Within twenty minutes of smoking your last cigarette the body begins healing. It is a process of change for the better that continues for years, working back toward 'normal' ~
1/2 HOUR:
* Blood pressure drops
* Pulse rate drops
* Body temperature rises, for example in the extremities, hands and feet
8 HOURS:
* Carbon monoxide level in the blood drops
* Oxygen level in the blood increases
2 DAYS / 48 HOURS:
* Nerve endings start regrowing
* Your Sensory awareness improves, Smell and Taste are enhanced
2 WEEKS - 3 MONTHS:
* Circulation improves
* Walking becomes easier
* Lung function increases by as much as a third/30 percent
1 - 9 MONTHS:
* Coughing, sinus congestions, fatigue, shortness of breath - all decrease
* Cillia regrow in the lungs increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean themselves and reducing infection
* Body's overall energy increases
1 YEAR:
* Excess risk of coronary artery disease decreases by HALF
I came across this information from an MD but have seen similar information before.
Last month we held hands with a friend on his death bed as the light literally went out in his eyes, watching and waiting as his life ended in recognizeable steps, glad his long suffering and pain had ended but sad he was leaving us, his face finally relaxing its struggle with pain and life, finally finding a calm that had eluded him despite the drugs for more than a year. There is no doubt or question but that smoking had killed another of our loved ones, and another musician ~ cancer of the oesophagus and lung and eventually all over, including wrapped around his spine and having robbed him of walk for the last couple of months. That's what really took his spirit of fight away, when the doctor finally had to tell him he'd never walk again. His usual stubborness, he never accepted he was going to die, and because of that no one ever raised the subject.
I've recieved email today from a smoker, a musician at this session, and it took my heart, as some of you no doubt can imagine. He so well put into words his struggle, how he had achieved great skill in his hands but how the smoking was at the same time robbing his lungs of function, and taking away his energy elsewhere, about how he wants to quit but how difficult that is. It brought all the history to the surface again and I was particularly reminded of how another dear friend ended up with emhysema, how it slowly lessened the air he had to play his flute, to having to work constant breathing into his playing until he couldn't even manage to hold a recognizeable tune together, and eventually he couldn't breath at all unaided, and then it took his life.
Please, I can only ask but expect for some that won't matter, but I am not looking for 'defense' or 'offense' but insight, understanding and inspiration ~ for those in the struggle of this addiction, for those that may not even see it as an addiction, still convinced that 'free choice' is involved, "I can quit anytime!" Another friend with terminal cancer, stubborn as hell, used to say that. She'd quit for a few days every now and then to prove it to herself and others. Once she quit for two weeks. What changes. The colour returned to a sullen face, the dark shadows under and around her eyes went, the colour returned to her hands, and the warmth, and her face seemed to relax ~ she looked younger, though I confess she was more irritable. She went back to smoking and all the signs of it and now she has terminal cancer. We love her very much...
So, try not to 'attack'. I'd love to hear, for others sakes, how you've managed to quit, how things have changed since you did, how it has affected your music - as a smoker or after quiting. I've friends and acquaintances, including here on site, who are trying to quit. It is up to them, and I know they have the inner strength, and if they manage it will be an admirable accomplishment. Maybe we can all help each other with some of the tales we have to share, not to judge the smoker, please, I don't, but to find ways to overcome this dreadful addiction, this insidious slow rot that smoking causes, robbing us of energy, of life.
Yeah, I know, I've gone on a bit. Your stories could help me too, so there is some selfishness here. I need as much knowledge and understanding as is possible to help my friends to avoid the awful end to their lives and music that some have suffered through, their loss those of us surviving them still suffer through. Life goes on, I know, but I miss those people that have gone too soon, whose company in music has ended, their part in the craic, because of the terminal effects of this addiction...
Sorry Ceolachan. Not a smoker. But my Nephew, Michael, died in his twenties from pneumonia as a complication from a result of drug addiction. I don't think there is anything anyone can say to explain these things. And I think I prefer it that way. It is the fragility of life which makes us value it. And these horrible examples remind us of the fragility and make us value our lives and theirs, the more.
It's not explanation I seek, too often 'excuses', but some work through it and find ways and the strength and guidance to quit, whatever the addiction. I believe in education, in learning from others and believe we can all benefit from the experiences and understanding of others, from their personal struggle and experiences. I have faith that we can gain strenght for ourselves or to help others from the guidance and direction of those who've fought addiction and won. I also think we can benefit from the stories of struggle, even when the battle is lost... In this I am an optimist. I believe in those inner strengths we all have, but for some of us it can be tough finding them, activiting them, and keeping to course. We all also have our inner demons...
This may sound the opposite of helpful, but sometimes if those trying to quit allow themselves to realize they may always at some point feel a craving for nicotine, it seems to help in the long haul. I've finally successfully quit for five years;
in earlier attempts I saw the cravings as failures in my "new, healthy mindset"---now, after five years, I know that on a very stressful days there may always be the "oh hell just buy a pack of smokes!" thoughts, but they go away quickly, and I can focus on how much better I feel, look (and smell). And how much more money I can spend on things like mandolins.
Exactly true dmarie. I quit smoking cold just short of eight years ago and am often blindsided by the desire for a smoke.
Quitting is also the most diffucult thing I have ever tried to do.
My view, at least for me personally, is "Once a junkie always a junkie, but never again a slave"
And yes a new mandolin! A fine and worthy self-indulgence!
My wife and I just found out today that her mom has emphysema. We're just devastated, as you can imagine. Both of my wife’s parents are smokers, and both have had related health problems; but this is the most serious, so far. I’m sure they know that they both need to quit, especially now, to try to manage this disease… I just don’t know if they will… I’m hoping they will try, at least.
I can’t help but wonder if it would help them to quit if they could realize the pain their lost years cause for their friends and family.
I don’t guess I have any words of encouragement for you, or any success stories to share; at least not yet. Your message just really grabbed my attention, and I’m going to share it with my wife, and maybe with her parents. Thanks.
Oh, and good for you, dmarie! Good for your family and friends, too.
As with Ed, quitting smoking was one of the toughest things I've ever done. But I also point at it as an accomplishment that I can use as inspiration for making other positive changes in my life.
I quit shortly before going to England and Ireland for a month for my honeymoon. I was trying to go cold, but within 2 days basically every waking thought was about cigarettes. I had tried the nicotine patch before, and that works moderately well, but won't handle the BIG craving that comes out of the blue (usually whilst drinking).
A friend got me some nicotine gum, which is horrible stuff, but it worked extremely well. It handled the oral fixation, and the nicotine withdrawal at the same time. You're not really supposed to 'chew' that gum actively, but I was chewing on it constantly. I'm sure that I came across to everyone in Europe as the typical daft American munching on gum like a cow chews its cud.
