Those darn cigarettes...

Discussion in 'Survival of the Fittest' started by TinyWildThing, Nov 29, 2016.


  1. TinyWildThing

    TinyWildThing Monkey

    Hello to all of you,

    I love my body. I love the way it feels after a long day of working outside, after a good jogg in the fresh forest air, after some days of yoga and detox, after a good meal, after a nice long sleep.
    I care for my health, I watch what I eat and I m doing everything I can to stay healthy in this more and more poisenous environment.

    But there is that one thing that got me and won´t let go of me.
    I am smoking since I remember wanting to be cool in school. Thats..8 years. I started slowly and had a lot of breaks but it has already been a long time.
    When I was pregnant, I stopped smoking immediately without any effort. When I lost our child in the fourth month, I blamed the smoking and I resisted to start again.
    When my father died this spring (he crashed with a gliding parachute or whatever the word is) I couldnt help but start again, after over a year of no tobacco.

    Right now I am kinda desperate. I feel how it hardens my breathing, heavies my lungs, pains my life and I just cant stop. Its not really the nicotine, I got rid of this craving very fast, but its the rolling, the habit of doing it.

    This is definitely not a new story, but if ANYONE here made the expierience to get over that stupid and toxic thing, maybe even with a new spirit, I would be VERY thankful for being shared that.
    At the end its gonna be me to quit it, but maybe talking to someone already helps.

    Thank you guys

    Leah
     
    Caveman Jim, Ura-Ki, GOG and 3 others like this.
  2. Gopherman

    Gopherman Sometimes I Wish I Could Go Back to Sleep

    I feel your pain! I've smoked since I was 7 years old, got permission to smoke at 13, and now I'm 54.
    I just got back from Seattle where I hade to take care of my Mother, while my father who has smoked for 47 years was in the hospital for Pneumonia. He is now on oxygen, he also suffers from Emphysema and COPD, and has a suspicious shadow in his right lung.
    He is 76, so he dodged the bullet for a long time. I on the other hand have been diagnosed with early stage emphysema and COPD and also have a small cyst on my lung. These things will kill ya! Problem for me is I don't want to go through the stress of quitting. So I fear that I will soon be following in his footsteps, but at a much younger age!
    I will be trying to quit once more but.......?
     
    Caveman Jim and Ura-Ki like this.
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    It took me 55 years (yes, 55 years of trying) to quit, but I did it. You can. too.
     
    Dunerunner, Yard Dart, Ura-Ki and 5 others like this.
  4. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    Hi, TinyWildThing,

    I can understand your situation, and sympathize. And offer a small suggestion on the chance that it might be useful.

    You wrote that it wasn't the smoking but the rolling that is your real habit.

    By rolling, I guess you mean that you hand-roll your cigarettes, and then smoke them because you rolled them.

    OK--go with that for a while. There's nothing wrong with rolling cigarettes. Just don't smoke them.

    Give yourself a specific amount of tobacco and see how many cigarettes you can roll with it before it turns to dust.

    When you feel the need, roll three of four cigarettes in a row, then strip them and save the tobacco. Record how many you rolled, when, and where, in a small notebook. A dedicated Tobacco Log.

    If smoking one cigarette takes you three minutes, keep your hands busy for three minutes rolling cigs. Then slay them all and put the tobacco back in the pouch.

    What's left of it, anyway.

    To this day, I don't think Science actually knows how many times tobacco can be re-rolled and still be tobacco.

    Very probably the day will come when you roll one last poor pathetic pale wrinkled needlely shadow of a tobacco bomber that's mostly dust and the pinched memory of what tobacco used to be, then look at it and just chuck the whole business.

    Free at last.
     
  5. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    TWT, smoking has to be the worse drug habit there is and almost impossible to kick. I smoked as a child, growing up in a tough area of the city, we all did. I started to run when I got older and became a real hard core distance runner. Running and smoking can't work together, like fire and gasoline, so this is what broke the habit for me. Running is its own addiction but a good one. So, this is my recommendation. Running will make you stop smoking. Anyone that says they can run and still smoke is lying or they are not running far enough or often enough. Running is positive reinforcement. Run every day and see what happens. I guarantee you will stop smoking.

    Also, smoking consists of two parts. There is the obvious one of a physical nicotine dependence but there is a mental habit also and boils down to what to do with your hands, especially in times of stress. So, @UncleMorgan trick of rolling cigarettes might be a good one but I expect it would prove to be too tempting. There are a thousand things you could do: play with keys, prayer beads, drum your fingers, twirl a pencil or simply put your hands in your pockets.

    It is tough to do but possible if you approach it correctly...
     
    Ura-Ki and Oltymer like this.
  6. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    I switched to a quality e-cig and immediately dropped from about 10 cigs a day to about 1. I still smoke a cig on occasion, but only because I choose to. One can still get the nicotine (or taper it off) if they wish but avoid all of the tars and various lung nasties.
     
