Smoking

[MW49350 0]

What's your opinion on smoking? Do you smoke? Did you previously and now you're trying to stop? Have any advice on how?

 

Obviously, there's nothing really 'good' that comes from smoking (other than certain social benefits), but personally, I smoke about a pack of 100's every single day... And I know how absolutely horrible it is for me, but its so hard not to. You smoke your 'final' cigarette, and two days later, you're at CVS buying another pack, only to end up smoking another 100 'final' cigarettes.

 

Most people who don't smoke don't understand how hard it is to stop. When I was younger, I thought 'man, I can stop any time', but the truth of the matter is- its just not that easy. Sure, you start off light, maybe having a few cigarettes a week with your friends. Then you decide to buy your own pack, and you have unlimited access all the time. So, you keep smoking, and by that point, you're hooked- your brain just wants more. So, you go buy another, and another, and another... A vicious cycle.

 

I'm almost 20, and I've been smoking since I was 17 years old. Trying to stop, but its very hard- especially when you spend all your time after class with your friends smoking outside the school. It can be hard to resist. I'm probably going to try nicotine gum or patches soon, but we'll see what happens. It's particularly difficult because I'm the kind of person who never eats fast food, only drinks water, exercises every day, and generally leads a healthy lifestyle. But, smoking... It's a vice.

 

What about you? Are you currently smoking, and if so, do you have any aspirations to quit?

[Delta! 987]

URGH! smoking is the habit I despise the most. And finally, a smoker who thinks the same way about it as me! It does absolutely nothing for your bank balance, your health, your teeth, breath and in my eyes, social standing. It is (for just a few people) a way to interact socially, leaving non-smokers standing apart from them.

 

The one thing I especially despise are certain "professional" people, chefs(being my main issue), doctors, nurses, pastors/priests/reverands who smoke. It takes time out of your working schedule so that you can go and screw up your body? and when questioned, why do they get smoke breaks, and non-smokers have to keep working, the answer is usually "cause you don't know how it feels!" to which I one day replied , not being serious "I enjoy sex more than you enjoy smoking, and you don't see me asking for screw breaks do you?" landed me in trouble with the Lecturer.

A guy I met recently mentioned smoking, tattoos and piercings, and he said, he will rather his boyfriend smoke, than have a tattoo or piercing, because he can smoke outside, come in, brush his teeth, and go on. I disagree, depending on the amount and extremities of the piercings/tattoos, I'll rather he has a small tattoo or piercing, preferably some where where I won't be confronted with it the whole time, like his face, because, he won't have to take time out to go and check out his tattoo or piercing, and he won't smell bad.

 

OK rant over. that felt very good, and I'm glad that you are trying to stop! all the luck!

 

Delta!

Edited September 28, 2011 by Delta!

[MW49350 0]

URGH! smoking is the habit I despise the most. And finally, a smoker who thinks the same way about it as me! It does absolutely nothing for your bank balance, your health, your teeth, breath and in my eyes, social standing. It is (for just a few people) a way to interact socially, leaving non-smokers standing apart from them.

 

The one thing I especially despise are certain "professional" people, chefs(being my main issue), doctors, nurses, pastors/priests/reverands who smoke. It takes time out of your working schedule so that you can go and screw up your body? and when questioned, why do they get smoke breaks, and non-smokers have to keep working, the answer is usually "cause you don't know how it feels!" to which I one day replied , not being serious "I enjoy sex more than you enjoy smoking, and you don't see me asking for screw breaks do you?" landed me in trouble with the Lecturer.

A guy I met recently mentioned smoking, tattoos and piercings, and he said, he will rather his boyfriend smoke, than have a tattoo or piercing, because he can smoke outside, come in, brush his teeth, and go on. I disagree, depending on the amount and extremities of the piercings/tattoos, I'll rather he has a small tattoo or piercing, preferably some where where I won't be confronted with it the whole time, like his face, because, he won't have to take time out to go and check out his tattoo or piercing, and he won't smell bad.

 

OK rant over. that felt very good, and I'm glad that you are trying to stop! all the luck!

 

Delta!

