Question for the Ex Smokers Out There

Hi,

I quit smoking two years ago (almost to the day - Sept 27th).  I had smoked nearly a pack a day for 30 years.

I started a workout routine last week and I've noticed my lungs don't work all that great.  I start breathing heavy almost right away and my muscles go into lactosis (SP?) pretty much right after that.

I'm just wondering if I can expect to see an improvement as I continue, or???

Thanks

- Brad

Yes!  You're starting from way behind on your cardiovascular fitness, but it will improve.  When I quit smoking after 10 years, I started running and swimming.  It was brutal at first but improved very quickly.  For me, I found that short bursts of high intensity exercise worked really well to challenge my lungs and heart, clean out all those years of accumulated gunk, and get me quickly to the point where ordinary exertion wasn't so challenging.

Congrats on quitting! 

Thanks for the input.  I was really shocked at how bad off I am.  It is hard to get a full workout because my muscles just get shot so fast.

I'll keep plugging away :)

Lys is correct. I think pretty much the same could be said for anyone just starting a workout routine. I did things backwards from you and started working out about 7 months before I quit smoking. It was about 4-6 months without smoking before I felt 90% of the residual affect of smoking was gone.

Congratulations. You won't regret it for a second.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but ....

I smoked for 33 years a good 1- 2 pack a day habit for most of them.  I did start walking and lost weight 8 months before I quit smoking. I've been quit 7 years Things were great and I was feeling great.  Then about 3 years ago we burned Juniper wood in our fireplace, turns out I was allergic to Juniper and got really sick and couldn't breathe for weeks.  Went to doctor and chest x-ray showed COPD.  Had to start on breathing treatments and steroids and Spiriva -

After a couple months I got feeling fine again and stopped the meds.  Then last June a huge Haboob from the Phoenix area decided to settle in ours.  After 3 days of breathing in this dust I began to get extremely short of breath- back to doctor back to meds and breathing treatments.  I couldn't workout at all for over a month due to this flare up.

Now I do Advair at least 3 times a week and have my emergency inhaler handy.  I do get short of breath easy and I work out as hard as I can, but I do wheeze a lot.  When the Juniper trees bloom I get an allergy shot as soon as possible to keep my flares under control. 

I am not saying things won't get better, cause they are already I'm sure, but you may want to go to the doctor and have them listen to your lungs for rasping and wheezing and maybe a chest xray

I sure hope you don't get this diagnosis, but a 30 year habit will have done some irreversible damage.  You may only need an inhaler for emergency use - I usually do 2 puffs before a workout just as prophylactic so I can workout breathing easier.

Good Luck.  and congrats

It's been 2 years 8 months since I quit smoking also from 1-2 packs a day for over 30 years..it will get better..keep it up!

Original Post by bradwwood:

Hi,

I quit smoking two years ago (almost to the day - Sept 27th).  I had smoked nearly a pack a day for 30 years.

I started a workout routine last week and I've noticed my lungs don't work all that great.  I start breathing heavy almost right away and my muscles go into lactosis (SP?) pretty much right after that.

I'm just wondering if I can expect to see an improvement as I continue, or???

Thanks

- Brad

Keep going as best as you can.  It will improve with time.  I've seen anecdotal statements that say that after quitting smoking, it takes about 5 years for lungs to heal completely (no real science to back it up, of course ).  But considering that it took the majority of that first year for your lungs to do most of their healing, you're effectively starting over in fitness, as others have said.

I was a pack-a-day for 10 years myself.  It'll be 12 years on Oct. 30 that I've been free and clear (which means I have about 3 more years or so for my stroke and coronary heart disease risks to have decreased to those of a never-smoker).

I quit because my girlfriend-at-the-time (now wife) did, and my bandmates failed.  I was determined to show them for cheating on me (within the first week we all agreed to quit smoking at the same time, they went back.  I was mad).

thanks for the feedback everyone.

Original Post by weirdfish:

Original Post by bradwwood:

Keep going as best as you can.  It will improve with time.  I've seen anecdotal statements that say that after quitting smoking, it takes about 5 years for lungs to heal completely (no real science to back it up, of course ).  But considering that it took the majority of that first year for your lungs to do most of their healing, you're effectively starting over in fitness, as others have said.

I was a pack-a-day for 10 years myself.  It'll be 12 years on Oct. 30 that I've been free and clear (which means I have about 3 more years or so for my stroke and coronary heart disease risks to have decreased to those of a never-smoker).

I quit because my girlfriend-at-the-time (now wife) did, and my bandmates failed.  I was determined to show them for cheating on me (within the first week we all agreed to quit smoking at the same time, they went back.  I was mad).

I've been quit 7 years now and although my lungs are a lot better today, I didn't develop the symptoms of COPD until 3 years after I did quit.  I can not imagine what my lungs would be like today if I hadn't quit when I did - I mean if I as an ex smoker have COPD I'd probably be on Oxygen 24 hrs a day now if I hadn't quit.  

Healing and recovery will take time and you are going to see improvements Keep at it- it is so worth it!

I quit 10 years ago, after smoking 2+ packs a day for 15 years. It definitely gets better. You just have to work on endurance just like you work on muscle strength.

Here's a timeline for some of the immediate and long-term benefits after you quit smoking: http://www.gwu.edu/quitsmoking/health.html

 

I am 31, and have been an on and off smoker (I have asthma) for 10 years. This past summer I was hospitalized, put into a medical coma, and placed on a respirator for several weeks. I had severe double pneumonia and a very rare fungal infection in my lungs. I haven't touched a cigarette since, and I breathe better than I have in years.

It'll get better, only with time.  I was a 12-year pack-a-day smoker before I quit in 1990.  I didn't start my running and biking until a few years later, but been doing both ever since and couldn't feel better right now.  I can run for 2 hours solid breathing normally, and can mountain bike for 12 miles without any breathing or lung problems.  It just take patience as it's a slow process.  But it will get better.  Congrats on quiting!!

-

Its good to see so many success stories. 

Quitting for me was the single most difficult thing I have ever done, and yes, I'm glad I did it.  There were points, in the first few months, where I almost caved.  The only thing that kept me going was knowing I'd probably never try again knowing what I then knew (about how difficult it would be, and some of the physical problems I had along the way).

Still glad I did it, and it has now been over two years.

In just this past month where I've started exercising better, I have noticed an improvement since posting this message.  I'm sure I still have a ways to go, but it was helpful to hear from those here that have gone through it, and it is encouraging to experience at least a little improvement.

thanks everyone

Original Post by bradwwood:

Its good to see so many success stories. 

Quitting for me was the single most difficult thing I have ever done, and yes, I'm glad I did it.  There were points, in the first few months, where I almost caved.  The only thing that kept me going was knowing I'd probably never try again knowing what I then knew (about how difficult it would be, and some of the physical problems I had along the way).

Still glad I did it, and it has now been over two years.

In just this past month where I've started exercising better, I have noticed an improvement since posting this message.  I'm sure I still have a ways to go, but it was helpful to hear from those here that have gone through it, and it is encouraging to experience at least a little improvement.

thanks everyone

Anytime.

It's always going to be a battle, but one thing to shoot for is the point where the smell of smoke is offensive.  That's when you know that you're quit for good.

I got there probably about a year after I quit.  I tried a hit off of a friend's cigarette to see what it would do, and I thought I was going to die or throw up or both.  That's when I knew I was done forever.

Today, the smell is offensive to me, and I've turned into that worst kind of ex-smoker (the one who rails against smoking like it was a bad religion).

Oh man, the joys of never starting smoking keep adding up :)