Guys.
I am into my 3rd week of cold turkey, I smoked maybe 30 a week for 10 years. I am feeling really weak, snotty nose, sinus pain, headaches, tiredness, is this a recognised side effect and if so, is it about the right time to have it (2 to 3 weeks in) is this normal and does it go soon?
Thanks in advance
Hi there and welcome. I was really poorly around the 2 week mark with pleurisy/pneumonia. It did pass fairly quickly though. I believe it is quite common to get ill during the first year as your body adjusts. But I'm sure you will agree that it is worth it to be smoke-free!!!
Sarah
yeah I agree , I also had this around week three and four and took a couple of days off to recover. Seems like it's the stress on the body of quiting but in the end it passed and now I've been feeling better than I have in years .
Hi Rushy,
Welcome to the forum, sorry you're not very well.
I basically felt like an alien for the first 2-3 weeks physically. I was dizzy, shaky, I couldn't concentrate for toffee, couldn't sleep and very emotional.
It does get easier as time goes on but Sarah is right, some can get colds more frequently along with other niggles for the first year, I've had 3 colds in 12 months whereas I didn't get one for a good few years prior to that. It is definitely worth it though. I'd have a cold and be free any day of the week!
Keep going, you're doing brilliantly
Molly x
yeah I agree , I also had this around week three and four and took a couple of days off to recover. Seems like it's the stress on the body of quiting but in the end it passed and now I've been feeling better than I have in years .
Thanks. Yeah, that's what I am looking forward to. I have been hitting the gym and lifting weights etc, thinking I was now a new man, but it appears I need to take it easy for week or two more. I have been to the pub twice in the time since I quit and felt like I could have strangled someone as the craving/social situation hit me. I just had to come home earlier than my friends (who were popping outside every 10 minutes for a smoke)
Hi Rushy welcome mate
It is SO worth it.Believe me it is SO worth it -keep going keep plodding,the mud starts to clear and you get your life back along with a stack of cash and a nice feeling inside.
Thanks for the reply..
Well done on reaching week 3, Rushy!
My stop-smoking adviser told me that we are all prone to coughs and colds after quitting. Apparently it's because the body is no longer having to fight the nicotine (and everything else) and it's fighting mechanisms close down, in a sort of shock. :eek: However, after a few weeks it goes back to it's normal fighting mode. Based on that, it should pass!
Val
I can remember feeling so good yet so rough at the same time ! It's the body repairing. After any stress when the body finally relaxes we always get ill and I think it same principal. It is very common along with sleep disturbances. I do remember I upped my vitamin C and that was basically having half a fresh lemon squeezed in hot water. Your body will soon begin to thank you a million times over. Well done
Well done Rushy, I agree with the others it is quite common to get ill when you quit, sounds mad, but it is also helping to get rid of the poisons out of the system.
On the pub thing, I so understand that problem. I had to go to a party when I was only a few days into my quit, I was worried about it to be honest. What I did manage to do was chat to some people who weren't smokers, or going to the loo when the others went out for a smoke, and while I had a few drinks I had far less than I otherwise would. I had a great night, and I was like a dog with two tails the next morning because I hadn't smoked. This of course had the added bonus of not having a horrible mouth in the morning...... Another thing I did was change my drink, so It wouldn't feel like it was missing it's buddy.
Hi rushy and welcome to the forum!
So in short, you're a cast member of Mchael Jackson's Thriller video without the energy for the dancing bit? Yep, that's about right....
Wise words already posted which I'll echo. Your body is now literally breathing a sigh of relief that you're not poisoning it any more - phew! And do ever seem to get ill on holiday and wonder why? It's as if your body says to your brain "right,if you're gonna have a break then I am too" and your immune system sits by the pool with a beer as well. Then you catch something.
Just see it for what it is, your body making a few adjustments, it does get better. Well done with the quit!
I too am ill and feel your pain!!!!
Well done on getting to week 3 Rushy.....the time will fly by...just you wait and see.....
aches and pains
Hello Rushy 1970 been there got the tee shirt. As I'm fairly long in the tooth,correction I am long in the tooth, an old saying common in the shipyards of the West of Scotland on a Monday morning comes to mind which best describes how I felt in my early days. "Dragged backwards face down through excreta" though not that quite gentle
Personally I went to my G.P. who prescribed a 5 day course of tranquillisers which helped.
I'm also a recovering alcoholic of some 23+ years soberiety and I found quitting drinking easier than stopping smoking which seems a contradiction to most people but it was the truth.
However here I am about 23 months nicotine free and I can honestly say that the cravings, aches,pains and all the other symptoms of quitting were worth it.
So hang on in there it does get easier.
Michael a.k.a:- lefoy123 in Glasgow
A big thanks to everyone's replies and words of encouragement. Still going strong, 19 days 11 hours 33 minutes, but who's counting !