 

I agree with you completely. Smoking is a horrible habit... It does absolutely nothing good for your body. That's one reason I want to stop- if I manage to halt the habit in the next few years, I'll probably end up with very little in the way of bodily harm, but if I keep it up till I'm 25, 30... Who knows. My grandfather almost died at 42 of a heart attack after smoking two packs of menthol camels a day. My dad, he smoked a pack a day, same as me, until he was 28 and married my mom (who forced him to give up smoking on the condition that she would marry him, actually, haha). But, its just so damn hard... Frankly, I don't even remember how I started, but I do know I have to stop or its going to kill me one day.

 

But yeah, I appreciate any luck I can get, thanks.

[Delta! 987]

My mom's brothers both use to smoke, a lot! and the oldest one had a heart attack 6 years ago, and the doctor said if he doesn't stop he won't last another 5 years. He did stop, and he is doing fine now, he says he feel healthier, and he has more money these days! His brother on the other hand is still smoking like a chimney, a pack and a half a day! and 4 of my cousins on my moms side are also still smoking.

 

Fortunately, South Africa has very strict laws concerning smoking. Inside buildings, like malls, restaurants, offices, smoking is illegal, and, where previously restaurants where divided half into smoking and nonsmoking the laws have changed. Restaurants aren't allowed to have more than 20% of the restaurant enclosed for smokers, and a nonsmoking waiter/waitress has no obligation to enter the smoking area.

 

this is a tourism site for SA and gives a small outline of the law on smoking in SA

http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/za/travel-tips-detail?oid=13505&sn=Detail&pid=17563

 

Delta!

[Stormwing 40]

Personally I don't like it one little bit. To hell with all cigarette-companies! Haven't ever smoked and I pretty much doubt that I'll ever start. (without some weird brainwash or something)

My mom's pretty good example, where decades of heavy smoking will lead. I'm glad she got off with it after a heart attack. She wouldn't have lasted long...

 

Delta: We're going steadily into that direction here, with law and smoking, which is really good. No need to air your clothes after a night in bar and such. Schools have strickt regulations about the smoking too. I'm sure some teachs' complain.

Still, if that lessens the you smokers in even 1% I'm happy with that.

[essjayehm 58]

Well I started late (24-25) and "couldn't" quit for ~12 years. "They" say that if you can get past the 3 day mark, your chance of sucess goes up by something like 80%. The closest I got was 5 days.. but I was in the hospital with pneumonia... but I had a butt within 30 seconds of getting out of there so it didn't work. A couple of years back, I vowed if I got sick like that again, and went 3+days without smoking that I would not re-start (the 3-day mark was always impossible for me with only self-control). Last year, I had my right lung collapse (moslty due to my body type, but smoking deffo a factor). I had a tube in my chest for 3 days, and it was nearly impossible to breathe without extreme pain... not wanting to have to endure that ever again, I have now sucessfully belong to the quitters' club. Not sure if it was the mental factor (don't want another lung collapse, or ANY lung-thing, really) or the physical one (no nicotine in system after 3 days) but it did work. I have almost no troubles with people smoking around me, there are occiasional urges to have one, but I know exactly where that road leads

 

I offer my best wishes to everyone who tries to quit this wretched, horrible habit, as the others have said there is nothing good about it.

[podgie_bear 184]

I smoked for over 30 years and agree that it is really hard to give up, but I managed it and haven't had a cigarette in over 7 years. Now here is the rub, I went cold turkey and it was a real struggle but I am free from the addiction now. However I have friends and relatives that have given up and didn't go cold turkey like me, instead they went down the nicotine replacement therapy route. Unfortunately they are nearly all still addicted to nicotine and using patches and chewing gum that is working out more expensive financially than the cigarettes were!

 

I talked with my doctor about it and he agrees that of all his patients that use nicotine replacement techniques, very few successfully kick the habit without a prolonged and very expensive struggle. He recommends that cold turkey is by far the best way of beating the habit, but that few people seem to have the willpower and self discipline to manage it and that the younger a person, the harder they seem to find it.

 

So my question is, what is it about us "old fogeys" that gives us our strength of will and why doesn't the younger generation seem to have it?

[MW49350 0]

I smoked for over 30 years and agree that it is really hard to give up, but I managed it and haven't had a cigarette in over 7 years. Now here is the rub, I went cold turkey and it was a real struggle but I am free from the addiction now. However I have friends and relatives that have given up and didn't go cold turkey like me, instead they went down the nicotine replacement therapy route. Unfortunately they are nearly all still addicted to nicotine and using patches and chewing gum that is working out more expensive financially than the cigarettes were!

