Just quit smoking

[GoBlue!]

Congrats to all the quitters. To those who have quit & relapsed, don't quit quitting.

From a doc's perspective, I've counseled hundreds of people to quit. How many actually sustained quitting I'll never know, but you all have touched on something that I tell everyone right up front. That is, you have to come up with something you're going to do instead of smoke, when you get the urge. If you have a plan in advance, you can do it. For some, the nicotine addiction is rough; that's where the patches, gum, inhalers, etc. will help. But, those can be tapered in a couple of weeks, and you're left with the psychological addiction/habit....that's where the going gets tough.

Some people just miss having something constantly in their hands/mouth. Get sugar-free suckers. Play with the stick. Go through 50 a day if you want; lots better than smoking.

I wouldn't say the drugs are "addictive." Zyban (bupropion) helps some folks to fight the urge quite a bit, and after several months it can usually be tapered off easily. Granted, if you can do it "cold turkey," that's fantastic. I don't push drugs unless they're needed. I'd rather see someone use prescription drugs with minimal side effects for the next several months than to continue using cigarettes for the next several months....

Some smoke because of anxiety or depression. Be honest with yourself, and if that's why you smoke ("Just to take the edge off & relax..."), seek treatment for the anxiety/depression first, and then get yourself off the cigs.

If your S.O. smokes, you both need to quit. Having only one person quit in the household is nearly impossible.

I sincerely commend those of you who have quit. Without a doubt, it's the best thing you'll ever do for your health.

Jim

 

[kman458]

congrats, its been one year this weekend that i walked away from a 2 pack a day, 30 year addiction. now all i need to do is take off those 40 or so extra pounds that i found.

 

[dscheck]

Congrats to those that have quit, keep it up.

As for myself, I am a 37 year old 24 year 1 pack a day smoker (I did quit for 3 years when at college), unfortunately my parents are smokers from the day I was born, my two older brothers are both smokers and the other "SMOKE" smokers, so they thought it would be "cool" to introduce me to mary-jane when I was twelve. Shortly after that, imitating my "botherly role models" I started stealing my parents cigs, then started using my school lunch money to buy them, back in the early eighties, not many stores proofed you for cigs.

Anyways, I finished my AOW in Curacao this April and am planning to continue my dive education. When I was performing my kick-cycle counts the instructor was actually setting the pace in front of me and I couldn't match her pace, I began to get short on breath, so I indicator to the instructor I was experiening a problem and set down on the sand to regain my composer. After, I calmed down and stopped hyper-ventilating, we surfaced and discussed what just happened, and she admitted her mistake and apoligised, we went back down and finished the navigation dive without incident.

Well, this little incident really got me thinking, I need to get into shape and quit smoking. I returned home and joined a gym, I have lost 3.6% body fat and lower my resting and elivated heart rate significantly, Yoga every Monday and Wednesday, 25 minutes on the incline hiking machine and alternating upper body, lower body strength training every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. My lung capacity is 4000 ml, the equivalant of a 20 year old 6'4".

But, I am still smoking, my wife smokes and doesn't want to quit, when I attempt to quit, she lectures me that I always choose the wrong time to quit, because of stressful situations, other health problems she has, etc..., she always states that she can quit whenever she wants (seing she has only smoked the last few years), but I know better, she has never attempted to quit, I have numerous times, but have only been successful once for any length of time.

Shoot, I don't know why I am rambling on like this, maybe I'm feeling sorry for myself, maybe I'm looking for encouragement or alternatives I haven't thought of yet. I don't know, sorry for the ramble.

 

[Mako Mark]

Shoot, I don't know why I am rambling on like this, maybe I'm feeling sorry for myself, maybe I'm looking for encouragement or alternatives I haven't thought of yet. I don't know, sorry for the ramble.

consider yourself encouraged, that was a good post and expresses what it feels like.

 

[Garyra]

Hi everyone,

I can't begin to tell you how much I apreaciate the encouragement that I have found here. It has really helped, especially the peeps that have sent me personal messages.
It has been 7 weeks now since I last picked up a smoke. I can't say that it has been easy but having so many people encourageing me and having something I love to do as motivation really helps.

I had to go to the Dr. last week, picked up a case of swimmer's ear from all the lake diving that I do, and found that I have gained 5 lbs since I quit. My Dr. said that he throught that was a very small amount and that most people gain much more than that in thier first few months of not smoking.

