4 Years & Continuous Progress - How Are Your Lungs ???

[Cristóbal]

In the first year after quitting smoking, I thought that my lungs would clean themselves quickly, and then the progress would be much more slower and not noticeable at all.

 

Now, I am close to 4 years in my quit and they continue to clean themselves....several times a week, the brown/gray garbage continues to come out, this has been consistent ever since I quit !!!

 

I cannot deny that it is wonderful to see this old garbage leaving my body (I smoked for about 30 years). Every little bit of brown/gray that leaves my body, represents to me great progress.

 

This progress has been wonderful - every year I can breathe much better than the year before.

 

This question is really for quitters that have at least several months in their quits or more......what have your experiences been with this ???

 

 

Cristóbal

 

 

 

 

[bakon]

Not a cough. Nothing. I used to cough daily especially in morning. I quit and next day cough quit. I expected something but it never happened. Also a 30 year idiot

[Sunnyside]

My cough has gone, I use to cough daily. In fact some people knew me by my cough!!

 

I have taken up running again. I've been doing the 5k app. As I have been progressing through, I can feel and taste the gunk coming out of my lung. It's disgusting but great at the same time.

[Doreensfree]

I had to do that little clearing of the throat before I could talk.. My food felt like it was sticking,and I had to cough to free it..my poor lungs...started smoking at the tender age of eleven..quit at the great age of sixty two..

My lungs have never felt so good...I love this smoke free me...and am so thankfully I'm still alive to write this..

Millions havn,t been ..

[Runfree]

I have an occasional cough but the bad cough is gone.  Sometimes when I cough, it's pretty clear I was a smoker; other times not so much.

[El Bandito]

I don't cough any more.

 

I rarely get colds.

 

:D

[Boo]

I haven't had a cough since I quit.  Really didn't cough much when I was smoking, with the exception of those first few drags of the day that inevitably set off a hacking spell.  I did however "clear my throat" many times throughout the day.  And when I would lay down, I started to notice weird little whistling and clicking noises with each deep breath.

 

I make fewer weird noises now, and I count that as a win.

[Sazerac]

Quit after 40 + years of smoking, upon quitting I was immediately relieved of coughing, spluttering, heaviness,  breathlessness.   No more 'bronchitis', rarely a cold.

[Sirius]

Still cough but not nearly as much as I used to.  After thirty years of abuse I wasn't expecting a 100% recovery.  Still, I'll take what I can get.

[Cristóbal]

I also stopped coughing the first day. I never had a strong cough, but every morning it was there.

 

What is amazing to me, is that the garbage continues to leave my body in a visible manner at almost 4 years in my quit.

 

This shows, how much damage I was doing to myself for the time I smoked....and also makes clear to me, that it will require much more time to repair it.

 

 

Cristóbal

[MarylandQuitter]

For two days I coughed up some nasty, nasty gunk about two weeks after I quit.  Like Stu, I rarely get colds anymore.

[sgt.barney]

Haven't even been sick in almost 5 years. Not once.

 

Chronic cough/bronchitis were a regular occurrance. Used to spend 6 months of the year coughing and hacking phlegm all day

 

Not once in years.

 

BONUS: Spring pollen allergies up and disappeared, too. Who knew?

 

 

 

Easy Peasy

[jillar]

I was looking for one post when i came across this one and wanted to comment for anyone still thinking about quitting but haven't because this is one of the first advantages you'll see upon quitting.

I smoked for 35 years and coughed and had to clear my throat constantly. In addition to that, I got sick 2-4 times a year. Any chest cold turned into bronchitis and a Dr visit.

Since quitting, my cough was gone within two days. I did still have to clear my throat but not by coughing anymore. I've had two colds. The first about 6 months quit and instead of being down for 7-10 days, I was up and around in just a few days. The second cold was in early March of this year and was the same. Super light and quick recovery. 

You know, if it wasn't for threads like this, I would forget some of these awesome benefits of quitting. 

[Cristóbal]

Hi Jillar,

 

Thank you for bumping this, I had forgotten about this post.

 

I would like to update my original post, now that 2 years have passed.

 

 

Now I cannot remember the last time I expelled any brown/gray garbage from my lungs. This has stopped completely, and I did not even realize this until right how. Also, I rarely get sick now as I did when I was a smoker, and when I do it is much less severe. If I compare how I breathe now with how I breathed 6 years ago when I quit smoking, there is a enormous difference !!!

 

When we smoke, we are constantly putting our fingers on things and then touching our lips and putting into our mouths the wet cigarette in our fingers. This is a big reason why smokers get sick so often, we continued to put virus in our mouths with each cigarette and we did not even realize it.

 

 

Cristóbal

Edited July 23, 2018 by Cristóbal

[Rozuki]

I smoked 40+ years and never had a cough until that last year just before I quit! Lots of clear phlegm was coming up along w what looked like tiny bubbles every morning...yuck!  I was pretty fit as I walked several miles every day for the last 30 years along w several scuba diving trips each year,  and also doing all my own yard work and housework.

 

I have been quit for 17 months now...the cough stopped the day I quit and so did the phlegm coming up....I have not had a cold or bronchitis in all this time, the pulmonologist said I was early stage COPD but felt all I had to do was quit smoking, as my lungs were in pretty good shape (I had been going for scans for prior 3 years and there were no changes). In the last 1 1/2 years, I survived a stroke with no deficits and a triple-bypass. I consider myself extremely lucky I quit when I did.....

[JimHannoonen]

I used to cough and clear my throat all the time and I would wheeze when I lay in bed. I smoked a pack a day for almost 30 years.

 

Now the only time I cough is when I'm choking on food or my allergies are acting up.  No more constant throat clearing or wheezing.

 

Never really coughed up a lot of brown goo or anything.

[Whispers]

I woke up every am and 10-15 minutes to just clear my lungs, i also remember laughing would turn into a coughing/choking fest. My cough and all issues are now far behind me, i exercise daily and just recently have been playing full court basketball games(not bad for pushing 50). As far as my health, quitting smoking was the best thing i ever did for myself. You really do take your life back and it's awesome !!