# The Official August 2002 Great SDMB Smokeout thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089 "2002-07-27T06:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/61 "2002-08-03T07:59:11Z")
Hey guys, Thanks…I had a moment of “whoa is me” and it’s great to see people stepping up to the plate to support one another. **Theios** Congrats on starting your stopping of this nasty thing. If you start going bonkers, just post here and let it all out. I apologize that through tomorrow I will not be here much. Have a family reunion and will check in as much as I can. Been a busy week. Oddly enough, I didn’t experience a lot of withdrawl when I stopped last summer. I had some spacey feelings (not any more strange than rising up to 14,000 feet from 7,000 the other day when we went up to the top of Pikes Peak.) I was able to get off the Nicorette in two days (only had about 8-9 those days IIRC.) I still have my Nicorettes though. Not a lot of them but they are there waiting for me if I really, really, really need some nicotene. **Ladies and Gents,** That are waiting till Monday, remember your committment to yourself. Be strong and come to this thread if your fears or if you think you need to run to the store to get those nasty ass things…we are all here for you! ---
**Author:** ![loupdebois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e495f1/32.png) [@loupdebois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loupdebois)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/62 "2002-08-03T21:36:19Z")
Techgirl, fearless leader, fear not. Your symptoms do not sound like emphysema to me, nor do they reek of lung cancer. Lung cancer usually involves both fetid breath beyond the reach of mouthwash (not a sure sign, but certainly an inevitable symptom) and bloody phlegm, and you didn’t mention either. No matter whether the smoking has hurt your lungs: quitting will do you good. Worst-case scenario you’re already sick from it… pouring acidic smoke onto tormented lungs isn’t going to make you better! No one can contradict me when I say that NO MATTER WHAT YOUR PHYSICAL CONDITION, NOT SMOKING WILL EXTEND YOUR LIFE! Skip one day and you’re adding to your life, skip a week and you’ve done yourself more good, quit FOREVER and you’re adding YEARS to your life! Simple as that, I’m here to help to save your life, same as you’re here to save mine. Don’t be strong, just be sensible and aware: you’ll need willpower, but if you can just make that connection between going a day smoke-free and adding a day to your life, you’ll have all the willpower you need. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/63 "2002-08-03T21:43:23Z")
**techchick68** , I’ve had symptoms like that in the past, the first time in 1998. Finally it got so bad that I couldn’t sleep at night, and I went to a doctor, who said I was having an asthma attack–I had asthma occasionally as a child. She gave me some steroids (I think it was Prednisone or Prednisolone) which had to be taken on a regular schedule for a week or so, and an inhaler. I took the steroids and literally in about two hours I was fine. Felt like I’d never had a cigarette. (Did I quit smoking? Hell no! I felt great! _Dumbass._) Now I have an inhaler I use in the morning every day (even when I feel fine, which is usually) and one I use “in case of emergency.” If you call a doctor, tell them up front you don’t have insurance–I didn’t have insurance at the time–and most of them will do what they can to help you out; I think the visit cost me maybe $70 and the medicine about $20. But man, I slept like a baby that night, the first good night of sleep I’d had in a week or so. It’s worth a doctor visit. And please don’t start thinking it’s “too late”; modern medicine is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/64 "2002-08-03T22:01:45Z")
Did anyone used to read Garrison Keillor’s advice column on [salon.com](http://salon.com)? He was great (I totally love advice columns). He talked about how he quit, which was a cutting-down method as opposed to our banzai-cold-turkey method, but here’s what he said about the final day (i.e., tomorrow): > [@](#): > > And then the night before D-Day, I stayed up late and smoked a whole bunch and thought back on how much I had enjoyed cigarettes and how they’d figured in my life and I smoked my last one and went to bed. The next few days were hard, but far from unbearable: I ate a lot of popcorn, chewed gum, devoured apples, went to movies, walked a lot and stayed away from my routine. After the first week, it became noticeably easier to do without them. After a month, it was all over except for the occasional twinge. I am not a powerfully resolute person, and if I could quit, I believe anyone can. I think that “staying away from routine” bit is important. Don’t hang out with smoker friends for a while too. Just explain to them that you’re going to need some time away from cigarettes; if they get hurt and offended, be understanding and know that they feel threatened by your quitting and then tell them to fuck off. In a year, we are going to feel SO GREAT. