The nicotine...

WOW---stay determined---it is sooooo worth it---congratulations---awesome accomplishment

 

WTG Fred :wine

10 for me and also did my 5 days in ICU

 

I admire your strength of character Fred, I can't count how many times i have tried to stop and all the different things i tried but i always fail.:-o

 

Not being able to breath helps tremendously

 

Happy to report that I'm still an ex smoker. Two months tomorrow. No cravings, but boy can I eat. If you put a fag (keep the innuendo to yourselves) in front of me, I'd probably eat it rather than smoke it. Am trying to persuade the wife to quit but it's like trying to get Posh Spice to eat. Hard work.
Still, plug away. Onwards and upwards.
Well done on the achievement, Fred. And thanks to you and LauraR for the support.

 

Oh you too Joey? Congratulations! Keep going it will get better. Be sure it's non fating foods or you'll replace one health problem for another.

 

18 pounds in nine weeks! Diet City, here I come. :cry

 

Nope, lifestyle change as I always think of a diet as a short term thing concocted by some marketing genius to ensnare the unwitting. What is the industry worth these days, some $4B per year in the US? Low fat/non fat/high protein blah blah blah...etc. ad nauseum!uke (BTW, that smiley does not represent a diet option.:-D) However people are still getting fatter all the time, what is it now, some %60 or so overweight and I don't remember the obesity rate ATM.

Do like MA is doing, cut the soda pop, the fast food joints and the junk food plus moderate exercise and the extra stones will just slide right off.

 

I just seem to be picking at things all the time. Biscuits and sweeties are becoming a staple. I think I need more fruit.
I don't get much in the way of fast food. The wife is a wonderful cook, and makes the tastiest casseroles and curries. All healthy, fresh ingredients.
I walk about all day at work and cycle there and back.
The problem is picking. One bad habit has replaced another.
Right, feck it. That's it. I'm now starting a non sweet regime. More exercize, less cakes. Keep you posted on the progress.

 

Good luck with that, Joey. Yeah, picking can really add up, (speaks from experience).

Cograts to those who've kicked the habit! :cool

 

Congrats to all of you who kicked the habit!! It's so darn hard!

I just quit C/T May 23, 2009 at 12 noon after a more than 50 year stint with it. Am still craving them even though I just didn't enjoy them anymore. It was/is just the addiction and habit that was driving me to smoke. Feel as if I lost my best (dangerous) friend though. :cry:cry

Did quit a few times over the years, the first time was the easiest and did quit for 9 months at that time in the late seventies. Thought I could have a puff now and then. Oh boy, was I ever mistaken. :-D :cry :cry

My hubby smokes so that doesn't make things easier, although he quit smoking inside the home this time for my sake. :heart

I hope so to make it and take it sometimes even a minute at a time...... no haven't gained an ounce.....

 

I feel for you oma, I smoked 40 years, got emphysema spent lots of time in the hospitals for about 10 years. At the end of 2007 I had lung reduction surgery and can breath, no breathing treatments, it's great. Even though the rest of my lungs are also damaged but not as bad.
In order for it to work I think you both have to quit. Good Luck!!!

 

Thank you darlene.

You went through a lot due to smoking and hope that you feel a lot better now. You still have emphysema? Were you a heavy smoker?

Only the last decade did I smoke 16-20 ciggies daily. Prior to that it was half that quantity and younger even less than that.

 

Yes, still have it, there's no cure for it the surgery makes it easier to breath because emphysema takes the elasticity out of the lungs so they inflate and pretty much stay there.
I smoked about a pack a day, never quiting. Got to were I was down to 2 or 3 a day and actually was convinced I had quit. rolleyes :-D denial :-o

 

Glad that the surgery makes it at least easier for you to breathe darlene. Yep, I tried cutting down prior to going C/T and it just didn't work, back to the regular amount in a few days.

Cold turkey is hard but really the only way of quitting. What is really difficult is thinking that this will be it..... not even one puff for the rest of my life. :cry So I try to divert myself from thinking like that and taking it one minute at the time sometimes.

My breathing is not what it used to be though and know it has been affected by half a century of smoking. Heck when starting to smoke, it was said that it was good for the nerves, calming effect etc. No word about addiction and health hazards.

