Smoking

[graciegirl]

Here is a thread about smoking in general.and this is the New Year.

I smoked. I quit ten years ago. It wasn't easy.

I have gone to four funerals in the last eighteen months for people who died from lung cancer.

If you smoke, please think about trying to stop. I don't care about the butts and I don't care about second hand smoke and I don't care about running your life.

Lotsa people love you. If you smoke, please try to stop.

[DandyGirl]

Can't disagree with that. I quit in the mid 80's and I still congratulate myself for doing it, especially now that I'm older and still active. I did gain a constant struggle with my weight but I can breathe!

[JoeC1947]

Might as well open another gun thread.

[JoeC1947]

Here is a thread about smoking in general and this is the New Year.

I smoked. I quit ten years ago. It wasn't easy.

I have gone to four funerals in the last eighteen months for people who died from lung cancer.

If you smoke, please think about trying to stop. I don't care about the butts and I don't care about second hand smoke and I don't care about running your life.

Lotsa people love you. If you smoke, please try to stop.

I do care about the butts and the second hand smoke. People know what cigarettes do to their bodies and the environment. If smoker's want to kill themselves that's their choice but don't drag the rest of us down with you.

[Cisco Kid]

Butts, guns and poop
Here we go
;):popcorn:
Let's all get on the ban wagon

[DaleMN]

Send lawyers, guns & money. ;)

[2BNTV]

I remember trying a cigarette when I was a boy and then my mother called me for lunch. I ate a baloney and mustard Wonder Bread sandwich and every bite tasted like the cigarette I smoked. I decided then and there I preferred eating to smoking and never looked back on that decision.

I personally don't like to be around smokers and second hand smoke. To me, it is a habit that I don't care for but realize it is an addicton for some.

With that being said, I have lost several family members who were very young due to cigarette smoking. I wasn't able to convince them to stop and will not be able to convince anyone else to stop.

People will quit when they decide to stop and not a second sonner. Nuff said....

[Barefoot]

People will quit when they decide to stop and not a second sonner. Nuff said....

As with any addiction, the user has to decide when to quit. "Helpful suggestions" from others will fall on deaf ears.

[2BNTV]

As with any addiction, the user has to decide when to quit. "Helpful suggestions" from others will fall on deaf ears.

Yes, That was exactly my point. I found one only gets aerobic exercise for their tongues to think otherwise. :smiley:

[John_W]

I quit smoking quite by accident. I started smoking when I was 20 years old in the Army stationed in Korea. Both my parents smoked but I never had an urge until I was in the service because everybody smoked and cigarettes were only $1.70 a carton at the PX. I became a chain smoker, 3 packs a day for 36 years. I loved smoking so much and I had already decided that I would smoke until I die.

Then in 2006 my wife came home with a prescription for a new drug called Chantix from our family doctor. I thought I would amuse her and get the prescription filled. I started taking the drug on Thursday and on Saturday when I only had a couple of packs left, I usually would make a cigarette run to buy a carton at WaWa's, this time however I didn't have the urge. When my smokes ran out on Sunday I never smoked again. That was six years ago and was the best thing I've ever done.

Chantix is nothing like the nicotine patches or gum or anything else. It is a pill that cuts off the sensors in the brain that grave cigarettes. The only negative was I did get nightmares but I figured that was worth it for all the good benefits. I only filled the prescription once for 30 days even though they say if you quit you should continue on the drug for 3 or 4 months, but i had enough of the nightmares and I wasn't smoking. Now I only wished I had never started smoking.



.

[graciegirl]

I don't mean to preach, honest. I know you are all grown ups.

I probably shouldn't have started this thread but it is good to hear that some of us have been able to kick the addiction.

I am sure that many have seen the really scarey anti smoking ads on television here in Florida.

[Bogie Shooter]

????
8204

[graciegirl]

????
8204

Bogie. Bogie. Bogie.........:1rotfl::1rotfl:

[NotGolfer]

I started to smoke when I was 15----wanted to "appear" older!!! Other friends I knew smoked so it seemed the thing to do. Then I met my now "other half" who HATED smoking! Thought it looked cheap and implored me to quit. I then balked, dug in my heels and thought "who are YOU to dictate to me what to do!" I then smoked off and on into my mid-30's. I was more of a "situational" smoker but had the habit non-the-less. This was the early '80's when the cigs began to rise in price. Soon my "situations" ceased to be and the prices got higher. It was then I decided I needed to quit. Not so much for the health reasons. I'm so glad I did this. Since I know of a handful of folks who've died from lung cancer and it was a hard death as dying goes.

I will say now, that the 2nd hand smoke is horrible for me (and my dad smoked when I was growing up)...it gags me and makes it hard to breathe! That being said...even passing by a smoker whose body reeks of stale smoke too is sickening! ALL this being said....noone will be convinced by another! ONLY they will be able to convince themselves.

