kuenjato Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 A question to those of you who may have experienced this in some way... I just turned 40 and quit smoking three weeks ago. I was always a 'light' smoker, 2-4 a day, always after 8 at night. Right after I quit smoking, I became sick - strange body aches, general feeling of unwellness. It let up after 4 days; I went to the doctor as it was abating and he said it was probably a viral infection, and that I was starting to develop a cold. The cold lasted another 4 days. For about a day I felt almost normal, then was hit with more sickness - I went to the wellness clinic and the lady thought I might be developing bronchitis and prescribed a z-pak antibiotic. The next 5 days were hell - nausea, aches, low energy - and I've been coming out of it this week, slowly. Felt better last two days, feeling rather nasty again today. Lost 6-7 pounds. Another abnormality I've been dealing with since last summer are specific aches in my wrists and forearms. I went to a massage therapist and he thought it was tendonitis stemming from 20+ years on the computer. I saw him for three months, and the work he did was very helpful. I can now 'rub out' any tendon strain I receive from bouts on the computer. However, one re-occuring condition is in my hands - the palms are red and the circulation blotchy. They sometimes feel 'heavy.' Since I became sick three weeks ago, they have been 'hot', sometimes almost burning hot in concentrated areas (rim of the palms), and moving around from one day to the next (left hand one day, right hand the next). Like any kind of concerned idiot, I went on the internet to 'diagnose' myself and was immediately hit with liver disease, type II diabetes, Rheumatoid arthritis, etc. This freaked me out and made the next two weeks really, really stressful as I waited to 'get well' and do the metabolic blood test panel the doctor subscribed. He told me to wait until I was well... I eventually took it while in the peak of the 'third wave' of sickness and taking the antibiotics. Everything showed up normal, with the exception of the thyroid, which was a little higher than what is expected; due to the fact that I was pretty sick when the blood panel occurred, the doctor had me take a specific thyroid test and it came back normal. Everything else indicates good heath - normal blood pressure, heart rate, glucose levels, liver enzymes, etc. I am still feeling the 'hot' sensation (though much reduced) in my hands. The internet offers a thousand a one 'explanations'. I should note there are really nasty viruses hitting the area i live in (and I work in a school - at least 50% of my kids have had some sort of sickness in the past 3 weeks) and they are taking 3-4 weeks to clear up. I realize this is a laundry list of stuff to read through -- my question is, should I seek a second opinion? Should I wait a week and see if it clears up? The blotchy hands has been around for 6 months but come and go and it might be attributed to 10 years of light smoking... The doctor I saw doesn't seem to think this is of much concern, and told me to schedule an appointment in a month or so if I don't feel better. Or am I just worrying too much from nicotine withdrawal? ... ugh. I know there are a bunch of ex-smokers on this board. Has anyone else dealt with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelticgar Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I only smoked through college and quit right after. I remember it being tough but I don't recall any real physical issues. I have to imagine your body is adjusting and you will feel some discomfort. I'm sure each person has their own individual reactions that vary due to their tolerance to nicotine withdrawals. I dont think it can hurt to either go back to your doctor or seek out a second opinion. The big issue I see with your situation is that you have described a bunch of varying symptoms that dont clearly tie together. It might be just a mix of seasonal illness and the tendonitis stuff might be totally separate. My worst case scenario diagnosis is Lyme Disease but i think everything is lyme disease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuenjato Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Thanks for the feedback. I know I'm experiencing mild depression from being off the smokes, and the sickness & strange physical phenomenon have only contributed to it. Being sick for two weeks straight did make the withdrawal much easier to get through, this time around. The doctor thought I might have contacted Lyme or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, though the hand/palm condition doesn't seem as much a rash as it does poor circulation (which might be all it is). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 I quit smoking in 2014 after about 15 years of heavy smoking. I definitely felt like shit for a while, and also experienced a near crippling depression for several weeks which I later found out was typical. The body withdraws from nicotine within a really short time, maybe 8 hours or so, but withdrawing mentally from the lifestyle takes much longer and is the actual hard part of quitting. I started to notice my body feeling worse soon after I quit. Part of it was that simply clearing the lungs of smoke and the body of nicotine lifts the mask off everything else. I'd assumed I was just suffering from seasonal allergies for years but being able to breathe deeply revealed that there were other immune system issues going on. I had mild joint aches for a long time, but being able to be more active for longer at one time caused those mild aches to turn into blinding pain. So quitting probably isn't going to cause an illness. The recovery from smoking may be revealing more serious issues that you already had. In my case, it turned out that i'd been living with