So, I quit smoking!

[Uhdenied]

I thought quitting was suppose to make you feel better and healthier, not ridden with anxiety and back pain/rib pain/breathing pain. I quit about a month ago. I quit for two days at first, smoked then coughed up this huge phlem ball with some blood in it. Neat, right?

So I go to the doctors and tell him I coughed up blood and I had testicular pain last week. (I have two cysts on my left testicle diagnosed 2 years ago or so) so he listens to my lungs and says I'm wheezing a bit in my right lung, so let's get an X-ray. Everything looks normal, great looking heart, mostly clear lungs. Gives me some steroids to clean up my wheezing. I felt amazing for like 2 weeks. Working out bodyweight exercises and eating way more. Then my back randomly hurts. I breath in too deep? It hurts. I move a certain way, it hurts. It hurts in my back near my spine, and it also hurts right under my ribcage. Both of these sensations are on the left side.

It's exhausting. I'm only 23 years old and I have stabbing pain sensations in my back and ribcage? I've dealt with HA since I was 16, so I'm trying to not think it's C..

Oh and if I stop paying attention to it and sit up straight, my back will crack. Is that from stress on my muscles and anxiety or?

Any reply would be awesome. Just want some reassurance from someone who may expire

[Uhdenied]

Fricking iPhone. I meant some reassurance from someone who may experience this back pain, rib pain, breathing pain with back cracking nonsense. I apologize for the double post.

Cheers,

Tony

[brookedavis215]

Hey there! Seriously, I am with you and can totally relate. I quit smoking at the end of November - before I quit, I felt like a million bucks. I quit, and my body literally went to hell and back. I started coughing - ALOT - and having really bad post-nasal drip and mucus. My ribs hurt, my chest hurt, I swore I had cancer. I've been to the emergency room TWICE. I've had two chest x-rays, EKGs, been to four different doctors and now an ENT. Blood work, everything came back normal with the exception of a vitamin D deficiency. I have also been diagnosed with panic disorder and seeing a therapist. I was, and still sort of am, LITERALLY CONVINCED I have lung cancer. I'm 28. I smoked for about 9 years, off and on. I was not a heavy smoker. I know how ridiculous this sounds to most people but trust me, you are not alone. Here's what I can tell you - first, smoking masked some allergies that I have and I got tested. Turns out, I'm allergic to ALOT of stuff. Secondly, I am being tested for mild asthma. It's hard to accept that there isn't anything seriously wrong with you. I even begged for a CT scan in the ER and they wouldn't give me one because I had no other symptoms of LC besides a cough - and that is a symptom of "about 1500 health issues" according to the DR. My primary told me that when she quit, she had increased coughing for about a year. A YEAR!? Yes, a year. And that eventually, it subsided and now she barely coughs at all. The biggest thing I am trying to do is trust my doctors - after all the visits SOMEONE would have noticed SOMETHING if there was something wrong. Just be patient. You'll be ok :)

[Uhdenied]

That sounds like a long haul you had there. I use have that bad of anxiety in concerns to my health. The whole bit of ER trips, bawling to my doctors, getting therapy and what not. Mine has been under wraps since I was 20 or so. I just get these little spurts where my mind goes out of control.

I haven't been coughing really all that much. I did the first two weeks. I kept coughing up brown'ish, tar looking phlegm lol. That didn't really scare me too much because I've been through that before when I quit when I was 18. This back pain on the other hand is really annoying. It's more annoying that if I just relax about it like everyone says I should.. is the moment my spine/sternum/whatever in my chest starts cracking every time I stretch.

And then of course people go "Well, take deep breaths to calm yourself down!" hahaha, if I take deep breaths I'm reminded how terrible my ribs feel on my left side. I'm not sure if my alignment is off or my muscles are too tense or if my doctor somehow missed a gigantic mass located in the center of my lung. (That last one is a joke, kind of.)  Either way, I appreciate your response. I just hope all this back tenseness, ribcage pain, breathing issue nonsense is all related to my body not knowing what to do with all my stress without smoking.

[brookedavis215]

Ha! Trust me, I get the joke. My friends think I'm totally looney tunes. It's cool - I know it's crazy. I am working on it.

I swore that the doctors missed the "tumor the size of a baseball" in my lungs not just once, but twice. My father, an RN, told me I was ridiculous and needed help for my brain, not my lungs.

