My brain hurts... help me.

[ksdaddy]

I quit smoking over two years ago, cold turkey after 35 years of pack-a-day. Lately I have been p___ed off thinking about it because I miss smoking. I friggin' bloddy well miss it. I liked smoking, I never coughed once, I was never short of breath, all that. I just have the feeling I'm punishing myself by not smoking, almost like a kid who can't go outside during recess. I can't honestly say WHAT it is I miss about smoking, only that it was part of my life for so long and now it's gone, even after two years. It's driving me insane and I even had a conversation with one of my daughters the other night, saying how I wish I could buy a carton of Camels and sit down and smoke every last one of them. Her response was, 'then why don't you?' menaing cripes, Dad, life is too short to be miserable all the time.

 

And I am obsessed with it lately, I can't get away from it. You would think that after two years I would be finally broken free of it but lately it's just like I had only quit a few hours ago and now am having second thoughts.

 

I have even gone so far as to google disgusting photos of cancer victims but it's not helping. It's so bad I sometimes secretly wish I would be diagnosed with some terminal illness so I could then just go back to smoking and truly not care what happens.

 

They can preach nicotine addiction all day long and claim if you can get away from nicotine for X number of days all will be sweetness and light, to which I reply 'B.S.!'.

 

What is my major malfunction here?

[Californiaman]

That happens to a lot of people, it's OK.

Just don't give in.

There usually is a trigger that causes the compulsion to smoke. Don't give in to the urge. Identify the trigger.

[Thundergod]

I couldn't tell man... maybe it's just in your mind. I used to smoke 2-4 packs a day (marlboro reds too) and then just got bored and quit... that was like 7 or 10 years ago (who's counting) and have never looked back... have never felt the urge to go out and buy some cigarretes... never.

 

Wish you luck, hope you overcome that urge and stay clean of smoke. You do know that by smoking you not only harm youself but everyone else and also nature?

[Bluemoon]

I smoked 2 packs a day for 15 years. I haven't smoked since 2001. I miss it too. I loved smoking. I still get the urge now and then. But then I think about

 

 

1. The effort it took to quit (and the pain associated with it)

 

2. My three young kids and how I want to make sure I can keep pace with them in the future.

 

3. The cost...I mean how does anyone afford to smoke anymore.

 

4. My freedom. I was a slave to smoking. I was always thinking about how and when I could smoke. I would be a nervous wreck if I couldn't smoke (I was a nightmare to fly with).

[Rocky4]

In the last three years, I watched my mom and dad breathe their lasts breaths. My mom went first. She couldn't walk or talk. She went to the hospital for radiation and three weeks later, all in a hospital bed, she passed away. My dad's decline came slow, over a five year period. You could see him getting winded easier as time went by. I went from helping him get groceries to getting groceries for him. A trip to the bathroom, getting a cup of coffee, answering the phone, all became events for him. In the end, it was five months of rotating between hospitals, home, and nursing homes. 911 calls with ambulance rides to the ER were common events. I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm just giving you a heads up on what your future could be like. My folks were heavy smokers most of their lives. It effects you and the people who ultimately have to take care of you. Your freedom to do what you want, when you want, along with your pride, are gone forever.

[grampa]

Cigarette addiction is a strange thing. I can smoke a gig or two and not get "hooked" and I smoke a cigar every now and then and do no get into the habit. I feel sorry for those who can't enjoy a smoke without getting hooked. Tobacco is really quite a nice leaf except for the fact that many get hooked. On National Smoke-out Day I will consciously not smoke even if I have the urge just to support those who are struggling to quit.

[callen3615]

It takes a strong-willed person so stop, And for that I commend you. I have never smoked and I have never wanted to.

[djroge1]

don't give into the urge - pick up the guitar and play eat something, or exercise just do something else. Replace a bad habit with a good habit.

 

I watched my dad smoke my whole life - in the end he had lung cancer, emphszyma and COPD. That's not path I would want anyone to walk.

 

On the other hand, someone once told me "Anyone can stop smoking but it takes a real man to face up to cancer." Smokers are more likely to get lung cancer.

[grampa]

There's a quote attributed to Mark Twain : "Qiutting smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times".

 

I have a friend who quit smoking and drinking within 6 months of each other. He just quit. Quite a feat for an alcoholic chain smoker. This was 6 or 7 years ago and he says he does not miss it. He's extemely compulsive and manic and for him to quit is amazing.