The other thing that was the biggest contributor to my success, I believe, was that I was completely out of my element. Nothing I was doing for that month was 'routine'. But I was also constantly around smokers (my god, I couldn't believe how many people smoke in London - at least in the pubs), so I had overwhelming temptation that I was actually able to overcome.
For the last couple of years, the cravings don't hit very often anymore, and when they do, I just laugh at them and they go away.
Off them fifteen years and counting. Like dmarie says, the sudden cravings still kick in once in a while - in response to some remembered stimulus from the past - but disappea in seconds.
The patch and long-haul no-smoking flights, plus not wanting to set a bad example for my kids worked for me.
Smoking was a big part of my life. It punctuated every activity, and giving it up was like giving up a very close friend you rely on for support every day. It's not easy.
Grego has another excellent point--being a role model. Often the same external stress that makes a person want to smoke also can induce the "hey, I'm just a big loser anyway why not just smoke?" syndrome. When I started teaching, I was sitting in an anti-drug assembly one morning and realizing I was squirming guiltily in my seat much as the kids were. It hit me that I was the grown-up here, the supposed role model---how hypocritical of me to smoke. That worked for me. Quit for someone else.
Nothing since Dec 1997, so what's that? nearly eight years.
Yes, it was tough, but the main thing to overcome is the mindset. My method was rather unconventional, to say the least, but it worked --- I stopped just before the New Year 28th Dec, I think, so I didn't have the pressure of having it as a new year's resolution. But I was on holiday, so no work pressure either.
But the main thing I did was *drink* my way through it (no surprise I hear you say, coming from me, but as a strategy it worked), so beers beers and beers. No kidding. They tell us you shouldn't take any other drugs eg alcohol or caffeine when giving up, but I say do what works for you.
I didn't go out to any sessions for a fair while - maybe a month or so, cos lighting up was part of the between-tunes ritual for me. Prior to the actual giving up *event* I had been only about 3-5 a day for a few months, and before that I had successfully got that down from 10 a day. So I was tapering down my consumption anyway. But during all that time I was running on a daily basis, 3-6 miles, and I think that helps enormously as it really cleans out your body.
Post the giving up event my cravings reduced on a daily basis, and soon my beer consumption was down to a "normal" level --- and after a couple of months I was cured of the nicotine addiction. Nowadays it's about the last thing I'd ever want to do and wondered why I was so stupid to start in the first place... and would strongly encourage anyone else to seriously consider giving up, but "try" not to be judgemental - believe it or not after some of the anti-smoking stuff I've posted here.
I hope some of this might be helpful, but I can't promise that this method would work for anyone else.
BTW, very sorry to hear about your friends, Ceolachan.
I quit in 1979 and had stopped several times before for lengths of a few months. So I think there are two parts to it, the kicking and then the long term which dmarie describes well.
To break the habit I copied what my father had done in the 1960's which was to indulge the intense sweet tooth that always came. Candy, ice cream etc. also help with the persistent tickle in the back of the throat that seems to be part of the healing process. Tea, hot enough to burn the throat, seemed to help as well.
It was fairly easy to identify the times of day that were hardest and that's when it was important for me to have some substitute: food, drink or just go for a walk.
It's significant that people succeeded in quitting while there was some pattern change in their life, whether big such as honeymoon or ordinary like holidays. It could also be something bad like unemployment.
To this day, the smell of cigarette smoke in the open air is pleasant to me but it's just a sensation; it doesn't trigger any desire. That eventually went away.
The above stories just back up that old adage: SMOKERS ARE MORE TO BE PITIED THAN SCOLDED!
Thankfully I never started, but that does mean that I don't have any experience or words of wisdom.
We did have a musician at one of our sessions who seemed to just carry on smoking & drinking, as usual, all the way through her pregnancy, with apparently no consideration at all for the health of her unborn child! Which would indicate to me just how hateful an addiction it must be when it gets a grip of you in situations like that, when most mums would actually be bending over backwards to eat, drink & exercise carefully for the sake of the health of their baby, to give it a good start.
Another thing I could never understand is, how come so many 'nurses' smoke, when they must see, daily, the results of the addiction! I guess it is just another indication of how hard it is to give up.
I know I can't wait for them to be banned from all Pubs in Norn Iron, but that won't be enough to kill the habit for when you drive around town you can always still see dozens of kids, especially girls, smoking away. So how do you break the cycle & stop the kids from starting in the first place?
Sorry C, not much help to you, but just wanted to add a few words of sympathy.
Be careful of denial, Jack, when it masquerades as a sense of humour.
Dick's friend when she was pregnant I think is quite an exception - from what I've heard, often women smokers will give up during pregnancy, then resume after childbirth. Not necessariily for altruistic reasons regarding their unborn child, though I guess that figures hugely, but hormonal changes generally making ciggie making you feel sick. Of course obviously I can't speak from personal experience but by proxy as the missus is a health visitor.
Quitting is so easy, I've done it loads of times. Well, anyway, I don't smoke anymore. It seems to me they forgot one of the highpoints of quitting in your list up top:
Day 3: Axe murder all members of immediate family.
6 Months: Receive life sentence.
I don't ;mean to make light of a serious situation. Quitting is the most difficult thing I've done several times.
Great tales of struggle, and as we are all unique, some interesting ways of beating the addiction. I like the beer one. I still like the smell of some pipe and cigar smoke, probably the main thing that killed my gramps and helped to finish off my gran, but I still like the smell.
I agree, smokers are not to be scolded, but not pitied either, but I appreciate the understanding in that, that it is damned difficult to get past and overcome that urge once it is well set.
About babies, I've since read that it is likely that the chain smoking of my parents contributed to my weak lungs. While my mother quit for the time of each pregnancy, my father didn't, the second hand smoke thing. Here in the UK there is now an advertising campaign concerning just that, second hand smoke, see the link below. But, I don't like that, it is just another damn thing to add to already existing guilt, the sort of guilt that sometimes makes us seek humour to ease the tensions we feel, or to distract from our own inadequacy in not seeming to be able to beat thedemon smoke, or to feed stubborness in not bothering...
Hell, its smoke, you'd think that would be an easy thing to just blow away. It isn't, but everyone seems to know that, especially those that have managed to beat it, and those that have tried and keep trying. So, no pity, no judgement, just a good ear and a willingness to help, and an openness with those friends where we can do our damnedest to get them to quit, but realizing only they can do it, we can only support them as they choose. If we're still talking, discussing, there's hope. When we stop listening or seeking solutions, then's to worry... Keep the tales coming, especially those of you with first hand knowledge, which in this world is pretty much all of us...
Here's that link. I haven't explored it much yet. Does anyone else have any useful resources?
Those I've known who managed to quit, including my ma, did it by what must be the hardest imaginable, cold turkey, they just stopped and persisted. There was minimal weight gain, but then they seemed to eventually lose that. They'd just for awhile replaced some of their habit with snacking, I suppose like the beer substitution mentioned above. For a short while some of them were irritable and short tempered, but that was eventually replaced with what seemed a calmer attitude on things.