    Ura-Ki likes this.
  7. Sgt Nambu

    Sgt Nambu RIP 4/19/2018

    Leah, I'm so sorry for your loss, and for your predicament! Both are sad!

    I smoked for most of my adult life, 50-55 years. Until..... The Stroke! Turns out that I had 12 small ones before the one that I felt! I am an incredibly lucky guy!!! I can still walk and talk! I'm noticeably weaker on my left side, and it really slapped my memory!
    My brain surgeon, and trust me it sucks to have a brain surgeon, said that only one thing caused it! Cigarettes!!! His exact words were, "If I were you, I'd never touch a cigarette again!"
    Turns out that that smoking increases the blood pressure in the brain and expands the capillaries to a point where they weaken and eventually burst! Shazam! That's a dead spot! I have a brain scan film that shows 13 stroke sites in my brain. Each dead spot is the size of a kitchen match head! It's very sobering! Another problem, that the Doc says is pretty rare, is that my throat has no feeling until the gag spot! That has been an unpleasant issue for the last ten years!
    So, I did quit! Wasn't that hard given the incentive and the Doc's rather skillful pep talk! The rolling thing sounds like a form of environmental referral. That's like when pot smokers can get a little high from a loud rock song or former smokers in a bar, having a drink, also have a strong craving for a smoke! You need to have a substitute for your hands. Like, shuffling and dealing cards, knitting, anything not destructive to the rest of your body! Oh, and that "not so hard to not smoke" thing. Don't kid yourself! It's just manifesting through your feelings about your hands. Nicotine is one of the very top addictive chemicals on earth!
    Well, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! ;) Sticking to it is hard, I still crave a smoke some times! My trigger seems to be when a cigarette is lit on a tv show or old movie! It's not strong, I resist easily! But it's there! This more than a decade after quitting!
    You can do this, Leah! I hope thinking of my efed up brain gives you some extra incentive, to stop!
    Best of luck, SRG
     
    Caveman Jim and Ura-Ki like this.
  8. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    Simple solution is really as simple as stopping; Everything else is just whinny bullshit excuses. It is not that bad, you just make up your mind and whenever the urge strikes, breath slowly and deeply to oxygenate your body.
     
    Motomom34 and BTPost like this.
  9. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    After 30+ years of smoking, I sat down and figured just how much money was wasted on smoking. GADS! Just about the same time, the secretary at work had part of her lung removed (cancer.)
    It took three days, but I quit.
     
  10. TinyWildThing

    TinyWildThing Monkey

    Oh je...
    Thank you for your inspiring and partly terrifying answers. I read all of it and believe it or not today I cut my usage of cigarettes down to 4. And I got myself the e cigarette of my partner and am currently trying to get used to it. Im having a bad head ache and feel pretty hot. I dont know if it is the shortage of nicotine (but the liquid is abou 20mg!) or if it is more than Im used to or if its just me being not used to it.

    I decided to quit normal cigarettes today, as I came home caughin like an old dog after my run through the woods.

    I guess today is the day. I felt pain in my lungs and the sudden urge to write here to you, wich I never did before.
    Now I have this stupid electric silver steam thing and feel terrible, but I am also very exited that Ive found the will even to start to quit.

    I am very happy for those of you who succeded and I hope for everyone with the same struggle to fight it back.
    Air around us is so toxic, almost everything you can buy nowadays has carcinogetic ingridients, industry wants us to buy and use their toxic chemicals to make profit, selling us a highly addictive drug wich most of us get in contact with when we´re much too young to understand what we´re dealing with.

    Wish me luck, I´ll keep you updated once in a while if anyone would read it.
    I´m very glad I had the heart to finally share my real fealings about it, as I used to pretend to be pretty cool about it.

    So thank you! May we all stay healthy in these times.

    Leah

    yes.....the money wasted in poisening ousselves is.... I wish I could get it all back right now. And Id love to keep all parts of my lung. Congratulations

    Thank you for your condolences.

    I think the urge, the craving or however you call it, sticks in your subconcience forever. Addictive habits will never fully leave you, once theyre burned into your life and brain.
    It is a part of onesself one has sacrificed, but I think it gets better everyday.
    Is there a chance for your brain to recover from that damage?
    Wish you the best
    Leah

    That is a great idea, but I think it will be too tempting havin that stuff fully prepared in your hands and ready to be smoked.
    But maybe Ill do the same but with tea instead of tobacco. Thank you

    Leah
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 30, 2016
    Motomom34, AD1, 3M-TA3 and 3 others like this.
  11. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Headache, mood swings, food cravings...all a "normal" part of getting away from smoking IMHO.
    Just wait until you can really smell food, appreciate fragrant flora, and can smell a smoker from 50 feet away!
    Best of luck...no, willpower, to you on your quest for freedom :)
     
