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Smoking?

Posted: December 29th, 2010, 7:07 pm
by Rush
I am forty-seven years old, had my first hit off of a cigarette at the age of ten (nearly choked to death, lol), and really started smoking in earnest at the age of fourteen. I figured, back at fourteen, that I could pass as somebody cool by way of smoking, and in thinking that, I really wasn't far off the mark with the cool kids (the "in" crowd) at school. I guess-timate my average intake over the years at being two to three packs a day...yes (cough-cough) a chain smoker at heart.

Anyway, I quit smoking fifteen months ago to the day. It was easier then I thought. Sure I had tried to quit umpteen times before in the past, but this time I made it. I just decided that I am stronger then whatever withdrawal symptoms the gods could throw my way, and I quit, cold turkey...(snap of the fingers) just like that. Am I bragging here? Nah, not really. I am just saying...if you smoke and want to quit, really-really want to quit, then just do it and be done with it. Your future self will thank you.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: December 29th, 2010, 7:17 pm
by Dragonlady
Bless you for stopping and you and those around you will live a longer life because of it. Second hand smoke, stinky clothes, bad breath and the income lost to smoking is terrible. Quitting stops that. Thank you. I'm glad my dad finally quit when he did. He was able to live much longer than expected and had the energy to fight off one of his two heart attacks. I miss him still. :(

Re: Smoking?

Posted: December 29th, 2010, 7:44 pm
by Rush
Thankyou for chiming in, Dragonlady. I am glad that you did.

In October of this year, my wife lost her mother. She (the mother) was 65 and on oxygen from having smoked for years on end, but...she had managed to quit a few years ago, and, had managed to shake off 102 lbs while with the Weight Watchers program, almost achieving her target weight. Her death shook the family down to it's foundation, and many...the majority...of the proverbial pieces remain yet left to be picked up.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: December 29th, 2010, 7:48 pm
by sirdilznik
I smoked my first cigarette at about 13 which I guess is about the same time most kids do, or at least it was back in my day. Luckily I never got hooked on it like so many of my friends and I just never really smoked tobacco to this day except for a few puffs off a cigar once in a blue moon. I did however used to enjoy smoking a different... *herbal* substance. I gave that up years ago though, just got too old for it. Surprisingly it only sucked for about one day, after that I didn't really miss it at all.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: December 29th, 2010, 7:54 pm
by Rush
sirdilznik wrote:I did however used to enjoy smoking a different... *herbal* substance.
Yes (grins)...I think I am familiar with that particular substance, however, I never actually quit smoking it...

...I simply ran out.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: December 30th, 2010, 12:42 am
by geishaboy
I started smoking when I was about 18, and now at 25 I have nearly given up properly. At my heaviest I was probably smoking around a pack a day, now I am down to about a pack a week. Hopefully it won't take too much longer to be rid of it for good.

Good work Rush, going cold turkey from two of three packs a day is quite impressive and I bet your lungs and your bank balance love you for it too :lol:

Re: Smoking?

Posted: December 30th, 2010, 12:59 am
by fudgemaster
I can't stand smoke. I almost tried smoking one day when I was digging through the garbage at a fair grounds and found a pack with one cigarette left in it. Had the lighter in my pocket and everything. It never looked appetizing and still doesn't.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: January 1st, 2011, 10:48 pm
by Evnissyen
Dragonlady wrote:Bless you for stopping and you and those around you will live a longer life because of it. Second hand smoke, stinky clothes, bad breath and the income lost to smoking is terrible. Quitting stops that.
...Not to mention the reduced energy. When I stopped smoking (the first time) I was surprised at how much more energy I suddenly had.

I quit cold-turkey maybe 4 times total. (Of course, cold-turkey was easier for me than it must've been for Rush, since I was smoking a pack/3-4days.) I'd stop for several months, a year... then one day I'd be thinking to myself, "I really, really need a cigarette." So I'd get me to a convenience store and buy a pack... and I'd be smoking again for months and months until I decided it was time to stop.

