The Official August 2002 Great SDMB Smokeout thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Wow! It looks like our group is over twenty future non-smokers.

On the other thread several people mentioned Alan Carr’s Easyway to Quit Smoking. I got this last week and read it in about a day. Re-read it too.

May I be the first to say that I think any one of us would be helped by reading this book. There may have been one or two things that I didn’t agree with, (but people are different, right?) but for the most part it is filled with several good ideas for becoming a non-smoker. There are several analogies in there that are hard to NOT think about when you are smoking. (the cold sore and the ointment!)

I am concerned about the first smoke of the morning. In my previous attempts to quit, this was the one that was the hardest craving to ignore (not surprising: haven’t smoked in ten plus hours) I am hoping to replace it (temporarily) with a brisk walk to the mailbox or around the complex.

Do you guys have any ideas/plans for your “favorite” cig?

I am (actually) very excited about quitting!

42

For the “favorite” cig: it’s just another cancer stick, which was your “favorite” cavity? Did you have a “favorite” pimple? (No offense to the Best Pimple Stories thread). I personally have a “favorite” mugging… the one I escaped from unscathed! Enjoy the feeling of being able to taste your orange juice in the morning, of being able to enjoy the subtle aroma of coffee for what it really is, and of NOT wondering whether you’ll get lucky with lung cancer before you’re crippled by emphysema! Remember, the rush you get from your first cig after a period of non-smoking is the same one you get from standing on your head too long… not a healthy thing… (returns to his quiet hiding place where LaurAnge will not spy on him)

43

OK, I’m in.

I’ve quit more times than I can count, never with much success. I tried the pills (what are they called? Zyban?), which didn’t help at all. Of course, a devastating breakup on DAY ONE didn’t help either. But yeah, I’ve smoked for half of my life as of this year, and that’s enough.

I think back to the few times I’ve been depressed enough to contemplate suicide. And after the first time, what made me change my mind was thinking back to all the stuff that had happened SINCE the first time, and that I’d be really pissed off if I had missed it. C’mon, don’t you want to know who wins the next election? How your kids (nieces, nephews, neighbors’ kids) turn out? What happens in the very last episode of the Simpsons (“Last. Episode. Ever.”)? What Halley’s Comet looks like the second time? I want to be around to see Osama bin Laden’s head on a pole, not to mention what they build at Ground Zero. And maybe, just maybe, if I close my eyes and say, “I do believe, I do believe…” then the Atlanta Falcons might possibly make it to another Super Bowl, and WIN this time!

I want to stick around for all this stuff, so on August 5, I’m right with you. That’ll be a great day for it too, since I’m enrolled to compete in a charity golf tournament that morning–even though I’ve played golf exactly three times in the last ten years–and doing something moderately active will be a good way to remind myself why I’m doing this.

The only fear I have is of the more numerous and powerful erections…

44

[list=1]
techchick68
squeegee (perhaps yes?)
BrattiAtti
Mooch
velvetjones
VDarlin
Kiki (perhaps)
Jorel
jack@ss
Seven
meek
Tiburon
loupdebois
Lsura (???)
manhattan
hardygrrl
Pantellerite (already stopped but joining in the efforts)
Rhubarb (already stopped but joining in the efforts)
Astroboy14
belladonna (may or may not but plans on stopping sometime soon)
peedin (may or may not but plans on stopping sometime soon)
Monster104
Theios
jackelope
[/list=1]

I hope I didn’t miss anyone on the list. If I did I apologize.

So ladies and gents, I was thinking, those that need to stop before Monday (work week and all) please think about Saturday as your initial stop date. It’s not when you stop, altough a group stop date might be easier, it’s that you stop.

So charge forward.

Just and FYI, I will be very busy this with a family reuinion so I will pop in when I can. Sunday I am back on my own so plan on buttloads of posts from me that day. :wink:

Oh and come Monday through the rest of the week, I suspect a high influx of Pit posts from our stoppers, so to the rest of you, please be understanding. :wink:

45

I will never learn, preview is your friend.
:smack:

46

This is going to be great! Well, at first it’s going to totally suck, but it’ll be great to have this kind of support group; in the past, my support group has usually consisted of one apparently addiction-proof girlfriend who would say things like, “I liked you better when you smoked.” Not very helpful.

