A Medical Mystery
I’m so proud of my friend who’s kicking the habit even though her husband continues to smoke around her. I received this email from her this morning:
Hi Sue,
So, now that I’ve quit smoking for 4 weeks this Sunday, I was diagnosed yesterday with bacterial infection of the bronchial tube or bronchitis. Which by the way, feels like I’ve swallowed a golf ball and it’s stuck at the base of my neck right behind my larynx. It feels really creepy and it’s a ball of infection at the top of my bronchial tube, caused by nasal drainage, AND it is seen regularly in people who recently quit smoking. It has something to do with the bronchial hairs and whatever else (I have to do some research this morning), but in any case it is quite uncomfortable and I’m now on Z-pack to get rid of it. The doctor says it’s really commonly diagnosed in those who have quit for just a few weeks, especially if they have allergies and/or catch a bad cold.
Nice. Although I had convinced myself it was something more serious, because I really don’t have any accompanying symptoms. So therefore I was thinking thyroid, tumor, or some horrible thing that would have to be surgically removed. I’ve had this blockage issue for about 3 weeks since I had a bad cold and I was afraid to go in for fear of really bad news.
The point of the story is that the doctor said a very high percentage of people can expect to get a sinus/bronchial/lung illness a few weeks after smoking cessation….who knew?
P.S. Mike never even gets a sniffle.
I thought this was a strange symptom of smoking cessation so I thought I’d look for more information. It was tough to track down, but the extensive Copenhagen City Heart Study and another study of 125 people with asthma both found asthmatics who experienced bronchial symptoms when they quit smoking. One researcher hypothesized that these symptoms were the result of nicotine’s impact on the immune system.
My hypothesis is that second-hand smoke is the cause of her illness.
Nonetheless, the infection my friend has will be temporary. The positive health impact of quitting will be gigantic and last the rest of her life.