[KSG_Standard]

My dad smoked for 35 years, he smoked cigarettes, pipes and cigars. He quit cold turkey several years ago and he says that he still misses it every single day. I'm hooked on Skoal, I've been using it for 25 years and I haven't been able to quit for more than 2 weeks at a time. Nicotine is a tough habit to break as is the physical action of smoking or chewing.

[smithy78]

I am trying to stop, it's really hard.. I'm just excercising every time I get a craving, that helps me... But like you sometimes I think, well I actually like smoking why should i stop? But then I think, it's pointless anyway and I don't really need one. It's not actually going to help you, it's all in the head. Giving in to an addiction is a bad thing to do mentally, you will feel terrible in yourself afterwards. Don't give in man, it wont be worth it! Btw nice Mark Twain quote, that guys a legend!

[Homz]

I wish I could quit and you all are not making it easy. I don't want to have cravings 15-30 years later. That would suck

[TheLiveSoundGuy]

I always told myself I would never be one of those "reformed preach to the choir" non-smokers.

 

Truth is, smoking cost me one of my lungs. It was not cancer. But my right lung had become hard and "crunchy" (think about the inside of a bong) Can I or my Doctors prove it was caused by cigarettes or some "other" plant? No.

Lord knows I ingested enough of both, for over 40 years.

 

Another truth is when I started at the age 9, I knew then, just as I know now, common sense tells me it can not be good for living organ tissues, to set a tree, plant or bush, on fire and inhale that into my body.

 

We are all going to do what we do, and that really is all there is to it. If not for the 6 months in the hospital, (don't even ask about that bill) I would probably still be smoking anything and everything handed to me. No amount of education, facts, or common sense would ever deter that.

 

If you need another reason though, smokes here in Texas now are $50.00 a carton. I was smoking 3 cartons a week, so you do the math. You realize how many NEW Gibson's that is?

 

Light 'em if you got 'em

 

~peace

[Californiaman]

Homz,

if you can quit for 30 days, you're home free.

After drinking coffee many many years, (I was a 8-9 cup-a-day guy) I've been off the juice for 38 days now.

I feel different too. I noticed a physical change in my metabolism also.

It's good.

30 days Homz and your home free.

[Californiaman]

Wow LSG

That's harsh. How you doing now?

Is it possible for a transplant?

That's crazy man. I've never heard of that before, but I guess it makes sense.

[ksdaddy]

I wish I could quit and you all are not making it easy. I don't want to have cravings 15-30 years later. That would suck

 

 

That's what strikes me as so odd about this whole scenario. I did my Time in Hell for the first couple months and reached a point where I thought about it less and less and finally just shrugged it off after a few months. At first I counted the hours, then the days, then weeks, then months, now I have to actually think about when I quit and calculate it out. So on the surface it would appear I'm way past it. My wife still smokes and I will straight-up tell you that has never tempted me. The stink makes me sick though. When a co-worker or customer comes into my area and stinks it up I hate it. When I see people I don't particularly like having to stand outside in the rain to have a smoke I get a little twisted chuckle out of it. So why all of a sudden am I obsessed with going back to it? Maybe there's something lacking in my life... Lackanookie Disease or something. Or SG Lust. Maybe I need a 19 year old girlfriend with an oral fixation and short term memory loss to keep my mind off the cigarettes. And if my wife took a shine to her that would be even better! And if she presented me with a new SG before dropping her clothes in a rumpled heap on the floor and taking the phone off the hook I would run out and buy a carton of Camels just so I could ceremoniously stomp them into the ground.

 

It'll never happen but if thinking about things like that keeps me away from cigarettes for now then it's a good thing.

[Bluemoon]

Cigarette addiction is a strange thing. I can smoke a gig or two and not get "hooked" and I smoke a cigar every now and then and do no get into the habit. I feel sorry for those who can't enjoy a smoke without getting hooked. Tobacco is really quite a nice leaf except for the fact that many get hooked. On National Smoke-out Day I will consciously not smoke even if I have the urge just to support those who are struggling to quit.

 

I don't get that. I had a friend like that. He could turn it on and off like a switch. I was hooked as soon as I finished my third of fourth pack.

