I don't know about not smoking

[eazyduzzit]

Hang in there Don! I quit smoking 34 years ago, but later started dipping. I'm grateful that now I'm tobacco free. It's a hard addiction (it's not just a "habit")to break, but you can do it.

[midnightventure]

It is a tough addiction. I quit 29 years ago. Several years later when the place where I work banned tobacco and several people tried to quit, everybody talking about it caused the old cravings to come back. I have even had dreams where I backslid and they seemed so real even though I know I never have. I firmly believe that eventually they will connect smoking to a lot more cancers than they already have. Back around 1900 there was almost no emphysema or lung cancer but with the advent of factory cigarettes people smoked a lot more than they did when they had to roll their own and those diseases became more prevalent.

[BoomerCPO]

Hang tough Don. I'm struggling through every day since I quit smoking about the same time as you did. I keep telling myself quitting is worth every effort I can expend.

 

 

Boomer........who has chewed off all his fingernails and is now gnawing on his toenails.

[DragonRider]

This is the first time I have heard you mention stroke, those are very bad, big or small, I cant believe Swifty and I are the only ones that picked up on that..........Don take care of yourself, your family needs you, we need you, you have to put those cigs behind you, I never smoked so I dont know how bad the addiction can be, but I have hearad plenty from my friends who did smoke and quit. Good luck with your quitting and while your at it try to get your wife to stip also..As the man said

"You can do it".................

[Freebird]

Yea Lewis, I kind of kept the stroke thing low key. I did mention it in another thread somewhere but just didn't made a big deal out of it. I happened 2 weeks ago today. Very minor and I am back to being....well...as normal as I was before. I just decided that I should probably mention it because my wife tells me that over the past 11 days since I've stopped smoking, that I may have been just a tiny little bit irritable...JUST A SMIDGEN you understand? She is PROBABLY wrong though.

[Eck]

I would say Redneck put it quite well, so I'll just add a little bit more

 

Those who never smoked and those who quit smoking can relate well...!!!!!!!!

 

Empty a day old ash try into a plastic zip lock baggie...carry it with you in your shirt pocket..then every time you have an urge to smoke, open that baggie, put your nose in it, and take a damn good wiff of what your loved ones and everyone else smells.....its not a pleasant aroma at all .......

I quit smokeing 3 yrs ago..

Edited February 26, 2009 by Eck
sounded way to offensive - sorry

[bongobobny]

Been there, done that, Don, so I know what you are going through!! Becky and I both quit in the late '80s and both went cold turkey. I give all the credit to Jesus Christ because wqithout him I'm sure I couldn't have made it...

[Guest Swifty]

my wife tells me that over the past 11 days since I've stopped smoking, that I may have been just a tiny little bit irritable...JUST A SMIDGEN you understand? She is PROBABLY wrong though.

...JUST TELL HER TO GO TO.... uhhh.... TAKE A ....uhhh....LAWNMOWER RIDE!!!

[cecdoo]

Well I did pick up on the "stroke" reference, one thing I have learned on this forum is that Don is a very smart and thoughtful guy. I am pretty sure he took the stroke warning pretty seriously and I doubt I could have added anything he hasnt thought of. I have very high Chol. and Trigl. and the dr telling me I was gonna drop of a heart attack didnt really scare me much, but when he told me of my risk of stroke, that got my attention, there is no way I want my wife wheeling me around in a wheelchair with a dribble bib. So I guess my advice to you Don, is to do whatever you gotta do to avoid another of those little strokes. You have got one helluva a lot to hang around for. Good Luck, Craig

[Black Owl]

Don. From personal experience, there is no such thing as a former smoker.

 

It's simply a matter of how long between smokes......

 

I wish you continued sucess in this venture (pun) and a real long time between smokes.

 

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

Staying off takes a life time of work.... it is worth it. I quit 6 or 7 years back now... The company I was working for offered us all $500.00 to quit. I am not sure about you guys but I thought about all the things I could use all that cash for......mmmmmm. One of my co-workers also tried but failed even after gum, patches, m&ms, and even the hypnososis guy that came to the hotel for one night only and all his tapes he sold along with it.

One of the things you mentioned was that you snuck a smoke from the wifes pack..... Well I will tell you what finaly helped my co-worker quit...... His wife also continued to smoke.... heavily I may add. I dont know what smokes cost down there but up in Canada they are close to $10.00 a pack. He took himself the same money his wife spent on smokes.... put in in his own bank acount and spent it on cars.... he would buy them wrench them and sell them all with his smoking money. Soooooo think of all the toys and stuff you want for your bike and every time you think of having a smoke think of the toys.... what do you want more........

 

Just my thoughts... the other thing is ...... stop counting..... I was told if you can tell me the number of days you have been with out a smoke then you are not a non smoker.... you are just taking a break. I hounestly do not know how long it has been.... I could look back in my records... I have other markers in my life I can refer to but no I dont know exactly.

[Twenty7Delta]

I stopped almost a month ago. I have smoked for lots of years and have tried quitting many times before. I don't know if it was just the practice I had had or the fact that I am using Champix this time but it has been quite painless.

 

I really haven't had any cravings like I did before, I have snuck a couple but they tasted nasty and smelled bad, it was more about routine than "needing" a smoke.

 

It's pretty expensive I think, but not as much as smoking...

 

Worth a try if you are struggling. I used to love smoking, just not what it did to me.

 

Good luck and hang in there, your friends and family appreciate it!!

[mother]

glad to hear you think you are okay.

 

keep up the good work day by day.

 

look at the money saved, you will have every piece of that bike chromed in no time.

 

cheers, Scott

[Yammer Dan]

Look up the benifits of Apple Cider Vinegar. Knock 100 points off cholestrol.

