Can you get 'withdrawal' symptoms when stopping smoking?

[TheInvisibleManDidIt]

Bit of background: Dh has had a bug recently with a chesty cough. He also has mild asthma, although he refuses to admit it (has inhalers from dr but he doesn't have asthma ), which always gets worse when he's not well, but because of the chestly cough it seems to have gotten quite a bit worse in past week. He went to dr's and was given steroid tablets to take every day for a week.

He normally smokes around 15 a day, and has smoked for about 20 years (he's 38). Because of all the chest/ breathing problems he didn't smoke for a couple of days.(He's done this before if he's been ill) He has been talking about stoppping for years now, but has never really tried.

His breathing had improved a bit, and 2 days ago he was going to shops for fags, I told him he'd done really well, and why doesn't he try and keep it up. It's now been 4 days since he's had a cigarette, and since yesterday he's been really ill again.

He's complaining he's freezing, shaking, he's having bad breathing problems again, says he hurts all over. He's very moody (though this has been for the past 5 days or so), really tired but can't sleep.

Could this be the steroids he's on? Or can you get withdrawal from stoppng smoking? I'm getting quite worried about him. Last night he went to bed before me and the starting yelling for me as he was so cold and shaking so much.

Sorry for long post.

[ashamedtoadmit]

Nicotine is a highly addictice substance and symptoms such as irritability and insomnia would be quite usual (judging it by my Dp and DM for years and years of trying to give up!)

However the feeling freezing and shaking, with breathing problems sounds like a chest infection to me, which need treatment if your Dh is asthmatic.

Suggest nicotine replacement therapy too, really improves chances of quitting and should relieve the worst of the withdrawrals.

Hope he gives up this time!

[undercovercat]

www.whyquit.com will list all of these nastys. Perfectly normal and IT DOES get better. Well Done your dh

[NappiesGalore]

yeah, i had a bit of a rough time giving up too iirc. and about a month of coughing up and unbelievable amount of snot, or whatever it was.

[kd73]

I remember quitting a few years ago and I felt rough and picked up every infection for sometime afterwards, someone told me it was the bodies way of cleansing itself

[TheInvisibleManDidIt]

thanks.

Will get him back up the dr's tomorrow.

He's been saying he'll stop since I fell pregnant with ds1, who's 8 1/2 now, so I hope he manages this time.

[undercovercat]

PLEASE do not let the doctor give him any nicotine replacement things. The nicotine will have gone now and now its just a mental fight.
Using nicotine replacement would be like him having a fag all over again.

[kd73]

I agree, please don't use the patches - if he has managed 3+ days, he has done amazing.

I perhaps should say that when quitting years ago on will power alone, I did start again. But I finally quit last year with the help of the Paul Mckenna cd. I listened to it morning and night for 21 days on MP3 on very low sound as I went to sleep and woke up. I am now one of those annoying people who can't bear the smell of cigarettes and can't honestly see me smoking again!

[TheInvisibleManDidIt]

Thanks all.

KD73, I'm an ex-smoker too, quit as soon as I found out I was pg with ds1. I only smoked 3-5 a day so it really wasn't hard for me, but I really hate the smell of cigarettes. Would never smoke again. Good idea about the cd, maybe that would help him.

Came in from work tonight to find dh under a blanket on the sofa shivering and hardly able to put 2 words together.I'm getting really worried..he can be a complete pita normally if he's not well, but this isn't just man flu.

He seems quite determined that he's off them for good so fingers crossed.

[undercovercat]

If he ever talks of having a fag remind him of how ill he was when he quit and he would have to go through all that again.
If hes computer literate ask him to have a read of whyquit.com, the forums, he will see posts from people who have been feeling JUST like him and it will make him feel less mad

[BlaDeBla]

I think it's a real shock to the body to have all that oxygen available! I felt a bit as though my head was in a spin when I first stopped