I don't know that I'd have that strength to do it that way, but it worked for them. None of those I can think of returned to it, but in the end they were even more impatient with other smokers and smoke than most, more judgemental... I would have thought they'd be more understanding. They also were more reactive to smoke and smoking, strongly disliking the thing that once ruled over them, low tolerance or no tolerance.
I quit cold turkey after 31 years of smoking. Just a spur of the moment thing.........out of nowhere a voice in my head say
Oh, I think I'll quit. Never had another cigarette and NEVER a craving. Not even a small one. Sometimes I wish it had been harder. I feel quilty as hell when I hear what others have gone through to quit. The only thing I can say is that at that time my dad has just passed away (he was not a smoker) and I'm sure he had a hand in helping me. Bless all of you and hope it's an easy transition for you too.
A close friend of the family, a set dancer who had smoked fairly heavily for most of his life, gave up smoking completely on medical advice following a sudden brain bleed and (successful) surgery to deal with the emergency. His health improved significantly over the following months and he was able to return to his beloved dancing. However, two years down the line he started to get unexplained weight loss and stamina problems, and six months later pulmonary carcinoma and metastases in the brain were diagnosed. He died quietly in hospital seven weeks later, nearly a year ago, aged 63.
It seems that even two or three years after a smoker has quit it is possible for lung cancer to appear and take its toll. If it doesn't appear within 5 years after quitting, the probability of it appearing thereafter diminishes dramatically.
Trevor's last comment is encouraging to smokers who are ready to quit, but possibly misleading to young smokers who might take it as meaning that it's safe to smoke until shortly before they think they might get lung cancer (as if they could know that). The risk may decline dramatically, but it doesn't disappear. Here in the U.S., we recently lost the popular T.V. news anchor Peter Jennings, who smoked heavily until about 20 years ago, but still got lung cancer in his early 60s.
The problem with lung cancer is that it is difficult to spot in the early stages (when it could more easily be dealt with). When it does become evident, and when it may already have spread to other organs, then the outlook is far less positive.
I heard on the BBC radio news yesterday that the British Musicians Union wants a total ban on smoking in pubs.
It is so strange how some people go through the ordeal of pain to quit smoking, and for some it is just like a natural moment in life.
In my family, the only person to smoke was my grandfather. He started puffin during the war, which I guess was rather a difficult time for him (imagine sleeping in the forest for 6 years), and then smoked 10-20 fags a day. One day, when he was about 60, he looked at a cigarette and said: "Naaah". That was it. No related nervousness, craving for a fag etc.
On the other hand, it is a pitiful sight to see a twentysomething year old fiddler, who cannot sit through a kitchen session, and must go out for a fag every forty minutes, because her hands start to shake. It's like giving over the management of your life to a dried crushed leaf wrapped in a scrap of paper.
Trevor, I believe the damage you do to yourself by smoking (and to others too) is healable only to some degree. If someone is a heavy smoker for several years, he can get the poison out of his organism, but not the long-term effects of the poison.
I just quit smoking about 4 or 5 days ago after I nearly suffocated in the morning. I just decided that, if I want to make it to thirty and be able to do something I have to quit now (allthough I enjoyed it very much). I've been breathing hard now since I stopped (not because of it). but I'd like to say here that, allthough smoking a sigaret (or anything else for that matters) can be enjoyable, it WILL take your life in the end.
Thank you for your thoughtful and very moving post. It really helped me as someone who stopped smoking a year ago, and, unaccountably, is slipping back.
Found a few interesting articles on this page, on the worldwide problem of smoking in the workplace, which, for full time musicians, often is 'the pub'!:
Pol, I slipped soooo many times in the (seems like) 5,000,000
times I tried to quit. I always tried to fool myself--oh, yeah, I can handle one cigarette a day, okay, two then--well, one an hour, etc.etc. Most of my friends could do this. Not me. One will turn into a full pack within hours. This type of addictive behavior runs in my family, and I needed to admit this to myself. It's harder when it's nicotine as opposed to alcohol, or another drug. Smoking is often seen as just a bad habit. Not so for me; it's a full-fledged addiction. Even reading one of the posts about the smell of cigarette smoke in the air made a part of my brain smile and say oh, yeah--c'mon just one....
Friends who feed into this addiction need to be dumped, also. Any friend who tells you "just one won't hurt you," or says "hey, light me a smoke willya?" ought to be set on fire. Okay, I'm off the soapbox now!
First thing to say is that I'm sorry for your loss , Ceolachan.
Both Mrs Plinkey and I used to smoke, but gave up just short of 3 years ago. We had both had unsucessful attemps to give up at various points in our lives, but the thing that proved the charm this time was that we gave up together. In the first few weeks when you get cravings we were able to support and encourage one another - there was even an element of competion between us..."I'm not going to be the one to break first!"
So the advice I would give to someone wanting to ditch the weed is to try to find someone to ditch it with, and be sure to talk to one another about your experiences. Giving up an addiction is not easy, having a buddy to help you along might make the difference.
The second bit of advice would be to think strategically. My smoking was bound up in habits, and that "psycological" addiction was probably just as powerful as the "physical" addiction. I'd always have a smoke with a pint, so for a couple of months, I stayed away from the pub. (Might be a bit difficult if your session is IN a pub, but the inconvenience of missing a few weeks is kind of dwarfed by the health benefits of quitting. smoking) I'd also smoke with a cup of tea after a meal, so I stopped drinking tea for a while. If you can change the habits that are associated with smoking, you give yourself a better chance.
The third thing is to be a bit pig-headed about the whole thing. I came to regard cigarettes as my enemy - these b@stards were trying to kill me!! Damned if I'd sit back and let them. I got a sort of "WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?!" attitude, and that helped me becasue it played to my strenghts (i.e. being a stubborn git).
Anyway, everyone who gives up will probably find their own way around it. It's not easy, but it's so worth doing, how could you not? I hope your friend is successful, C, I can assure them that that life tastes sweeter after the weed has gone.
Im not so sure about the finding someone to quit with technique.The problem arises when one person decides to have a smoke - the other then believes that its OK to resume too(the brain works in mysterious ways during withdrawal).
Then again , for some people it may help.
I'm glad The Sesh is still here. I've not been able to log on for sometime. The contributions are great, from all kinds of positions, much appreciated.
But I was feeling guilt and trying to get back on site for a slight apology. While I'd mentioned those I'd known that had managed to quit going cold turkey, I quickly remembered after that post that those who didn't succeed had been trying the cold turkey route repeatedly. All those alternatives you've been giving are good and I hope they grow. Each of us may need a different mix to overcome this lovely little habit that is killing us, robbing us step by step of our oomph! I also remembered an Aunt who did it similarly to the beer substitution, but she just used spearmint gum and mints, with a little weight gain initially. That worked for her, but also, like 'plinkeyplonkey', she had friends and family to help.
