My story - How I quit smoking and fighting copd scare and bad bout of bronchitis

[Aurelius7]

Hi everyone,

My name is Ayush. I quit smoking 4 weeks ago after a bad bout with bronchitis. At age 34, I had found myself a chain smoker, quite overweight, with sudden multiple health issues from bronchitis, vit b 12 deficiency, vit d deficiency, shortness of breath to sleep apnea, a condition whe a person stops breathing multiple times in their sleep (later found out that that prescribed inhalers were causing it).

I was prescribed vit b 12 shots which improved my overall well being, and some vit d meds.

I quit smoking on my own. I kind of developed a method of my own where I gradually cut down cigarettes and started doing 3-5 healthy things vs every cigarette I smoked for my body. Eventually, I decided a date to quit on Jul 2nd 2017, and haven't smoked since.

I went through terrible withdrawals, very bad detox process ranging from night sweats to hot flashes. I am still coughing out brownish gunk. Simultaneously, I improved my diet, was able to lose 12 lbs in a period of 6 weeks, and from having punctured lung feeling / completely out of breath - I am now able to run for 3 mi over the weekends, and prepping for a marathon run in Nov.

90% of my problems are gone except for mild mucus which I have every morning and through the day. Doctor seems to think I may have developed copd - but I haven't lost hope and determined to fight this off. After all, they had prescribed me inhalers too which I was able to get out of completely and have no shortness of breath or any other symptoms.

Fingers x - wish me luck and good luck to all of you with your journey in giving up the c stick.

[Beckygw 14 Month Winner]

Good luck and well done! That's some fatastic determination! 😄

[Aurelius7 5 MONTH WINNER in reply to Beckygw]

Thank you Becky. Wish you luck with your journey as well.

[Hidden]

Hey Ayush...

I enjoyed reading about your quit journey. The withdrawal symptoms suck, for all of us.

I love that you lost weight. Gives me hope that I can too. Thanks for sharing. You've got almost two weeks on me but I'm right behind you.

You've got all our support to stay smoke free 👍🏼👍🏼

[Aurelius7 5 MONTH WINNER in reply to Hidden]

Hey Dal - I've been on a very disciplined diet. I think keeping a low calorie count and eating the same things over and over again helps. For example- I eat quinoa and oats mixed in the morning, lentils, sprouts and salad in the afternoon and subway tuna salad in the evening.

[ashwingr8 14 Month Winner]

Well done Ayush. I quit about 10 weeks back and struggling with the weight gain and increaded apetite. How did you get around that??

[Aurelius7 5 MONTH WINNER in reply to ashwingr8]

Hi Ashwin,

Discipline diet. Eat same few meals over and over again. Google "slow carb diet". I eat quinoa and oats mixed in the morning. Lentils, sprouts and salad in the afternoon and subway tuna salad in the evening. In between I snack on almonds.

[beautiful_smile_84 8 MONTH WINNER]

Good luck wish you the best !

[Aurelius7 5 MONTH WINNER in reply to beautiful_smile_84]

Thanks for the support

[Briarwood Administrator LONG TERM WINNER]

Hi Aurelius and welcome to Quit Support😊

I'm loving the sound of your healthy diet and it really does help our bodies to heal. Sounds like your determination is paying off, well done🚭👍🏼😊

[Aurelius7 5 MONTH WINNER in reply to Briarwood]

I fully agree. I am also on a stack on supplements that helped / helping me with healing bronchitis, and improving immunity. I am taking astragalus root extract, r lipoic acid for immunity and n acetyl crysteine to improve liver / lung function. And a lot of green tea - I know too much of even green tea is bad for you, but its my support for cigarettes for now. And chamomile tea in the night too.

[Nottobad]

Good luck with your journey. And if it turns out you do have COPD it's not the end of the world you are already doing the right things. So if you do have it the progression of the disease will be slower. Take care xxx

[Aurelius7 5 MONTH WINNER in reply to Nottobad]

Thanks! Will continue the efforts.

[Samsgurl2018 4 MONTH WINNER]

Hi, I'm quitting this weekend. I had bronchitis so bad I went to the doctor and she had a chest x-ray done. My results showed COPD changes. She told me I didn't have COPD yet but I will soon if I don't quit. I've been using the cut down method all week and I've gotten down to about 5 a day. I did use nicotine patches also which do help. I am determined to do this and stay quit! I know your post is older but it relates to what I'm going through. I'm using my own method to quit. I smoked for over 25 years and I'm doing this my way that will lead me to success. I hope you are still smoke free and are doing better.

[Hidden]

Has your shortness of breath went away. I am not really short of breath it just seems hard to take a really deep breath. It's been 9 weeks that I quit and still have mucus in my throat