:)

[Uhdenied]

Hahaha, I've been there too. The first time I was diagnosed with health anxiety, my 4th visit to my doctor for a brain tumor scare was it for me. He sat me and my parents down (I was 18 at the time.) and says:

"You're right, you absolutely are sick. Unfortunately for you and me, I can't fix it because it is not physical. You desperately need to seek therapy and stress relaxation techniques before you disappear from losing so much weight and die without any physical ailments."

I finally got a grip, haha. Right now I'm not losing sleep. I just get the random occasional bouts of crying due to how stressed I am (So ridiculous, I'm a dude, hahaha. God bless whoever my wife is one day.)

Did you find exercising helped at all? Running? Hot tea? Hot baths? Mild sedatives? Some wine or beer? 

[brookedavis215]

Well, I started ramping up my cardio workouts and yoga. That's helped ALOT. Just to sweat it out, I guess, feels really good. I take .5mg of Ativan before bed and sleep through the night. I try to stay busy and AWAY FROM WEBMD. I blocked it on my personal and work computers. No Google for this girl. Wine and beer help too, except I was skiing this weekend with my friends, drank too much, blacked out and smoked my first and only cigarette in three months. Epic fail. I was pretty disappointed in myself after everything I'd been through. Interestingly enough, though, my cough went away for a whole day. Stupid smoking. Also, and this is going to sound a little weird, but there is a really great anxiety workbook I would recommend to anyone. I have a super stressful job, work crazy hours, and up until December was in school part-time and working a second job. I quit everything but my full-time gig and decided to focus on getting healthy mentally and physically. It was a little embarassing being in the self-help section of Borders, especially after I picked up Elizabeth Edwards book and totally lost my sh*t because well, she's dead now. But, the book is great. It really helps you work through your own brain, and there is stuff in there that your family/friends can read to help you along on your way. At this point, someone could probably write an SNL skit about me.

[Uhdenied]

When you were going through back pain and all that, did you run at all? I'm a bit anxious to see what my body will feel like if I start running. I usually do bodyweight work out stuff, but I quit for a week to see if it'd help my back/ribs at all.. nope, sure didn't!

I think maybe my body is just trying to figure out how to deal with all this new stress that it isn't use to be being ridden of via smoking a nice but potentially deadly cigarette. I'd go to therapy and get xanax or something, but alas no insurance right now. Gotta love being a student, fun times.  You'd think my anxiety level wouldn't be too high about lung cancer seeing as I haven't coughed up blood in 2-3 weeks, but coughed up a toooon of other awkward looking phlegm, but nope! Still sits in the back of my mind, so strange.

I'm ready to feel normal again, that's for sure. Mid terms are coming up, I have a budding romantic relationship and I was so eager to get back in the physical shape I use to be. Now it's sitting around, occasionally studying, trying not to seem like an anxious wreck in front of her and trying to record every pain twinge/back crack that I have. =P

[brookedavis215]

Yeah, I jogged. Not full-blown running but jogging and stuff, I was fine. Actually my chest and back pain got better after I started doing more cardio. I think my muscles really wanted a workout.

You'll be ok. Pain is pain, ya know. It comes and goes, especially as we age and our body changes. I have allergies now, but I didn't when I was 18. The good news is, 9 times out of 10, our ailments are just aggravations, not life-threatening terminal diseases. If you happen to be time #10, the will to live is a hell of a drug and alot of diseases are manageable. Even cancer.

Most of my fears come from an extreme, paranoid and panicky fear of dying which sucks, because ya know, I'm going to die someday just like everyone else. The therapy is targeted towards this fear - hopefully, I'll be able to make alot of progress and stop thinking and feeling like I'm batsh*t crazy.

:)

[Uhdenied]

Well, I just jogged/ran a mile. Felt a little strange during it, but I also haven't ran (unless it was for my safety.) since I was 16. It's probably going to take a bit before I enjoy running, hahah. Definitely not my favorite way to get a workout at all.

When I had went to therapy, my therapist helped me a lot with the idea of dying and being able to accept it. I understand where you're coming from, definitely. Dying slowly is my biggest fear. I really couldn't care less if I was hit by a truck and died spontaneously this evening, but getting a diagnosis of some slowly deteriorating disease would piss me off. Plus, I hate hospitals. Just the sight of the equipment gives me anxiety, haha. 

