I am so sorry Gwenivere you have to go through it, because I know exactly how it feels; in retrospective, had I known what was coming my way, I might still be a smoker.
But you know what? Hypothyroidism is treatable, even if hard to manage, and properly managed, you can live with it for the rest of your life. As a smoker, not so much.
I am sad to say, but in a little over 3 years I've been here, I've heard of (because I did not know them well) quitters who lost the battle, but I also lost friends (Sharon, who passed just about 1 month ago, last year I sent her a wig I thought she might like to wear, and even a pink spray she could use over it, so you can say we got pretty close, right? well it was not easy to hear she lost her battle with lung cancer; she was courageous, positive, followed her treatment to the letter, yet, the cancer eventually took her away) to consequences of smoking. And it is not an easy battle to fight.
I said it all my life to everybody, while I was a smoker, my grandma on mom's side smoked since she was 14 (recommended by her doctor back in the early 1900 for a skin condition), she gave birth to 11 kids, lost 2 the same day to an epidemic disease) and made it to 76, and did not die of lung cancer; but what I was finally ready to recognize is that she died of heart failure, also a consequence of smoking. And she had a hard life, but did not experience the daily stress we do these days.
So you'll have to put in balance what is more important to you: living with Hypothyroidism (and you are not sure you'll reverse if you start smoking again, or make it worse because of the additional stress caused by regret, and shame you gave up, and the ravages of smoking), or smoke again, and run the risque of the many other deadly diseases associated to smoking.
I hope you'll make the right decision; it took me over 1 year after I quit to get over many of the symptoms associated to Hashimoto's, but I made my decision not to give up the freedom I gained when I quit smoking; it became priceless to me.