 

It's definitely hard quit, I've heard people say it was harder to quit then drugs, guess it is a drug in some respect with all the crap they put in them.
Cold turkey to me was better the some of the alternatives. My doctor gave me a packet when I got home and read it one side affect was seizures,
It gets better the more time you have behind you. You have over a month, thats great!

 

Oh, it is hard alright... I quit 11 years ago, but only after 'quitting' about a dozen times before... Oma, just take it one day at a time.. That is all you can do, as it is a HUGE habit to break... My Dr. gave me "Zyban" pills to take, and it did help... a lot.... I took one pill a day for six days.. He told me to go ahead and smoke, IF I could... Well, the more I smoked, the more I got sick to my stomach, and still to this day, I cannot stand to be in a room where someone is smoking.... But I haven't smoked another cig. either..

My husband, on the other hand, also smoked for 50+ years... But, he went from cigs. to a pipe :cry.. Well, he got bronchitis, and couldn't shake it.. Went to the Dr., and he did an X-ray, and told him he had emphysema, and he never lit up again.. COLD TURKEY, for sure...

Darlene, you are so lucky to have been able to have that surgery... My hubby can't, it has affected too much of the tissue..... Yup, I do stay busy with him. But, he has been smoke free ever since that X-Ray, and that is a good 10 years too.

I found that drinking was a whole lot easier to quit than smoking.. It sure does get a GRIP on ya.... I think you are right, Darlene, they do put a lot of crap in those cigs, and we don't really know what it is.... I hope you are doing better now...

You too Oma, remember, take it one day at a time, and then those days will turn into weeks, then months, then you will be posting in YEARS! Hang in there, and keep up the good work... NO CIGS!

 

It's been about 10 or 11 years for me now also. Zyban, think that's what the dr gave me and I through it away.
I would have never known about the surgery if I had not gone to my daughters for a visit. I went to a dr there and they had me see a new associate who right off the bat asked if I had ever considered lung reduction. I was shocked, never knew it was available. I had been around the Internet looking to join a study or something, anything. I was bad! So yes was lucky. I wonder what I'm supposed to be doing. Surly I was saved for a reason but what hasn't hit me in the face yet.

 

Hi Darlene, I think you are doing it now! When I took Zyban, sure, it had tons of side effects, but I didn't have emphysema like you and hubby do... Also, I only took one a day for 6 days, and threw teh rest away ;and other than feeling sick to my stomach when I am around cig. smoke, I had no other effects... I think it could be abused, the same as any drug now-a-days, tho.... I've always been honest with the Doc. He knew what I was taking, and what I needed... Always did treat me right...


Actually, I think it helped me a lot to quit, because just the thought of picking one up, made me nauseous! No, I never actually got sick, but I think it was more mind over matter... Doc didn't tell me what would happen, just to "go ahead and smoke IF you can...." He was a great guy..... Acted more like one of us, and not so hi-and-mighty......

Glad to hear you are doing better tho.. That in itself is great...

 

Thank you same to you

 

Thanks Darlene, one other thing I would like to mention, and that is my hubby's Pulmonologist has told us that he has patients with emphysema that have never smoked in their life, and that some actually carry a gene for it... I thought that was really wild...

He also teaches, and is at the top of his game, for sure.... I guess we can only take one day at a time, you know? Have a great weekend

 

Yes I have been asked which form I had before. Perhaps it's like people getting lung cancer who never smoked also.
Thanks, you have a good week end as well. :wave

 

Health Canada puts all kinds of warnings on the cigarette packages, however, as a smoker, one just ignores them. More difficult and addictive to quit than some hard drugs.

You must have been given Zyban by your physician at that time. There is a drug available for a few years now (Chantix/Champix) to help quitting but it turned out it's rife with psychiatric side-effects.

Tried the nicotine patch 2 years ago and I broke out in hot red swollen burning squares wherever I put them patches. Had no choice but to stop them and returned back to smoking a few weeks later.

Thanks darlene for your support.

 

Thank you for your support TeeCee. Great that you also stopped smoking and kept smoke free!! Sorry about your hubby!

I used to work in advertising for a cigarette co in Holland in the early sixties and employees used to get a very deep discount when purchasing cigarettes in their employee store which was opened once a week. We toured the factory once and many secret ingredients go into cigarettes. Lots of crap and hazardous ingredients, perhaps hundreds or close to a thousand. Additionally, how about additional health hazards with all those chemicals combined?