I plan to spend part of Sunday cleaning cigarettes/paraphernalia/ashtrays/&c. out of my home, not to mention doing laundry and airing the damn place out. Oh, and stocking up on peppermints and such.

Looking forward to it.

47

I just wanted to pop in here and wish you all the best of luck. I was a smoker for 13 years and quitting was one of the best decisions I ever made. Don’t be too hard on yourselves. Some of you may be able to stop cold turkey, while others need more time. It took me a few months to completely stop after I made the decision to quit, but that was how it worked for me. Again, good luck, godspeed, and a pre-congratulations on your smoke free life.

48

techchick68,
Thanks for the welcome! While I am not currently smoking (10 days without cheating!), I don’t consider myself as having quit, because I REALLY WANT ONE most of the time. Hopefully, the support of the others here going through the same things will help me put them away for good.
I have wanted to be an ex-smoker for a long time now, but I didn’t want to have to go through the pain of quitting. Then I realized what an ex-smoker that never quit would be called … a corpse:eek: . To be fair, a non-smoker who never started would earn that appellation, too, but usually after a longer (and healthier) period of time.

49

Welcome to everyone who’s joining us in this adventure!!!

I’m so glad to find out that I will have better erections after I give up the cigarette addiction! Add to that more stamina & smelling better, I might find someone to use them on!

I’m currently up to nearly 2 packs a day. I haven’t smoked this much for 18 years, and I was drinking heavily then.

I went clubbing last Friday & could barely dance through a whole song. It was really depressing. I know that after 2 weeks off the cancer sticks I will feel better physically & better about myself. I know that my workouts will be better & I will enjoy my bicycle more. I know that I will enjoy dancing more. Quitting smoking is a totally selfish, hedonistic thing for me.

I won’t miss the lung butter either & will do better at work because I won’t go out for a smoke every hour. I think this will ROCK, this is exactly the change I need in my life.

50

Oh, fine. I’m in.

I really need to do this, and I would much rather have company in my misery. Last time I quit, I was such a horrendous crabass that my non-smoking husband BEGGED me to have a cigarette. He has admitted that was a dumb idea and promises not to do it again.

I’m going back on the Zyban to help do this.

51

I posted a positive response to the first thread and didn’t make the list, which gave me a perfect excuse to just duck the whole thing…
but I’ll still give it a go.

52

How about an Official August 2002 Great Smokeout Movie ?

I’d suggest Airplane!

“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

53

I have 27 cigarettes left. I guess that means my last one will be at some point Friday afternoon. I think I’ll give my drivers license to freesok to hide for two weeks; if I’m not buying cigarettes, then I won’t need it. I’m still kind of scared, but I haven’t really faced it yet. I feel in my heart that I’m really going to do it, but then the devil in my brain asks me if I’m really sure about that. I think I am. Thank you Napster for providing me with many angry songs I can scream with when I’m craving! :smiley:

54

Chronic Lung Obstruction Now a Woman’s Disease

From American Lung Association’s website:

COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Fact:Approximately 80 to 90 percent of COPD cases are caused by smoking; a smoker is 10 times more likely than a nonsmoker to die of COPD.

Fact: Emphysema causes irreversible lung damage. The walls between the air sacs within the lungs lose their ability to stretch and recoil. They become weakened and break. Elasticity of the lung tissue is lost, causing air to be trapped in the air sacs and impairing the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Also, the support of the airways is lost, allowing for obstruction of airflow.

Fact: Symptoms of emphysema include cough, shortness of breath and a limited excercise tolerance.

Just thought I would pass that on. Not only is lung cancer a response to smoking, so is COPD.

My great aunt is here in town and has emphysema, but she never smoked a day in her life, her long gone husband did. She has to have a tank of air on her at all times. And she NEVER smoked.

Carry on.

55

Okay, I’m in. I’m down to five cigarettes a day anyways so how hard can it be to give that up? Besides, this will give me more time to spend cruising the Dope.

56

Warning, not a real positive post ahead:

I am being pretty selfish at the moment but I am afraid that I might have symptoms of serious illness (be that cancer or emphysema) from smoking like I have the last two years and having smoked for 19 years.

I rattle when I sleep unless I sleep on my right side and it keeps me up. Likewise when I am in a light sleep in the “morning” I hear my lungs rattle (usually on my left side) and it wakes me up.

