Smoking

[sparks]

I've been sucking on cigs for forty years.....

Breathing is becoming laborsome......

Wanna Quit...

Any help or suggestions......?


sparks

[Sassy]

Just read this article today - "What's in a cigarette?"  599 additives  http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm

When I talk to my patients sometimes reminding them of how much money they'd have to buy things they've always wanted instead of burning it up helps. 

With young guys, I tell them if they still want to have sex when they get older, they better get off the smokes because it can cause ED (erectile dysfunction) 

The VA has group smoking cessation classes where they provide nicotine patches & have the patients gradually wean themselves off the cigarettes

Sometimes it takes a person becoming so short of breath they have to quit - remember, if you are having problems now, it's only going to get worse & your quality of life will really suck - literally...   

[Don_P]

I smoked my last one yesterday morning. Had quit over a year ago and just had a 5 pack tumble, nothing to do but dust myself off and stumble forward again. Ain't a whole lotta fun being a junkie of the corporate world. They've been boosting the nicotine on a product that is already harder to kick than heroin. No, it won't get easier, every day you'll want one. You have to decide not to be their addict. Don't let the bastards kill you for a buck!

[peternap]

Good Luck Sparks!

Quitting isn't a secret. YOU HAVE TO WANT TO QUIT.

The physical addiction isn't that bad. I quit for over a year once, but I still wanted to have a cigarette...because I enjoy it.

I'd think the price would be enough for most people and I suppose that's part of why the Government has kicked the taxes in full gear. There are also a lot of people like me, that have gone to homegrown, No additives in that either. I have even started making my own pipes.

I really wish you the best of luck with it. You will feel better...but...that will also be one more pleasure in life that will be lost. Everything is a tradeoff.

[peternap]

 

SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE! THAT CIGARETTE
Writer Merle Travis
SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE! THAT CIGARETTE
Writer Merle Travis

Now I'm a fellow with a heart of gold And the ways of a gentleman I've been told Kind-of-a-guy that wouldn't even harm a flea But if me and a certain character met The guy that invented that cigarette I'd murder that son-of-a gun in the first degree It ain't 'cause I don't smoke 'em myself and i don't reckon that it'll hinder your health I smoked 'em all my life and I ain't dead yet

But nicotine slaves are all the same at a pettin' party or a poker game Everything gotta stop while they have a cigarette

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death. Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate That you hate to make him wait, But you just gotta have another cigarette.

In a game of chance the other night Old dame fortune was good and right The kings and queens they kept on comin' around Aw, I was hittin' em good and bettin' 'em high But my bluff didn't work on a certain guy He kept callin' and layin' his money down See, he'd raise me then I'd raise him and I'd say to him buddy ya gotta sink or swim Finally called me but didn't raise the bet! --Hmmph! I said Aces Full Pal -- I got you! He said, "I'll pay up in a minute or two But right now, i just gotta have another cigarette."

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death. Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate That you hate to make him wait, But you just gotta have another cigarette.


Now the other night I had a date with the cutest little gal in the forty-eight states
A high-bred, uptown, fancy little dame She said she loved me and it seemd to me That things were sorta like they oughtta be So hand in hand we strolled down lovers lane She was a long way from a chunk of ice And our pettin' party was goin' real nice And I got an idea I might have been there yet So I give her a kiss and a little squeeze Then she said, Excuse me Please But I just gotta have a cigarette."

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death. Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate That you hate to make him wait, But you just gotta have another cigarette.

[Windpower]

good luck

I quit 30 years ago

the physical addition goes away after about 3 days

but I think some people are addicted stronger than others

I expect to get a call any time from my SIL about my brother passing -- he has been smoking since his teen age years and is a wreck

he can't seem to quit

I quit because I was not able to ride my dirt bike competively as I wanted. I just couldn't breathe

I think you are right Peter, you have to want to quit

after about a week of not smoking I could not stand to be around smokers

but

I was talking to a doctor getting my flying medical, he wanted to get some family history

Is your father alive ?

no he died of a stroke at 60.

did he smoke

Yes he smoked all his adult life

there, that shows you what the health effects of smoking can do ?

Is you mother alive?

Yes she is doing very well at 92 ?

there, you see....

She smokes too

well what can I say about that.

[NM_Shooter]

A friend of mine (Dr. Joy Schmidt, UH Hospital) is a researcher in addictive behavior.  She told me once that the addiction mechanism of tobacco is very, very similar to Heroin. 

The older you get the harder it is to heal.  Some tissues don't recover, but the sooner you start the better chance you have.

Good luck.

-f-

[Sassy]

Peter, that song reminds me of when I was 5 y/o & was lying on the surgical table to get my tonsils out.  They put the mask over my face, I started breathing the ether & then had a dream where I was sinking into brown, nasty water & someone was singing "smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette"  I was drowning & could feel them placing a strap over me as I struggled.  Still as vivid as it was back then...      maybe that's why I never smoked?  When was that song out?

My mom had a heart attack at 55 y/o - she was told it was due to smoking - she was thin, exercised, cholesterol was low, no other risk factors - her mom lived to age 93 & dad was 89 y/o.  We used to bug her about quitting & she'd get furious at us - tell us she enjoyed smoking & wasn't going to quit.  She quit immediately after she had the heart attack.  Sometimes she'd have "nightmares" that she started smoking again.  She lived another 20 yrs but had 2 bypass surgeries & the last 5 yrs were pretty tough for her with congestive heart failure. 

