Gave up smoking 2 years ago, but maybe the damage has been done.

[pomchop]

and now the tobacco companies are on double overtime drive marketing the vapes hoping to trick an entire new generation into becoming nicotine addicts...and unfortunately it is working especially among the very young who suck on the damn strawberry/cherry/fruity flavors thinking it's cool....RJ Reynolds has opened many new factories to produce and sell as fast as possible.....the more they can hook the higher their sales for decades....and of course the feds do nothing to regulate as they are all paid off by tobacco lobbyists....very little study has been done as to the potential harm of the nicotine vapes and they are back on TV advertising them like they are lollipops......some parents complain as it was once possible to simply smell their kids breath to see if they were smoking but now there is little or no smell .....nicotine is actually a POISON that was/is used in many insecticides etc but it is also highly addictive to most humans...and yet big tobacco freely promotes and sells a NEW WAY to ingest an addictive poison...and seem to be targeting kids with the fruity flavors....

disgusting bunch big tobacco....anything to get anybody hooked for as long as possible.......i was hooked on cigs for way too many years and poured a ton of money into the big tobacco coffers (coffins?).....it was/is pure hell to quit but fortunately i did manage to do it and haven't touched a cig in over 15 years....as some have said " it's easy to quit smoking...i'v done it dozens of times"...

to OP...good for you now stay off the damn things and slowly your breathing will likely improve....along with your taste buds, your smell and your overall self esteem.

you are so shallow to think you know all there is to know about e ciggs. it is a easy, & safe, method to get off of ciggs. you fail to understand, or maybe you do not want to understand it is another tool to use to quit smoking. your self esteem is bordering on "crackpot" status.oh and do you smell your childs breath? truly? do you sniff bike seats to check for. ... oh forget it you probely do.

sure the tobacco companies are investing millions to enable you to get off of cigs and not be hooked on something else that will enable them to keep you and a new generation hooked.......keep on telling yourself that if it makes you feel better....

Edited April 22, 2015 by pomchop

[gk10002000]

my dad quit cold turkey after being basically a chain smoker for 30 years. he was 60 at the time. He had bladder cancer and that scared him cold turkey. Doctor did quick routine surgery and the cancer was gone that day. He live to be 80 and except for the last year or two he was in general in decent health, working in the restaurant business into his 70s. he could not walk the golf course any more but he would play using a golf cart which most people in Florida use anyway. His last year he was on oxygen a lot and could not climb any stairs. Too much damage had been done. Try and eat healthy and keep the arteries unclogged. The heart lung combination is the stress that wears you down. Better heart and circulation can help counter decreased lung action.

[MiKT]

Saw the specialist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital this morning. The X Ray showed nothing abnormal, lung function test was around 80%, not surprising as I'm wheezing a bit, and feel like there's fluid in my lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics (don't they all) and if it doesn't clear up, come back and see him in a week.

There has been a chest bug going around for ages. Stop worrying about Cancer and just have regular check-ups every few years. Bangkok Hospital Pattaya are usually great.

Cough, cough. gasp, wheeze. Just the regular Thailand polution, cough.

[Naam]

_{Cannot poison oneself for a number of years, and not expext some kind of repercussion...}

_{I will never understand why people willingly poison themselves, with no personal benefit, and benefits to others only in profits for the big tobacco manufacturers.}

_{At 20, I quit, as I realized that this was not a good thing for me.}

_{So why does it take so many years for others to realise the same thing...}

_{Everybody claim that they are smart peope....}

i will never understand why people like you keep on self-righteously with yakety-yak bla-bla yak-yak and brag how clever they were

[fred Kubasa]

After smoking for 66 years the only noticeable problem is damage to my wallet. Try any cough medicine containing Turpin Hydrate which is a far more effective expectorant then any others and you should see effects within 15 minutes in amount of unexpelled mucus.

[giddyup]

After smoking for 66 years the only noticeable problem is damage to my wallet. Try any cough medicine containing Turpin Hydrate which is a far more effective expectorant then any others and you should see effects within 15 minutes in amount of unexpelled mucus.