I wake up coughing. Not just cough, cough, I mean body shaking get the shit out of the lungs coughing. Sometimes I have been known to puke because it seems so violent.

I must blow 2-3 times to get rid of the shit in my nose. My allergies are from my smoking, I just know it.

Walking up an incline is very hard. I experienced this the other day when walking up to the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad for a family trip up the peak. I was born and raised in high altitude so this should not be a problem for me. It was not that far but I was completely winded. I had to rest for a few minutes before I looked for my family.

God, I am very pessimistic, but I hope it’s not too late for me.

< sigh >

I am scared to quit but I am more scared that I might be too late.

Pessimistic is my world sometimes so pardon me.

57

If I had the insurance and the money, I would go to a doc to assess (sp) my current state of health.

I have neither so I am left to my own thoughts and wondering if possibly I am beyond help.

I mean I know other smokers that, either pretend not to have the same issues as me or they really don’t have them. I just am scared about the whole idea after hearing about women who have died of lung cancer at young ages and the news report on Thurs. about COPD and it killing more and more women.

(this folks is part of this thread, this is part of what you can post here, your thoughts, your fears, your frustrations…so bear with me)

I am afraid that I should have completely stopped last year when I tried and I am too late now, I should have listened to my body then. I know my body and it’s not right. Something’s just not right.

Maybe I am just being paranoid, and I sure as hell hope I am because this is bullshit. All I can do at this point is hope and pray that I am scared enough into this need to stop smoking and never start again. I also have a ton of people relying upon me to be successful in this.

What if I do fail though? What if I am the first in this thread to admit to going out and buying smokes? What kind of a “leader” would I be if I did that.

I am feeling a little stressed right now. I am genuinely worried about my current state of health and worried that I will let you all down and go back to the nasty shit.

I am ready for this but I am scared. I have only gone without smokes for 4-5 days in my 19 years of smoking. I have initiated this, I have brought many together to join with me but somehow I am scared out of my skull because I want to do this but I worry about my “will power” and my “resolve.” I worry about current state of health.

In all regards I am freaked out completely.

I don’t want to show my fellow stoppers my weakness but it’s there. I have it, I am scared as hell. I don’t want to let you down. I don’t want to let me down most of all.

All the while I am typing this I have a smoke…

58

Techchick, I had this problem too, and the rattling chest, when I smoked. Your body can and will recover, so DON’t WORRY. You might not stop coughing on the very day you quit, but give it a couple of weeks and you’ll notice the change, believe me.

And if you’ll take one last piece of advice from this successful quitter, let it be :

FIND SOMETHING NEW FOR YOUR HANDS TO DO.

For me it was taking up the guitar. I thoroughly recommend it.

Hang in there. I’ll be thinking of you and all the other brave souls here a lot over the next few days.

59

techchick that has got to be incredibly scary, but don’t let the physical problems stop you from quitting, in fact, if anything, those reasons alone should be what keeps you going, and not fail in quitting this time. I am guessing that once you stop, and your body starts healing, the symptoms will go away. Changes are they are only the beginning, and reversable stages of things to come, if you were to not stop. On the off chance that they don’t subside, or subside completely, at least you can know that you are doing something to help combat it, and to keep it from getting worse.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, and for everybody else joining in on this difficult journey.

~V

60

Okay… This is my first night back to work. Had my last smoke at 6am Friday morning. (I work nights, so that’s right before I go to bed)

So far, I’m doing about normal for my first day quitting. I’m a little loopy and I’m chewing up pieces of Nicorette like they were fruit flavored chicklettes. I think I’ll live.

My GF (from here on, to be known as TheCrazedOne) is quitting as well. She has been tapering off over the past week. I’ll see how she’s doing after she gets off work.

techchick:

Hang in there. Don’t let any of this stress you out. Get the patch, nicorette or something to help you with the withdrawl. If you can find the right aid for you, it’ll help a lot. If you happen to slip, just try again. These things are horribly addictive bits of nastyness. Sometimes you slip up, this does not make you a weak person. Just keep trying to quit and you’ll eventually do it. Don’t give up.

(please ignore all typos for the next coupla days. I’m really spacey. :stuck_out_tongue: )