quit in Feb.

[irishfox73]

Hello, looking for people who have quit and having similiar symptoms like myself....I quit this past Feb, I became ill with I think was upper respiratory infection, have been on a errible roller coaster since then. I have not had a ciggerette since. I have been sick for 5 months with terrible mucous in my bronchs and throat, choke all the time, bad sinus drainage have been to the doctor so much they are tired of looking at me. They did a cta scan on my sinuses and lungs could not find anything...did copd breathing tests, those came back neg.  but I choke on this chronic mucuos constantly. finally the doctor did a bronchcoscopy...and seen he mucous and washed it out. Went today to talk to him about the procedure and he didnn't find anything but extreme mucous, but he said quitting smoking would not cause all that, I would have a little from quitting but I would not have it for this long....has anyone else gone through this before?

[barbara42]

I have been quit 5 years and i have to take Zyrtec D, about every three months. My sinus are always bad it seems, have your doctor look at inner ear trouble. does your head feel real big, you be very dizzy ? that is what i do, i have both, sinus and inner ear. it has gotten better, when i first quit i stayed so sick. I think i smoked so long, i paralized my sinuses and it just never recovered all together, hope this helps you, it is so worth not smoking ny more, it will get better

[irishfox73]

ty Barbara so much for replying...I smoked for 40 years...and ever since I quit I have been coughing up mucous constantly, it's been 4 months since I quit..I ask my doctor and he said I should not still be doing this and not have this much musous, but then I have talked to others that have quit and they say they did it for 6 months to a year after they quit...ty again for replying I sure need someone to talk to about this.

[Phil25]

Is it the same doctor you keep visiting? If it is, you might want to get a second opinion. I'm no doctor but I would think after 40 years of smoking you would have excessive garbage in your lungs. Please don't stop until you get the answers you need. 

Phil

[jim_ohio]

nicotine is known to mask, various illnesses.......nicotine the most deadly chemical to harm the human body....those are the facts.....but the great news......huge health benefits.......most of us newbies are in the beginning of recovery.......risk of cancer, heart attacks...can take you into the 5th and 10th years of recovery......................for very low risks..........so that can give you a idea of how long recovery is.....10 20 a forever quit is needed to get the human body back on the right track....god speed to all...jim ohio....this is very serious stuff.......

[teresaq]

Over the years I have developed food allergies.  I suspected I had COPD some time ago which has recently been confirmed.  I thought the food allergies were independent of smoking but now believe the lungs probably were designed to do more than we think.  It's possible they filter harmful things from the food we eat and the damaged they become the less they can do their job.  Most of the time it is a contest between eating and breathing.  I am down to 88 lbs. Not real good.

The more natural I eat the better my breathing.  Some processed, dairy, and such can be the worst with my lungs so full breathing is quite difficult til I cough the stuff up.

You could watch how you feel 1/2 to 1 hour after you eat.  The same thing in the AM when you wake.  The mucous is there anyway but depending on what I ate the day before determines how bad my breathing will  be.

Hope an answer comes.

[applejax67]

I, and most people are not trained enough in medicene to give a professional answer to this. That being said, I devoleped asthma (from smoking I suspect)  3 months later another doctor says it COPD. I just want everyone to be aware that the government is now decieding what symptoms = what illness  and that some Dr.s will diagnose whatever keeps the federal money comming. Be Ware.

I cough up mucous almost hourly (if not more)  after my second day of quiting I only "hack up a piece of lung " every 3-4 hours.   

Just so you know the facts I hven't bought a pack of smokes in  6 years, I have been rolling my own. I realy don't know if the tobacco is processed the same or not, meaning I don't know if it has all the same chemicals/poisions added to it.

I realy hope you find an answer to your problem, but I'm pretty sure that quitting smoking is not the cause.

[ninepatch]

When I quit my allergies reared their head. Sinus drainage am lots of mucus. I just got it cleared with benadryl at night, claritan day, nasel spray.......all dr orders. It only took about a week and I am clear. Feel better then ever. Not sure if it will help you but it helped me.. Habg in there

[southie]

I had the same symptoms this past fall. I was still smoking but was choking on white mucus and coughing up all this white mucus. Scared the hell out of me.

My doc said it was a sinus infection and gave me an antibiotic. It helped my sinus infection, but I still choked and coughed up white mucus for a month after.

I agree with Phil that maybe another doctor may be able to help you. Best of luck to you.

[Thomas3.20.2010]

There's an OTC called N-Acetyl Cysteine which is fabulous for clearing mucus. CONSULT YOUR PULMONOLOGIST about it to see if it might help your problem. Also, an alkaline diet really helps me! Again, my Doctor told me about it! Check with your Doctor first! If you're not getting anywhere - get a second opinion.