Terpin Hydrate was banned in the USA because it's effectiveness could not be proven.

[piersbeckett]

_{Cannot poison oneself for a number of years, and not expext some kind of repercussion...}

_{I will never understand why people willingly poison themselves, with no personal benefit, and benefits to others only in profits for the big tobacco manufacturers.}

_{At 20, I quit, as I realized that this was not a good thing for me.}

_{So why does it take so many years for others to realise the same thing...}

_{Everybody claim that they are smart peope....}

Getting it off ones chest!

OK, your own trumpet blown, you can go to the top of the class but I'll wager there's better people than your good self i.e. more intelligent, knowledgeable, talented, influential, capable, wiser etc., etc. that have experienced great difficulty in kicking the habit of smoking.

For me it took ages to quit although I did realise like yourself that it was dangerous in my late teens, I enjoyed it so much and later in life I coupled it with beer drinking. I eventually quit after many failed attempts when arriving at the top of the stairs of my three storey home, gasping for breath, through a crackling wheeze and trying not to panic so that I wouldn't die. I knew then I'd have to give up smoking and 'drinking' as I'd combined the two as my 'reward' after work! I'd had this crackling wheeze a few times before and although it worried me I'd ignored it. The thing was that for the ten years or so previously I'd not really enjoyed smoking very much, I was just feeding an addiction!

That was fourteen years ago. It may have helped that (suprisingly enough) I'd been a harrier and that although I'd started smoking when I was only nine years old, I didn't really 'get going' 'til I was thirteen and after the age of about twenty there was a lot of stopping & starting, the longest period, by far, being two years. I'm sixty seven now and seem to have 'got away with it' although I've smoked a lot during my life so consider myself very lucky. The drinking ceased only for about six months but as time went on I drank less & less and now I keep it right down and enjoy it in small doses as a treat.

The only real temptation I had, to start again and I was sorely tempted, was when I first came to live in Thailand about eleven years ago; I was seated around a table outside a bar, it was hot, there were 'girls' and of course drink but the sight of all the tobacco products on the table just made me want to dive in - pleased to say I didn't.

Good luck to the OP, two years in and I hope all goes well.

Edited April 23, 2015 by piersbeckett

[Craig krup]

My colleague gave up, cold turkey, after sixty a day for forty odd tears. He did, though, take Zyban, and said that (whether from the pills or the nicotine withdrawal) the dreams were unbelievable.

[giddyup]

My colleague gave up, cold turkey, after sixty a day for forty odd tears. He did, though, take Zyban, and said that (whether from the pills or the nicotine withdrawal) the dreams were unbelievable.

How did he give up cold turkey if he took Zyban? Going cold turkey means you stop abruptly without assistance from any other means.

[Asiantravel]

I never even started smoking, but I do have a bit of sympathy with lifetime smokers in their sixties and seventies because they never knew the health risks when they started.

Younger people in their forties and fifties who are smoking, I just can't understand their stupidity, the health risks were well documented when they started smoking, but they

obviously didn't bother, and most of them are going to suffer in their old age. there is still time for them to try and stop smoking, I wish they would.

Hard to believe, but it wasn't that unusual to see a doctor smoking either a cigarette or a pipe when I was young. Doctors actually suggested that people with a "nervous disposition" take up smoking to calm their nerves!

I always thought it was kind of bizarre that the medical research Council in the United Kingdom recruited doctors of all people to participate in a study of smoking in 1951 known as the British Doctors study. This study based on the doctors smoking themselves provided statistical proof that tobacco smoking increased the risk of lung cancer.

[SoCal5252]

I was diagnosed with very mild COPD about 15 years ago at the age of around 50. Quit smoking about 2 years prior to that, took up exercising and trying to eat healthy.

My last spirometer results about 2 years ago showed progression close to moderate but still mild, I believe the change in lifestyle made a huge difference.