[brookedavis215]

I am glad to hear you did OK running! :) My family has had alot of experience with lung disease and cancer, and if you had anything serious going on you wouldn't be able to run, let alone jog or walk very far. The real problem here is anxiety (especially for me!!!). I can't believe how quickly it can take over your life and the kind of damage it can cause, but it's all in your head. Crazy. I hope you are feeling better and that your pain has subsided. My girlfriend quit smoking a few years back and she started having back/chest and rib pain as well. She went to a doctor, had x-rays, the usual. Turns out, she has a "weak pelvis" and it throws her whole body out of whack. Of course, since she has just quit smoking, she thought the worst. Oh, the tangled webs we weave, eh!? Hope you are feeling better today, my friend!

[floridaguy65]

Hi U:) Well, congrats on the quiting smoking...better now, when you are young:) Being young (and not a smoker for all that long), your body is going to recover from the smoking issues quite rapidly. Feel great about that! Though, I do know you're still struggling through all the physical symptoms of quitting (this shall pass:) and this has caused an uptick in your HA. At 23, RARELY are there concerns for a sinister disease to be lurking...other than those faulty logic concerns that HA can throw at us. You said you've been able to keep your HA in check, for the most part, recently...so there is no reason to believe you can't find yourself some solace, once again. The ability to garner relief doesn't, simply, disappear. It can get shielded, though, by an onslaught of negative thought processes created by a trigger, in cases. Your trigger would be stopping smoking and the associated physical (and mental) effects from that.

You said, "I just hope all this back tenseness, ribcage pain, breathing issue nonsense is all related to my body not knowing what to do with all my stress without smoking."

With the OK, as far as health concerns, you got from the Doc, I would have to agree with your assessment. Man, stress can cause some pretty heavy duty aches and pains in our muscles, as we are tensed up, often without even being aware of it. We, also, can't discount how important our posture is, how improving our overall muscle tone will benefit our well-being, how improving our body alignment and promoting good joint care will make us, simply, feel better. Exercise is critical, IMHO, for peeps with HA to, fully, become mindful that we probably don't have a serious health issue, if we can tax our bodies through some strenuous exercise and cardio. To me, alleviating HA symptoms and thought patterns, is really aided by being as healthy as we possibly can be. There are MANY things in this world we cannot control. But, we CAN control what we put into our bods and we CAN incorporate healthy living habits and activities into our life:)

Again, congrats on the quiting smoking. You'll be glad you did (especially having HA:)

Peace and Feel Well:)

[stupidmop]

I thought quitting was suppose to make you feel better and healthier, not ridden with anxiety and back pain/rib pain/breathing pain. I quit about a month ago. I quit for two days at first, smoked then coughed up this huge phlem ball with some blood in it. Neat, right?

So I go to the doctors and tell him I coughed up blood and I had testicular pain last week. (I have two cysts on my left testicle diagnosed 2 years ago or so) so he listens to my lungs and says I'm wheezing a bit in my right lung, so let's get an X-ray. Everything looks normal, great looking heart, mostly clear lungs. Gives me some steroids to clean up my wheezing. I felt amazing for like 2 weeks. Working out bodyweight exercises and eating way more. Then my back randomly hurts. I breath in too deep? It hurts. I move a certain way, it hurts. It hurts in my back near my spine, and it also hurts right under my ribcage. Both of these sensations are on the left side.

It's exhausting. I'm only 23 years old and I have stabbing pain sensations in my back and ribcage? I've dealt with HA since I was 16, so I'm trying to not think it's C..

Oh and if I stop paying attention to it and sit up straight, my back will crack. Is that from stress on my muscles and anxiety or?

Any reply would be awesome. Just want some reassurance from someone who may expire

I smoked for a couple years.  For it's worth, my anxiety did not explode until after I quit.  So I don't think you feeling worse after stopping smoking is a big surprise.  In fact, I essentially had a mental breakdown about a year after I quit smoking.  When I went to the doctor he told me that quitting smoking can trigger a latent anxiety disorder, since your body suddenly had to deal with being off the chemicals.  Anyway, I'm sure you're fine.  Get exercise and try to enjoy life.

