Quitin!!!

[gyrojake]

O.K. I'm making the choice to quit smoking cigs. It's the hardest habit I've ever tried to stop.
I hope I don't end up in prison!! Seems like people tolerance is the first thing to go. FOOD seems to also be one of the demons that try and take over.
Loss of focus --- type of an A.D.D. thing going on-- folks that know me already think I've got that!!!, but now I notice it.
I'm 48 hours since my last puff--- and WOW IT SUCKS.

Well wish me luck, I"ve got to do this.

I've tried the patch, the shot and the pills. Cold turkey is my last choice. Hope I'm tough enough.

~~JAKE~~

[Gyrocopter1]

Jake! you freaking well better quit ,smoking cigs, and all that welding smoke will get you.
Good luck trying ,your friend Jim.

[getut]

Good luck Jake!

I know what you are going through. About 9 years 7 months and 8 days ago I had to quit dipping after doing it for 15 years. It was horrible and I still have days that I really want to go out and buy a can.

I allow myself 12 cigars per year as reward for quitting... but man are those cigars good.

I made the mistake of quitting during a vacation with my family. They were about to drug me up and drop me off at the nearest homeless shelter.

[Bumperdog]

Jake,
20 years of cigarettes, 20 years of no smoking, 20 years of cigars, open heart surgery 4 years ago ended the cigar smoking. When I hit 80 I might go back to the cigars again and go out doing what I enjoy. Good luck, "you can do it"

www.sunvalleykennel.net

[choppergabor]

Jake you need no luck wishing. You are half way there already. You started smoking in your mind and you start quitting in your mind too. You have already gotten there in your mind. It is very hard to quit. No two ways about it. The hardest thing I have ever done in my life is to quit smoking after 25 years of smoking. Allow yourself to fail. And get back to quitting if you do!!!! Never quit quitting! The main thing is that you understand that you have been manipulated by the chemical baths tobacco goes through before processing. This causes quitting almost impossible. Jake you are a good person. You don't need to punish Jake! Start loving Jake. Every week you go without smoking spend that money on Jake! Positive reinforcement. You can do it! It does suck though....

[C. Beaty]

Tobacco has to be one of the toughest addictions to kick.

I gave up smoking ~25 years ago and started chewing because the only doctor I was seeing at the time was a dermatologist (skin cancer; that and cataracts, the bane of nearly all lifelong Floridans) and he refused to give me a prescription for nicotine chewing gum.

Probably just as well; tobacco, however it’s taken is equally addictive. The only way is cold turkey, which requires more willpower than I’ve been able to muster.

Have at it, Jake; if you succeed, you’re my hero; if you fail, just another scuzzbum.

[Vance]

All the best, Vance

[Resasi]

Jake, be advised that the craving for smoking does eventually go.

You will eat more and you will put on weight. Expect that as there are metabolic changes that do occur, however weight can be controlled later.

Trying to quite smoking and not to gain weight at the same time can sometimes be just too much to do, and you simply slide back into smoking. Besides stopping smoking allows you to begin tasting food again, and food tasting good encourages you to eat more

Your smoking may well be linked to a routine, or something like drinking coffee or booze. Expect cravings to be extra high at these times. If possible cut down on these activities to assist.

It's tough, you have to have decided that it is the right thing for you to do otherwise it will not be possible to go through with it.

Tried a number of ways after smoking for nearly thirty years. All failed except the last. Cold turkey, no cutting down, no patches or gum. Just stopped.

Stink on my clothes and in the house stopped. Food tastes good I can breath better and my mouth has stopped tasting like crap in the mornings. I feel healthier all round. Glad I did.

You can do it.

[Timchick]

Good luck, Jake.

[j bird]

I' feel for you, been there, done that.

[billygyro]

You can do it Jake,

Here was my secret, the habit for reaching for them seem to be the first thing that I noticed that I was doing back when I quit! So I just put a pack of gum in the front pocket of my shirt and every time I reached for a cig- there was the gum. it worked for me. I smoked for 18 years and just quit cold turkey. for the first few weeks I chewed the heck out of some gum.

Been smoke free since 1995

[Dirtydog]

gyrojake :

I have to say (You can do it! ) I quit 3 times and when I hit 50 I told everyone this was going to be the day......that was 3 years ago, but the road was not easy. I smoked almost 2-1/2 packs a day and started at the age of 16 when I got them out of the vending machines for 25 cents a pack.....
Fist time I quit was I got sick with bad cold and could not smoke for coughing my head off. Stopped for 1-1/2 years..

second time I quit for 6 month and work made me start back......