MS for probably many years and all of my symptoms seemed almost muted because the damage from smoking was greater or the symptoms were attributed specifically to smoking. I'm not suggesting that you definitely have a serious illness or anything, just that you probably aren't a hypochondriac. Smoking can mask A LOT and you're able to notice more about your body. It's like when you go on a diet, you start to notice how your body exists without x food. You know your body and if you think something is wrong, I'd definitely suggest a second opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aemon Stark Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 On February 20, 2016 at 4:55 PM, kuenjato said: I am still feeling the 'hot' sensation (though much reduced) in my hands. The internet offers a thousand a one 'explanations'. I should note there are really nasty viruses hitting the area i live in (and I work in a school - at least 50% of my kids have had some sort of sickness in the past 3 weeks) and they are taking 3-4 weeks to clear up. I realize this is a laundry list of stuff to read through -- my question is, should I seek a second opinion? Should I wait a week and see if it clears up? The blotchy hands has been around for 6 months but come and go and it might be attributed to 10 years of light smoking... The doctor I saw doesn't seem to think this is of much concern, and told me to schedule an appointment in a month or so if I don't feel better. Or am I just worrying too much from nicotine withdrawal? ... ugh. I know there are a bunch of ex-smokers on this board. Has anyone else dealt with this? Very hard to make sense of what you've been experiencing with your hands. It does sound like you've been worked up adequately, though I'd certainly encourage you to keep that follow-up appointment. A "second opinion" sounds a bit premature as your doctor is already following this. The earlier experiences could have been nicotine withdrawal. Congrats on quitting either way!! On February 21, 2016 at 6:09 PM, zelticgar said: I dont think it can hurt to either go back to your doctor or seek out a second opinion. The big issue I see with your situation is that you have described a bunch of varying symptoms that dont clearly tie together. It might be just a mix of seasonal illness and the tendonitis stuff might be totally separate. My worst case scenario diagnosis is Lyme Disease but i think everything is lyme disease This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuenjato Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 21 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said: I quit smoking in 2014 after about 15 years of heavy smoking. I definitely felt like shit for a while, and also experienced a near crippling depression for several weeks which I later found out was typical. The body withdraws from nicotine within a really short time, maybe 8 hours or so, but withdrawing mentally from the lifestyle takes much longer and is the actual hard part of quitting. I started to notice my body feeling worse soon after I quit. Part of it was that simply clearing the lungs of smoke and the body of nicotine lifts the mask off everything else. I'd assumed I was just suffering from seasonal allergies for years but being able to breathe deeply revealed that there were other immune system issues going on. I had mild joint aches for a long time, but being able to be more active for longer at one time caused those mild aches to turn into blinding pain. So quitting probably isn't going to cause an illness. The recovery from smoking may be revealing more serious issues that you already had. In my case, it turned out that i'd been living with MS for probably many years and all of my symptoms seemed almost muted because the damage from smoking was greater or the symptoms were attributed specifically to smoking. I'm not suggesting that you definitely have a serious illness or anything, just that you probably aren't a hypochondriac. Smoking can mask A LOT and you're able to notice more about your body. It's like when you go on a diet, you start to notice how your body exists without x food. You know your body and if you think something is wrong, I'd definitely suggest a second opinion. Withdrawal from the nicotine is pretty easy compared to the withdrawal emotionally... I used smoking to curb depression spells and have been experiencing little moments of these as the weeks crawl on. I think some of my issues are the body flushing out the various toxins that have built up over the years. I have scheduled another visit with a different doctor, as I've learned my symptoms could stem from Vitamin b-12 deficiency, hormone imbalance, and a few other things. Edit: I've also scheduled an appointment with an Orthopedic to discuss the tendonitis, as that could be part of the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 A speculative diagnosis of "a virus" is pretty much code for "I've got no bloody clue, and the standard diagnostic tests are aren't giving us any useful information." You hands sound like an inflammatory condition, which is really just a symptom, not a cause. Pain, redness, heat and swelling are characteristics of inflamation. Causes of inflammation are: infection; allergy; auto-immune conditions, toxins. Hormonal conditions don't cause inflammation directly, though they can lead to conditions that allow the causes of inflammation to occur. It seems like the doctor has only ruled out the one thing that won't cause the inflammation in your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aemon Stark Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 There's very little in what's been said so far that points specifically to anything inflammatory. It's impossible to say really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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