Even though the Dr, is happy, I am really wanting to start working on becoming more fit. I have bought a recumbent stationary bike and a bowflex is on the way. I plan to work on Cardio on the bike and strenght training with the bowflex. I can't beleive that I rode the bike last night for 30 minutes with a sustained average heart rate of 115 and never came close to being winded! I really didn't even break a sweat. I have also notice that my resting heart rate has dropped back down to below 70. I never realized how much smoking was limiting me.

I think that there have been several factors that have helped me quit, and I really think that I will be able to stay quit this time. One, is that I have the support of lots of friends and family. Two, is that I have found something that I love to do, and smoking increases the risk of the sport. Also, I really think that using the lozenges have really helped. I have tried the patches and can't chew gum, it makes me a nervous wreck, but the lozenges have made the process a lot easier.

Once again, thanks for the support.

 

[mloe]

Guys, you do really well.
From my experience its important to quit when you feel ready for it. Being ready doesn´t mean you won´t be afraid, but being sure somehow, somewhere deep inside, that it has been ENOUGH, that there is a life without addiction waiting for you.
In July, a month before turning 30 I quit smoking cold turkey, from 30-50 Luckies a day to zero overnight. At times it has been hard, especially the anxiety fits and feelings of not being able to cope with boredom or stress. I have only felt better since yesterday, after about a week of self pitying and rambling about "maybe having one more cig, etc..." I didn´t, and I know why. Try counting not only the money saved (it never worked for me, though its a nice plus!) but the cigarettes NOT smoked: approx. 1700 (!) in my case. and thars a conservative guess!
Weight gain: 2 kilos so far, but I needed them badly... I cycle a lot, go to the gym twice a week, I swim and I scuba dive
All the best to all of you,
kind regards, michael

 

[mweitz]

From: http://www.4woman.gov/faq/smoking.htm

I really like this:

Is it ever too late to quit?
No, it's never too late to quit. Quit smoking now to start feeling these benefits.

20 minutes after quitting:

Your blood pressure drops back to normal.
The temperature in your hands and feet returns to normal.
8 hours after quitting:

The carbon monoxide (a gas that can be toxic) in your blood drops to normal.
24 hours after quitting:

Your chance of having a heart attack goes down.
2 days after quitting:

You can taste and smell things better.
2 weeks to 3 months after quitting:

You have better blood flow.
Your lungs are working better.
1 to 9 months after quitting:

Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease.
Your lungs start to function better, lowering your risk of lung infections.
1 year after quitting:

You reduce your risk for heart disease by half.
5 to 15 years after quitting:

Your risk of having a stroke is the same as someone who never smoked.
10 years after quitting:

Your risk of lung cancer is nearly the same as someone who never smoked.
Your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decrease.
15 years after quitting:

Your risk of heart disease is now the same as someone who has never smoked.

 

[opiniongirl]

I'm an ex-diehard smoker...used to smoke on the patch, and didn't last a day without them.

My sister's guy quit using this book, so she gave a copy to me..I stuffed it somewhere for about a year, before I started reading it.

Allen Carr's "Easyway to quit smoking" will allow you to quit with almost no withdrawal, hunger, nervousness or anxiety. It deals with the psychology of smoking - which is at the core of the addiction.

Haven't gained a pound, and it was ridiculously easy. Not to say there haven't been days where I've thought about it - but it just doesn't have a fraction of the appeal it used to.

There's no gross photos, or calculators to tell how much money your spending, etc etc..it just changes the way you think about it.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

5 years 4 months.... Congrats to you.

On the 400 yard swim, practice. Build up to it.

Best wishes,

TwoBit

 

[Kennedydive]

Congratulations. Quitting was by far the hardest thing I've ever done. I quit about 4-1/2 years ago. This was about my 8th try at quitting. The way I did it was I used my smoking money to join a gym. Anytime I wanted to go for a smoke I went to the gym and did an exercise routine that included swimming which I love. I quit and lost weight. I was 220lb and dropped down to 190 in the time my 1 year membership was up. I also took up diving. The key to quitting is you have to want to quit. If you really don't want to than you won't. I don't mean to sound discouraging and although this may not happen to all ex-smokers but I'm still have to keep myself in check. If I walk in to a room where people are smoking or if someone comes inside from smoking than it smells pretty disgusting. If I'm outside and someone is smoking it smells Oh so good and at times it is almost tempting to take a drag. I've fought this for years and figure I may have to for the rest of my life but I do not want to go back to smoking especially seeing that cigarettes now cost over $10cnd a pack here.
Jason