Someone brought up the 'always possible', that once you give up you might get caught out by cancer or heart/circulatory disease anyway. Well, that was partly what happened with one of those we've been caring for, who died last month. He quit and only a couple of months later found our he had cancer. But, I think he quit because something was bothering him earlier, and also out of love for his non-smoking wife. I suspect he got a little more time out of having quit, and better results from the first operation, to remove his oesophagus and move, reshape and sew his stomach to his throat.
It may still catch up to you, and I suspect the longer the it has ahold of you the more likely that might be, but why not slow it down, get a bit more time so we and those who love you can have that extra pleasure of your company, and your enemies that extra irritation. Quiting also improves your chances of surviving any operation or serious illness, whatever the cause. I have heard doctors refuse to operate on smokers because the risk is considerably higher with a smoker than a non-smoker. The other thing to consider is how smoking affects us in more ways than just the final curtain. For one, the going is rough, like bad melodrama, the death tends to be drawn out and painful, at least that's what I've seen, so from our experiences. But it robs you all along the way, something akin to kickin' the sh*t out of you. By 'sh*t' I mean get up and go, attitude, umph!, energy and spark. Yeah, some of you still manage to keep your minds edge, but wouldn't it be nice if the body that accompanied that wit was as capable. I've seen it in musicians, where they know they are capable players but have gotten to the state where there's no steam left, no air to support the skill. Talk about seeing and knowing frustration. Let's give it the full definition in short - HELL! I wouldn't want anyone to suffer that, not the person, not those around them that love and appreciate them...
Keep the ideas flowing. I've had a couple of emails from other friends since this started that are trying to quit, and one is on the slippery slope, despite having felt it burning his lungs and robbing him of drive ~ as the reports go, that means 'sexual' as well... Please keep the ideas flowing, maybe they'll find the right combination to help them quit...since loss of health, the usual, doesn't yet seem enough motivation...
But how often do you hear of some poor sod trying to give up smoking & so improve their health & quality of life, & that of their family & close friends - and save a fortune into the bargain.
Meanwhile, all the time their 'partner' just carries on smoking! What chance have they got?
So much for the term partner - with friends & partners like that they don't need enemies, that's for sure!
A box player near me has tried to stop a few times but his wife just carries on smoking!
Last time he'd been off for some weeks when he arrived into the session, played a couple of sets & then produced the fags! We were shocked & disappointed & when we asked what had happened he told us that he had been sitting with his wife in front of the fire, watching TV on the Saturday night.
As usual she was puffing away like a train, (och! - giving my age away again) when eventually he could stand it no longer - & he just reached over & grabbed the ciggie out of her mouth & that was him, back on the fags once again!
I know what your saying Jimr, but if a couple can be strong together, they must stand a better chance of staying off them. Incidentally Jim, I assume your real name is Alan Carr?
Can anyone explain to me how the heck parents can smoke around their own kids? That really baffles me!
However, we are all very proud of our sessions Bodhran player/maker, for, after years of abuse from us, he finally gave up almost 18 months ago! - A HERO!
That's a heart-breaking story ceolachan, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.
I stopped about 20 years ago now. I'd tried and tried and tried to stop several times over, then one morning, I took a puff on one - it just tasted so disgusting, that I screwed up a pack of 20 with only one out of it and threw it in the bin. That was it, I've not looked back since apart from trying one 6 months after quitting - it was awful - I still wonder what on earth possessed me to start such a disgusting and unhealthy habit!
There is likely to be a smoking ban in enclosed public places in Scotland next year - roll on that day (not roll-up!).
I forgot to add that willpower is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Which comes in handy for the ubquitous "post-quitting diet"............
"Research has found that smoking even a few cigarettes every day almost triples the risk of lung cancer and heart disease.
The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that people who smoke between one and four cigarettes a day are seriously damaging their health.
Researchers also found that light smokers had up to 150% higher death rates from all causes compared to people who had never smoked." ~
"No Safe Level of Smoking
A few cigarettes a day 'deadly'
by OfficialWire NewsDesk
OSLO, NORWAY -- (OfficialWire) -- According to a group of Norwegian researchers, any amount of smoking is dangerous to your health: Smoking just one to four cigarettes a day almost triples a person's risk of dying of heart disease.
The team tracked the health and death rates of almost 43,000 men and women from the mid 1970s up to 2002.
The findings of their research have been published in the journal 'Tobacco Control' and suggest that the health impact is stronger for women and that even "light" smokers face similar diseases to heavier smokers, including cancer.
Compared with those who had never smoked, the men and women who smoked between one and four cigarettes a day were almost three times as likely to die of coronary artery disease.
Those women who smoked between one to four cigarettes daily increased the chance of dying from lung cancer almost five times. Men who smoked this amount were almost three times as likely to be killed by lung cancer.
The only way to protect smokers from heart disease, cancer and other diseases caused by smoking is to quit completely."
Has anyone out there tried Wellbutrin to quit smoking? I have smoked for over 33 years, have been depressed, going through menopause and my doctor prescribed the antidepressant, wellbutrin. Within a few weeks, I quit smoking without even trying or really wanting to. This drug works amazingly! The cigarettes taste really bad, you just don't want them. I had absolutely NO cravings. I have been smoke free for about 2 months now, without any desire whatsoever for a cigarette. My husband is a smoker and I can watch him smoke and it doesn't bother me at all. Why doesn't the public know about this stop smoking pill? I'm so surprised!
When Smokers Quit
When Smokers Quit
Within twenty minutes of smoking your last cigarette the body begins healing. It is a process of change for the better that continues for years, working back toward 'normal' ~
1/2 HOUR:
* Blood pressure drops
* Pulse rate drops
* Body temperature rises, for example in the extremities, hands and feet
8 HOURS:
* Carbon monoxide level in the blood drops
* Oxygen level in the blood increases
2 DAYS / 48 HOURS:
* Nerve endings start regrowing
* Your Sensory awareness improves, Smell and Taste are enhanced
2 WEEKS - 3 MONTHS:
* Circulation improves
* Walking becomes easier
* Lung function increases by as much as a third/30 percent
1 - 9 MONTHS:
* Coughing, sinus congestions, fatigue, shortness of breath - all decrease
* Cillia regrow in the lungs increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean themselves and reducing infection
* Body's overall energy increases
1 YEAR:
* Excess risk of coronary artery disease decreases by HALF
I came across this information from an MD but have seen similar information before.
Last month we held hands with a friend on his death bed as the light literally went out in his eyes, watching and waiting as his life ended in recognizeable steps, glad his long suffering and pain had ended but sad he was leaving us, his face finally relaxing its struggle with pain and life, finally finding a calm that had eluded him despite the drugs for more than a year. There is no doubt or question but that smoking had killed another of our loved ones, and another musician ~ cancer of the oesophagus and lung and eventually all over, including wrapped around his spine and having robbed him of walk for the last couple of months. That's what really took his spirit of fight away, when the doctor finally had to tell him he'd never walk again. His usual stubborness, he never accepted he was going to die, and because of that no one ever raised the subject.
