Best of luck hanszyme!

I smoked tobacco for about 5 years, and stopped about a year and a half ago. It is actually wonderful to be tobacco-free! I'm so glad I did it, every time I come across smokers indulging in their habit, rather than being tempted I'm more disgusted than anything else.

Back while I was smoking, just before I stopped, I had reached a point where I would chain-smoke 12 or 15 cigarettes in a row before bed. I would always feel like just one more, just one more. Looking back at it, I can't believe I did that. I had a horrible wheezing cough, I would lie in bed and as I was falling asleep I could feel my raspy scratching breath struggling in and out. When I woke up in the morning I could feel my chest 'scratching' as it moved, then once I had moved around a bit in the morning I would cough up some brown stuff.

Eventually it got so bad I was having chest pains frequently. I couldn't smoke without pain, I would light a ciggie, take my first drag and a sharp stabbing pain would appear in my chest. It got so painful I couldn't smoke. I couldn't even have one puff without sharp chest pain. I didn't really decide to stop smoking, I was forced to because it was so painful, I actually couldn't smoke.

I got myself a cheap disposable e-cigarette, it was still unpleasant on my throat and lungs but I could sate that smoking urge without intense pain. When it ran out, I didn't feel bothered about buying another one, I didn't crave it. I contemplated buying some more tobacco but the thought scared me, I knew I wouldn't be able to smoke it without pain. I haven't bought a pack since.

In a way I'm actually glad I had that experience. Even though I've probably already permanently damaged my lungs, by getting so bad so quickly, I think it gave me a taste of what it would have been like decades down the line if I had continued smoking.

Once or twice I've been offered a cigarette and accepted, but I don't enjoy it like I used to. I can't smoke tobacco now without feeling conscious of what it's doing to my body. I've felt how bad it can get and there is a real fear there. It's definitely stupidity on my part, having to actually experience that pain before the over-whelming amount of anti-smoking education could actually sink in, but then again if I was smarter I probably would never have started in the first place.

And the money!! How much money did I spend on cigarettes in those 5 years? Probably enough for a car, more. It appals me now when I think about how much money I wasted.

I am so glad I stopped smoking.