[Bluemoon]

I wish I could quit and you all are not making it easy. I don't want to have cravings 15-30 years later. That would suck

 

It is 30 days of pain. That's it. I was a serious smoker. I loved it. In 2001 I lost was laid off. I was bored so I went to Stop Smoking Clinic. The guy who ran the clinic was great. He felt the only way to quit was cold turkey. He explained all the things that you go through as you quit so there we so no surprises. He also prepared you for all the future triggers and how to overcome them. That is how crazy addictive smoking is. For instance, I quit in the winter. I was doing well. Then the summer came and when I fired up my barbecue and I had this crazy urge to smoke. The reason was that I always smoked while waiting for the food to cook. It was the first time since I quit that I had faced that trigger. That happens a lot. You simply overcome those triggers.

 

The other piece of advice was to never smoke anything ever again--no cigars, no Skoal, no nothing. That is a big mistake people make. The other mistake is five or six years down the road they take a smoke because they think they have it beat. Before they know it they are back to square one. You never have it beat.

 

In a way getting laid off from my job for six months saved my life.

[TheLiveSoundGuy]

Wow LSG

That's harsh. How you doing now?

Is it possible for a transplant?

That's crazy man. I've never heard of that before' date=' but I guess it makes sense.

[/quote']

 

Thanks man. I'm doing good now. I don't know about transplants since I'm really pretty healthy, and for the most part, fully functional. I still occasionally get short of breath, and they tell me that will happen off and on for the rest of my life. "Officially" they label it as C.O.P.D. Until fairly recently though, that term didn't even exist. They can label it however they choose. What I know is, I do feel much better than I did as a smoker. I am saving tons of cash, my skin is clearing and showing signs of improvement (I never realized how much the toxins poisoned the skin tissues,) I no longer stink, (could never smell it before) I no longer hear any wheezing, or crackling, I no longer have to (try) scrub the brown nicotine stains off of everything in my house. I could go on and on, but I won't bore you any more than I have.

 

And you are right it takes 28 days for the body to completely purge itself of any toxins. After that the addiction, and cravings go away. I still get cravings, mainly after meals, but I always remember when I was sitting on the couch gasping for oxygen, and none would come. Plug your nose and cover your mouth for about oh...30 minutes. That's what it was like the day I went to the hospital with a ruptured, collapsed lung. I'll never tell anyone else what to or not to do, I just know I can't.

 

Since I'm being honest, and have no regrets about my past, it was 3 cartons and about on average 1/2 an ounce a week.

 

...for 40 years!

[Bluemoon]

Three cartons a week...holy smokes. That is one costly habit.

 

I thought I was bad with 2 packs a days.

 

It is good to be free of the habit in so many ways. And I too would never lecture anyone on quitting smoking. The only thing I can say is that if I was able to quit then anyone can do it. I really believe that.

[pippy]

It's dangerous to give advice which encourages smoking, as we all know it can lead to an early and nasty death.

 

However............

 

When my father was in his early sixties he was advised by his GP (doctor) to give up smoking his pipe. My father had been smoking a pipe since he was 16. He survived WW II in the Tank Corps in Africa and was comforted in the main by the peace which could be attained with his pipe. His pipe was his only guilty pleasure in life (he was tee-total) and did not want to relinquish it. He was told that, were he to do so, he would in all likelihood add an extra 10-15 years on to his life-span. He replied that if he couldn't have his pipe he would rather not want to add an extra 10-15 years to his life span!

 

He died from a non-pipe-smoking illness approaching his eighty-ninth year and had continued to enjoy his 'baccy until the day he shuffled off this mortal coil.

 

Don't do it.

 

Do it.

 

You decide.

[TheLiveSoundGuy]

George Burns, Milton Berle, just to name two most prominent people, smoked cigars till the day they died.

Didn't Mr. Burns live to be 100? I'm not so sure there is ANY hard scientific evidence that smoking is deadly.

I don't know. My Mom is 86 bless her heart. She still smokes like a freight train. It effects different people, different ways. Just as each person's genetic makeup is different.

[ksdaddy]

Yeah, I've cleaned up my act, haven't drank since Dec 03, haven't smoked since Feb 07, and I'll get hit by a truck at the age of 51 and when I get to the Pearly Gates St. Peter will pop the top on a Colt 45 forty, hand it to me, and say, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!"

 

Bluemoon, you're right about facing things after you quit, activities you normally associate with smoking. I quit in Feb and it was the middle of May before I could load up the truck and take a load of scrap to the junkyard (which sits about 1/2 mile off the road and the access road is muddy in the spring!)... the last time I had gone to the junkyard I was a smoker, so on that trip I just about clawed my shirt pocket off trying to find a Camel.