213 days off methadone and lungs are still weak

[weaver71]

I have had mucus in my lungs since I quit methadone. I went to the doctor and even had x-rays of my chest. There's no reason, according to the doctor, that my lungs are filling with mucus. He said it's likely an over-reaction of my immune system. I did have respiratory arrest and chronic breathing issues while using methadone. I used an inhaler for a couple weeks and my lungs cleared up, but once the inhaler was gone, my issues continue. Any suggestions on what I could do to strengthen my lungs? Has anyone heard of these symptoms being caused by methadone after 7 months clean time?

[jstbelieve]

Greetings
I have had one kind or another pill for chonic pain, I am glad I did read this I was getting concerned about my breathing an weezing...

[selfinduced]

Hey Weaver, Just sending you big hugs and a solution to this issue. I don't have answers, but know you'll get them. Keep digging. Don't settle for a diagnosis that you don't feel solid in. Your lung may have very well taken a hit with all your past use, but doesn't mean it is not irreparable . Question authority and keep at it. xx

[weaver71]

I took an OTC decongestant/expectorant for 2 days and it helped for now, I'll have to wait for some money for the doctor. It's weird, I feel okay, I just can't get my lungs clear. I think gnarly is right, it takes a long time for methadone effects to fade completely. I've heard of people not feeling 100% for up to 2 yrs. I was taking a lot and not on a regular basis. I'm not freaked out or anything, I just want to be as healthy as I can. It's about time I took better care of myself.

Thanks for asking Connie, I'll keep you all posted. I'm realizing that a lot of people suffer lung issues for a long time after detox. Another thing I'm learning about to be even more of service in the future. Always something to look forward to.

[conhall]

How are you feeling? Any Improvements?
Any luck with a doctors appt?
All these questions I know :)
Just wanted to check on you and let you know I am thinking of you and always Pulling for you!
:)

[killerzoey]

Hi Weaver

Let us know what happens, please. I was just sitting down to Google respiratory issues with Tramadol, as before I quit I spent most of a month very sick with pneumonia and bronchitis and "reactive airways" (asthma). I've never been prone to respiratory problems, and never had asthma, though sadly my daughter does.

After I didn't sound clear at my first or second follow up visit, my doctor scheduled yet another a follow-up visit in a few weeks, where he's hoping to give me a clean bill of health. It worried me that he is worried. He said "You shouldn't be getting pneumonia at your age." I have wondered if the Tramadol had anything to do with it. Since I quit two weeks ago (though I have taken a low amount of hydro to stagger the withdrawals) my lungs have totally cleared up, I believe. I can no longer make them crackle by breathing out all the way, and they just feel so much better. It could be unrelated, but reading your post makes me all the more suspicious.

For what it's worth, I remember learning that if you are hospitalized with pneumonia sometimes they come around and make you do lung tricks to try to clear them. One is having you take a deep breath and blow hard and fast into a mouth piece (like the one they use to measure lung function) to try to get you to blow a certain percent. I think that's called "incentive spirometry". So while you wait to get seen you might try recreating that exercise at home? My dr also told me that hot, steamy showers where you breathe deeply, with lung percussion (patting back or chest hard over and over) will help break up the secretions so that you can try to cough them up.

Also I started taking Mucinex to thin the secretions.

Good luck to you getting your lungs clear. Please share what the doctor says :)

[weaver71]

Thanks again everyone, I'll go see another doctor. I have to drive out of the mountains to get to any kind of specialist, so it's always a last thought. I think it's probably just the high dose, long term methadone use, but I would feel better if I knew for sure. I haven't been able to overcome it with herbs and nutrition, so it's time I look deeper into this.