 

I talked with my doctor about it and he agrees that of all his patients that use nicotine replacement techniques, very few successfully kick the habit without a prolonged and very expensive struggle. He recommends that cold turkey is by far the best way of beating the habit, but that few people seem to have the willpower and self discipline to manage it and that the younger a person, the harder they seem to find it.

 

So my question is, what is it about us "old fogeys" that gives us our strength of will and why doesn't the younger generation seem to have it?

 

Well, you said you smoked for 30 years, so I wouldn't exactly say your generation has strength of will and ours doesn't, lol. I'm only 20, so if I gave it up when I was, say, 40, I'd be on par then, yes?

[podgie_bear 184]

I smoked for over 30 years and agree that it is really hard to give up, but I managed it and haven't had a cigarette in over 7 years. Now here is the rub, I went cold turkey and it was a real struggle but I am free from the addiction now. However I have friends and relatives that have given up and didn't go cold turkey like me, instead they went down the nicotine replacement therapy route. Unfortunately they are nearly all still addicted to nicotine and using patches and chewing gum that is working out more expensive financially than the cigarettes were!

 

I talked with my doctor about it and he agrees that of all his patients that use nicotine replacement techniques, very few successfully kick the habit without a prolonged and very expensive struggle. He recommends that cold turkey is by far the best way of beating the habit, but that few people seem to have the willpower and self discipline to manage it and that the younger a person, the harder they seem to find it.

 

So my question is, what is it about us "old fogeys" that gives us our strength of will and why doesn't the younger generation seem to have it?

 

Well, you said you smoked for 30 years, so I wouldn't exactly say your generation has strength of will and ours doesn't, lol. I'm only 20, so if I gave it up when I was, say, 40, I'd be on par then, yes?

 

Aah, I didn't try to give up during those 30 years. And the generation thing was in response to the Doctor saying how the older the person, the more willpower they seem to have for going cold turkey. It was a generalised statement and not aimed at any particular age group, so please do not think I am being "age-ist".

[claudius 104]

The problem with addictions is that the process of quitting can stir up nerosis. I am familiar with this topic, having overcome a nasty alcohol habit that I did not have in my control. I had to have beer and my needs were increasing.

 

The basis of neurosis is this. You come to clarity that you want to quit. Thats good. But then you construct a very rigid ideal based on fear that you should not smoke and are bad for smoking. That clarity is obstructed by the fact that you are becoming punitive towards yourself, self aggression. Then you come to a clarity where you see that you need love to counteract the agression and so you give yourself the smoking again and you binge because its so good. But guess what that results in more craving. Have you ever had an itch? I had a place on my index finger that I had a wart and I developed a habit of scratching until it was like an open wound. It was a addiction and the only way to break it was to gradually make choices to not do the motion of scratching.. Oral craving is a bit of a different beast than scratching but likewise the awareness of the choice is rare and you have to choose at that point to resist.

 

But its not black and white. One resolution of clarity isn't going to cut it. You start over and over again. With craving you enjoy the cigarette less and less don't you? It becomes disturbing and that is the seed that goads you to keep mental training to give up the habit. I am a Tibetan buddhist and my lama said to go full force into what I did and not be divided. If I was going to drink then drink. But be compassionate and light and aware. As you become both more at peace and the natural clarity that you don't need the drug that blossums into choices. Even if you can resist a smoke for an extra 10 minutes that is a small victory that weakens the addiction.

 

As an aside I'm not sure what will work for you, everyone is different. With cigs tolerance is huge. You get the same enjoyment out of a whole pack that in the beginning 2 cigs a day would give you because you have developed tolerance. If you keep going you might smoke 3 packs and still not get a release as the habit goes in a quagmire of craving rather than enjoyment. A small step might be limiting to a cig when you wake and with dinner. So you still get to enjoy but you reduce. Some people go could turkey. Another trick is to give a substitute because its also tied up in oral things. To this day I have a fetish for NA beer, tea, juice, and raisins. Because I took these instead of alcohol. But everyone is different.

 

Good luck hope this helps! Choices. Lightly and letting go. Clarity.