I've recieved email today from a smoker, a musician at this session, and it took my heart, as some of you no doubt can imagine. He so well put into words his struggle, how he had achieved great skill in his hands but how the smoking was at the same time robbing his lungs of function, and taking away his energy elsewhere, about how he wants to quit but how difficult that is. It brought all the history to the surface again and I was particularly reminded of how another dear friend ended up with emhysema, how it slowly lessened the air he had to play his flute, to having to work constant breathing into his playing until he couldn't even manage to hold a recognizeable tune together, and eventually he couldn't breath at all unaided, and then it took his life.
Please, I can only ask but expect for some that won't matter, but I am not looking for 'defense' or 'offense' but insight, understanding and inspiration ~ for those in the struggle of this addiction, for those that may not even see it as an addiction, still convinced that 'free choice' is involved, "I can quit anytime!" Another friend with terminal cancer, stubborn as hell, used to say that. She'd quit for a few days every now and then to prove it to herself and others. Once she quit for two weeks. What changes. The colour returned to a sullen face, the dark shadows under and around her eyes went, the colour returned to her hands, and the warmth, and her face seemed to relax ~ she looked younger, though I confess she was more irritable. She went back to smoking and all the signs of it and now she has terminal cancer. We love her very much...
So, try not to 'attack'. I'd love to hear, for others sakes, how you've managed to quit, how things have changed since you did, how it has affected your music - as a smoker or after quiting. I've friends and acquaintances, including here on site, who are trying to quit. It is up to them, and I know they have the inner strength, and if they manage it will be an admirable accomplishment. Maybe we can all help each other with some of the tales we have to share, not to judge the smoker, please, I don't, but to find ways to overcome this dreadful addiction, this insidious slow rot that smoking causes, robbing us of energy, of life.
Yeah, I know, I've gone on a bit. Your stories could help me too, so there is some selfishness here. I need as much knowledge and understanding as is possible to help my friends to avoid the awful end to their lives and music that some have suffered through, their loss those of us surviving them still suffer through. Life goes on, I know, but I miss those people that have gone too soon, whose company in music has ended, their part in the craic, because of the terminal effects of this addiction...
with care ~ 'c'
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
Sorry Ceolachan. Not a smoker. But my Nephew, Michael, died in his twenties from pneumonia as a complication from a result of drug addiction. I don't think there is anything anyone can say to explain these things. And I think I prefer it that way. It is the fragility of life which makes us value it. And these horrible examples remind us of the fragility and make us value our lives and theirs, the more.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Innocent Bystander
It's not explanation I seek, too often 'excuses', but some work through it and find ways and the strength and guidance to quit, whatever the addiction. I believe in education, in learning from others and believe we can all benefit from the experiences and understanding of others, from their personal struggle and experiences. I have faith that we can gain strenght for ourselves or to help others from the guidance and direction of those who've fought addiction and won. I also think we can benefit from the stories of struggle, even when the battle is lost... In this I am an optimist. I believe in those inner strengths we all have, but for some of us it can be tough finding them, activiting them, and keeping to course. We all also have our inner demons...
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
This may sound the opposite of helpful, but sometimes if those trying to quit allow themselves to realize they may always at some point feel a craving for nicotine, it seems to help in the long haul. I've finally successfully quit for five years;
in earlier attempts I saw the cravings as failures in my "new, healthy mindset"---now, after five years, I know that on a very stressful days there may always be the "oh hell just buy a pack of smokes!" thoughts, but they go away quickly, and I can focus on how much better I feel, look (and smell). And how much more money I can spend on things like mandolins.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by dmarie
Re: When Smokers Quit
Exactly true dmarie. I quit smoking cold just short of eight years ago and am often blindsided by the desire for a smoke.
Quitting is also the most diffucult thing I have ever tried to do.
My view, at least for me personally, is "Once a junkie always a junkie, but never again a slave"
And yes a new mandolin! A fine and worthy self-indulgence!
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by ed veras
Re: When Smokers Quit
Ceolachan,
My wife and I just found out today that her mom has emphysema. We're just devastated, as you can imagine. Both of my wife’s parents are smokers, and both have had related health problems; but this is the most serious, so far. I’m sure they know that they both need to quit, especially now, to try to manage this disease… I just don’t know if they will… I’m hoping they will try, at least.
I can’t help but wonder if it would help them to quit if they could realize the pain their lost years cause for their friends and family.
I don’t guess I have any words of encouragement for you, or any success stories to share; at least not yet. Your message just really grabbed my attention, and I’m going to share it with my wife, and maybe with her parents. Thanks.
Oh, and good for you, dmarie! Good for your family and friends, too.
Lamont
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by lamonster
Re: When Smokers Quit
As with Ed, quitting smoking was one of the toughest things I've ever done. But I also point at it as an accomplishment that I can use as inspiration for making other positive changes in my life.
I quit shortly before going to England and Ireland for a month for my honeymoon. I was trying to go cold, but within 2 days basically every waking thought was about cigarettes. I had tried the nicotine patch before, and that works moderately well, but won't handle the BIG craving that comes out of the blue (usually whilst drinking).
A friend got me some nicotine gum, which is horrible stuff, but it worked extremely well. It handled the oral fixation, and the nicotine withdrawal at the same time. You're not really supposed to 'chew' that gum actively, but I was chewing on it constantly. I'm sure that I came across to everyone in Europe as the typical daft American munching on gum like a cow chews its cud.
The other thing that was the biggest contributor to my success, I believe, was that I was completely out of my element. Nothing I was doing for that month was 'routine'. But I was also constantly around smokers (my god, I couldn't believe how many people smoke in London - at least in the pubs), so I had overwhelming temptation that I was actually able to overcome.
For the last couple of years, the cravings don't hit very often anymore, and when they do, I just laugh at them and they go away.
Pete
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Reverend
Re: When Smokers Quit
Off them fifteen years and counting. Like dmarie says, the sudden cravings still kick in once in a while - in response to some remembered stimulus from the past - but disappea in seconds.
The patch and long-haul no-smoking flights, plus not wanting to set a bad example for my kids worked for me.
Smoking was a big part of my life. It punctuated every activity, and giving it up was like giving up a very close friend you rely on for support every day. It's not easy.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by grego
Re: When Smokers Quit
Grego has another excellent point--being a role model. Often the same external stress that makes a person want to smoke also can induce the "hey, I'm just a big loser anyway why not just smoke?" syndrome. When I started teaching, I was sitting in an anti-drug assembly one morning and realizing I was squirming guiltily in my seat much as the kids were. It hit me that I was the grown-up here, the supposed role model---how hypocritical of me to smoke. That worked for me. Quit for someone else.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by dmarie
Re: When Smokers Quit
Nothing since Dec 1997, so what's that? nearly eight years.