I take two teaspoons every morning in some type of juice. Vegetable seems to work best. Has cut my Acid Reflux to less than 1/2.

[Sleeperhawks Mechanic]

Ditto to all of the advice above, Don. Just remember, that YOU have the power to do what YOU set your mind to do, and YOU can do it!

Did not know about your stroke and so sorry to hear that you went through that. It is strange, though, how some things can be a wake up call for us. Take care and know that you are doing the right thing!

You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Bobbie and George

[halfwitt]

Just quit for one cigarette at a time. When you want one - just think you're going to pass THIS time. It does get easier. I'm smoke free 16 years in April.

 

Good luck!!!

[Venturous Randy]

Just keep in mind that intentionally inhaling tobacco smoke into your lungs is NOT a natural thing to do.

RandyA

[bill04]

hang in there Don , I did the same 20 years ago and it took me 3 months to really beet that nicotine **** after that period I only had a smoking hurge once and a while .

You can beat this .......:080402gudl_prv:

[RSV Angel]

Hey Don--hang in there boss. Patsy and I "tried quitting" about 16 years ago.( I can't believe it was that long ago) Anyway --we were doing good or so I thought. We had been quitting for about 3 months- then one night I woke up around 330 and she wasn't in bed. I got up thinking she was in the bathroom--nope--looked all thru the house & was getting worried when I saw it. A glow thru the kitchen window coming from the carport. I opened the back door and there was my loving wife sitting there sucking on a cigerette. I got mad --sat down with her and grabbed her pack and lit up again. She had only made it 1 week I found out later. I tried to quit a few times after that with no sucess but when we stopped together 2 years ago it has been much better. Now I can breathe better,I feel better and food taste better. That is now my biggest problem. I have always weighed around 220 to 230 from my mid 20's on,I'm 6'6" so that wasn't too bad a weight. In the last 2 years I have gotten up to 250 and that I don't really like. But we are going to start walking more and I'm gonna get the treadmill back out and set it up.

I will be continueing to pray for your sucess in quitting and not having any more heath issues

Craig:thumbsup:

[Bob Myers]

When I was driving I smoked as much as 3 packs a day, went back to Machine Shop, still smoking. Former boss was a reformed smoker and he told me many times what all your friends here have said about being the easiest/hardest thing they ever tried.

I made a pact with myself, in September 1992 I started telling myself I was going to quit in January, told all my friends that too. On Jan 7, 1993 at 11am I put out what I still believe was may last cigarette. My wife finally quit 2 years ago in December(Yea Leather& Lace), and has been 100% smoke free since. We quite often comment on how bad someone who comes into our business smells of smoke, but not to them of course.

It gets easier some days, some days it gets tougher. Just try to refrain from replacing that addiction with another one, like becoming an overeater. That is tougher to face than cigs.

[RoadKill]

OK....here's the thing. I've been smoke free now for 10 days. I decided to do this with no patches, gum, etc. Just cold turkey. The first day was really hard...the second day was really hard too. Then it seemed to started getting a bit easier.

 

OR SO I THOUGHT!

 

The past two days were absolutely BRUTAL. On Wednesday morning, I snuck a couple of cigarettes out of my wife's pack before leaving for work. Actually drove around for about 30 minutes with an unlit cigarette in my mouth and a lighter in my hand. I never lit it though. Ended up taking them home at the end of the day and put them back where I found them.

 

Today it seemed to get a bit easier again. I keep hoping that I'm getting over the hump but only time will tell. I try to remind myself all the time that if I start back now, that means I've tortured myself for 10 days for nothing. I also try to remember all the money that I'm saving...believe it or not..that is about $350.00 per MONTH.....that's just crazy. I also try to remind myself that the doctor told me last week that the little stroke I had two weeks ago was just a gentle warning and I had BETTER quite smoking. It's amazing though how a little nicotine addiction can almost make all those arguments seem irrelevant. That's the other thing that I keep reminding myself of...that it is a drug addiction and I don't WANT to be a drug addict.

 

So...I'm hanging in there. I know some of you are going through the same thing and just wanted to say....GOOD LUCK!!!! Let's be STRONG!!!

 

You could just do what I did. Quit trying:thumbsup: and enjoy your smokes:whistling: Got to go sometime, why make yourself miserable trying to take away something you enjoy. I've smoked for 26 years and I have no plans to quit. See my Dr. twice a year and still have clear lungs, low blood pressure, low cholestrol & I'm still as Handsome as ever

[Midrsv]

Hang in there Don. Here is a personal observation for you. My dad and 7 of my 10 uncles smoked. As a kid I recall being at family gatherings in smoke filled rooms and choking. Close to 30 years ago my dad quit smoking cold turkey. I never though it would happen. None of my uncles quit smoking. 6 of the 7 uncles that did smoke died in their 50's or 60's from lung cancer, emphysema or throat cancer. The 7th one is in his 60's now with a nasty cough. My dad on the other hand passed away in January of '08 at the age of 84 and enjoyed pretty good health up until the last year or so. The remaining 3 that did not smoke are all in good health.

 

Smoke, not me, never have, never will!

 

Dennis

[Yammer Dan]

Don I had a stroke about 2005. Didn't know what it was except it knocked me down. Got up and kept going. Doc said no damage and hasn't slowed me down I still ride a 1st Gen!!

 

 

[MidlifeVenture]

Just looking back and thought this should come to the front and remind Freebird he has the support of thousands and maybe he will share on how he is doing on his endeavor.

[royalstarjac]

Just take it one day at a time. If you don't smoke today, you'll never have to smoke again because it's always today. Ask God every morning to help you get thru the day without a smoke. The next day, do the same thing you did the day before.-Jack