comparison.

You may find that this quit will be relatively easy. Stranger things have happened. But if it does, don't think this didn't mean you were addicted. The factor that really shows the addiction is not how hard or how easy it is to quit. What really shows the addiction is how universally easy it is to go back. One puff and the quit can go out the window.

Summing up, the first few days may be relatively easy, or for some, it may be very difficult. Who knows? The only thing we know is once you get past the third day nicotine free it will ease up physically. Psychological triggers will exist but more controllable measures can be taken with them, basically keeping your ammunition up for why you don't want to be a smoker.

Easy or hard, quitting is worth it. Once you have quit for even a few hours, you have invested some effort, time, and maybe even a little pain. Make this effort count for something. As long as you hang in there now, all of this will have accomplished a goal. It got you off of cigarettes. After that, to stay off, the make or break point simply translates to...Never Take Another Puff!

Joel

I Feel 100% Better Since I Quit!

"Not smoking makes me feel great!" Often you will hear an ex-smoker excitingly express this statement when first quitting cigarettes. What is amazing is when you think back to the days when the very same smoker would blatantly proclaim that his smoking never caused him any difficulty. He functioned perfectly normal for someone his age. It is impossible for any smoker to accurately judge just how much impairment his smoking is causing. Not until he stops will he actually recognize the full degree of improvements possible by quitting smoking.

The statement that not smoking makes the ex-smoker feel great is very misleading. Not smoking doesn't make people feel great. It actually only makes them feel normal. If a person who never smoked a day in his life decides one morning not to have a cigarette, he will not feel any better or worse than the morning before. But if a person wakes up everyday and smokes a cigarette, followed by 20, 40, 60 or more before going back to bed, he will feel the effects of nicotine dependence. He never feels normal. His life consists of a chronic withdrawal state, only alleviated by lighting one cigarette every 20 to 30 minutes.

While smoking in these intervals keeps the suffering of withdrawal down to a minimum, it does so at a cost. It impairs his breathing, circulation, elevates his carbon monoxide levels, wipes out his cilia, robs his strength and endurance, and greatly increases his risks of deadly diseases like cancer. All this will cost him hundreds of dollars a year, make him appear socially ostracized, and even viewed by family and friends as weak or unintelligent. It is no wonder that once he quits smoking he feels so much better. But it is important for the ex-smoker to realize that he feels so much better because smoking made him feel so bad.

For once a smoker quits, he often forgets just how rotten life was as a smoker. He forgets the bad cigarettes, the cough, the aches and pains, the dirty looks, the inconveniences, and most importantly, the addiction. He forgets what life was truly like as a smoker. Unfortunately, he doesn't forget everything. One thought often remains, lingering for years and even decades--the thought of the best cigarette he ever smoked. It may be a cigarette he smoked 20 years earlier, but it is the one he remembers above all others. Without keeping an accurate perspective of what life was really like with cigarettes, the thought of the best cigarette often leads to an attempt to recapture the bliss by taking a puff. What follows is an unexpected and worse, an unwanted relapse to a full fledge addiction.

To stay off cigarettes, some people look at smoking in an artificially negative light. They think of the worst condition smoking may or may not really cause them. Don't look at cigarettes this way. But on the same note, don't look at cigarettes in an artificially positive light either. Don't think of smoking as being inhaling one or two delightful cigarettes a day just when you feel like it. You couldn't do that before and you will never do it that way again. Rather, look at smoking as it actually was. It was expensive, inconvenient, and sociably unacceptable on a daily basis. It controlled you totally. It was costing you your health and had the full potential of one day costing your life. See cigarettes for what they were. If you remember your life as a smoker it will be easy to NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

Just for the record, this is the more common experience than people feeling worse after quitting, yet either reaction is possible. But both groups do in fact get healthier and will stay healthier as long as they remember to never take another puff!

General warning about getting colds or flu after quitting

All recent quitters need to be aware of two things thta can happen when getting cold or flu near the time that they quit smoking. First, a cold may be more annoying than normal. If anyone gets a cold within a few months of a quit, it is often a really uncomfortable one. The reason being not only are you producing excessive mucous from the infection itself, but since your Cilia are still in the process of cleaning out of the built up mucous that has been accumulated over the years and decades that never had a chance of coming out before, the amount of congestion and the symptoms can really make a person miserable.