Yes, it was tough, but the main thing to overcome is the mindset. My method was rather unconventional, to say the least, but it worked --- I stopped just before the New Year 28th Dec, I think, so I didn't have the pressure of having it as a new year's resolution. But I was on holiday, so no work pressure either.
But the main thing I did was *drink* my way through it (no surprise I hear you say, coming from me, but as a strategy it worked), so beers beers and beers. No kidding. They tell us you shouldn't take any other drugs eg alcohol or caffeine when giving up, but I say do what works for you.
I didn't go out to any sessions for a fair while - maybe a month or so, cos lighting up was part of the between-tunes ritual for me. Prior to the actual giving up *event* I had been only about 3-5 a day for a few months, and before that I had successfully got that down from 10 a day. So I was tapering down my consumption anyway. But during all that time I was running on a daily basis, 3-6 miles, and I think that helps enormously as it really cleans out your body.
Post the giving up event my cravings reduced on a daily basis, and soon my beer consumption was down to a "normal" level --- and after a couple of months I was cured of the nicotine addiction. Nowadays it's about the last thing I'd ever want to do and wondered why I was so stupid to start in the first place... and would strongly encourage anyone else to seriously consider giving up, but "try" not to be judgemental - believe it or not after some of the anti-smoking stuff I've posted here.
I hope some of this might be helpful, but I can't promise that this method would work for anyone else.
BTW, very sorry to hear about your friends, Ceolachan.
Danny.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: When Smokers Quit
I quit in 1979 and had stopped several times before for lengths of a few months. So I think there are two parts to it, the kicking and then the long term which dmarie describes well.
To break the habit I copied what my father had done in the 1960's which was to indulge the intense sweet tooth that always came. Candy, ice cream etc. also help with the persistent tickle in the back of the throat that seems to be part of the healing process. Tea, hot enough to burn the throat, seemed to help as well.
It was fairly easy to identify the times of day that were hardest and that's when it was important for me to have some substitute: food, drink or just go for a walk.
It's significant that people succeeded in quitting while there was some pattern change in their life, whether big such as honeymoon or ordinary like holidays. It could also be something bad like unemployment.
To this day, the smell of cigarette smoke in the open air is pleasant to me but it's just a sensation; it doesn't trigger any desire. That eventually went away.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by edl
Re: When Smokers Quit
The above stories just back up that old adage: SMOKERS ARE MORE TO BE PITIED THAN SCOLDED!
Thankfully I never started, but that does mean that I don't have any experience or words of wisdom.
We did have a musician at one of our sessions who seemed to just carry on smoking & drinking, as usual, all the way through her pregnancy, with apparently no consideration at all for the health of her unborn child! Which would indicate to me just how hateful an addiction it must be when it gets a grip of you in situations like that, when most mums would actually be bending over backwards to eat, drink & exercise carefully for the sake of the health of their baby, to give it a good start.
Another thing I could never understand is, how come so many 'nurses' smoke, when they must see, daily, the results of the addiction! I guess it is just another indication of how hard it is to give up.
I know I can't wait for them to be banned from all Pubs in Norn Iron, but that won't be enough to kill the habit for when you drive around town you can always still see dozens of kids, especially girls, smoking away. So how do you break the cycle & stop the kids from starting in the first place?
Sorry C, not much help to you, but just wanted to add a few words of sympathy.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: When Smokers Quit
The US Surgeon General said if you quit smoking you'll add 20 years to your life. I've quit 5 times already -- I'll live well past 100 now.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Phantom Button
Re: When Smokers Quit
Be careful of denial, Jack, when it masquerades as a sense of humour.
Dick's friend when she was pregnant I think is quite an exception - from what I've heard, often women smokers will give up during pregnancy, then resume after childbirth. Not necessariily for altruistic reasons regarding their unborn child, though I guess that figures hugely, but hormonal changes generally making ciggie making you feel sick. Of course obviously I can't speak from personal experience but by proxy as the missus is a health visitor.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: When Smokers Quit
Quitting is so easy, I've done it loads of times. Well, anyway, I don't smoke anymore. It seems to me they forgot one of the highpoints of quitting in your list up top:
Day 3: Axe murder all members of immediate family.
6 Months: Receive life sentence.
I don't ;mean to make light of a serious situation. Quitting is the most difficult thing I've done several times.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by lastnitesfun
When the going gets tough ~
Great tales of struggle, and as we are all unique, some interesting ways of beating the addiction. I like the beer one. I still like the smell of some pipe and cigar smoke, probably the main thing that killed my gramps and helped to finish off my gran, but I still like the smell.
I agree, smokers are not to be scolded, but not pitied either, but I appreciate the understanding in that, that it is damned difficult to get past and overcome that urge once it is well set.
About babies, I've since read that it is likely that the chain smoking of my parents contributed to my weak lungs. While my mother quit for the time of each pregnancy, my father didn't, the second hand smoke thing. Here in the UK there is now an advertising campaign concerning just that, second hand smoke, see the link below. But, I don't like that, it is just another damn thing to add to already existing guilt, the sort of guilt that sometimes makes us seek humour to ease the tensions we feel, or to distract from our own inadequacy in not seeming to be able to beat thedemon smoke, or to feed stubborness in not bothering...
Hell, its smoke, you'd think that would be an easy thing to just blow away. It isn't, but everyone seems to know that, especially those that have managed to beat it, and those that have tried and keep trying. So, no pity, no judgement, just a good ear and a willingness to help, and an openness with those friends where we can do our damnedest to get them to quit, but realizing only they can do it, we can only support them as they choose. If we're still talking, discussing, there's hope. When we stop listening or seeking solutions, then's to worry... Keep the tales coming, especially those of you with first hand knowledge, which in this world is pretty much all of us...
Here's that link. I haven't explored it much yet. Does anyone else have any useful resources?
http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
Those I've known who managed to quit, including my ma, did it by what must be the hardest imaginable, cold turkey, they just stopped and persisted. There was minimal weight gain, but then they seemed to eventually lose that. They'd just for awhile replaced some of their habit with snacking, I suppose like the beer substitution mentioned above. For a short while some of them were irritable and short tempered, but that was eventually replaced with what seemed a calmer attitude on things.
I don't know that I'd have that strength to do it that way, but it worked for them. None of those I can think of returned to it, but in the end they were even more impatient with other smokers and smoke than most, more judgemental... I would have thought they'd be more understanding. They also were more reactive to smoke and smoking, strongly disliking the thing that once ruled over them, low tolerance or no tolerance.
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
I quit cold turkey after 31 years of smoking. Just a spur of the moment thing.........out of nowhere a voice in my head say
Oh, I think I'll quit. Never had another cigarette and NEVER a craving. Not even a small one. Sometimes I wish it had been harder. I feel quilty as hell when I hear what others have gone through to quit. The only thing I can say is that at that time my dad has just passed away (he was not a smoker) and I'm sure he had a hand in helping me. Bless all of you and hope it's an easy transition for you too.
