how long does your lungs take to clear after quitting smoking , i,ve smoked for 39 years whats my chance?

Answer 1

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I smoked from the time I was 11 to about the age of 37....I quit a week before my birthday in 97 and am still feeling like it isn't quite out of my system yet.....I think it depends on your lung capacity and other things, (like where you live), to determine the time frame.

Answer 2

What you'll hear from a pulmonologist (lung doc) and if you're too late, an oncologist (cancer doc) is that in the short run the damage from smoking can be turned around. Unfortunately, you've been doin git for a long time. I'll bet my bottom dollor that you have emphysema or some other form of COPD that is keeping your lungs from filling and emptying air. You just cant' smoke that long without getting it. After 20-25 years of smoking things won't reverse, only get worse from then on. I'm sorry to have to tell you that but that's the deal right now for you. I just lost my Dad last year to complications of that. He was 76 then. He had quit smoking 25 years prior but smoked for 30 years before that.

Probably not what you wanted to hear. Jeff the nurse in Nashville.

Answer 3

Natural Quit Smoking Magic

Answer 4

You should stop smoking as soon as possible, However, a lot of damage is already done after 39 years. They will not clear, but you cannot do more damage. Your lungs appreciate the chance to work for you. Just curious as to why your are thinking about stopping now?

Answer 5

I've smoked a pack a day of low nicotine filtered cigarettes for 40 yrs. Been Cold turkey for over a month. Spitting up a lot o mucus, however starting to feel better. I'm 75 & in good shape physically . How long will it take to get rid of the mucus?

Answer 6

Well... the truth is after you start smoking your lungs will never rejuvinate themselves to those as if you weren't smoking. There isn't a certain time in which your lungs will clear.. it will, however, gradually clear more and more after time. You've made the right decision, though!

Answer 7

You may develop a 'chesty' cough after a few weeks because the cilia in the passages recover and start to move stuff out of the lungs. This is a good sign, but may not seem like it for a while.

Stick with it and you'll be able to do twice the exercise, like cycling and walking, that you used to.

Answer 8

Hello Jack s I do not know how long it takes for lungs to clear, but I can tell you that I used to smoke up to 60 cigs a day , I gave up cold turkey some 37 years ago , I'm almost 66 and I'm still here...............................the main thing is that you have given up........now enjoy every next day of the rest of your life which I hope will now be a long and healthy future.................good luck to you and your family

Answer 9

it depends on how long you smoked, and what kind of cigarettes you smoked. I have heard it takes 1 month for 1 cigarette to be cleansed from the body. Coughing up crud is normal, it usually means you were smoking some hardcore cigs, like Marlboros or Camels, and that you were a multiple pack/day user. Dont worry, eventually it will get better, but most of the tar with stay with you for your lifetime. But quitting is ultimately the best thing to do, so good for you. Dont fall off the wagon. Take it one day at a time.

Answer 10

Hi I gave up smoking after 28 years., i went to the doctors after a year and a half my doctor sent me to the hospital for a chest x-ray and my lungs were clear from all toxins,he also classed me as a non-smoker,so it would take your lungs about 2 years to be clear, good luck it will be worth it..ps work out how much you have spent over the years on fags and that will help you give up for good. (my total ciggie money was £45000.00. yes fourty five thousand pounds enough to buy a holiday house abroad,now that IS sickening)