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/65 "2002-08-04T00:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by eunoia \* > \*\*How about an Official August 2002 Great Smokeout **Movie**? > > I’d suggest [Airplane!](http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~rkogan/humor/airplane.html) > > “MCrosky : Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking. > I want the best available man on this, a man who > knows that plane inside and out and won’t crack > under pressure.” > > Movies to avoid: > > Dead Man > Blue in The Face > anything with Humphrey Bogart \*\* Also… avoid “I Love Lucy” and many other sitcoms made pre-1960. Another movie to avoid is **Dead Again**. Lots of smoking. Oh… and David Lynch’s **Nadia**. I have been smoke free now for: Four days, 5 hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds. 84 cigarettes not smoked, saving $16.87. Life saved: 7 hours, 0 minutes. If you want the meter that I used, which I first saw in a sig by Satan, [http://www.silkquit.org](http://www.silkquit.org) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/66 "2002-08-04T00:51:37Z")
The first five or so minutes of Mrs. Doubtfire (the bit with the bird smoking and Robin Williams choking and such) seem like they might be of help (of course, I’ve never smoked, so I say this mainly trying to be helpful). ---
**Author:** ![Theios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@Theios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theios)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/67 "2002-08-04T01:06:06Z")
Back at work again tonight. I did well last night with not smoking. I chewed up about nine pieces of Nicorette instead. Today is a bit easier, but I still plan on going through another nine peices. A coworker donated his excess Nicorette and patches to me. I plan on giving the patches to a close friend of ours. We kind of need to get her to quit or cut back with us, since she is the one that sorta got us started again. She’s out of a job right now and wants to quit anyway. (smokes are waaayy too expensive) TheCrazedOne is doing okay on tapering off, but hasn’t gone a whole day yet without smoking. Maybe today will be the day. I keep encouraging her. So far, so good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/68 "2002-08-04T02:11:17Z")
Ok… THIS SUCKS!!! I went on [gay.com](http://gay.com) to see about having a social life. The ex was there. It has been two months, but seeing him there gave me SUCH a burst of anxiety. I went offline, took a Xanax. I feel so fucking wigged out, and part of me wants to smoke. I have made it over four days. I am drinking water and chewing gum. I hate this. I HATE IT, I HATE IT, I HATE IT!!! ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/69 "2002-08-04T05:02:10Z")
**Hastur** Are you quitting with us or are you just temporarily lost? Eye’s confoozed! ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/70 "2002-08-04T05:05:27Z")
Sorry **Hastur** My reading comprehension (along with my typing) really sucks tonight. Congratulations on your stopping smoking. Keep it up! Again, I apologize for sounding so stupid. It’s been a whirlwind day with a family reunion completing tonight and my house smells like onions. We are here for you to keep up that non-smoking routine. So pop on in any time. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/71 "2002-08-04T05:11:20Z")
Sorry **Hastur** My reading comprehension (along with my typing) really sucks tonight. Congratulations on your stopping smoking. Keep it up! Again, I apologize for sounding so stupid. It’s been a whirlwind day with a family reunion completing tonight and my house smells like onions. We are here for you to keep up that non-smoking routine. So pop on in any time. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/72 "2002-08-04T05:21:19Z")
I have not broken. I have not smoked. Four days, 10 hours, 18 minutes and 0 seconds. 88 cigarettes not smoked, saving $17.67. Life saved: 7 hours, 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/73 "2002-08-04T05:56:31Z")
Double post…I am not doing well on the SDMB tonight. Good to hear you made it through that whole ex thing Hastur… Proud of you!!! ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/74 "2002-08-04T13:07:57Z")
Hey! I just wanted to wish everyone good luck for today! 🙂 I’ve been quit for one month and 3 days since my 4-month smoking relapse, and I _really_ believe this time it’s for good. I just want to let everyone know that, even though it may be _unbearable_ for the first week or so, it REALLY does get better after a month and my cravings are far less frequent and easier to manage now. And I can BREATHE! 🙂 Good luck, Gang!!! :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/75 "2002-08-04T18:39:40Z")
