smokers/ex-smokers?

Non-Phish General
#43

You can totally do it, mang! I think what worked for me is this total health spree I’m on. I thought about all the things in my life that I’ve done for so long that are causing my body harm: poor eating habits, lack of exercise, smoking, drinking, etc and decided that I was tired of poisoning my body. I used to get so tired of hearing “Smoking takes 10 years off of your life” that I finally started responding with “Well, that’s the end of your life and nobody cares about that part anyway”. The more I think about it though, the more I want to be around to see my daughter grow up and have a family of her own and their families and so forth. The lifestyle I’ve been living for so long won’t cut it if that’s the case.

These are some of the things I try to think about when I want a ciggarette… which thankfully isn’t often, but every once in a while the urge creeps up on me. Cigs are nothing but poison. There are chemicals in ciggaretts that are known to cause cancer and others that if ingested in enough quantity will kill you out right. Every time you take a drag, you’re killing the cilia that line your trachea. If you remember for biology, cilia are little finger-like hairs and their function in your trachea is to keep pollutants, debris, and dust from getting in your lungs. They’re like the gate keepers to your lungs. After you smoke for a while, the cilia die and that’s when smoker’s cough is developed. A cough is the only way your lungs can eject these particles that the cilia are no longer keeping at bay. If that doesn’t gross you out enough, there’s always this:

Which one would you rather have?

#44

But…but…I happen to like poison!

#45

OK, it’s all up to you. When you’ve picked the day to stop, come on back up here and announce it. I’ll put the date, six months to the day on my Outlook calendar, and if you haven’t smoked in that time, I’ll send you a check.

You already know you want to stop, otherwise you wouldn’t have started this thread. Recognition of that desire is how the process of stopping begins. And I would imagine you might have several false starts, so I’ll allow for about ten of those within the first month, if you need them. Just let me know when to start my calendar countdown again.

And I don’t much care if you become a notorious liar and try to bilk me out of the 60 bucks without ending your smoking habit. If you need 60 bucks that badly, I’ll gladly send it to you now so you don’t waste my time in the false hope that you actually want to do this at this time in your life. This isn’t about the money, it’s about helping you to get healthier and feel better. That’s gotta be worth more than a measley sixty dollars to you.

#46

::smokes lungs::

#47

can I bum a smoke someone?

seriously.

NOW!!!

::nic-fits::

#48

^^^fone, i was just being retarded. i really do battle with myself to quit. see, i really, actually enjoy smoking. that’s the worst thing about giving it up–that sense of loss. the good thing is my concience isn’t leaving me alone about it anymore. it’s screaming TIME FOR A CHANGE! all day long and i’m listening to it now. that’s ultimately why i started this thread. a small step before the big one.

i ordered a self hypnosis cd two days ago that i think will help me. i’m just not disciplined enough to put them down on willpower alone. hopefully a change in thinking on a deep, subconcious level will wipe the whole habit out of me.

and thanks for the neat lung pics Lady! i’d enjoy dying with nice, pink lungs instead of ones that look like dinosaur feces!

#49

i smoked from approximately age 17-19 rarely closing in on a pack a day unless i was at a festival or Phish run or other assorted binging.

at one point i just kind of started smoking less and less and when one pack ran out i simply neglected to get another out of lack of interest.

I then rehabilitated my throat by constantly going for cough drops and not smoking at all for over a year.

i didn’t smoke again until fairly late into my 20th year and have been bumming occasionally sporadically (almost exclusively while drunk) ever since.

*note: I bought a pack for Wanee this past year because i knew i’d be bumming off of everybody else and i didn’t want to be a dick. And i probably gave away about half my pack, so there’s yer karma for ya.

#50

The thing with cigarettes is that when I’m drinking socially I can literally chain smoke them. I could literally light a new one with the old one.

But while sober - right now for instance - I could go hours without one.

Another bad thing about smoking is that when you combine it with a night of heavy drinking, you feel 100x worse than if you just drank. I do, anyway. Several times I’ve woken up and tried to find the dog that shit in my mouth, with little luck.

To quote Sheriff Bart: “Why you do that to yoself, man?”

#51

This thread really makes me want a smoke.

#52

Dude, I can chainsmoke like a motherfucker when I’m drinking socially, but when I’m not, I can’t smoke more than one cigarette at a time before I get sick.

Did anybody ever smoke the Camel Exotic Blends?? They don’t make them anymore because of some bullshit lawsuit, but they were elegant and delicious and came in tins, of which I think I have all 5.

#53

There’s something about alcohol that sends a message to your lungs and says “it’s OK, it is poison but let’s pretend it is like oxygen.”

#54

you guys need to stop pussy-footin’ around. just commit fully to the addiction. jeez. freakin amateurs.

#55

Sorry. I only do things half-assed anymore.

#56

Yeah Greg! Camel is the shit! If you are looking for a similar smoke to those exotic blends, try the Camel infused signiture blend. It has that same fruit infused thing going on. Of course I am more then a little biased towards Camel, but there you go.

#57

yeah i remember them, they were exotic alright, used to buy these and split them with friends, never liked having a full pack of them, kind of novelty like, couldn’t smoke them too often

#58

I went to prison and quit smoking pretty easily. It was more an I dont have any commissary and Im not gonna go do something to get it. ehem…

Other than that there is nothing better than a good woman to get you to quit. I have been dating the same girl for 4 years now, even through incareration and she is the reason I quit and wont start again. Long live teh_trench!!

#59

Confession time…I started smoking back in High School in the 90’s. Then around 2000 I quit for a long time. I was doing great, then after being married for 6 years, the stress of being with someone who wasn’t into 100% anymore, I started back up this year once my divorce started. I had maybe 2-3 a day and that was it for like 4 months. Then I started to notice things smelling nasty like my car and clothes.

That was a big kick in the ass to try to quit. So, far I am doing ok without them so far…It’s very hard though cause everyone at work smokes.

#60

This is the first week I’ve actually been around any of my smoker friends and I’m proud to say I didn’t give in. I kinda wanted to…but honestly, I didn’t want to stink like they did. My friend Will stunk up my whole damn downstairs with his ashtray smelling ass. Nasty. I hope I never reeked like he does!

#61

gave it an honest shot yesterday, broke down by late-night. fuck. it’s hard. shall try again.

#62

CJ, don’t get discouraged. Cut yourself some slack when you fail because you’ll use the apparent inability to go cold turkey as an excuse to continue smoking without tryin to quit.

It’s as important to keep the “idea” that you want to quit in your mind as it is to actually stop. So treat yourself kindly during the process, and affirm your desire to stop everyday, whether you do or not.