Quitting a habit

[Fuddy1952]

From my observation (no proof) the friends, family members who were long time smokers who quit didn't live long afterwards. My guess is it's too much shock to the system.
My brother is an alcoholic. We've tried every intervention imaginable. Like several friends now deceased alcoholics I see the horrific results. Besides severe liver damage he has neuropathy, loss of feeling in arms and legs. He really can't walk and he used to be a mountain climber.
The slow degradation is hard to watch.
As mentioned here it's from unhappiness.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It makes me wonder, by comparison, how "phone addiction" would fit into the addictions picture? If people suddenly had no phone to stare at?

 

[Jstpssng]

From my observation (no proof) the friends, family members who were long time smokers who quit didn't live long afterwards. My guess is it's too much shock to the system.
My brother is an alcoholic. We've tried every intervention imaginable. Like several friends now deceased alcoholics I see the horrific results. Besides severe liver damage he has neuropathy, loss of feeling in arms and legs. He really can't walk and he used to be a mountain climber.
The slow degradation is hard to watch.
As mentioned here it's from unhappiness.

My father quite smoking in 1980 after smoking for 30 years +- and passed away in 2017.

 

[Molalla1]

I started smoking as a teen at 16.
I quit 5 years ago at 75.
I averaged a pack a day (25 per) always filters.

A routine scan suggested possible lung cancer.

One test is to insert a tube via a nostril to get a sample from my lung.
That procedure involves a lot of water and me gagging all the while.
Making it worst nobody had advised me that I could not drive as I was to be sedated so the MD proceeded anyway.
Let me tell you I know how it feels to drown!
Sheer terror!
Result was inconclusive.

So next they did a PET scan which involves an injection of a radioactive that will show any cancer cell.
Result, inconclusive.

So they next drill (literally) a hole and extract some lung tissue.
Makes you bleed like a stuck pig as you cough and spit blood.
Again inconclusive.

Last week, 3 years down the line (after the last scan) MD says my lung 'spots' have shrunk. Good news, also I breathe better now.
(They had me do scans every 6 months)
The lung specialist says he'll just double check next year and the hospital will advise for that date.

Fortunately I'm in Canada and covered by Medicare so my only costs have been parking fees. (and that is deductible as a medical expense)
I do need to use an inhaler however but that's not all that bad (plus under Medicare very affordable).

And you southern neighbors turned down Obamacare?

After all that I still crave a smoke every so often and chew lots of gum.

PS, hope my ranting deters a few smokers.

I hear you . . . I'm going threw this COPD thing . . . :thumbdown: . . .

 

[Molalla1]

I kicked the sugar out over 10 yrs ago, it took 2 weeks to get over the gotta have it feeling. I lost 7 lbs. and after 2 weeks, I felt like superman and had all the energy I needed.
About a year later I ate a sweet donut and it put me to sleep.
I call sugar the white plague now..

Glad to see you back Ernie . . . :thumbsup: . . . I purchased a tractor from you when you lived in Molalla . . .

 

[Larry Caldwell]

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking, I finally realized it's the habit that rides you. Withdrawal symptoms are over in a week, but the habit rides you for years. As a 1-1/2 pack a day smoker for 25 years, I figure I had practiced the habit of taking a hit off a cigarette about 4 million times.

I switched to smoking a pipe. I bought a couple of briars (you have to let a pipe rest for a day, so switch off) and a bulk bag of mild Cavendish. I smoked a pipe for about a year, and got used to not inhaling. It takes about 45 minutes to smoke a pipe, and you get the nicotine through the mouth mucosa. Man, I loved that pipe. I would load a pipe when I got off work, struggle through rush hour traffic, and still be relaxed and happy by the time I got home. If a doc ever tells me I only have six months to live, the first thing I will do is buy a couple good briars and a bag of mild pipe tobacco.

After getting away from cigarettes for a year, I cold turkeyed the nicotine. I was a heavy coffee drinker too. One three day weekend while my wife was away, I quit both nicotine and caffeine. I slept for most of 3 days, and was feeling pretty good when Monday rolled around. That was in 1991, and I haven't used tobacco since.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just, the not hacking in the shower, was enough to make me not start again. I quite and threw a partial pack away. The planning to stop at the end of a pack already sets you up for failure.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Reminds me. There is one sweet gooey butter cup waiting for me in the kitchen!:licking:

Curious, what my life would be like without sugar. SALT is something I can't fathome giving up.

I kicked the sugar drink habit accidentally. I had kidney stones (pain) and my urologist told me to add lemon juice to drinking water to dissolve the stones before they built up. I started keeping a pitcher of lemon water in the fridge, and drinking that with no sugar added. Now I really don't like sugared drinks. My wife and I still have a maple bar a couple times a month. Jelly is my downfall with sugar.

I haven't "kicked" salt, but started using lite salt (half sodium chloride, half potassium chloride) to keep my electrolytes balanced better on hot, sweaty days. Over the years, I have lost my taste for salty foods. A bag of potato chips is inedible because it's too salty, and I often cook with no or very little salt, just using herbs for flavor.

 

[Bird]

Remember how cool it was to smoke at your restaurant table, at your desk at work or best yet, on a train or AIRPLANE!?

Yep, I smoked in all those places. My boss and I had to fly to other cities several times, and he had quit smoking before I ever knew him, but since I smoked, we always rode in the smoking section of the airplane. And when the city decided that every division had to designate one location in which smoking would be allowed, I designated my own office.:laughing: I very seldom shut my office door anyway and just told all the smokers they were welcome to come in for a smoke anytime.

 

[Industrial Toys]

A customer I knew owned a large safety shoe factory. Bit by bit the government imposed smoking in the workplace regulation. In the end, the man had to leave his fancy executive office and smoke outside in the heat or cold! I never thought that right. In my archaic way of thinking, if it bothered an employee, they could find a job somewhere else.