    3cyl and Sgt Nambu like this.
  12. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    TWT, I have smoked off and on for close to 30 years, and I was a very high speed, low drag dude for the 20 years in the Military I did! I started at that stupid stage when you are Invincible and had to quit before I joined up because I knew that it would kick my butt! I didn't start back up until my second combat tour, and it was really BAD, several of my team members also started up! BAD NEWS all around, we were supposed to be an example to all others as we were Medics, but here we are smoking! I quite again just before 2003 when we went down range for my 9th combat tour! Three months in and I started up again. I blame the immense stress of what we did, but I know it's just a stupid excuse for being weak and being human in those situations! I quit again after I retired 13 combat tours later!!! Now days I smoke a Pipe, I started this "New" habit in 2004 and it slowed down the amount of intake and the smell and flavor is much better! After my second marriage, I had finally quit the Cigarettes permanently, but alas, I still smoke my pipe! I can feel the damage smoking has done to my body ( once a finely tuned killing machine) I live at 9400 feet elevation and O2 is pretty thin up here! Surprisingly, I have always been able to function at very high altitudes, so I do have that going for me, but the damage has been done! I would say I have about the equivalent of 17 years of heavy smoking under my belt, and It's not an easy thing to kick! I still feel the "Need" but I can pick up my pipe and with out lighting it, get my fix! I would say I actually Smoke only about twice a day now and that's about 2 or 3 cigs worth! I feel ya on the quitting, but it can be done, I know that I can, I have before and I have no desire for a cig these last 7 years! It can be done, but I am no example to go by because I still smoke a pipe!
     
    Motomom34, 3M-TA3 and Yard Dart like this.
  13. Sgt Nambu

    Sgt Nambu RIP 4/19/2018

    No, Leah, the damage is done! I will never regain those dead cells! Hang in there!
     
  14. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    I smoked off and on for 12 years. Finally quit for good in 1983, one of the few really good decisions I've made in my life. If you've quit before and gone back, don't be discouraged. Try again until you succeed. Succeed you must.
    A friend of mine used to put it this way "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it lots of times."

    Those times when I'd quit and then would sneak just one, I was up to 2 1/2 packs a day within a month. I couldn't smoke even one without going back full bore. That's what finally convinced me to stop - completely.

    My wife still smokes after 45 years. About three years ago she had to have the upper lobe of her right lung removed due to a cancerous tumor. Did she quit? No. She says the next time cancer shows, she'll do nothing about it. Just goes to show how powerfully addictive cigarettes are.

    The longer you smoke, the more addicted you will become. You're young, so you still have a pretty good chance of beating it.
     
  15. TXKajun

    TXKajun Monkey+++

    This coming Thursday, I will be an ex-smoker for 3 years. I didn't really set out to quit, just woke up one Saturday morning wondering how long just that day I could go before I HAD to have a ciggie. Once I realized that the nicotine craving attack only lasted about 7 or so minutes (less if I got busy doing anything) I just kept on not smoking for the next 10-15minutes. The cravings weren't really bad for me, knowing I could start smoking again anytime. For me,, the secret is realizing that the craving faded quickly, I just had to get thru the 3-4 tough minutes. Good luck!!!

    Kajun
     
  16. Caveman Jim

    Caveman Jim Goin for the Glory

    Yeah when Washington state put another dollar SIN TAX on every pack (to pay for the low income peoples health insurance) that put me over the top.How dare those self imposing politicians punish one user group to pay for those who smoke & can't afford HI!!!!
     
    Ura-Ki and 3M-TA3 like this.
  17. Bishop

    Bishop Monkey+++

    Never understood how any body could put one in there mouth I never ever tried one but I also have never tried any alcohol either so I may not be the one for advice.
     
  18. TinyWildThing

    TinyWildThing Monkey

    Thank you for fixing my quote spamming. Couldnt really figure it out how to put several quotes in one post.

    My first tobaccofree day now. I am very happy. Still not tempted to smoke. I guess the alternative e cigarette helps a lot.

    Thank you again for all your answers!
     
    Altoidfishfins and Bishop like this.
  19. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    If you can manage to stop for a couple of weeks, then get around someone else who smokes, you'll realize just how badly cigarette smoke smells. While you're smoking you won't notice it. After I quit I could tell if someone was smoking in another car a couple of lanes away while sitting in traffic at a stop light. Still can.

    At my former home in northern Nevada, I had to repaint the ceilings due to yellowing from the nicotine which had condensed there, particularly in the area where my wife used to sit and smoke. Also had to pull all the carpet and replace with Pergo flooring (which is a good idea anyway). You can imagine what it's doing to your lungs and to the lungs of those around you.

    Now the wife smokes outside. Sorry about continuing the rant. But if you're going to stop now's the time while you're young. You'll stand to gain the most. :)
     
  20. TXKajun

    TXKajun Monkey+++

    Way to go, TWT! One day down, the rest of your life to go.
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7