my chest is killing me 3 day non smoker

[seafrontsos]

how long will this last, and the phlegm is yellow, clear, brown and black is that normal

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Hi seafrontsos, nice to see you on here

I'm Pete, this is my 4th attempt to quit, and I would say it was pretty normal because its your body clearing all that gunk out of your lungs the severity of it perhaps depends on how many you used to smoke ??

It shouldnt last much longer, but if it does i would go and see you doc about it, just to be on the safe side eh

A big well done to you for getting this far you keep strong and you will do it

Just wondering if you are using any NRT or have you gone cold turkey ??

[andi22]

Hi there seafrontsos and good to see you on here.

I see you started c25k in January - did you keep it up or did you not manage because of smoking? I'd only given up a few weeks when I started running but I was very fortunate that I didn't have all that gunk stuff. It's quite normal and I think it's to do with your cillia growing back and doing their job of clearing all that rubbish out.

Emjay will be on to chat to you later and she knows lots more about this and if you trawl through the archives a bit you'll find a coughing exercise that will help with clearing your chest. Sounds pretty yuk I know but it's something you have to go through to come out the other side with a much healthier and freer lifestyle.

Good luck, Andi.

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Hi again seafrontsos, as Andi has just said, Emjay one of our advisers bloged this coughing exercise a few weeks ago, it may just help you to understand whats happening to you

Coughing / phlegm when stopping smoking?

Posted by EmJay ROY CASTLE 3 Oct 2012Report

Wondering why you have that awful dry cough? Or why you are couphing up all that horrible 'stuff'?

Here's a reason why it may be;

Smoking paralyses the tiny hairs, or cilia, which line your windpipe and helps to clear dirt and mucus out of your lungs. When you stop smoking, the cilia start to work properly again and so you may experience more coughing and phlegm. If you can imagine all those hairs laying flat for so long and now that you've stopped they kind of say "right lads, let's get back to work again" and as they start to move it causes a dry tickle... This is a positive sign of recovery, showing that your body is getting rid of the tar and toxins which smoking has left in your lungs.

These symptoms may last a while but can be soothed by drinking plenty of water or using sugar-free boiled sweets to help keep your throat moist.

Remembering that you are only coughing up what is not supposed to be there in the first place

However, if you're coughing persists and you become worried, please make an appointment to see your GP.

[EmJay Partner]

Good Morning Seafrontsos,

Well done to you for making it into your 3rd day The advice that you have been given so far from Ando and Pete is spot on and hopefully it won't be too long before your breathing returns to normal.

This process is your body just trying to repair itself back to good health. So please try and see all this as a positive sign. Obviously, as Pete has already said if it lasts more than a couple of weeks then it's worth a visit to your GP.

As a long term smoker, there were probably many other times that you could have felt like this but your smoking will actually have masked it.

Have a look at the following breathing exercise and see if that helps you to clear your chest up a bit more too;

quitsupport.healthunlocked....

I'll pop this back up on the front page so that others can see it too.

Stick with it Seafrontsos, nobody said it would be easy, but everybody says it is worth it.

The main thing is to stay positive as much a possible

[seafrontsos 32 Month Winner in reply to EmJay]

thank u i also keep having major lightheaded feeling is that normal and feel absolutely shattered

[EmJay Partner]

Hi seafrontsos,

what you are feeling is pretty normal and a lot of people feel the same. Stopping smoking can quite often leave people feeling as though they have no energy at all. Don't forget, depending on how long your body has got used to having all those nasty poisonous toxins pumped into it, is it any wonder your body might be kicking up a bit of a fuss and wondering what is going on?! Don't worry though, this won't last forever.

If you didn't give up smoking, none of this would be happening to you and and you wouldn't feel this way. Smoking just masks a lot of the damaged it is doing.

Please try and see that all that is happening is positive and that you are on the road to recovery.

Everything will settle down, you just have to ride it through for now.

You are doing really, really well and will be on day 4 before you know it

[Chickles 3 YEAR WINNER]

Well done Seafrontos!

I'm on day 62 and my chest is really tight, this started about 10 days ago. I don't have a cough though. I've been to the doctors, nothing to worry about, just my body still going through ridding itself of years and years of polluting it with nasty chemicals! I am so focused on this attempt, that I am not going to smoke to see if the symptoms go