This past time I got the things you put in you mouth to get some nict. in you...I found out this was just something else to have to buy but cost more. So I started on the fire balls which made me lose one of my crowns on a tooth. That was another thing that was hard to give up. One thing lead to something else untill I made my mind up to for get it all and stop. Now when my son comes to see me boy does he stink! the cig. smoke smells bad and is strong too. You will see but it take time.

I gained 30 pounds.... I am now trying to QUIT EATING.
I started out 230 lbs. I have lose 17 pound but it is hard.

They say when you smoke it makes your body think that you have just ate and it starts you acids up to cut the foods down. Now you are not going to do that.

I remember when I was 18 I could eat all day and not gain a pound....

YOU CAN DO IT !


OH GOOD LUCK REDBARON WITH YOURS TOO!

[Arnie Madsen]

Originally Posted by gyrojake

Seems like people tolerance is the first thing to go. ~~JAKE~~

Best wishes Jake.
Nicotine has a medical effect on the brain by filtering out negative stimuli. That is why everything (everybody) tends to be an irritant. Everything (everyone) around you is pretty much the same as always , it is just that you are more sensitive to (perceived) irritants.

Some people are more sensitive than others and find it harder.

Nicotine also bumps up a persons problem solving IQ by 15-25% . Watch a smoker encounter a snag or problem. Often they have a cigarette and then find the solution right away.

The Einsteins , Oppenheimer's and many geniuses of the past used to smoke their faces off when trying to solve difficult problems.

Medically these two effects of nicotine are considered beneficial. It is the physical smoke and tars that are harmful.

The following seems cruel and unfair but is true nonetheless:
... the number one killer is heart disease and breast cancer in women
... the highest rates of lung cancer is found in 51 year old women who have never smoked or been around second hand smoke.
... the countries with the highest number of smokers has the lowest amount of cancer.
... an exhaustive European study found that people exposed to second hand smoke did not suffer any effects. The actual study group found they had a life expectancy of 2 years longer than those not exposed to smoke.
... most of the so called chemicals in cigarette smoke are also common to bonfires and barbecues .
... in the 1950's and 1960's there were extremely dangerous cancer causing chemicals added to flavor some brands of cigarettes.
... hydrogenated vegetable oils used for years in food , margarine etc. are expected to kill three times as many people as tobacco. Modern cold rolled vegetable oils are OK and healthy..

Statistics are often skewed as follows:

... lets say you have 100 people who never smoked and 10 die of cancer.
....Then you take 100 people who do smoke and 12 die of cancer.

(false) statisticians will enter the second group as 12 people dying from tobacco related causes.

The reality is that 10 would have died anyway if they did not smoke and the 2 extra deaths that could be attributed to smoking could have occurred at 84 years of age but those facts are usually hidden. Practically every smoker who dies has tobacco use listed as the cause, even if they are 93.

Nicorette chewing gum is a good nicotine delivery system but the nicotine content is often too low to replace a cigarette. High content gum is available but doctors do not prescribe it often enough for the heavy smoker trying to quit. Pipe smoking (without inhaling) is a good delivery system. Pipe smokers live an average of 2-4 years longer than non smokers. The psychological stress relief from fiddling with a pipe is beneficial. Study doctors call it a pacifier for grown men. Stress is harmful to all aspects of good health. Pipes are considered stress relievers.

Non smokers have been (falsely) lead to believe that it is only the smokers who are headed for trouble.

Smoking is expensive , unhealthy, and stinks. I encourage everyone not too.

[RICK MARTIN]

I'm pulling hard for you buddy.

[iconnary]

Originally Posted by Arnie Madsen

[U]
... the highest rates of lung cancer is found in 51 year old women who have never smoked or been around second hand smoke.
... the countries with the highest number of smokers has the lowest amount of cancer.
... an exhaustive European study found that people exposed to second hand smoke did not suffer any effects. The actual study group found they had a life expectancy of 2 years longer than those not exposed to smoke.
... most of the so called chemicals in cigarette smoke are also common to bonfires and barbecues .

Arnie, you sound like a smoker in denial (that or you work for Phillip Morris). Would you care to back up these claims?

If you're going to contradict the results of just about every scientific study conducted in the last 50 years you should expect to be challenged to provide a few citations.

Jake, you're doing the right thing. Quitting smoking was the most miserable experience I've ever been through. You'll thank yourself for it for the rest of your life though (which will likely be much longer now than as a smoker).