The most accurate way of determining COPD is the breathing test. (spirometer)

My dream of full on retirement in LOS is over, I can't deal with the pollution, you get very sensitive to odors, second hand smoke and pollution with COPD, LOS has them all unfortunately.

[hawker9000]

_{Cannot poison oneself for a number of years, and not expext some kind of repercussion...}

_{I will never understand why people willingly poison themselves, with no personal benefit, and benefits to others only in profits for the big tobacco manufacturers.}

_{At 20, I quit, as I realized that this was not a good thing for me.}

_{So why does it take so many years for others to realise the same thing...}

_{Everybody claim that they are smart peope....}

i will never understand why people like you keep on self-righteously with yakety-yak bla-bla yak-yak and brag how clever they were

Well, if you've gotta' be self-righteous about something, I reckon kicking this filthy, deadly, polluting habit that injures others as well as oneself, is as good a high horse as any. He was smart enough to quit at an early age, wisdom that totally escapes so many others until much later in life, and sadly some even into the grave.

[MAJIC]

I used to smoke, then stopped, but it didn't stop me getting COPD. This is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Symptoms are wheezing, coughing. It is caused by damage to the lungs primarily caused by smoking. I think the damage varies and it comes and goes and sometimes gets infected - what they call an exacerbation.

It can't be cured - but there are inhalers that help. My Doctor gives me antibiotics that I can use if I get an infection on my lungs when on holiday.

So I am ok with it most of the time.

I got a copy of my medical records from my Doctor and interestingly there was a note - years before it became apparent to me - saying "Possible COPD?" I would like to have been aware of that.

I have been a lot better recently and use Tiotropium (Spiriva) inhaler and more recently I have an inhaler for Fluticasone furoate (Relvar) which helps a lot.You will understand that I am not a medico - just a geezer with a similar sounding problem. Yours might be quite different.

Three months in Nong Khai 2014/15 and not a wheeze - well from the chest anyway!

My symptoms sound very similar. I had a bout of what I thought was bronchitis a couple of months back, never had it before in my life, but it may have been a chest infection from COPD or COAD. I'm not really having any trouble breathing as a rule, but this wheeze I've developed after 2 years of quitting is a worry in case it gets worse.

COPD is also called emphesema and perpetual Bronchitis is the end result which never completely goes away. COPD sufferers have a "rescue pack" on hand,which consists of Antibiotics and Steroids, only to be taken as a last resort, taken too often and Antibiotics,lose their effectiveness and immunity is a danger! Chest Infections are very common and frequent!

[MAJIC]

I never even started smoking, but I do have a bit of sympathy with lifetime smokers in their sixties and seventies because they never knew the health risks when they started.

Younger people in their forties and fifties who are smoking, I just can't understand their stupidity, the health risks were well documented when they started smoking, but they

obviously didn't bother, and most of them are going to suffer in their old age. there is still time for them to try and stop smoking, I wish they would.

Hard to believe, but it wasn't that unusual to see a doctor smoking either a cigarette or a pipe when I was young. Doctors actually suggested that people with a "nervous disposition" take up smoking to calm their nerves!

Yes! I can confirm when I was a teenager,a Doctor who smoked was not unusual,their consulting rooms stank with a stale tobacco smell. I suspect they also had a bottle of scotch tucked away in a drawer! more recent years a young Doctor confessed that he liked a cigarette or two at weekends,I admired him for that!