Mary
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Antikhntr
Re: When Smokers Quit
A close friend of the family, a set dancer who had smoked fairly heavily for most of his life, gave up smoking completely on medical advice following a sudden brain bleed and (successful) surgery to deal with the emergency. His health improved significantly over the following months and he was able to return to his beloved dancing. However, two years down the line he started to get unexplained weight loss and stamina problems, and six months later pulmonary carcinoma and metastases in the brain were diagnosed. He died quietly in hospital seven weeks later, nearly a year ago, aged 63.
It seems that even two or three years after a smoker has quit it is possible for lung cancer to appear and take its toll. If it doesn't appear within 5 years after quitting, the probability of it appearing thereafter diminishes dramatically.
Trevor
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by lazyhound
Re: When Smokers Quit
Trevor's last comment is encouraging to smokers who are ready to quit, but possibly misleading to young smokers who might take it as meaning that it's safe to smoke until shortly before they think they might get lung cancer (as if they could know that). The risk may decline dramatically, but it doesn't disappear. Here in the U.S., we recently lost the popular T.V. news anchor Peter Jennings, who smoked heavily until about 20 years ago, but still got lung cancer in his early 60s.
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by GaryAMartin
Re: When Smokers Quit
The problem with lung cancer is that it is difficult to spot in the early stages (when it could more easily be dealt with). When it does become evident, and when it may already have spread to other organs, then the outlook is far less positive.
I heard on the BBC radio news yesterday that the British Musicians Union wants a total ban on smoking in pubs.
Trevor
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by lazyhound
Re: When Smokers Quit
It is so strange how some people go through the ordeal of pain to quit smoking, and for some it is just like a natural moment in life.
In my family, the only person to smoke was my grandfather. He started puffin during the war, which I guess was rather a difficult time for him (imagine sleeping in the forest for 6 years), and then smoked 10-20 fags a day. One day, when he was about 60, he looked at a cigarette and said: "Naaah". That was it. No related nervousness, craving for a fag etc.
On the other hand, it is a pitiful sight to see a twentysomething year old fiddler, who cannot sit through a kitchen session, and must go out for a fag every forty minutes, because her hands start to shake. It's like giving over the management of your life to a dried crushed leaf wrapped in a scrap of paper.
Trevor, I believe the damage you do to yourself by smoking (and to others too) is healable only to some degree. If someone is a heavy smoker for several years, he can get the poison out of his organism, but not the long-term effects of the poison.
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by EastPole
Re: When Smokers Quit
I just quit smoking about 4 or 5 days ago after I nearly suffocated in the morning. I just decided that, if I want to make it to thirty and be able to do something I have to quit now (allthough I enjoyed it very much). I've been breathing hard now since I stopped (not because of it). but I'd like to say here that, allthough smoking a sigaret (or anything else for that matters) can be enjoyable, it WILL take your life in the end.
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by Dark Raven
Re: When Smokers Quit
Ceolachan,
Thank you for your thoughtful and very moving post. It really helped me as someone who stopped smoking a year ago, and, unaccountably, is slipping back.
Buíochas mór duit
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by Pól
Re: When Smokers Quit
Found a few interesting articles on this page, on the worldwide problem of smoking in the workplace, which, for full time musicians, often is 'the pub'!:
http://www.hazards.org/smoking/earlierstories.htm
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: When Smokers Quit
Im off them 5 1/2 years.Used to get through about 30 rollups a day.Its now wee buns.
Try reading Alan Carrs easy way to stop smoking- http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140277633/qid=1127087770/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_27_1/202-3693704-9377421
I found this book extremely helpful and I know at least 5 other people that have quit (without too much distress) after reading it.
Best £8 Ive ever spent.
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by JimR
Re: When Smokers Quit
Pol, I slipped soooo many times in the (seems like) 5,000,000
times I tried to quit. I always tried to fool myself--oh, yeah, I can handle one cigarette a day, okay, two then--well, one an hour, etc.etc. Most of my friends could do this. Not me. One will turn into a full pack within hours. This type of addictive behavior runs in my family, and I needed to admit this to myself. It's harder when it's nicotine as opposed to alcohol, or another drug. Smoking is often seen as just a bad habit. Not so for me; it's a full-fledged addiction. Even reading one of the posts about the smell of cigarette smoke in the air made a part of my brain smile and say oh, yeah--c'mon just one....
Friends who feed into this addiction need to be dumped, also. Any friend who tells you "just one won't hurt you," or says "hey, light me a smoke willya?" ought to be set on fire. Okay, I'm off the soapbox now!
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by dmarie
Re: When Smokers Quit
First thing to say is that I'm sorry for your loss , Ceolachan.
Both Mrs Plinkey and I used to smoke, but gave up just short of 3 years ago. We had both had unsucessful attemps to give up at various points in our lives, but the thing that proved the charm this time was that we gave up together. In the first few weeks when you get cravings we were able to support and encourage one another - there was even an element of competion between us..."I'm not going to be the one to break first!"
So the advice I would give to someone wanting to ditch the weed is to try to find someone to ditch it with, and be sure to talk to one another about your experiences. Giving up an addiction is not easy, having a buddy to help you along might make the difference.
The second bit of advice would be to think strategically. My smoking was bound up in habits, and that "psycological" addiction was probably just as powerful as the "physical" addiction. I'd always have a smoke with a pint, so for a couple of months, I stayed away from the pub. (Might be a bit difficult if your session is IN a pub, but the inconvenience of missing a few weeks is kind of dwarfed by the health benefits of quitting. smoking) I'd also smoke with a cup of tea after a meal, so I stopped drinking tea for a while. If you can change the habits that are associated with smoking, you give yourself a better chance.
The third thing is to be a bit pig-headed about the whole thing. I came to regard cigarettes as my enemy - these b@stards were trying to kill me!! Damned if I'd sit back and let them. I got a sort of "WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?!" attitude, and that helped me becasue it played to my strenghts (i.e. being a stubborn git).
Anyway, everyone who gives up will probably find their own way around it. It's not easy, but it's so worth doing, how could you not? I hope your friend is successful, C, I can assure them that that life tastes sweeter after the weed has gone.
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by plinkeyplonkey
Re: When Smokers Quit
Im not so sure about the finding someone to quit with technique.The problem arises when one person decides to have a smoke - the other then believes that its OK to resume too(the brain works in mysterious ways during withdrawal).
Then again , for some people it may help.
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by JimR
Absence & Cold Turkey
I'm glad The Sesh is still here. I've not been able to log on for sometime. The contributions are great, from all kinds of positions, much appreciated.
