Quit smoking

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Helped me a lot when the doctor told me " you can quit smoking or die, your choice ", really made me see the light but still was not easy.
 
Just Lou said:
Will, I wish you would stop reminding me of how many times we've made the same mistakes.  I, too, had to experience a life threatening situation before I even attempted to quit smoking.  I "enjoyed" my last smoke on the front steps of Duke Medical Center as I was entering to receive a quadruple bypass operation.

I didn't make the decision to quit until I realized that I had gone a full week without a smoke.  It just didn't make sense to have another one. ???

That was my last smoke but, unfortunately, not my last bypass operation. :) :(

BTW - I discovered after quitting, that I didn't have a nicotine addiction, I had a smoking habit.  Once I broke the pattern of reaching for my shirt pocket, I had NO craving for anything associated with the nasty habit.  Some folks are not so lucky.  For some, the craving never goes away.
Multiple bypass operations ...WOW ...The one I had was bad ..really don't want to do that again..
Habit or addiction I don't miss cigs ...but I still pine for Captain Black..<sigh>
 
Jim, Im going to join you I just had one and thought how utterly awful it tasted.  Good Luck to the both of us.  Although I smoke one pack per 2 days it is still too much and I hate the smell and have developed a smokers cough so what better a time.  Smoking is the only thing I wish I had never done.
 
I'm three and a half years into a cold turkey quit, after 53 years of smoking -- it helps a lot to think of myself as a non-smoker, rather than thinking "I quit smoking." I've known quite a number of folks who quit over the years. You can stay quit if you want it bad enough. For me, a few months and I only had the desire to smoke on rare occasions. Now even when it's there, it's not very strong -- and it's very rare.

Best of luck.
 
I would wake up dreaming of having a smoke..two of the things that got me thru was sleeping a lot (you don't smoke when you sleep) and cheesey poofs. It doesn't matter if you gain weight, get the smoking under control. Then you can work on the weight. Agree with Lou, I had a  smoking habit not an addiction.
Wizard....one of my Docs told me it I went back to smoking he would not treat me and drop me as a patient, said there is no need for him to be treating a dead man.
  Lou..how did you like Duke? The Docs said they would send me there for the xplant if Mayo doesn't accept me.
Hang tuff Jim...It gets easier the longer you go without and the urges only last a few seconds. It's your life you're working on.
 
catblaster said:
  Lou..how did you like Duke? The Docs said they would send me there for the xplant if Mayo doesn't accept me.

Will, I liked Duke just fine, and I think they could only have gotten better in the last 20 years.  It was actually their top transplant surgeon who performed my bypass operation.

Just an aside - At the time (early '90s) it was assumed that using the largest vein grafts obtainable from a patients own leg was the wisest thing to do in a bypass procedure.  However, that proved false in my case.  It was the size of the grafts that became a problem.  They acted like reservoires and slowed the blood flow to the point that they collected sediment until they finally closed up themselves, and had to be replaced in a second operation, nine years later.

Medication, eating habits and not smoking have allowed me to stay pretty healthy for the past twelve years.

Wishing you the best of luck and care in any future heart procedures.  lou
 
Molaker said:
Took me 40 years and several tries, but I finally managed to quit about 14 years ago.  The mind is a funny thing.  I decided I could go back to smoking any time I wanted to and that actually helped me to not want to - that and about $1000 worth of Nicorette gum. :)

Hah! Chewing as I read this.....

Good for you!

Kick it. Choose Life. Plain and simple.

Oh, and give the gum a whirl...
 
After smoking four packs per day for 30 years, I woke up one Sunday morning and said "That's enough".
I haven't had a cigarette for 25 years; and I went out bar hopping with my boss the day after I stopped!
Ernie
 
>>Jim and Daniel......If you need any shock incentives let me tell you about my Lungs and hopefully a xplant. This is what bad decisions will do for you. You may feel good now but that bad stuff WILL catch ya later.
  Thanks Lou..it will get better. Oh...if you need another vein, the doc said I had an extra one in my leg that I could share.
 
Cat,

I smoked about a pack a day for just shy of 20 years. I stopped just over a year ago, and its a challenge every day, though I don't actually crave the feel of smoke down my throat anymore. My grandfather recently passed from COPD.

Not smoking is a hard choice and one you need to make every day. But you get used to it.

My heart goes out to you, and I wish you speedy recovery!
 
I'm pretty overwhelmed with all the responses here, I have read every one.  Feeling pretty good today, can't wait until tomorrow, another day off the cigarettes!  Not sure how long we will leave those two unopened packs in the kitchen before throwing them away...  Maybe after I reach a one year anniversary.

"Jim, Im going to join you I just had one and thought how utterly awful it tasted.  Good Luck to the both of us.  Although I smoke one pack per 2 days it is still too much and I hate the smell and have developed a smokers cough so what better a time.  Smoking is the only thing I wish I had never done." 

Good luck to you as well, wow, feels good to inspire someone else to quit, way to go!  I'm staying positive, can't wait to be able to say to my doctor next visit... NOPE, not smoking anymore!
 
12 Hours waken hours, it is tough for sure...I feel sorry for people around me I am just a tad grumpy..
 
Chewed for around 30 years, quit cold turkey 3 months ago..... Hardest time is when I crack a cold beer! I have made it without cheating!!!
 
Throw those 2 packs away. It's a lot harder to drive to the store and pay $6 for a pack than it is to go get that pack that's right there in the kitchen. I tried several times but was never able to quit if there was a pack close by.

You said 'we' ... is this a joint effort? Support is good.
 
Best of luck!!  We too have smoked, quit and started up once again.  Each of us had our own reasons for starting again.  In recent months we made yet another attempt to quit we let them get us again :(  We, like most people, can give every excuse in the book for starting again and we have lots of them.  You know, when it rains it pours black cloud over our head recently for example.  LOL.  We both are 1/2 pack a day smokers, some days more than others and some less.  Sad thing is, in an environment in which we can't smoke, we don't and it doesn't seem to bother us, but as soon as we have a chance...game on!
We are on the weaning process now as described by others.  Pushing out the first one and the time in between each one.  Cold turkey just isn't an option for us and the cupboard has a case of nicorette in it when the time comes! :) 
GOOD LUCK and we will be thinking of you all on the journey! :)
 
jnlo2000,

Just wanted to say that I understand how you feel, and how hard it is. You *know* you want to be without it, but then there's this purely physical 'pull'.

I get you 100%

I've found it helps to draw a mental picture of what coping might be like beyond cigarettes. In my experience, I still have every bit as much craving for the 'comfort' of smoking, but after a year or so without, I no longer want to feel the smoke tearing through my throat. It helps me to think about that as I reach for another piece of gum. Hopefully that gives you something to try in your head :)

Good luck to the both of you. See you on the other side real soon!
 
Keep this thread going! I'm right on the verge! Just about ready! Maybe, tomorrow. Surely by next week.  :-\

I just need to get on an even keel for a few days. Haven't been on one of those for a year or so.  ::) 

I'll just jog along here beside you all, for a while and then maybe jump on board.  ;D 

Egad, I love/hate cigarettes!  :-*    :mad:

Ray D  ;)
 
Ray, QUIT, today. You can buy a new motorhome with the money you save. And you'll live longer, too.
 

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