[MAJIC]

and now the tobacco companies are on double overtime drive marketing the vapes hoping to trick an entire new generation into becoming nicotine addicts...and unfortunately it is working especially among the very young who suck on the damn strawberry/cherry/fruity flavors thinking it's cool....RJ Reynolds has opened many new factories to produce and sell as fast as possible.....the more they can hook the higher their sales for decades....and of course the feds do nothing to regulate as they are all paid off by tobacco lobbyists....very little study has been done as to the potential harm of the nicotine vapes and they are back on TV advertising them like they are lollipops......some parents complain as it was once possible to simply smell their kids breath to see if they were smoking but now there is little or no smell .....nicotine is actually a POISON that was/is used in many insecticides etc but it is also highly addictive to most humans...and yet big tobacco freely promotes and sells a NEW WAY to ingest an addictive poison...and seem to be targeting kids with the fruity flavors....

disgusting bunch big tobacco....anything to get anybody hooked for as long as possible.......i was hooked on cigs for way too many years and poured a ton of money into the big tobacco coffers (coffins?).....it was/is pure hell to quit but fortunately i did manage to do it and haven't touched a cig in over 15 years....as some have said " it's easy to quit smoking...i'v done it dozens of times"...

to OP...good for you now stay off the damn things and slowly your breathing will likely improve....along with your taste buds, your smell and your overall self esteem.

you are so shallow to think you know all there is to know about e ciggs. it is a easy, & safe, method to get off of ciggs. you fail to understand, or maybe you do not want to understand it is another tool to use to quit smoking. your self esteem is bordering on "crackpot" status.oh and do you smell your childs breath? truly? do you sniff bike seats to check for. ... oh forget it you probely do.

E Cigs may not be as toxic as Tobacco, and a stepping stone off Tobacco,but eventually you have to wean your self off Nicotine.

[soalbundy]

I read somewhere that smoking is harder to give up than heroin. I've known people who have given up for 10 years then start again. It is surprising that people are living longer these days and yet the generation of 80 + year old's today are the generation that grew up in smoke filled pubs,cinema's,buses, work place, cars and homes, i can even remember visitors to hospital patients smoking in the wards. I was born in 1948 and can well remember that the first cigarette was like a rite into manhood,it was actively enouraged by society, a man who didn't smoke was considered a little odd,even our GP was a chain smoker.

[F4UCorsair]

A friend recently died of Pulmonary Fibrosis, and whilst not the same thing as COPD, similar symptoms I believe.

To those smokers reading this, let me say it was a terrible death.

Both my parents died of smoking related lung disease, and likewise, terrible deaths.

[hawker9000]

A friend recently died of Pulmonary Fibrosis, and whilst not the same thing as COPD, similar symptoms I believe.

To those smokers reading this, let me say it was a terrible death.

Both my parents died of smoking related lung disease, and likewise, terrible deaths.

They make student drivers watch those grisly highway fatality videos (or at least they used to). A similar approach to young teens (hmm, teens; am I being naïve here?) about to be tempted by peer pressure into smoking might be in order: make them watch a lung disease victim's autopsy or visit a patient in the final stages in his hospital room or something... I wonder if those television ads with smokers talking (or smoking) through the holes in their throats are having any impact.

I've watched a couple of smokers waste away to death myself, and one of my parents died this way as well. What's most heart-breaking is the smokers who will simply dismiss these things, sometimes quietly and with a certain amount of humility, other times with supreme arrogance. I can understand the sense of helplessness at being unable to quit; but the arrogance toward non-smokers, esp. non-smokers who wish to avoid the risks of second-hand smoke, for themselves and their families, esp. kids - that's hard to tolerate.

Edited April 24, 2015 by hawker9000

[giddyup]

Saw the specialist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital this morning. The X Ray showed nothing abnormal, lung function test was around 80%, not surprising as I'm wheezing a bit, and feel like there's fluid in my lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics (don't they all) and if it doesn't clear up, come back and see him in a week.

you must have seen Dr. Ong-Ard whom you can trust evaluating properly an x-ray of your lungs. fluid or emphysema shows clearly in an x-ray. and from all indications you might have an infection that causes mucus and wheezing.

Are you sure emphysema shows up in an X Ray?

[Naam]

Saw the specialist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital this morning. The X Ray showed nothing abnormal, lung function test was around 80%, not surprising as I'm wheezing a bit, and feel like there's fluid in my lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics (don't they all) and if it doesn't clear up, come back and see him in a week.

you must have seen Dr. Ong-Ard whom you can trust evaluating properly an x-ray of your lungs. fluid or emphysema shows clearly in an x-ray. and from all indications you might have an infection that causes mucus and wheezing.

