Sorry to hear that. Best wishes. Edit: I struggled with cigarettes for thirty years. I always fell off the wagon even after a year of two of abstinence. Then I had a heart attack. I stopped smoking. The withdrawal from nicotine was one of the most ill periods of my life.
I tried it when I was 15 too. Didn't like it, but I persevered with it. The advertising in 1960 linked smoking with being cool and successful. Most of my peers smoked, and nobody said anything about it being unhealthy, except for the oldies. The tobacco companies knew that it was deadly, but sat on the information. Now I have emphysema. Not so cool.
Same here. Lost my MIL to lung cancer. Terrible way to go. Self inflicted yes, but still sucks. Not an easy thing to quit. Subby, prayers going out to you and yours.....so sorry.
I have never smoked in my life and I wouldn't smoke a single cig even you had a gun pointed at my head. I'm not dumbm and I am certainly not going to ruin my health by sucking on a cancer stick. My grandpop died of lung cancer. He'd been a non smoker for ten years before the cancer was diagnosed. My uncle had a lung transplant after years of smoking ruined his body. The lungs are now failing and he probably won't make it to the end of the year. Smoking destroys lives, and smokers know this, yet continue to smoke and then demand treatment when they get sick. I loathe smoking and smokers. I like the person, but find their habit to be disgusting.
I play soccer... a lot. Smoking would greatly hinder my stamina. I've never smoked and never would. I value my health and my fitness far too much.
My father gave me a tip when I was quitting smoking. Every time you want a cigarette think of your grandfather laying there dying of cancer. Worked well.
I used to be a light smoker and quit cold turkey over 15 years ago. It was one of the best things I ever did for myself and my family. How did I quit? One Winter, I developed a chest cold and decided while I was laying off the smokes I would just ride it out altogether, and I succeeded in kicking the habit. If you're looking to quit, you might want to try and do what I did and quit when you're cutting back for one reason or another, particularly if you're sick or fighting seasonal allergies. Quitting really isn't as difficult as a lot of people make it out to be - it really is a matter of will power. As has been said, it's mind over matter - if you don't mind, it won't matter. You just have to remember that the cravings are your body's signal that you are successfully withdrawing from your addiction/habit, so use them as a source of inspiration - that you're one step closer to quitting and healing your body - instead of using them as an excuse to lapse back into addiction. If you're trying to quit and your spouse or significant other is a smoker, then try and quit together. If you don't smoke and your spouse smokes, get them to quit. Good luck to everyone trying to quit out there. YOU CAN DO IT.
Puts me in the clear, I am 47. Been smoking for many years (over 32) quit two times both for over 2 years, this time I will finally be done. Working on it and will have my last cig at the end of this month. I used to do the new years thing, but just silly, now I am doing it because of cost, and lack of energy.
If you're quitting, contemplate this: At 20 minutes after quitting: • Blood pressure decreases • Pulse rate drops • Body temperature of hands and feet increases. At 8 hours: • Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal • Oxygen level in blood increases to normal At 24 hours: • Chance of a heart attack decreases At 48 hours: • nerve endings begin regrowth • ability to smell and taste improves Between 2 weeks and 3 months: • Circulation improves • Walking becomes easier • Lung function increases The worst of nicotine withdrawal symptoms subside within the first month. Following that, the focus shifts to learning how to decipher and reprogram the psychological tugs or urges to smoke that we've all built up over the years. Between 1 to 9 months smoke-free: Starting as early as a month after you quit smoking, and continuing for the next several months, you may notice significant improvements in these areas: • coughing • sinus congestion • fatigue • shortness of breath It's important to remember that healing from nicotine addiction is a process, and while some improvements are dramatic and happen quickly, others will come more gradually. My own sense of smell took a huge jump in sensitivity 8 months after I quit smoking. It was a surprise to me, and it reinforced the truth of the gradual nature of recovery from this addiction. And the changes don't stop with improvements to physical health, either. Your confidence will soar as you accumulate more smoke-free time. Breaking the chains of slavery to nicotine addiction is nothing short of empowering. At One Year Smoke-Free: Your excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker after one year. Cigarette smoking is directly linked to 30% of all heart disease deaths in the United States each year. It plays a part in coronary heart disease and causes damage by decreasing oxygen to the heart. Smoking increases blood pressure and heart rate, both of which are hard on the heart. Quitting tobacco is the absolute best thing you can do for your heart and for your health overall. At 2 years Smoke-Free: Your chance of achieving long-term success with quitting tobacco increases significantly after two years. At 5 years smoke-free: • from 5 to 15 years after quitting tobacco, stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked. At 10 years smoke-free: • risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers • risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases • risk of ulcers decreases At 15 years smoke-free: • risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked • risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked
I was gonna ask, then forgot... what do you think of people over your age (47+) who smoke? Seems to be a pretty sweeping generalization of younger smokers... are older smokers expendable in your mind?
