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Give and get support around quitting

Intro:)

This is extremely confusing....being brand new to the site. Seems awfully non user friendly, unless it's simply a matter of getting used to it? I'm a 'I'll figure it out as I go' type lol. Perhaps if I took the time to read instructions.  I entered a comment after setting up my new account last night.....I am in AZ, Phx / east valley area, burbs...so I'm Pac time. I see from your kind responses that most are on Eastern or Atlantic time, so 2 to 3 hour difference. Most were of course, sleeping:)). Thank you much for the thoughtful comments. I am a single, 62 yo Mother of 3 adult children, Grandmother of 7....from Utah (born in CA, raised in UT, raised my family also in UT)...my son, wife and 3 children live in LV, NV, I lived there as well, from 2000 until 2013 when my eldest daughter needed me post surgery so I came. Flying back and forth monthly wasn't sustainable indefinitely so here I am. Living in a newly constructed Townhome in AZ. I'm absolutely not a desert dweller so how I ended up here....or LV for that matter, is beyond me lol. I suppose we do many things for family never thought we'd do. I know many out there understand. Non of my children are smokers so has always been something I intended to quit. Just expected it to happen much sooner than 62 years of age....ugh.  

Im very appreciative of the input received re: symptoms I had attributed to quitting smoking after 45 years of sucking up all that gunk into my body. I thought surely the coughing fits were due to this since healing wouldn't be complete, nor overnight.

So above is a bit about me as requested by some of you....I hope it's not too far off topic, as this is a smoking cessation site and I was all over with my topics. Have to chuckle at myself sometimes. 

So the onset of these coughing fits coincided with quitting. But I smoked over 45 years. Prior to that, both parents smoked and was way before our culture even entertained the idea of 'second hand smoke'.

The coughing and runny nose, and inability to wear a bit of make up and not gave it smear due to tears, watery eyes. These things are the most bothersome.

No fever regularly, just occasionally. I blame much on a high stress level which I do see a Dr. for. I see my Primary Care doc regularly...the sleep thing is new and coincides with other things....a change in medications etc. So I guess my Q is, the coughing mostly. I cough so much it makes my voice change. I sound like an old lady.  And I'm a very vocally articulate and out spoken lady. Allergies....yes. I've never had an allergy, my entire life.....until living here. Did I mention I'm NOT a desert dweller? Lol.

Not to be graphic but, the coughing, sniffling, watery eyes....it's all clear, runny, and not a lot of phlem is produced with coughing. Some, but not enough to spit out. (How's that for not being graphic eh)? Lol. 

Again folks, I'm very grateful for the kind and thoughtful welcome I received here. Not even sure how I found it....I think I was searching for symptoms....quit smoking.....coughing, bc this cough is driving me nuts. No doubt folks think I'm either sick, OR I must be a really heavy smoker lol. Funny thing is, I never ever had a cough until I quit. 

Looking forward to reading any thoughts, and would love getting to know some of you. 

Thanks tons!

Sandra (Sandy) Only my parents called me Sandra hahaha.

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11 Replies
Jennifer-Quit
Member

Welcome to the site! It sounds more like an allergy to me that smoking/quit smoking related.  I have heard of people who develop a cough after quitting as a way to clear their lungs - but 5 months seems a little long for that to me.  Perhaps a trip to the doctor is in order.

We are actually all over the map here.  Mostly US members, but also Canadian, South African, and UK members.   Rest assured you are not alone here - depending on the time of day it may take just a little while to get a response.  

Again, welcome to the group Sandy!  You will learn how to navigate here by spending some time here and "clicking" on things to see where they take you. To read and comment on blogs, click on the home page and then click on "Read The Latest Updates".  And be sure to ask if you have any questions about the site - we were all a little lost in the beginning - but for the most part we are now finding our way around.

Tabbiekat
Member

Welcome, first off it did take me a few days of wandering on the site to find my way around too, but stubborn as I am I also chose not to read the directions so do not know how much they help..lol. From the sounds of it and from what I have experienced it does sound like allergies. Clear fluids/tears and cough. The first thing I found to work was Allegra, but that was when it was in RX form only. A few years ago before Allegra became OTC, I started taking generic Zertec daily and no more watery eyes or constant nasal drip. Oh and that constant drip will cause a horrendous cough so that is why I am thinking allergies. You might try a few OTC allergy medications and if you find one that works, great, if not get into your doctor for a check up, just keep track of what you take so the doctor will know which direction to head since the allergy medications all have different ways of stopping the cough/sniffles/watery eyes. Good luck on that and keep us updated.

Tabbie 8 DOF

Thank you!! I've seen Dr....meds I'm on don't work well with Allegra type allergy meds. So I'll continue living with it. (sure don't want to). My search and finding this site, was well, might be me hoping for good news....finding kindred souls...others who also had coughs beyond a cpl weeks post quit. I'll ask my doc what else might help w/ cough since Allegra etc is not an option. I also figured it is allergy related. Each change of seasons, but usually not this bad.