Are you sure emphysema shows up in an X Ray?

100% sure!

[Sheryl]

Saw the specialist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital this morning. The X Ray showed nothing abnormal, lung function test was around 80%, not surprising as I'm wheezing a bit, and feel like there's fluid in my lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics (don't they all) and if it doesn't clear up, come back and see him in a week.

you must have seen Dr. Ong-Ard whom you can trust evaluating properly an x-ray of your lungs. fluid or emphysema shows clearly in an x-ray. and from all indications you might have an infection that causes mucus and wheezing.

Are you sure emphysema shows up in an X Ray?

Yes, it does. Though the findings are not specific to COPD, the film will show certain abnormalities. And the changes are gradual, i.e. you will not go quickly from a totally normal chest film to full blown COPD.

[giddyup]

Saw the specialist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital this morning. The X Ray showed nothing abnormal, lung function test was around 80%, not surprising as I'm wheezing a bit, and feel like there's fluid in my lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics (don't they all) and if it doesn't clear up, come back and see him in a week.

you must have seen Dr. Ong-Ard whom you can trust evaluating properly an x-ray of your lungs. fluid or emphysema shows clearly in an x-ray. and from all indications you might have an infection that causes mucus and wheezing.

Are you sure emphysema shows up in an X Ray?

Yes, it does. Though the findings are not specific to COPD, the film will show certain abnormalities. And the changes are gradual, i.e. you will not go quickly from a totally normal chest film to full blown COPD.

Thanks. According to Dr Ong-Ard at BKK Pattya Hospital the X Rays are normal, which I find a bit surprising after over 40 years of smoking.

[chas39]

In my post (#2) on this thread I mentioned my experience with COPD.

But the wheezing started in Pattaya before COPD was diagnosed. I thought I had a chest infection, saw a Doc at a Thai clinic - prescribed antibiotics and, of course, the standard Thai cure all of witamins. No better. Went to the more expensive farang Doc on Soi Day/Night.

Antibiotics that would kill a horse. No better.

Dragged myself to the Bangkok/Pattaya Hospital. Lung department. Blood test, x-ray.I could by now barely keep up with the Nurse walking me between test places. Doc says "You have liquid on your lungs, not an infection".The liquid and resultant wheezing were the result of a heart problem. It was not in good enough shape to circulate blood to get rid of excessive liquid and it was settling in the lungs.

Yipes!

He wanted me to stay in over night, but I said it was too costly. Ok, He got me to sit on a bid and said hold the nurse's hands while I insert a needle from your back to draw the liquid from your lungs.Just my((bad) luck the Nurse was a Ladyboy. Liquid drawn off, up to the Heart Doc. He did ultrasound test, saw x-rays. Wanted to to do an op. where a dye is inserted into the bloodstream to check for bad heart valves/clots.

I couldn't afford that. I asked" "What are the chances of me falling off the branch?" He said with pills about 30% while I retreated to the UK and the dear old NHS. So, I took my time, departed LOS and made it back, had a triple bypass, and I'm now fit as a butcher's dog.

Sorry about the long tale, but the message I wanted to get across was the lung problem can be heart/COPD combined and complicated and the two intertwined..

The other message is that my BUPA didn't cover expensive surgery and treatment. Be warned.

When I got back to the UK I was told I would have to pay for treatment as I was not a Resident.So I became a resident again.But that's another story.

Bangkok/Pattaya gave me a copy of a CD/DVD (?) which shows, in vivid technicolour, my heart beating away and the blood flow. I look at it sometimes. Macabre I know.But my mother always said "He enjoys bad health you know..."

[giddyup]

chas39

My X Ray showed no fluid on the lungs, so hopefully I won't need a triple bypass.