 

Ex-smoker here as well. Started at about 17-18 yrs old (serious smoking that is)Stopped when I got pregnant and breast fed(for about 2 yrs)with the first one. Went back to smoking. for about yr and a half. Pregnant again,quit again but only for a few months as I couldn't bf the 2nd child but for a month and a half. Smoked right up to and a couple of months after my dad died. about 8-9 yrs total yrs would be +-10 .
That's when I gave serious thought to quitting as it was my fathers dying wish rolleyes.I quit for a few months then right back at it again:-o.Then I quit for 3 years. Imagine, 3 whole yrs then start back up again:cry.How lame I thought I was, but realized later not lame but lack of will power and proper support. I finally realized my health was to important for my children's health to throw away.I was giving them 2nd hand smoke, which is worst then you smoking. I took a walk from my apt. door to our mail box, a little over 70' and had to stop to take a breath. On the way back the same thing.(I still say my dad was squeezing my lungs to remind me of my promise to him) I got into the kitchen grabbed for my cigs.........and twisted the whole pack,minus 3 I had already smoked, so hard that it looked like a pretzel. Called my mother told her what happened and at first she acted nonchalant about it. She called 5 days later and said she was coming over to help me clean the smoke smell out of my place. I found out later she had talked to my son who was 11-12 yrs old at the time and he told her it was true that I wasn't smoking. Haven't smoked since. That was back in 1982.
It use to bother me being around smokers but I since learned to move up wind or just move a way from them politely.
so IMO it takes Will Power-Support-and the Drive to Want to quit. Mostly support and Darlene That's where part of your "what your suppose to be doing" comes in.Trust me the moral support of others who actually stay with you through it all really does help a lot.

OMA- You have my undevoted support on this hard journey ahead of you. NO, it's not going to be easy,as you have read,but once you complete the journey you will be able to sit down and help someone else in the same boat. I'm sure that everyone else will be there to help too. CHIN UP & CIGARETTE OUT, Permanently

 

Thank you for your support bigtrucks.

You had a hell of ride! Imagine, having quit for 3 years and going back on that poison. One is never completely cured from that addiction and always needs to be on the alert isn't it? Like alcoholism, it's a drug addiction.

Yeah, I also started smoking when about 16, perhaps 2-3 daily. Later on, for decades I used to smoke about 8 daily. My daughter now in her mid forties never smoked and tried to help me staying "clean" while a teen and even did hide the ciggies and brought pamphlets home. To no avail and just went back on them again.

Sense of smell has returned with a vengeance and since I developed an olfactory disorder 3.5 years ago and everything did smell already horridly strong, everything just STINKS even more horridly now since quitting ciggies. From food, to flowers, grass, detergents, soaps, you name it, EVERYTHING!! That makes it much tougher to stay on target. Wished there was an operation to remove ability to smell.

 

Hello Oma, it will be a very hard journey, but it will be well worth it... Yes, my Dr. gave me a bottle of 10 Zyban.. I took 6 of them, and that was it... Oh, I did the patches before, but they never did a thing to help....

Yes, Oma, we will be here for you when you need someone to talk too... Like BT said, "hard journey ahead of you. NO, it's not going to be easy" but try to remember this.... One day at a time, even one hour at a time, if that is what it takes, and in time, you will be talking of months, then years.... Hey, I don't miss it, and I don't crave it...

You are on a roll, so let's keep it up gal! Remember: "YOU CAN DO IT!" If you need to talk, just pop in, I am sure one of us will be around for you..
This is a Journey I don't think you will regret.. It will be hard, no doubt, but the rewards are wonderful!

 

Lying in intensive care after a triple by-pass, with my ticker arrhythmic and on dialysis with a white cell count that low they brought people in just to look at me. I thought maybe those cigarettes weren’t good for me after all

 

Hi tonyhale, :wave I sure hope you are better now, OUCH! That must have smarted, for sure!:cry I hope Oma doesn't have to go thru that. How long have you been "free" of cigs? Congrats to you, but I wish you didn't have to go thru that to find out how bad they are for ya....

No, it is not an easy journey... Hang in there, bud, it has got to get better, eh?

 

Been off them for about 3 years, its still not easy. just hope it helps OMA.

 

hi tonyhale, Good for you, 3 years! If you are still having the cravings, ask your DR. the next time you are, for something to curb it... I found that food tastes sooo much better since I quit... Lots more flavors....

