I have asthma. 

That means when I turned 15.......I started smoking. 


I have asthma. That means when I was sick with a heavy cough for 6 months straight with bad asthma I quite cold turkey. I quite on June 17, 2000 my 30th  birthday. I just couldn't take it anymore. 


Why do we do such stupid things to our bodies when we know better?


I hope I didn't  quit too late. It's been just about 13 years since I smoked. Salem menthol my choice of smokes back then.  

Well that's my short story. It was worth quiting.


It does feel good to go to the doctor and say, 42 years old, quit smoking when I was 30. I don't get the lecture ;) 


I am rooting for you Danny. And you seem determined. That's great!!! 

Good luck you you!!! 

Your forum pal, 

Paul (mooch4056) 

Plus tax 

Jonbouy

Danny Danzi


We, unfortunately, do not have an undo button or a "reboot" button. The time is now Jon...you are loved. :)
 
-Danny

Here ya go Danny, I took you on your word there.
 
The time is now! Since I read that message last I had one smoke as if to make a ceremonial full-stop and haven't had one since.  That time span covers my favourite late-nite cig time and the early morning cravings, that's probably around 10 that I avoided already.
 
I've attempted this several times but I am completely done with it.
 
Today I've made the pledge, "I don't need to do that sh&* today!" all the tools I need are written on this thread already.
 
My mantra today is "No thanks, I don't smoke."

I am so glad for you Jonbouy!  Stay strong.  I was thinking about you last night and really hoping that you would decide to quit.  Way to go! I remember the "waves" of desire that kept knocking me around so I learned to be ready for them when they came.  They become less powerful and will fade away completely in time.

Rimshot

I used to smoke weed and I found that a lot harder to give up than tobacco. Despite what people tell you about it being "non addictive." For me, the psychological addiction was much harder to deal with than the physical addiction. 

With tobacco, I couldn't think of one reason not to quit. I didn't really enjoy smoking cigarettes if I was honest with myself, they made me feel sick, they gave me a bad cough, I stank of it, my teeth were stained, and I felt like a physical wreck. 

With weed, man I used to really love it. It made me feel great and enhanced everything I did. Enjoyment of music, enjoyment of movies, enjoyment of food, enjoyment of sex...so there was a huge psychological hurdle in stopping, even though I didn't really get any physical withdrawal symptoms. 

Quitting cigarettes is way easier in comparison. There's just no upside to nicotine that you can rationalize. 

Song Craft: Yeah, I know that was a weird post by me..missing a friend meaning, missing my good old cig buddy to hang out with. So far, I'm still going strong. :)

Jon: YES!!!!!!! I had a feeling you might at least think about it once you read that one section. Dude, I'm soo proud of you and happy too! I know you know how to deal with this stuff, but if you don't mind me sharing what's worked for me?

1. You know me, I never sleep. I think what helped me to get a jump start was, the day I decided enough was enough, I slept for nearly 9 hours. So that was 9 hours without a smoke already in motion. Sleep whenever you can right now and for as long as you can. It helps time pass and the cravings fade even more.

2. If you get the craving, stop what you're doing and do something else. Sitting at the computer is a bad thing for me. My right hand automatically reaches for my cigs because my body as associated smoking with sitting at the computer. So when you feel that urge, get up and take a walk, do a few crunches, call a friend, drink some water, have a tic tac or a piece of gum...just something to get your mind off of it for that second. The craving will pass.

3. Wash out astrays....put smokes in a place where you can't see them. This really works. Out of sight out of mind. Of course if you can crush them up and throw them away, even better. But I'm sadistic. I want mine here to tempt me. LOL!

4. Just remember that we sincerely do not need any of this at all. I read one time....that if you get the urge, take a deep breath bigger than the breath you'd take to inhale smoke. I've been doing that and honest when I tell you, the craving goes away. I'm not getting bad cravings though. The only thing I get is the right hand moving towards my pack of smokes by itself...which hasn't happened today. Over 3 days now and I feel great mate! Did ya try the hold your breath trick? If you did and failed with a cough like I did..wait till tomorrow.

I'm doing it right now to see if my time has increased. I've noticed that if you take in too much air, you can't hold it as long. I keep hitting around 1 minute to 1 minute 10/15 depending on how much air I take in. But...here's the good thing man. Though holding my breath for 1 minute is probably nothing special, I'm doing it without coughing up a lung....and was able to do that in one day after I stopped.

Here's some good stuff for you Jon:

3:35 PM (in 20 minutes): Your heart rate drops.

3:15 AM (in 12 hours): The carbon monoxide (a gas that can be toxic) in your blood drops to normal.

Mar. 29, 2013 - Jun. 15, 2013 (in 2 weeks to 3 months): Your heart attack risk begins to drop and your lungs are working better.

Apr. 15, 2013 - Dec. 15, 2013 (in 1 to 9 months): Your coughing and shortness of breath decrease and your lungs start to function better, lowering your risk of lung infection.

Mar. 15, 2014 (in 1 year): Your risk for heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

Mar. 15, 2018 (in five years): Your risk of having a stroke is the same as someone who doesn't smoke.

Mar. 15, 2023 (in 10 years): Your risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a smoker's. Your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decreases.

