Quit smoking support group

Yeah I guess steak isn't as daring as I thought eh? I'm defintely going to have to try this samich now. If it wasn't 2:30 a.m. I'd go in search of the ingredients now.

 

Funny you mention that because to reward myself when I quit before, I bought books, clothes and a new pair of shoes. Of course, the patch is kinda pricey itself.

 

Send her the doctor bills. Seriously, I don't want to scare anyone, but I'm going to tell you what you should know. I started smoking in college. It started during winter break parties in my hometown. Then it carried over into my second semester. I mainly smoked during study breaks. That summer, I became a full-time smoker.

Now I'm 34, and I'm in sad shape. The weight issue has been there for a number of years, but this smoking thing is scary as hell. As I was mentioning, I get pretty sick when I smoke. Basically, I have a few complications associated with COPD, which is the third leading cause of death in this country. It starts with a smoker's cough, primarily in the mornings. Then you get your first bout with bronchitis. Eventually, you develop what they call chronic bronchitis. I've had it for almost three years. When I catch a cold, it lasts for weeks and always causes bronchitis. I've had it last as long as a month before. So, if you can imagine this: You might catch four colds a year. With chronic bronchitis, you're going to be almost zombie-like for a fourth of the year.

Where other people just have a runny nose and a cough for a few days, I get a severe dry, sore throat that gives way to a fever, body aches and a terrible cough that brings up nasty clear liquid and leaves you gasping for air. It's always accompanied by a funny taste, which is probably the lung infection, which is what bronchitis is. This also leads to asthma symptons, and that's quite a shock for someone who has never had asthma.

Now, this isn't a rare thing. This is common. This is what happens. My mother-in-law has it. There's really no treatment for it other than quitting smoking so that it doesn't become worse. And it becomes a lot worse. It killed my wife's grandma. She got emphysema. That's basically the next step after COPD. That's where I'm headed if I don't beat this thing, which makes it pretty damn stupid that I would ever pick up a cigarette.

And you don't have to develop emphysema to die. The lack of oxygen into your lungs means less oxygen in your blood stream, which is one way that smoking affects your heart. So there's a good chance that you'll die from a heart attack long before you develop emphysema. The thing is that it's such a gradual thing that it seems like it's never going to happen to you until it does happen to you. Then it's too fucking late.

So, if that doesn't convince you, I don't know what the fuck I can tell you.

Edit: I should note hat I'm not just a weakling. I can go weeks without seeing a smoke. But my in-laws all smoke. My wife's dad and stepmom smoke like chimneys. They send us stuff for the kids, and when I open the box the stuff wreaks of cigarette smoke. My wife's mother and father-in-law spend their entire evenings, and much of their day, smoking on the back patio. When I visit them, I smoke a few and then end up buying a pack.

 

Good luck to you all trying to quit or wanting to quit or whatever. But, please, dear god, it's "reeks", not "wreaks". That smoking wreaks havoc upon your health, and your clothes reek because of the smoke that infiltrates them.
Again, good luck. Smoking helped kill my dad when he was 56, and my mom's headed there. Stop.

 

Look, we have enough problems without someone pointing out that we're complete imbeciles. We already knew that. How do you think we got into this mess.

But you're correct. I'm also guilty of using "wracked" instead of "racked" for the first year of my professional career.

By the way...Joe...I think the period goes inside of the quotation mark, as in "wreaks." But I'm probly rong about that to. ;-)

 

Not if you're from Canuckistan.

 

Howdy, just wanted to tell Joe that I hope he didn't take my last message on this thread in the wrong manner. After looking back at it, I think it might have been a little insensitive. Didn't mean for it to be. I'm actually trying to figure out how I could have written that at 3 a.m.

So, Joe, I feel for you. Losing parents to something as stupid as a burning stick of wadded up leaves is a tragedy. Completely senseless.

I guess I'm not quite over the edge yet. I managed to get through the day without too many mood swings. I ate a lot less. But now it's nearly bed time, and the anxiety of getting up and starting a new week is killing me. I want a smoke more than anything.

 

Stay strong my friend. You know in the end it's just not worth it.

 

De nada.

 

A few tips:

-- Raisins are a very good substitute. People have all sorts of stuff to get through it. I knew a guy who actually chewed a small wad of paper when he was having a fix. Whatever it takes, find the alternative.
-- Brush your teeth when you're having a fix. They have a way of tasting like dirty hairy ass after a good toothbrushing anyway. You're not going to want one after that.
-- I'm with the guy who said it's no fun drinking if you can't smoke. It's absolutely true. Non-smokers will never understand this.
-- I did my heaviest smoking while writing. Now that's when I miss it the most, fuck the drinking. Journalism/writing really is the worst vocation to be in if you want to quit.

 

I think I said this in the last thread about this but I believe it bears repeating.

Everytime you stop smoking, even for a few days, is better than if you smoked. Don't count as a failure the fact that you lit up again, count as a victory the few days you didn't.

I smoked for about ten years and tried to quit several times, but wasn't ready apparently as I started up again each time. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and I continued to smoke. She beat it once and I continued to smoke. She was diagnosed a second time and after she called to tell me I went down and got the patch. As it turned out, I had problems with the patch sticking to me, but still had no problems quitting. I think I quit with very little problem and it was because I was ready to quit.

Good luck everybody.

 

There's no point blaming tobacco companies. Every time I, or anybody else, buy a pack of cigarettes, bum a smoke from somebody or light up, I'm making a conscious choice to smoke.
Nobody's putting a gun to my head. Millions and millions of people have quit successfully.
I'm going to ratchet it back down and then buy some nicotine gum. That almost worked for me once.