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What Causes Difficulty Breathing After Smoking Marijuana?
Hi
I am a long time marijuana smoker. I smoke about 2 grams a day and have for about 6 or 7 years. About two years ago, I ignored a chest infection and continued smoking until it got to the point that I couldnt talk, or walk across a small room, without drastically losing my breath. I had a round of steroids and two puffers and quit smoking for a month and everything went back to normal. Since then, occasionally, particularly after smoking certain types of strong weed (or something like hashish) or smoking somewhere very cold, I feel like my airway restricts and I have an extremely hard time breathing, especially when laying down, making it almost impossible to get some sleep. Expectorants seem to help a little bit but not nearly enough. If I take a day off from smoking, it clears up and I'm fine for another while. How concerned should I be?
I am a long time marijuana smoker. I smoke about 2 grams a day and have for about 6 or 7 years. About two years ago, I ignored a chest infection and continued smoking until it got to the point that I couldnt talk, or walk across a small room, without drastically losing my breath. I had a round of steroids and two puffers and quit smoking for a month and everything went back to normal. Since then, occasionally, particularly after smoking certain types of strong weed (or something like hashish) or smoking somewhere very cold, I feel like my airway restricts and I have an extremely hard time breathing, especially when laying down, making it almost impossible to get some sleep. Expectorants seem to help a little bit but not nearly enough. If I take a day off from smoking, it clears up and I'm fine for another while. How concerned should I be?
Tue, 18 Aug 2015
Thanks for your question.
Marijuana has been in the news a lot recently because it has been legalized in a few states for recreational use. I'd like to point out that just because something is legal does not mean that it's good for you. Smoking anything, whether it be tobacco or marijuana, injures the lungs, and smoking enough can lead to serious complications such as COPD, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases your vulnerability to infection, and makes infections worse when you have them (as you likely experienced). Furthermore, marijuana is notorious for activating cough reflexes, which is often worse in cold weather.
In short, if you want to optimize your lung health, I recommend you stop smoking marijuana. It sounds like it is beginning to have long-term negative effects on your health.
Hope this helps.
Dr. Sheppe
Marijuana has been in the news a lot recently because it has been legalized in a few states for recreational use. I'd like to point out that just because something is legal does not mean that it's good for you. Smoking anything, whether it be tobacco or marijuana, injures the lungs, and smoking enough can lead to serious complications such as COPD, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases your vulnerability to infection, and makes infections worse when you have them (as you likely experienced). Furthermore, marijuana is notorious for activating cough reflexes, which is often worse in cold weather.
In short, if you want to optimize your lung health, I recommend you stop smoking marijuana. It sounds like it is beginning to have long-term negative effects on your health.
Hope this helps.
Dr. Sheppe
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