But I was feeling guilt and trying to get back on site for a slight apology. While I'd mentioned those I'd known that had managed to quit going cold turkey, I quickly remembered after that post that those who didn't succeed had been trying the cold turkey route repeatedly. All those alternatives you've been giving are good and I hope they grow. Each of us may need a different mix to overcome this lovely little habit that is killing us, robbing us step by step of our oomph! I also remembered an Aunt who did it similarly to the beer substitution, but she just used spearmint gum and mints, with a little weight gain initially. That worked for her, but also, like 'plinkeyplonkey', she had friends and family to help.
Someone brought up the 'always possible', that once you give up you might get caught out by cancer or heart/circulatory disease anyway. Well, that was partly what happened with one of those we've been caring for, who died last month. He quit and only a couple of months later found our he had cancer. But, I think he quit because something was bothering him earlier, and also out of love for his non-smoking wife. I suspect he got a little more time out of having quit, and better results from the first operation, to remove his oesophagus and move, reshape and sew his stomach to his throat.
It may still catch up to you, and I suspect the longer the it has ahold of you the more likely that might be, but why not slow it down, get a bit more time so we and those who love you can have that extra pleasure of your company, and your enemies that extra irritation. Quiting also improves your chances of surviving any operation or serious illness, whatever the cause. I have heard doctors refuse to operate on smokers because the risk is considerably higher with a smoker than a non-smoker. The other thing to consider is how smoking affects us in more ways than just the final curtain. For one, the going is rough, like bad melodrama, the death tends to be drawn out and painful, at least that's what I've seen, so from our experiences. But it robs you all along the way, something akin to kickin' the sh*t out of you. By 'sh*t' I mean get up and go, attitude, umph!, energy and spark. Yeah, some of you still manage to keep your minds edge, but wouldn't it be nice if the body that accompanied that wit was as capable. I've seen it in musicians, where they know they are capable players but have gotten to the state where there's no steam left, no air to support the skill. Talk about seeing and knowing frustration. Let's give it the full definition in short - HELL! I wouldn't want anyone to suffer that, not the person, not those around them that love and appreciate them...
Keep the ideas flowing. I've had a couple of emails from other friends since this started that are trying to quit, and one is on the slippery slope, despite having felt it burning his lungs and robbing him of drive ~ as the reports go, that means 'sexual' as well... Please keep the ideas flowing, maybe they'll find the right combination to help them quit...since loss of health, the usual, doesn't yet seem enough motivation...
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
Jim Troy ~ have you managed to stub out the fags for good yet?
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Plinkey.
But how often do you hear of some poor sod trying to give up smoking & so improve their health & quality of life, & that of their family & close friends - and save a fortune into the bargain.
Meanwhile, all the time their 'partner' just carries on smoking! What chance have they got?
So much for the term partner - with friends & partners like that they don't need enemies, that's for sure!
A box player near me has tried to stop a few times but his wife just carries on smoking!
Last time he'd been off for some weeks when he arrived into the session, played a couple of sets & then produced the fags! We were shocked & disappointed & when we asked what had happened he told us that he had been sitting with his wife in front of the fire, watching TV on the Saturday night.
As usual she was puffing away like a train, (och! - giving my age away again) when eventually he could stand it no longer - & he just reached over & grabbed the ciggie out of her mouth & that was him, back on the fags once again!
I know what your saying Jimr, but if a couple can be strong together, they must stand a better chance of staying off them. Incidentally Jim, I assume your real name is Alan Carr?
Can anyone explain to me how the heck parents can smoke around their own kids? That really baffles me!
However, we are all very proud of our sessions Bodhran player/maker, for, after years of abuse from us, he finally gave up almost 18 months ago! - A HERO!
- Ahhhhhhh - a happy ending!
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: When Smokers Quit
That's a heart-breaking story ceolachan, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.
I stopped about 20 years ago now. I'd tried and tried and tried to stop several times over, then one morning, I took a puff on one - it just tasted so disgusting, that I screwed up a pack of 20 with only one out of it and threw it in the bin. That was it, I've not looked back since apart from trying one 6 months after quitting - it was awful - I still wonder what on earth possessed me to start such a disgusting and unhealthy habit!
There is likely to be a smoking ban in enclosed public places in Scotland next year - roll on that day (not roll-up!).
# Posted on September 20th 2005 by Ron P
Re: When Smokers Quit
I forgot to add that willpower is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Which comes in handy for the ubquitous "post-quitting diet"............
# Posted on September 20th 2005 by plinkeyplonkey
"No Safe Level of Smoking"
From Eire / Ireland:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0922/smoking.html
"Research has found that smoking even a few cigarettes every day almost triples the risk of lung cancer and heart disease.
The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that people who smoke between one and four cigarettes a day are seriously damaging their health.
Researchers also found that light smokers had up to 150% higher death rates from all causes compared to people who had never smoked." ~
From Alba / Scotland:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1975932005
"Smoking only a few cigarettes a day almost triples the risk of heart disease and lung cancer, researchers said.
The impact of "light smoking" - between one and four cigarettes a day - is even stronger in women, according to a study published in Tobacco Control.
The findings quash the notion that "light" smokers escape the serious health problems faced by those who are heavy smokers." ~
& BEYOND ~
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4599223.stm
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1497374,0050.htm
http://www.heartzine.com/news/276-Even-Light-Smoking-Triples-Heart-Risk.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170067,00.html
Your Guide to Kicking the Habit
http://foxnews.webmd.com/content/article/51/40657.htm?src=rss_foxnews
http://news.baou.com/main.php?action=recent&rid=20529
"No Safe Level of Smoking
A few cigarettes a day 'deadly'
by OfficialWire NewsDesk
OSLO, NORWAY -- (OfficialWire) -- According to a group of Norwegian researchers, any amount of smoking is dangerous to your health: Smoking just one to four cigarettes a day almost triples a person's risk of dying of heart disease.
The team tracked the health and death rates of almost 43,000 men and women from the mid 1970s up to 2002.
The findings of their research have been published in the journal 'Tobacco Control' and suggest that the health impact is stronger for women and that even "light" smokers face similar diseases to heavier smokers, including cancer.
Compared with those who had never smoked, the men and women who smoked between one and four cigarettes a day were almost three times as likely to die of coronary artery disease.
Those women who smoked between one to four cigarettes daily increased the chance of dying from lung cancer almost five times. Men who smoked this amount were almost three times as likely to be killed by lung cancer.
The only way to protect smokers from heart disease, cancer and other diseases caused by smoking is to quit completely."
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by ceolachan
Re: When Smokers Quit
Has anyone out there tried Wellbutrin to quit smoking? I have smoked for over 33 years, have been depressed, going through menopause and my doctor prescribed the antidepressant, wellbutrin. Within a few weeks, I quit smoking without even trying or really wanting to. This drug works amazingly! The cigarettes taste really bad, you just don't want them. I had absolutely NO cravings. I have been smoke free for about 2 months now, without any desire whatsoever for a cigarette. My husband is a smoker and I can watch him smoke and it doesn't bother me at all. Why doesn't the public know about this stop smoking pill? I'm so surprised!
# Posted on October 10th 2005 by barbwirefl