Last time I quit was several years ago. I have no desire to smoke again and never will. After all that going back and forth, I think I can absolutely say that the desire is out of my system. Cigarettes really are kind of gross.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: January 28th, 2011, 5:24 am
by MegaHassan
Been smoking since I was 14. Gonna be 19 in 2 months. Cool had nothing to do with it really, and still hasn't got anything to do. if anything, the trendy and cool thing to do around these parts these days is to say no to smoking tobacco... but say yes to hashish and charas. Kinda hypocritical if you ask me. But that's another story ;)

I tried to quit 2 months ago. I'm an asthmatic so yeah. Couldn't. Hated myself for it, still do. Hate the tobacco companies as well, as far as I'm concerned they're just making a killing off the world's misery and doing their hardest to make their products even more addictive, while jacking up the cost every other month. At least that's how it is here in Pakistan.

But then again, way I see it everything in this world is addictive. And everything has a plus side and a negative side. The balance is the key, because I may be getting black lungs but at least I manage to keep a clearer head. Physical health can go suck a fat one anyway. I'm far more concerned with one cigarette costing 5 rs more than it did last year, personally.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: January 28th, 2011, 10:35 am
by severian
well, there is smoking and smoking...

I`m totally against anti-everything hysteria, cause occacional use of tobacco, coca or hemp does no harm at all.

it`s the amount that makes a substance deadly, you can as well die of drinking few litres of water at once.

I smoke around 40 high quality cigarettes a year, sometimes I smoke a cigar or a pipe (cherry tobacco and a beer makes a day ;) ).
coffee and cigarette after a day of work is a pure pleasure =)

also if anyone is nagging about bad influence on health I ask, why not ban cars as well, cause the fumes are much more dangerous by sheer amount and they deprive some people of any exercise they would otherwise had - walking.

as for ppl who smoke few packs a day - poor bastards, but if not the smokes they would be probably addicted to anything else, cause they probably have some issues (beeing so suspectible to addiction)

Re: Smoking?

Posted: January 30th, 2011, 4:46 am
by Evnissyen
Well... granted, people in the U.S., anyhow, pay much more attention to the problem of cigarettes than the problem of obesity and artery-clogging food.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: January 30th, 2011, 2:41 pm
by WorBlux
fudgemaster wrote:I can't stand smoke. I almost tried smoking one day when I was digging through the garbage at a fair grounds and found a pack with one cigarette left in it. Had the lighter in my pocket and everything. It never looked appetizing and still doesn't.

That's because most cigarettes suck balls. Cheap tobacco, with gobs of additives just to make it palatable.

I smoke a pipe or cigar one or twice a week when it's warm enough to do so and love it. It's this smooth thick aromatic smoke, that doesn't make you want to gag, even when you smell it on clothes a week later. (Rather than smelling like a dry cleaner on fire)

Moderate smoking isn't a big deal, it's just that if you ever aren't moderate, It's a lot easier to kick the habit entirely than try to moderate it.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: January 31st, 2011, 7:10 pm
by Evnissyen
Cigars, Blux? ¿Cigars? Bleh... .

What makes a person say, "These cigs aren't enough for me, I need a big fat blunt in my mouth?"

Re: Smoking?

Posted: February 3rd, 2011, 8:50 pm
by WorBlux
Evnissyen wrote:Cigars, Blux? ¿Cigars? Bleh... .

What makes a person say, "These cigs aren't enough for me, I need a big fat blunt in my mouth?"
What makes a person say "I don't drink natty lite, but I'd sure appreciate a microbrew"?

Quality and class. Good cigars are made form some of the worlds best tobaccos, cured carefully and without additives.

Plus you don't smoke cigars the same way you would smoke cigarettes. Cigars are smoked socially, with more ritual, with a good deal of time sat aside, more slowly, not inhaling but rather more like tasting and sampling, best performed with a fine glass of scotch in the other hand.

Re: Smoking?

Posted: February 8th, 2011, 6:39 pm
by Evnissyen
...of course, with a scotch in one hand, you can be sure you're going to want more stimulation at some point.

...But your insight is interesting, though I still don't fully understand... .