 Can make life miserable however.  And being widowed young, I'm still interested in life including a partner. I don't know how attractive coughing non stop, and sniffling /nose blowing would be if I were a man thinking about asking me out, but I guess we'll see. If nothing else, I'll know he really likes me for me if he puts up with this lol. 

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Tabbiekat
Member

Got to love the "other" medications and what they interact with. My husband is on a boat load of meds so I am cautious about that myself. If you want to try homeopathic route I would say a netti pot is good for the sinus/drip issue - it can be a bit difficult to use at first and I used youtube videos to help figure out the right angles I needed to be/have the pot at. Also, peppermint essential oil in a diffuser can help.

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Roller831
Member

I also found the site a bit confusing at first.  You may want to check out Community Help which has handy tips on helping you navigate around and posting, commenting, etc.  

Welcome to the site!  I know you will find many who have had similar experiences most of the time.  I wish I could help you out with the coughing and related icky stuff, but I didn't have much of a cough even when I quit (after smoking for 35 years).  I was a lucky one.

I look forward to seeing you around more and getting to know you!

Roller 126 DOF

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YoungAtHeart
Member

I had a friend who moved from Maryland to Arizona.  She had never had allergies until she moved THERE! We both had thought people went there to get rid of them.  Obviously the Chamber of Commerce was spreading false rumors!!!!

 Have you also tried the nasal sprays like Nasacort and Flonaise?  I would have your doctor check it out, though. 

Glad you are here.  Just keep selecting stuff and see where you end up!  We migrated here from a site using different software, and it did take some getting used to!

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Sootie
Member

Hello----always glad to have a new quitter join us! Don't worry about being off topic or too graphic....we're pretty relaxed around here and share a lot of things. The site does take some getting used to....but you are fine. Just post right here as you did with this blog and everyone will see it. As MANY will tell you on here....I am technologically challenged and I manage : )

Welcome to EX------we are all here for each other.

Stay Strong.

elvan
Member

Welcome, Sandy and thanks for sharing some things about yourself.  I lived in Tempe, AZ when my husband was in college, I am a retired RN.  Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever talked about Valley Fever aka coccidioidomycosis?  It's probably a long shot but I worked for an ENT when I was there and he used to test for that when patients came in with pretty similar symptoms to yours.  I think you are either suffering from allergies or that you are sick and you need to be diagnosed by a doctor.  I am not in any position to make a diagnosis but a light went off in my head when I read your symptoms.  I am 68, I quit smoking when I was 64 after smoking for 47 years...I did major damage to my lungs and now I have to deal with it.  

Getting used to the site takes some time...I am a try to figure it out myself kind of person too...it has taken me a while to get used to this but it is worth it and the people here are loving and supportive and will tell you that education is crucial in our recovery from this addiction.  It IS an addiction and not just a habit, I am impressed that you have done so well with your quit all alone or am I just guessing that?  I am on the east coast, living in VA and usually not up so late but I saw your blog from last night and responded to that and wanted to follow up and then I found THIS one, thanks to you.  If you ever want to find a blog or something that someone has written, you can click on the person's avatar and check their activity, that is how I found this blog after you mentioned it in your comments on the other one.

Again, welcome to EX, we are here to help,

Ellen

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Bree19
Member

Hey there Sandy.  Welcome to the site.  stillsassy1_lv

I’m one of the South Africans on here.  Also discovered the site by accident in January this year and haven’t looked back.  I’ve been quit now nearly 8 months much to my surprise.  I only wanted to quit because I was having knee surgery in April and somehow, with the support of the amazingly stunning people on here, I stayed quit!  Not One Puff Ever since 27 Feb.  Don’t want to.  Have very few cravings.  Been taught how to deal with the cravings if they come, but I’m SO VERY lucky and a really happy quitter. 

 

I have no idea what goes on around all the different places on the site.  I can blog, comment, reply, like and send private messages.  

 

I have lost so many blogs while typing – not concentrating – and lost entire conversations.  I know there’s a way of getting them back but now I type what I want to say in Word and when done, I copy and paste it here.  If I lose it, it’s still in Word.

 

Going off-topic is what I’m known for and talking too much is also a hobby of mine.   So chat away.  No one ever minds.  We like knowing as much as possible about all our buddies here or as much as they’re prepared to share with us.  I over-share and then I go into hiding for a while wondering where my filter is between brain and fingers.

 

About all the “liquid” in your face – I had a similar experience one month ago.  Apart from just streaming from eyes and nose, I sneezed – sometimes over 60 times in one episode.  I thought my heart was going to stop from all the sneezing.  And clear dripping water.  No coughing though.  But I also never coughed when I smoked (doing it wrong??), and I didn’t cough when I quit – so go figure.

 

So what I actually meant to say was: Hey there Sandy.  Welcome to the site.   

Blessings

Bree