Will your immune system drop when you quit smoking?

The same thing is happening to me. I've gotten sick more times in the past months than I have in the past few years combined. Ugh. I think that, mainly, your body is so focused on repairing the damage done by smoking--and that has to be TON of damage when you consider all that's in a cigarette--that your immune system just doesn't have the resources to fight off other illnesses for now. I've heard people talk about this happening, and many have said that after the year mark, things get MUCH better, that they feel better than they ever did, but that it took a while. It seems odd: shouldn't you be LESS prone to sickness after quitting? But when you consider 1. What's in cigarettes, 2. How often/how long you smoked (Many times a day for years), 3. What harm cigarettes can do to you and then 4. What suddenly taking away something you did multiple times a day can do to you--it makes sense that it would so thoroughly throw things out of whack and take a while for your body to essentially re-balance and recalibrate itself. (Although it's a HUGE pain in the butt and I wish there was more out there about this. Most of the articles about quitting smoking focus only on the first few days when things are most intense).

Tell him to hang in there, and that it gets worse before it gets better. (You hang in there, too.)

However, I'd suggest he see a doctor--or at least phone a nurse--just to set his mind (and yours!) at ease.