Also, with nerve cells that have now regenerated throughout your whole respiratory tract functioning normally, you can feel pain and irritation that were dulled when you were a smoker. It may have taken you a little longer as a smoker to even know when you were getting sick. With impaired nerve cells you may not have felt earlier symptoms, or if you did you may not have been able to differentiate what was just an effect of smoking too much or of actually having some sort of infection. With nerve cells back in place you are likely not going to be overly tempted to smoke for the concept of pouring hot irritating smoke on an already irritated throat is generally not a pleasant thought.

Where you do have to be careful and aware is that when your cold starts to dissipate, you might get stronger than normal thoughts for cigarettes. For while you likely cut back on cigarette consumption when you were a smoker with a cold, when you started to get better you would have to make up for lost time, or more accurately, for lower than normal nicotine levels since you had instinctively cut cigarettes down to a bare minimum in those times. This makes the first time getting well a potentially powerful trigger. Just be aware of the fact and it will help you to minimize the effect. Then know that over your lifetime, your colds will probably be less frequent, resolve quicker and be less severe as long as you always remember to never take another puff!

From the string "You Were a Lot Healthier Before You quit Smoking!":

From: Joel

Sent: 6/24/2003 2:24 PM

This post brings up such an important point to work with your health care providers in the event that something seems wrong after quitting. For some people things may just happen at some point in time after quitting that were going to happen whether they had quit smoking or not. In a few other people, conditions that may have actually existed when they were smoking and were being masked may now present noticeable symptoms for the first time .

Either way, there are likely treatments available for these conditions if they just get properly diagnosed. What it so ironic is how a people can be afraid to go to a doctor for risk that he or she may prescribe a medication for a problem that smoking was "treating" and now the patient is afraid of the side effects of the new medication.

Well in the case of the bronchodialators you had said you found out were in cigarettes, the prescribed medication may be the same as ones found in smoke, but now not being accompanied by the thousands of other chemicals, poisons and cancer causing agents that they were delivered simultaneously with your cigarettes. Everyone should know for a fact that there is no drug that is ever going to be prescribed that carries a one in two chance of being fatal--and cigarettes do carry that risk.

Life goes on after quitting. Most people do in fact get healthier and don't develop such reactions from quitting. But there are people who do have masked problems or problems that were being treated by medications already that may require dose adjustments after quitting. This is because your body eventually returns to normal after quitting.

Normal doesn't mean what it was like the day before you quit, normal means returning to a state that your body was designed to be in before you ever took up smoking--with aging thrown in. No one knows what that normal state is until they get there--and for some people normal is a state where they have some chemical imbalances or conditions that may require medical intervention. It can be very uncomfortable or even dangerous to ignore such conditions and just write them off to not smoking.

So again, for those of you who quit and feel great, know that this is a common reaction and you should be grateful that things have gone the way they have. For those of you who have discovered problems, know too that this is possible but there are likely therapies of one sort or another to make these problems better and you should not put up with sustained suffering any longer than necessary. Both groups should know that they are healthier since they quit for the mere fact that they did quit and will likely stay healthier, smell better, have more control over their life, and likely live happier and longer as long as they always remember to never take another puff!

Joel

Medical Disclaimer

Joel Spitzer is a professional smoking cessation counselor not a physician. Although knowledgeable, almost all of the ex-smokers assisting Joel are ex-smokers and not professional smoking cessation counselors.

Ask Joel is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a site visitor and his/her physician. Do not rely upon any information at this site to replace individual consultations with your doctor or other qualified health care provider.

The information provided here at Ask Joel is intended as smoking cessation eduation and counseling and it should NEVER be construed as medical advice. If you have any question in your mind regarding any lingering health concern, including depression or mental health, IMMEDIATELY seek medical assistance. If you are not satisfied with the advice being rendered by a physician, you always have the right to obtain a second medical opinion.

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When it comes to the treatment or management of any medical condition we sincerely believe that it is best for every person to deal with a qualified medical professional in their real world. The materials, concepts and information shared here allow readers to improve their health, and likely extend the productive years of their lives, by simply making and sticking to a personal commitment to Never Take Another Puff.

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