You wait, it won't be long until you're including weeks and months. How are you feeling now?
You wait, it won't be long until you're including weeks and months. How are you feeling now?
Physically awful still. A lot of headaches, pain around the eyes and ears, also very fatigued but with an enormous appetite !
I am trying to drink as much water as I can. This has to be withdrawal symptoms ?
Unless it is something else that coincides with me quitting, I have been looking it up and my symptoms mirror that of temporal tendonitis. But, who knows.
Thanks for asking
The headache and fatigue could definitely be nicotine related, I could have slept the clock round quite easily at the start and I had a constant nagging headache. As for appetite, nicotine is an appetite suppressant so that is normal, that should settle down in a couple of months, I'm still ravenous. I'm not sure about the eye/ear pain, that's a new one. The water will definitely help flush out the toxins, you've been building them up quite nicely over the years and it can take a while for the body to function normally again. Have you started noticing any of the good benefits yet? Better sense of smell/taste, warmer hands and feet?
The headache and fatigue could definitely be nicotine related, I could have slept the clock round quite easily at the start and I had a constant nagging headache. As for appetite, nicotine is an appetite suppressant so that is normal, that should settle down in a couple of months, I'm still ravenous. I'm not sure about the eye/ear pain, that's a new one. The water will definitely help flush out the toxins, you've been building them up quite nicely over the years and it can take a while for the body to function normally again. Have you started noticing any of the good benefits yet? Better sense of smell/taste, warmer hands and feet?
Smell seems better yes, regards hands (not noticed) my hands are always warm (according to my missus) but let's move on from that subject (ahem) !
Regards feet, I've pretty much in the last 20 years tended to be barefoot around the house anyway so I must be ok in the heated feet department?
Smell seems better yes, regards hands (not noticed) my hands are always warm (according to my missus) but let's move on from that subject (ahem) !
Regards feet, I've pretty much in the last 20 years tended to be barefoot around the house anyway so I must be ok in the heated feet department?
You sound like my bloke, you Welshmen are a hardy breed 
You are doing really well. Congrats
Did you mean 30 a day or 30 a week?
Keep up the good work
J x
I'd say 30 - 40 a week, sometimes more, but I'd say an average of 30 a week over the year it depended on if I went to the pub at weekends.
I didn't really think about smoking during the day at work, weirdly it never entered my head, daft I know, but I know a lot of smokers who don't smoke at work, or feel the need to. I would light up after my evening meal though, and then smoke 6 or 7 each night, or if I went out for a few beers in the week it would increase. I know it isn't a lot compared to a lot of people. And I never felt the need to light up first thing in a morning either, I should have kicked the habit years ago based on those amounts.
Entering the beginning of week four tomorrow.
Thanks again to you all for your positive comments, it has really helped, there is a good vibe on here.
I'd say 30 - 40 a week, sometimes more, but I'd say an average of 30 a week over the year it depended on if I went to the pub at weekends.
I didn't really think about smoking during the day at work, weirdly it never entered my head, daft I know, but I know a lot of smokers who don't smoke at work, or feel the need to. I would light up after my evening meal though, and then smoke 6 or 7 each night, or if I went out for a few beers in the week it would increase. I know it isn't a lot compared to a lot of people. And I never felt the need to light up first thing in a morning either, I should have kicked the habit years ago based on those amounts.
Entering the beginning of week four tomorrow.
Thanks again to you all for your positive comments, it has really helped, there is a good vibe on here.
Also. How do you add info to your signature thingy at the bottom of your posts, with when you stopped smoking, and how many etc
Hi Rushy,
Just wanted to say hello and welcome you to the forum
The support on here is wonderful and really helps you to get through those tougher days.
Hope you're not feeling too rubbish! I should think your GP will be able to prescribe something to make you feel a bit more human, if you're worried, and will probably know if your symptoms are a part of quitting or something different.
Good luck in your quit and well done so far!!
Everything goes up the wall when you give up for awhile, I was using NRT for two weeks then went it cold turkey and its been 5 weeks (7 in total) and im just starting to feel physically good. So dont give up, it will just take some time before your body relaxes again. Part of it is shock i think, your body works so hard to work along side a drug for years that you take then shock.....where is it!!?? its shocking stuff!
Anyways rant over ha ha well done again xxxx
Everything goes up the wall when you give up for awhile, I was using NRT for two weeks then went it cold turkey and its been 5 weeks (7 in total) and im just starting to feel physically good. So dont give up, it will just take some time before your body relaxes again. Part of it is shock i think, your body works so hard to work along side a drug for years that you take then shock.....where is it!!?? its shocking stuff!
Anyways rant over ha ha well done again xxxx
Thanks Nik
3rd day quit cold turkey!!!! When will I notice the benefits :) 