[Uhdenied]

Haha, thanks a lot.

I started to enjoy life quite a bit! I was getting in great shape, I was going out with friends! Now my back just hurts, all the time. It cracks all the time when I sit up straight, or bend my back towards the right. It's very strange, I'm not sure what to make of it.

Hopefully it goes away soon. I haven't taken pain relievers or anything yet. I wish I had a muscle relaxant to see if that'd help, or even xanax - but I have neither. When I'm fairly intoxicated, it goes away or maybe I just notice it less? Who knows, haha.

I smoked for. . . I think 2 years this time around? I started because of my anxiety actually, hahah. I was worrying about colon cancer. . . at the age of 21, HAHA. Then I started smoking to try to relax, it worked. Now I quit because I was tired of waking up and feeling like crap, I felt good for 2 weeks and now. . . well, you get it

[revolution724]

Good job quitting smoking!  True story, the reason I don't smoke is because of health anxiety.  At least something good comes out of it, right?

It's not unusual for a bone to make a popping noise.  I've had a pop in my big toe and my ankle for years and years.  I can make them pop at will.  I don't know why, but it doesn't hurt anything, so I don't worry about it. 

I'm sorry that your back hurts.  Back pain is really common.  It could be because of how you're sitting or sleeping, or you could be pulling something when you exercise.  Or, I have to say it, lots of people carry anxiety in their backs and develop tense muscles because of it. 

Have you tried getting a massage?

[Uhdenied]

You know, I haven't tried getting a massage yet or a chiro. Luckily, I see my girlfriend tomorrow morning and she's going to give me a massage.

I think it's definitely anxiety. I think it has a lot to do with stretching my back and expecting it to crack. If I get borderline drunk/buzzed, it stops quite a bit. It cracks nowhere near as much.

So it has to do with how tense my back muscles are and how much I'm conscious of it. It's fairly unfortunate because it's pretty hard to ignore your back cracking and reset your body's tension.

[Phazeout]

Trust me man you're not crazy.  I cut down from a 1 pack a day down to 3 cigs a day for a few months, then a week or so ago I quit cold turkey.  When I cut down I could feel more anxious and feelings of hypochondria and paranoia increased.  I began having lower back pain that radiated to my ribs and up my spine, as well as some lymph node swelling which has begun to come down as we speak.  Also I noticed bones in my back are cracking way more than often.  I am also fighting off what seems to be bronchitis, but I am also coughing up brown mucus in the mornings that's causing a sore throat which I'm told is how the body cleanses out some of the tar (which can give the same feeling as the flu).  I feel like I'm falling apart but my Dr. says the pain is pyschosomatic and I'm just out of shape.  The mind can play many tricks on you out of desperation for a cigarette, and I think that's what seems to be happening.  I too thought I may have cancer, but I have not lost weight, have not been fatigued or have any other cancer symptoms which is the only reason why I'm not really freaking out.  Also, all of this started after I began to cut down and quit.   Quitting smoking has been scary so far, but I'm hoping that my mind will relax in time and let myself get back to feeling normal.

[rissx]

Hey Phazeout, Uhdenied, and brookedavis.

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this page. I have been going through the very things you guys are talking about for the last 3 weeks. A friend I have just passed from LC. She was much older than me (I'm 28, she was 57) but since I found out about her I'm convinced that I am sick and next to go.

I have been having weird pains in my upper back for the last few weeks. sometimes it's under the left ribcage, sometimes it's the left shoulder blade, sometimes it's the right side of my chest.  I'm trying to convince myself that it's because of an heavy workout I did wrong a few weeks ago, but the woman I know being diagnosed and dying doesn't help.

See the thing is, she went to the doctor for the first time not even a month ago, to complain about not feeling well, when they discovered the tumors on her lungs and some had started growing on her spine. It didn't take more than 2-3 weeks before she died. This doesn't help my anxiety at all, and everyone I talked to (walk in clinics, emergency room, parents, friends, etc.) tell me I'm crazy.

I still am able to run on the treadmill, I've actually made improvements in my speed and endurance since I stopped smoking 20 days ago. This is the only tangible reason I'm holding out that I don't have the big LC. Reading your posts and knowing other people around my age are going through the same thing has helped tremendously. I wish you all success and good fortune in your quitting attempts and health issues