Want to share one more thing! My father in law was a smoker when in his 50's was diagnosed with emphasema. His doctor told him he needed to quit. The man would take his cigs into the bathroom, turn on the fan and puff. He thought he was kidding his family! THEN he "graduated" to needed those "puffer" things to help his breathing, later to an oxygen tank. Soon he couldn't walk 10 steps without stopping and gasping. His final year(s) were spent on the couch, then bed before he died. His final 15 years were horrible for him, his wife and of course his family!!! The hole that was left when he passed couldn't be filled. Just something to think about!!!

[DAnder2829]

Growing up in the late 50s and 60s, a lot of my older family members smoked. I have never smoked and have mild COPD. If you smoke, please stop. It impacts every part of your body---lungs, heart, kidneys, arteries, etc.

[quirky3]

I have to agree with Gracie. Smoking not only harms you, it puts your family and friends through an emotional wringer when you suffer more and more health issues because of it. My brother was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. He had a tracheostomy and woud ask family and friends to light up a cigarette and help him hold it up to the trach so he could inhale. There is no good response to a request like that. So sad.

[JoeC1947]

I have to agree with Gracie. Smoking not only harms you, it puts your family and friends through an emotional wringer when you suffer more and more health issues because of it. My brother was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. He had a tracheostomy and woud ask family and friends to light up a cigarette and help him hold it up to the trach so he could inhale. There is no good response to a request like that. So sad.

I don't think anyone thinks smoking is good for you.

[skyguy79]

I'm a smokeaholic having started in the late 50's. Quit several years later in 1979 after a few bouts of bronchitis and have been bronchitis free and smoke free for nearly 34 years now... except for a short period when I tried a pipe and found out I was no Popeye!

http://spd.fotolog.com/photo/29/45/6/fromhellvis/1256050414505_t.jpg

[Joaniesmom]

I quit smoking April 2, 1972. In those days there was no Chantix or other assistance available. I attended a seminar sponsored by the Seventh Day Adventists. Every evening for five days. Without a doubt, it was the hardest thing I have ever done, before or since. It's a horrible addiction and I am relieved to be done with it.

Having said that, I would never presume to even mention smoking to a smoker unless the smoke was bothering me. Quitting nicotine addiction is torment. It can only be accomplished when the smoker is ready. Nagging or commenting only compounds their commitment to continue smoking and is actually counterproductive.

I know we only mean the best for our smoking friends but the only thing we can do to be helpful is be there should they want to discuss the subject with us. Otherwise, there's not much more you can do to help.

Love ya, Gracie. Nice of you to think of others here in the new year.

[2BNTV]

I'm a smokeaholic having started in the late 50's. Quit several years later in 1979 after a few bouts of bronchitis and have been bronchitis free and smoke free for nearly 34 years now... except for a short period when I tried a pipe and found out I was no Popeye!

http://spd.fotolog.com/photo/29/45/6/fromhellvis/1256050414505_t.jpg

I yam what I yam!!!!!

[gomoho]

Quitting smoking is the best thing in the world you can do - the problem is you don't realize that till you quit! It's been 15 years since I smoke, but I still get a craving and remind myself how horrible it is to quit and that keeps me from lighting up.

[memason]

I quit smoking April 2, 1972. In those days there was no Chantix or other assistance available. I attended a seminar sponsored by the Seventh Day Adventists. Every evening for five days. Without a doubt, it was the hardest thing I have ever done, before or since. It's a horrible addiction and I am relieved to be done with it.

Having said that, I would never presume to even mention smoking to a smoker unless the smoke was bothering me. Quitting nicotine addiction is torment. It can only be accomplished when the smoker is ready. Nagging or commenting only compounds their commitment to continue smoking and is actually counterproductive.

I know we only mean the best for our smoking friends but the only thing we can do to be helpful is be there should they want to discuss the subject with us. Otherwise, there's not much more you can do to help.

Love ya, Gracie. Nice of you to think of others here in the new year.

This is the best post I have ever read on TOTV related to smoking. As a relatively new ex-smoker, I felt exactly as you stated at folks who would nag me about smoking...it only served to make me smoke longer than I might have. Every smoker knows it's something they should stop...if it were only that easy.

I quit by utilizing e-cigarettes, which have nicotine, but no harmful chemicals or tobacco smoke. My primary care physician has no concerns for my e-cig usage, other than it tends to slightly elevate my diastolic blood pressure, but no big deal. However, I now have the same smoking police complaining that I use those, even though there is no second hand smoke, butts, etc. No appreciable negative health effects for them or me.

Anyway...thanks for the post, Joaniesmom!

Mike

[Suzi]

I taught smoking cessation classes for many years in the 1970's. I was very dedicated and VERY successful in an age before patches and Chantix. But I also agree that it is very difficult to quit. However, it is my opinion that weight loss is even more difficult: you have to eat to stay alive - but you don't have to buy that pack of cigarettes. Both are habit forming
Generally speaking, a fat person overeating at a restaurant/function doesn't interfere with my dinning/drinking/dancing pleasure the way cigarette smoke does.

[jane032657]

Just be happy and healthy in the New Year.