Mar. 15, 2028 (in 15 years): Your risk of heart disease is now the same as someone who doesn't smoke. Again, I'm soo proud of you, hope you can beat this, am here if you need to talk or vent, and you are loved....if not by anyone else but me, you are loved. :) LOL!

-Danny

Mooch4056


I have asthma. 

That means when I turned 15.......I started smoking. 


I have asthma. That means when I was sick with a heavy cough for 6 months straight with bad asthma I quite cold turkey. I quite on June 17, 2000 my 30th  birthday. I just couldn't take it anymore. 


Why do we do such stupid things to our bodies when we know better?


I hope I didn't  quit too late. It's been just about 13 years since I smoked. Salem menthol my choice of smokes back then.  

Well that's my short story. It was worth quiting.


It does feel good to go to the doctor and say, 42 years old, quit smoking when I was 30. I don't get the lecture ;) 


I am rooting for you Danny. And you seem determined. That's great!!! 

Good luck you you!!! 

Your forum pal, 

Paul (mooch4056) 

Plus tax 

Oh man, smoking with asthma?! I'm so glad you beat it Paul...that's awesome! I bet your running improved drastically too eh? I always try my best to do 3 miles per day every day or every other day jogging. I wish I could do more and realize 3 miles isn't anything to brag about, but it's been all I can do with the time I have. I felt pretty good to go that far all these years being a smoker. I even play flag football on the weekends in the winter time and never have a problem running. I think I just didn't abuse the smoking thing...at least that's what I hope.
 
Thanks for the support man...no worries, I AM going to beat this because I have to. I don't have much family left around me, but the friends I have do really love me and I still have my dad. I'd hate like heck to tell him I'll be leaving before him...so I owe it to him, myself and those that love me. No reason to be stubborn and hurt myself while I devastate those who love me. Thanks again to all of you. :)
 
-Danny

Danny Danzi



Here's some good stuff for you Jon:

3:35 PM (in 20 minutes): Your heart rate drops.

3:15 AM (in 12 hours): The carbon monoxide (a gas that can be toxic) in your blood drops to normal.

Mar. 29, 2013 - Jun. 15, 2013 (in 2 weeks to 3 months): Your heart attack risk begins to drop and your lungs are working better.

Apr. 15, 2013 - Dec. 15, 2013 (in 1 to 9 months): Your coughing and shortness of breath decrease and your lungs start to function better, lowering your risk of lung infection.

Mar. 15, 2014 (in 1 year): Your risk for heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

Mar. 15, 2018 (in five years): Your risk of having a stroke is the same as someone who doesn't smoke.

Mar. 15, 2023 (in 10 years): Your risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a smoker's. Your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decreases.

Mar. 15, 2028 (in 15 years): Your risk of heart disease is now the same as someone who doesn't smoke. Again, I'm soo proud of you, hope you can beat this, am here if you need to talk or vent, and you are loved....if not by anyone else but me, you are loved. :) LOL!

-Danny

I'll add to this...


After over 1 year off, when I met my wife and started again, I noticed plenty of little bugs climbing back in, some of them which I had never realized weren't there anymore after I quit. 


Some things are almost random in nature - like, an unexplainable sharp pain here or there, that lasts a couple of seconds or minutes, and comes back in a different spot x days or week after. And when you've smoked for years, those familiar pains are just part of your life


I remember after I started again I suddenly fell a sudden pain just above my knee, a bit like a needle poking from the inside, and I realized on the spot - that's the kind of bug I hadn't suffered from since... Well, since I had quit!


One of the big immediate benefits for me is that, as a smoker, after a while I started to notice that my blood pressure rises after a meal. I noticed that in Russia, last winter. At first I thought it was a simple lactose intolerance, because I've had those symptoms frequently but on and off, after eating cheese or cereals or drinking milk...


But the problem started showing up more and more regularly, no matter what I ate, until I pretty much felt uncomfortable after every meal. I'd be sitting there working after a meal, and suddenly notice that, man, my system was really struggling w/ the meal and my heart was pounding much harder than it should have been.


Those symptoms systematically vanish w/in a day or two whenever I quit smoking. And that's something I can focus one, a tangible reward I can enjoy every day, a couple of times a day.


All in all, we really put up w/ a lot of crap to keep on smoking, endure a lot of nasty little bugs. On top of the obvious stuff I mean.

On a related note - though that's not something really healthy...

Typically, if I drink a bit too much, the next morning will be a lot harder as a smoker. I'd go as far as saying that my worst hangovers were more than exacerbated by cigarette. In fact, I remember very few hangovers from my non-smoking days - none where I felt half as miserable anyway.

Yep hangovers are definitely worse when you're a smoker. 

sharke


Yep hangovers are definitely worse when you're a smoker. 

No surprise there!  Smoking dehydrates, alcohol dehydrates, hangovers come from the brain dehydrating...  Makes perfect sense to me!
 
Usually, for every two drinks I have, I'll pound down a large water.  Result?  No hangover.
 
HTH.

Well, why pay for factory cigarettes, when there is roll-your-own cigarette tobacco, even other types of tobacco like pipe tobacco that does not contain the crap that is in factory cigarettes, and cost way less?? But, addiction is addiction in anything, and moderation is moderation with anything, and sayings are sayings with anything. What was the point? Ah................??