Good luck, Face. The price is definitely a big part of it, right? How ridiculous to burn that much money!! First time I've tried to quit and when I told my doc I'd do it on NYE, expected him to say 'tsk tsk' but he didn't. And I did it on NYE. So it's not always silly to pick a symbolic date to quit. It's like a contract with yourself!
All these quitters. I have no intention to quit cigars, and i'm already a cancer survivor. (prostate) In moderation, like a couple stogies a month, the risk is about equivalent to being out in the sun. I don't drink alcohol as the combination of alcohol and tobacco increases the cancer risk...I'm not training for the olympics..so extreme fitness isn't relevant. I don't inhale cigar smoke anyway. I'm single, never married, no kids...I live alone...and on the odd Friday night I like to go out to my balcony fire up a stogie and watch the sunset. It's my biggie...I don't chase women or drown myself in booze. The anti-tobacco crowd can kiss my patoot, I intend to do this till the day I die... George Burns smoked the occasional cigar well into his 90's... Frankly I don't trust folks who don't have some sort of vice. It's the goodie two-shoes you have to watch out for..and typically they get hit by a bus walking back from choir practice.
People say, "(*)(*)(*)(*) I'm going through a pack a day now!" and I reply "(*)(*)(*)(*)(*), talk to me when you are going through a lighter a day!"
I've never smoked. Btw, I don't like the smug junkie face of people who do smoke. They look high to me, after a cig. And they're smelly. Not in a good way. kissing a smoker makes me heave. Their teeth are horrible and dirty looking. Even their breath stinks. Their skin looks all dried out. They screw up their eyes. And they talk like frogs, even the women. What is that all about? Plus they can't run for a bus without getting puffed out... You asked for the truth. Furthermore, my Dad was a smoker and it made me violently sick in the car. He used to open the window and hold it outside, but sometimes that wasn't possible...have a couple of memories of them saying "What?? We can't stop again, we'll never get there. Put your head out the window" because they thought I was putting it on. I wasn't. I won't recount what happened next And of course, we nursed my him at home through terminal liver/lung/stomach etc etc etc cancer. Horrible, horrible end. My Grandmother gave up smoking latterly but still died of emphysema related illness. My Aunt...she smoked and was told to stop because of emphysema. She was not the type to take advice. She smoked WHILE USING the nebulizer and blew the house to bits. At least she didn't have to linger. Just steer clear of it, SMV...good luck.
As far as I'm concerned, the best contraceptive in the world for a woman is a cigarette. I don't care who she is, I won't go anywhere near a woman with a cigarette in her hand. If they start talking to me I usually cut the conversation short and get as far away from them as possible. I was a smoker for 5 years, but gave up on the day my partner announced she was pregnant (26 years ago).
Yesterday, a friend of mine who's a smoker returned a book she'd borrowed a few weeks earlier. It stunk of cigarette smoke. I immediately threw it in the dumpster. Smokers reek.
And I will defend your right to live and do as you see fit. Fact is though, these smokers pay a lot of taxes that benefit you.
I'm an ex-smoker. I smoked for 10 years. I quit about 3 years ago. I didn't quit because of health problems. I quit because I'm cheap and cigarettes aren't. Ya know what I hate? Anti-smokers. Not non-smokers, but Anti-smokers. The people that look at you like you are committing a crime for having a smoke are among the most annoying in the world. "Do you have any idea how many carcinogens you are ejecting into the air with that nasty cancer stick?' Inquired the woman from the safety of her SUV as she ejected WAY more carcinogens into the air than any smoker. Some people are so stupid.
Yeah, I'm not saying people should stop. Just giving my perspective. Smokers aren't going to listen to people who are annoyed by the foul stench anyway.
There is nothing worse than seeing someone standing outside the hospital with their IV line dangling from their arm, and they are sucking the ciggie through their trach tube. Or those who go out in their skimpy nighties and barefeet to have a (*)(*)(*), even though they are in hospital FOR A REASON. If you go to hospital, you should be banned from smoking for the duration of your stay.