Hubby said the same, and he went cold turkey... Says he doesn't miss it or crave it anymore, so I think you have to find that "hump" to get over, and then it gets easier... Best of wishes to you. And, yes, I do hope this does help Oma.. She is going to need all of our support.....

 

Worked as a theatre tech for a while. Wonder what effect it would have if we could show the lovely pink tissue of someone who has never smoked, and put it next to the thick black horrible lung of s smoker.

Dont do it OMA it not only kills you, it kills the people you love

 

Yes, it does.... My Mom died very young from emphysema. Before the 'warnings' went on the packs...

Hang in there, Oma, you CAN do it.. Just take it one day at a time...

 

Keep it going OMA, you'll look better, feel better and sorry, smell better!

 

I've been of them for over 20yr's now an still wouldn't trust myself with a cigarette, but don't let that stop you, you just have to stay positive and strong willed and you get through it and you will save lots of money, an you use the money on something worth spending on.

 

Thank you TeeCee. I'm taking it minutes at a time today. Time goes by so slow without that poison.

OMG You must be doing a lot better now aren't you? BTW: thank you for your PM, couldn't reply as your PM isn't set up to receive PM's.

Thank you DomLuc. Yes lot of aid here also to help you through. Thing is I didn't plan to quit and didn't prepare for it. I just said at 12 noon after cigarette #6 for that day, THIS IS IT, THEY ARE MAKING ME MORE SICK. I've seen people be dependent on the patches, gum etc because they all contain nicotine. It's the nicotine that's the problem, so I want to do it without this type of help.

Can't go to group counseling due to health problems. Sofar found only a helpline that isn't manned for 24 hours daily. As if one doesn't have any cravings in the evenings or early mornings. rolleyes

BTW: my hubby smokes outside and when he comes inside after he had a smoke, he STINKS!! Hehe, no it's this olfactory thingy that's driving me nuts.

 

Oma, yes, time will go by slow, but do you have a hobby you can turn too? Knitting? Cross-stitching? Anything you can do with your hands? Hobbies help with the time thing.... Hang in there, someone will be here for you, just pop in, Oma, I will make it a priority to check in here and see how you are doing... My husband quit about a year after me, and yeah, he smoked outside too, and when he came in, yup, he had that distinctive odor too! :-o yeah, it is quite distinctive alright!

But, also, food will have a much better smell and taste.. Have you noticed? Hang in there, we are here for YOU!

 

I see you hijacked my thread Oma! Congrats, and keep it up. It gets better, I promise! :celebrate

 

OH, Fred, I am sure that if anyone is helped by your thread, will be most thankful, for sure... Thank you for starting it

 

The help line in Ireland is ex-directory

 

I need to quit someday.. Keep it up Fred your an inspiration to us all :cool

 

Smoking is banned in Geekland

 

When you husband tells you he's going for a smoke, tell him you want to make love, not only will it make him stop smoking, it'll make you both very happy, and if he's a 20 a day man you'll lose weight as well

 

Sorry Fred that I hijacked your thread. It was not intentionally. Had no idea that after posting so many awesome geeks would reply with words of comfort and support!! It better get better Fred, this is not what I remember from my first attempt to stop smoking.

 

Why not give it a whirl now? Join in, and give it a try. No better time than now to quit, you don't know if you have a tomorrow....

 

Oma, you have to find that "hump", and once you get over that, the going does get easier.... Oh, I have "quit" many times, and always went back to smoking, until this last time... Each time it got harder, but I am confident you will make it... Just hang in there, and take it one minute, one step, one day at a time.... We will back you and anyone else who needs some help... It will get better.... I promise....

 

Hmm, I crocheted numerous doilies, table cloths and placemats the first time I quit. My vision is not that great anymore TeeCee.

As I wrote in a previous post, I acquired an olfactory disorder 3.5 years ago that makes everything smell horribly strong, so much that I can hardly stand it and want to scream. This applies to EVERYTHING. No cure for that. Since quitting, the smells got even more offensive and the taste of food is definitely way WORSE! Arrggghh

 

LOL, hijack away Oma! :-D

 

Hi Oma, what about some painting? Paint a picture, maybe even one by numbers.. hey, anything you can do with your hands to distact your cravings, is a plus... What about planting some flowers? Just trying to come up with something to help.... I did counted cross stitch, but I had good eyes then, too... Hang in there!