Oh damn. Oh hell. Oh rats. Frutzen-sutzen…grumble-grumble… All right, I’m in. I have been avoiding even looking at this terrible thread until The Day itself arrived. But when **techchick** mentioned August 4 some time ago, I decided in secret that I would use that day as well. So it’s time to be in this thread. I cheated already, sort of - my last cig was at 6:00 this morning. However, I was staying up all night for the express purpose of smoking cigarettes. Now I have slept, and destroyed all remaining smokables. It starts today. A little background on my smoking history: I am 35 and have smoked on and off since I was 17, with several clean periods… but more smoking than nonsmoking. The last time I quit, about 2.5 years ago, I made it for almost 2 years. Then 6 or 8 months ago I started again, because I was in a class that was stressing me out, and I NEEDED them, darn it. Of course I didn’t intend to ramp back up to a-pack-and-a-half-a-day, but that’s where I’m at again. Of course the stressful class is long completed. Time to quit again. My thoughts on not smoking: I really hate the concept. I dislike anti-tobacco types; I loathe the expensive and un-Constitutional\* U.S. public health campaign; the part of me that remains a Southerner feels it’s my patriotic duty to smoke and support the great states of Kentucky and Virginia. I really do not want to be known as a “non-smoker” because I’ve met so many non-smokers who are fussy, prissy, self-righteous, etc… (\* The fedrul gummint’s responsibilities are: deliver the mail, declare war, print the money. Please pass me my cigarettes.) However - quitting is solely about me and my health (and $$$savings) and I must not be deterred by stupid reasons to smoke. I feel deprived - smoking is one of my greatest pleasures, and the world is very scary without my little pals that come 20 to a box. I have a tendency toward emotional distress, and any change of this sort aggravates my problems, of course. I’m very afraid of going completely insane if I give up the smokes. That’s why I got nicotine patches … emergency sanity in a sealed foil packet. In my worst moments all arguments about health are ineffective. So you say smoking shortens my lifespan? Pass the cigs, please; that’s the idea. Horrible painful diseases, lingering death? I deserve it; bring it on. However, I recognize this as insanity, and when I don’t care about my health, I will have to think of the money. I’m poor enough that $5-6 a day makes a real difference. I’ll be able to have a Subway sandwich for lunch sometimes, instead of Top Ramen. Not smoking will make me a less relaxed, more fidgety person; and while I get used to this, I will be taking walks, perhaps even jogs depending on how stressed I am; and this will be great for my system overall. I have a feeling my coffee and sugar consumption will drop, being replaced by more real foods, but I’m worrying about only one thing at a time. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. All in all - I’m aware that smoking is effectively slow suicide. I can no longer justify this. There are a hundred things I need to change; smoking is the most significant one. It’s a start, and just doing that will automaticallly improve other areas like excercise, as I mentioned. But dammit. I’m unhappy about it today. I need to go inflict my misery on someone already, and I haven’t had the barest twinge of nic-fit yet. This may get really ugly. I keep telling myself it will be worth it. Thank you all for being here; I will go read this thread now. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/76 "2002-08-04T18:41:52Z")
OMFG. Just noticed the day is Aug. 5, not the 4th. Oops. Well, I already snapped about half a pack of cigarettes in half; don’t think I will be buying another pack. I’m in a day early. So be it. ---
**Author:** ![VDarlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e56c9b/32.png) [@VDarlin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VDarlin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/77 "2002-08-04T18:44:44Z")
Wait, wait, wait…it’s today!!! I thought it was tomorrow, August 5th. Am I being a bad little “soon to be ex-smoker”? I’m sticking with tomorrow, as I’ve already completely blown it for today. oh, and **[font size=6]I’m nervous!!![/font]** Anyone else…? ~V ---
**Author:** ![VDarlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e56c9b/32.png) [@VDarlin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VDarlin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/78 "2002-08-04T18:48:08Z")
Damn it, I didn’t know that I couldn’t change the font size on here…ignore above stupidity. _note to self - use preview, it’s your friend_ ~V ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/79 "2002-08-04T19:01:19Z")
(triple post; I love these) **Techchick** : I’m there with you on the sleep-cough-emphysema-lung cancer fears. I wake up in the middle of the night coughing, every night. I rattle and wheeze as I’m falling asleep. It sounds like a person who is dying. I’m just 35. Mornings, my lungs hurt so bad I can barely breathe. Very very painful just drawing breath. I can’t smoke my first cig of the day (back when I was a smoker, mind) until several hours after I am up, and the lungs have cleared out a bit - otherwise, terrible, searing, burning pain. I take Sudafed every morning and every night, in addition to my prescription allergy meds, just to be able to breathe through the night and day. This cannot be good. But what’s done is done. I hope my body will be able to heal itself, and I hope yours will too. What is certain is that our health will now improve, instead of degrade. Hang in there. Don’t worry. Thanks for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089/80 "2002-08-04T19:53:41Z")
I have now made it past five days. Five days, 50 minutes and 34 seconds. 100 cigarettes not smoked, saving $20.09. Life saved: 8 hours, 20 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-august-2002-great-sdmb-smokeout-thread/121089.md?page=5)