My hardest assignment ever

[RedRocker]

Both folks smoked, both folks are dead, two good friends smoked, two good friends are dead. MIL smokes, she's 79 and has lots of freedom, she can go anywhere she wants as long as it's no farther than her oxygen hose will stretch. My last smoking friend that's alive is 60 and looks 75, has emphysema and working towards COPD if he doesn't die before then. I'm not a big fan of the habit.

 

[capt_met]

i am 44 and 3 1/2 months ago had a heart attack. landed me in the hospital for angioplasty. the dr made it pretty clear that if i wanted to go through it again to keep smoking. the only problem was there were no guarantees i would make it to the hospital. after getting out of the hospital the first thing i did when i got to my truck was smoke a couple cigs. the second thing was throw the pack away and i haven't had one since. i had to play a mind game that cigs had no power over me and so far it has worked. didn't quit because i had to quit because i was sick and tired of them. i have always joked as i get older about what years are going to be good ones by the age. 41, great year, charlie waters number, 44 is going to end great bill bates was a great player as well. looking forward to 51, 64, and maybe too tall jones as well. not smoking may make that happen.
good luck

 

[bones1]

Wow.Some great information and stories here.Well I haven't quit yet, but I am down from 2 packs+ a day to 1/2 pack a day.Ever since I started this thread. Even this is difficult to mantain.Pretty soon I will go to 5 cigs a day but I have to do this my way. Thanks for all the encouragement here, you folks are truly top shelf.

 

[Bird]

Wow.Some great information and stories here.Well I haven't quit yet, but I am down from 2 packs+ a day to 1/2 pack a day.Ever since I started this thread. Even this is difficult to mantain.Pretty soon I will go to 5 cigs a day but I have to do this my way. Thanks for all the encouragement here, you folks are truly top shelf.

Yep, bones, I agree that everyone has to do it their own way. And maybe you (and my wife) can do it by tapering off gradually. That would never work for me; it's all or nothing. So I quit the 11th and my wife quit smoking in the house. She now spends a lot of time out on the patio. She may be down to a half or three-quarter pack a day, and I understand about even that being difficult to maintain. Good luck with your efforts.

 

[bones1]

Four years later.... cold turkey..........All done. I no smokie no more. Better late than never I suppose.

 

[LMTC]

Started stealing my dad's cigarettes around 14, was buying packs at 15, smoking a pack+ per day by 17. Somewhere over the next 35 years it went to two packs+, and was probably at that level for at least 2 decades before my final quit on 11/7/01 at age 52. Like most I had "quit" several times before, but never went more than a day or two completely without smokes. The last time was so relatively easy that it scared me for a while (as in, this can't be really happening, it's just going too smoothly). I still have occasional dreams that I smoke a cigarette and trash all this smoke-free time, but when I awake I know instantly it's just a trick. My sincere best wishes to anyone making a serious effort to quit. I still believe I enjoyed it, but I know it is unhealthy and I got really tired of hacking and coughing to start each day. I have had perhaps two colds and no respiratory infections since quitting. Before that I was good for at least 2-3 colds a year and at least one respiratory infection/inflammation that would require treatment each year.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Take a look at this and tack this to your refrigerator. I guarantee you will never light up again.

http://www.blog.adelgabot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/smoking_1a1.jpg

 

[keegs]

Four years later.... cold turkey..........All done. I no smokie no more. Better late than never I suppose.

Congrats....

It's been about thirty years for me. I can still remember having those urges for several years after I quit. The urges got weaker and less frequent as time went on but it took a while for them to go away.

 

[polo1665]

Four years later.... cold turkey..........All done. I no smokie no more. Better late than never I suppose.

That's great. I also quit, about a month after you did. Best thing I ever did. Watched my dad go downhill fast from COPD. I figured I'd be darned if I worked all my life and then had to be hooked up to an oxygen bottle when I can finally retire.
Now that you got four years under your belt, you should be done with them forever.

Mark

 

[LBrown59]

Four years later.... cold turkey..........All done. I no smokie no more. Better late than never I suppose.

Back in march 2009 after 50 years I quit smoking .
Dec 7 2009 i had a small stroke .
I told all the doctors who treated me I quit smoking and look what happened to me.
And asked them did I quit smoking for nothing ?
Every one of them said no and stated the results of the stroke would probably have been far more damaging than it was had i not quit smoking .
As it turned out the stroke left no visible signs ,but i still had to have surgery on my left carotid artery on 1/11/10.
One even said if I had still been smoking I might not have been sitting there talking to him at the moment .
I quit cold turkey but it don't matter how you do it just get er done.
You have everything to gain and nothing to loose .
Do it now .Quit while you're ahead .