i've been smoke-free for about 48 hours, cold-turkey-style. i was a heavy smoker: 20-30 smokes a day, easily. last night, i started to get cold symptoms. a friend said she had a terrible cough after quitting, but i didn't ask her to what extent. the second and third day after quitting is when the feelings of withdrawl are worse, so i'm not sure if i'm sick or just going through withdrawl. my symptoms: i must have woken up at least five times last night, puked twice this morning, and have a violent cough accompanied by the sniffles. i don't feel "bad" necessarily, i mean, i have cold-like symptoms, but i don't feel sick (although sometimes i cough so hard that it causes physical pain in my chest and shoulder region). i could see the cough and runny nose being related to quitting, as i'd be expelling the nicotine from my body... but puking? have any of you ex-smokers had this happen after quitting? does it sound more like im coming down with something, or withdrawl? your input is much appriciated.
The Vomiting could be from coughing so hard... The Vilolent contracting on your inners. When i got bronchitis i puked several times after coughing fits..
You could be coming down with something as your immune system is weaker than a non smokers. It is not unusual to catch a cold after quitting smoking. Congratulations by the way, and if it is any comfort, the majority of nicotine leaves the body after 72 hours.
You're going cold turkey? Good luck! Often times, someone who quits smoking will start coughing as the lungs sense they aren't being subjected to the usual amount of abuse and try to get rid of all the junk that's coating them. I wasn't that tough. I used the patch and 2mg nicotine gum (they say you shouldn't use them both, but I'd smoked 2 packs of unfiltered cigs for 25 years, I didn't think this combination would kill me) for 12 weeks and some of the gum after that. It may sound extreme, but I quit 1/17/04 at 7pm and only had cheated once (One cig in May 04).
yea, i quit cold turkey about a month ago, and experienced cold and flu-like symptoms right away. I was also coughing up a lot of phlegm. Made me realize how disgusting my habit was, and made me glad I quit, too!
Good luck with your quitting! I quit almost a year ago...I smoked for 10 years. I used the patch though and then the gum for a bit, I could have never done it cold turkey...(why do they call it "cold turkey" anyway?) I would say the symptoms you are having is your body going through a bit of withdrawal. Hope you feel better
i smoked for 12 years and i haven't had a cigarette since dec 02. i quit because i had a nasty cold, and probably bronchitis or something, and it hurt to smoke ANYTHING so i didn't have a cig for like, 2 days. so when i was better, i thought, 'hmmmm. if i can go 2 days, i should just try to quit'. and that was it. i was done. i coughed up some nastiness for a couple of weeks, and felt really crappy and weak, but then i started to feel better. now the smell is gross to me, and i can't believe i smelled like that all the time! eeeww! my boyfriend refuses to quit. he doesn't smoke in our apt, but the smell on him when he comes in from a cig makes me gag. i don't know what to do to get him to quit....i know, i know.....someone can only quit if HE wants to! i tried the $$ angle--we live in NY where cigs are over $5 a pack (we are saving to go to amsterdam in 6 weeks, and we are really strapped!), the health angle, the ugly teeth angle, the no health insurance angle, the "i'll kiss you more, you'll smell good" angle...he doesn't care..won't quit. peace. LP
thanks for all the kind words. i didn't realize it was so common to feel like that after quitting.. vomiting and fu-symptoms weren't listed anywhere i looked. i'm glad that part is over! although feeling sick definitely helped me not want to smoke during the most crucial time. i'm proud to say it's been eight days and i'm still smoke-free!!
I quit exactly 1 year ago. You go lawngirl! take a trip to the healthfood store and get Sambuguard. It will boost the immune system. Get some detox tea also. They also have tea tree toothpics to chew. It's the one time you can be proud to be a quitter!
i smoke when im with friends, and i understand how people get addicted but i recon its a pretty lame chemical to be addicted to. i think cold turkey would have to be unhealthy, really. weening yourself off would be harder but much healthier. its like siddenly blocking off heaps of neurotransmitters all of a sudden, cold turkey
Hardly. Nicotine is a heavily addictive drug. It lights up the "pleasure centers" in the brain like crazy, indicating lots of neurotransmistters are being blocked from uptake. The withdrawal can be intense. I hope you are feeling better lawgirl! You are brave to go cold turkey. Why do they call it "Cold Turkey" cuz when you quit heroin, you get terrible goosebumps, like a cold, plucked turkey. So the term was applied to quitting other substances without cutting down first.
While I was quitting I always felt like there was a lot of pressure in my head. If I had a cigarette, 24 hours later my head would feel pressured. Has anyone else experienced this or was it all in my head..no pun intended
