When growing up, myfather smoked all the time.
(he stopped when age 62 cause of cancer)
It never bothered me.
Nowadays, if anyone is smoking near me, even otusdie, it bothers me; I start coughing and need air.
Is this usual?
I smoked for about 5 years. Since I quit, being near smoke bothers me quite a lot but it doesn’t cause me to cough. My eyes water and I really want to be elsewhere.
Ex-smoker here. For the first couple of years after quitting, it didn’t bother me at all. Since then, I can’t stand being anywhere near a smoker, even if outside. I was at a Halloween party where some people smoked, and I was coughing for 3-4 days.
Vanilla I could ditto your OP. My father was a heavy smoker (died from cancer at 62). As a kid, it never seemed to bother me. My parents separated for many years, but then he would stay with us for periods of time after he was diagnosed with the big C.
If I was upstairs in my room and he lit up down in the living room I’d notice almost right away as an uncomfortable feeling in my sinuses (kind of like when you accidentally snort water, but not nearly so bad).
Nowadays, I find it to be very much a “nuisance discomfort” when people are smoking aorund me – it irritates my eyes and sinuses more than I think it ought to.
I believe your body can build up a bit of a tolerance to allergens and irritants with regular exposure. For example, my ex is very allergic to cats. But when we were living together, after a while, her body seemed to adapt to Fatcat and his dander didn’t bother her. Now when she visits her eyes get all red and watery and she sneezes like crazy.
I’m just guessing that as a kid my body (and yours too in your case) was just “used to it” and isn’t anymore.