[firefox]

I got married 38 years ago and at the time I smoked two packs of Pall Mall's a day. We hadn't been maried for more than a couple of weeks and my wife ended up in the hospital with severe lung symptoms. (Public Hospital) After a week and a half they finally asked her if anyone in the family smoked. So they sent her home with instructions that she should be in a smoke free environment.

I had a simple choice...loose the cigarettes or loose my wife.  My wife is my navigator so that was out of the question.
The hard part was that I was in the Merchant Marines at the time and had to ship out. There are basically two places you can be on a ship when the weather is miserable. Either in your foc'sle (your room) or in the mess hall. Back in those days you shared a foc'sle with other guys and everyone smoked in the mess hall. So you can see it wasn't exactly easy to quit, but I did it.

Not only that, my wife still loves me  , so it was definetely worth it.

I hope this helped. We are all pulling for you!
Bruce

[rick91351]

There is a new med that guys at work swear by.  The railroad hospital association will not offer assistance with the cost right now.  Nor will Union Pacific and their stop smoking campaign.  But I do know that several that have used it to quit.  I know you need a script for it.  I will check around for the name.

I was a chain smoker and in about 1980 I quit.  I used prayer and exercise and a whole lot of those Jolly Rancher candies.   

Today I still thank Him almost every day for that.  I think the hardest thing I ever did was quit smoking.  My alcohol addiction was a walk in the park compared to tobacco!!  it can be done. 

rlr

     

         

[MountainDon]

I believe there is also a strong psychological component to smoking and problems in quitting.  I base that on personal experience. I was a pipe man from college days and added cigars later; never got into cigarettes somehow. It was hell quitting after some 20 years o use. It took about 10 years and at least twice as many attempts to drop the habit. I do feel better sand do not have hardly any respiratory and sinus infections anymore.

Good luck sparks.

[sparks]

Hey Folks.

 Thanks for the feedback. Have a target date.......a couple of weeks away...


I know this won't be easy.........


Gonna need a friend or two.....


(wow...today was post 500 .....how's about a cigar Glenn??)



sparks

[pioneergal]

This is in no way an attempt to highjack this thread but since I have a question about cigarettes and second hand smoke I thought that this would be a good place to ask my question.

In a few days DH and I will be doing a road trip that will span a few weeks with my brother and his  fiancee in his vehicle.The problem is that my brother and fiancee both smoke and DH has bad allergies that eventually causes severe headaches.

My brother always rolls down the window a few inches when driving and smoking and that helps some but the smell is still there.
I don't want to offend my brother because it his vehicle and also his vacation but I need advise about some meds to help keep the nasal passages open or some type of small or personal air purifier that may be an aid to this problem.

Jackie

[sparks]

Pioneergal, your post is relevent to this subject.....I see no hijack here.

If I'm driving and a non smoker is in the vehicle, I ask and act accordingly.

If I'm a passenger...the same goes.

It's not a lot different than flying.....we smokers have to wait.......or just be polite.

I realize it's your brother you're dealing with, but ask him to refrain....be tactful and then hand him a roll of "lifesavers"......maybe he'll get the point. 

Hope this helps.........enjoy your vacation; the Pacific Northwest is beautiful.




sparks

[firefox]

Jackie, If it were me, I would get one of the industrial type face masks with the replaceable filters
that are good to 100 microns or so used when working with chemical vapors, paint, etc. They look a little strange,
but they are comfortable and you get used to them quickly. The one I have has two replaceable disk type filters about 3 inches in diameter. Avoid seeing the movie "The Fly"

I know this sounds a little weird, but I think it will make a big difference.

Bruce

[MountainDon]

That would work Bruce, and the appearance might induce enough of a guilt trip on him he might nor smoke in the car.



Personally, I think a brother should make adjustments for his sister, and vice versa. I'd rather stop for a break every so often along the route rather than have active smoking in my vehicle. The residuals on the clothing can be bad enough when someone is sensitive to cigarette smoke.

[sparks]

Found this in 'How Stuff Works' :

­It's no wonder that two-thirds of adult smokers who wish they could quit say they aren't able to. It shouldn't be a surprise that only one in 10 smokers can kick the habit. A startling 50 percent of people who have surgery for lung cancer recover and reach for the pack again [source: FDA]. A cigarette contains about 2 mg of nicotine. A pack-a-day smoker delivers about 250 hits of nicotine to his or her brain each day [source: NIDA]. So quitting isn't just about that one pack, it has more to do with those 250 hits. This helps explain why it's so hard to quit. So does your gender, your genes, what brand you smoke and whether or not you suffer from a mental illness.


"suffer from a mental illness".............

I knew there had to be other circumstances...it's always something.   



sparks..........the target date isn't very far away...(could there be a fingers crossed emoticon please ?)

[glenn kangiser]

Hey Folks.

  Thanks for the feedback. Have a target date.......a couple of weeks away...


I know this won't be easy.........


Gonna need a friend or two.....


(wow...today was post 500 .....how's about a cigar Glenn??)



sparks

500 - that's a milestone, Sparks.  You are almost up with me...