[WitawatWatawit]

In a couple of weeks I will be celebrating my first anniversary of quitting cigs and booze. Pity it took a series of mild heart attacks to bring that about, but it's done now. My last chest xray showed nothing abnormal, despite the years of smoking, but I'll keep my fingers crossed on that.

It's now 3 months since I had an angioplasty, and my exercise regime is proceeding nicely. I feel 43, not 63 in terms of energy and enthusiasm. There are aches and pains as the body creaks back to life, not to mention a few minor side effects from medication (bloody Plavix, it spurs gout).

The tales related by some of the above posters do give you pause for thought. At any time it could all go to pot. Am I just enjoying an Indian summer? Who knows! And to be honest, I don't bloody care. I'm impressed by the relatively positive tone of those with lung problems, so I hope if I suddenly get a nasty jolt that I can handle it like you guys.

Best to all,

Wit.

[Craig krup]

My colleague gave up, cold turkey, after sixty a day for forty odd tears. He did, though, take Zyban, and said that (whether from the pills or the nicotine withdrawal) the dreams were unbelievable.

How did he give up cold turkey if he took Zyban? Going cold turkey means you stop abruptly without assistance from any other means.

Well, define your terms. What are "means"? If an opiate user joins Calton Athletic football club in Glasgow - as many do - and runs themselves into the ground, flooding their body with endorphins and tons of other things, is that "other means"? Suppose learning to play the guitar with the express intention of occupying your hands - is that an "other means"?

He didn't cut down on the fags, and he didn't find another source of nicotine. I'm defining that as "cold turkey", but the definition is "stipulative" - you can stipulate another definition if you like!

[giddyup]

My colleague gave up, cold turkey, after sixty a day for forty odd tears. He did, though, take Zyban, and said that (whether from the pills or the nicotine withdrawal) the dreams were unbelievable.

How did he give up cold turkey if he took Zyban? Going cold turkey means you stop abruptly without assistance from any other means.

Well, define your terms. What are "means"? If an opiate user joins Calton Athletic football club in Glasgow - as many do - and runs themselves into the ground, flooding their body with endorphins and tons of other things, is that "other means"? Suppose learning to play the guitar with the express intention of occupying your hands - is that an "other means"?

He didn't cut down on the fags, and he didn't find another source of nicotine. I'm defining that as "cold turkey", but the definition is "stipulative" - you can stipulate another definition if you like!

There is only one definition for cold turkey...

"Going cold turkey is opposed to stopping it by gradually doing it less and less, or stopping it with help like special gum or medicine. You don't get any help; you just stop".

[ExPratt]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I used to smoke, then stopped, but it didn't stop me getting COPD. This is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Symptoms are wheezing, coughing. It is caused by damage to the lungs primarily caused by smoking. I think the damage varies and it comes and goes and sometimes gets infected - what they call an exacerbation.

It can't be cured - but there are inhalers that help. My Doctor gives me antibiotics that I can use if I get an infection on my lungs when on holiday.

So I am ok with it most of the time.

I got a copy of my medical records from my Doctor and interestingly there was a note - years before it became apparent to me - saying "Possible COPD?" I would like to have been aware of that.

I have been a lot better recently and use Tiotropium (Spiriva) inhaler and more recently I have an inhaler for Fluticasone furoate (Relvar) which helps a lot.You will understand that I am not a medico - just a geezer with a similar sounding problem. Yours might be quite different.

Three months in Nong Khai 2014/15 and not a wheeze - well from the chest anyway!

My sister has something like that , she smoked for 40 odd years and when she stopped this developed.developed. Ive stopped and started half a dozen times in the last 5 years.

[Sheryl]

chas39

My X Ray showed no fluid on the lungs, so hopefully I won't need a triple bypass.

A chest Xray cannot rule out ischemic heart disease. Which smokers have an elevated risk of.

Exercise stress test is a good idea once your respiratory problems have resolved.

[laislica]

Here is something I spotted that might be helpful.

http://worldtruth.tv/heres-how-to-clean-the-lungs-in-just-3-days/