{"id":9675,"date":"2025-01-27T21:21:06","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T21:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=9675"},"modified":"2025-01-27T21:21:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T21:21:06","slug":"what-is-smokers-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/what-is-smokers-flu\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Smoker\u2019s Flu?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9676 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2177635053-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Smoker\u2019s flu is a term used to describe the set of symptoms people can develop when they stop smoking tobacco. It is the direct result of nicotine withdrawal, which causes cold and flu-like symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>About 80-90% of people who smoke have a nicotine addiction and may experience some form of withdrawal after they quit. Symptoms are worse if the person quits cold turkey, however, most symptoms tend to subside within two weeks. Symptoms of smoker\u2019s flu include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Coughing<\/li>\n<li>Sore throat<\/li>\n<li>Sneezing<\/li>\n<li>Chest tightness<\/li>\n<li>Body aches<\/li>\n<li>Headache<\/li>\n<li>Fatigue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Smoker\u2019s flu can occur on its own, but it is more likely to accompany classic physical and mental symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Slowed heart rate<\/li>\n<li>Upset stomach<\/li>\n<li>Constipation<\/li>\n<li>Gas and bloating<\/li>\n<li>Diarrhea<\/li>\n<li>Increased hunger<\/li>\n<li>Anxiety<\/li>\n<li>Depression<\/li>\n<li>Apathy or general unhappiness<\/li>\n<li>Irritability<\/li>\n<li>Difficulty concentrating<\/li>\n<li>Nicotine craving<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One study showed that 61.1% of smokers who quit experience symptoms of nicotine withdrawal when they stop. Some symptoms, especially affective ones like anxiety, can start as early as four hours after their last cigarette. Smoker\u2019s flu can be unpleasant, but it isn\u2019t dangerous. Unlike withdrawal from alcohol or opioid drugs, nicotine withdrawal won\u2019t cause harm to your health.<\/p>\n<p>Smoker\u2019s flu is not a diagnosis and there are no specific guidelines on treatment, however, its symptoms will resolve over time. Until they do, several things can help manage the symptoms of smoker\u2019s flu, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Treating the cough<\/li>\n<li>Using over-the-counter pain relievers<\/li>\n<li>Exercising<\/li>\n<li>Practicing mind-body therapies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Nicotine replacement therapy can also help ease or prevent nicotine withdrawal symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>Flushing Hospital Medical Center provides extensive assistance for people who want to quit smoking. It offers a free smoking cessation support group and one-on-one sessions, both in person and by phone. For more information, please call 718-206-8494.<\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page.   You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter.<strong>  PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.<\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smoker\u2019s flu is a term used to describe the set of symptoms people can develop when they stop smoking tobacco. It is the direct result of nicotine withdrawal, which causes cold and flu-like symptoms. About 80-90% of people who smoke &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/what-is-smokers-flu\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1,510,14,15,4],"tags":[127,432,2350],"class_list":["post-9675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-health","category-health","category-lifestyle","category-mens-health","category-smoking","category-womens-health","tag-smoking-2","tag-smokingcessation","tag-smokers-flu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9675"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9677,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9675\/revisions\/9677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flushinghospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}