Smoking Cessation

My hat is off to you buddy:)
For us to notice something that we feel is not good for our lives is an important thing.
Accept that you'll be cranky sometimes. We love ya anyway we get ya. Try different things, patches, gum, pipes, flavored coffees, teas, cooking, woods walking, yodeling:)

The nicotine is anesthesia for the frontal lobe, which carries our stress and anxiety, real or imagined. Sometimes natural remedies work like St. Johns Wort, heck it grows like weeds around the ditches here. The root as a tea is soothing.

Good and Healing thoughts to you and your wife and son.

Mark
 
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I think this effort is worthy of prayer.

prayers for you my friend!

try to win the battle today.

If you happen to fall, fall small.

Win the next day again.

Everyone you don't smoke is a victory.

Ask the folks around you to understand your battle.

Sometimes life is a cold, dark, lonely trench, where you just try to make it another minute...

Most times, it is truly a joy and a blessing!

Take care!

Tom
 
Besides going thru withdrawl, changing the behavior is the biggest obstacle.
It's good that yard work season is here, and i have khuks to try out.

@ Mark - I'd try that St. Johns wort, but i'm afraid i'd try to smoke it.
@Tom - Those are words to live by. Thank you for the Prayers. I often have to remind myself what a blessing each heartbeat is and that each day above ground is a good one, no matter what. The positive side is that i realize i have a depressive nature and do my best to change my perspective. It's another thing i've been working on.
 
I quit cold turkey about a year ago now and was a two and a half to three pack a day smoker. I was having health problems that the doctor thought might be related to my nicotine intake and was advised to stop smoking for a period of two weeks so that some tests could be performed. It turns out that smoking wasn't the cause but I've kept off the sticks anyways. What helped me quit was making sure that I had activities to do for the first 72 hours and taking a little bit of time to myself every couple of hours for the first couple of weeks. The personal time let me cool down before I snapped at friends or family. I still miss smoking and to be perfectly honest I may take up the habit again at a future date but for the time being I'm saving quite a bit of money. Gook luck to you. :thumbup:
 
Smoked for 30+ years till 1999 and enjoyed it. Had triple by-pass surgery and during recouperation had a coughing fit. The pain felt like someone was tearing the lungs right out of my chest. If that don't cure the habit, nothing will. Went cold turkey right then and there. Have not smoked since. I do not recommend this drastic method but it did work for me. Good luck and don't stop trying to quit - it's well worth it in the end!
 
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Karda said:
Due to rising costs and fear of health issues as we get older, i, my wife and son have decided to quit smoking.

I'm having a helluva time with it. I've cut down dramatically, but i just cant seem to walk away.
There seems to come a point when the nicotine in my system is so low that i turn into a real jerk and get so cranky that i just want to ram my head thru a wall.
Being that way is not my usual nature and this fact is upsetting to me.

I've kicked several other bad habits in my lifetime (you don't wanna know) thru sheer willpower, without half as much problem as this.
Part of it is because tobacco is so readily available and the other is the 35 years i've been smoking.
I just don't know what to do without having that coffin nail in my mits and mug, and when i start acting like a jerk i just give up and smoke to avoid terrorizing the ones that i love.

I guess i'm just venting here. But i would really appreciate anyones advice about this. Has anyone else here quit? what worked best for you? How do you avoid the crankiness?
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Well Karda I don't know if what I have to say about smoking will help you or anyone else quit but here it is for what it's worth..... [Shrug] :foot:
I sometimes wish I had written down the month and year I quit just so I could tell someone with some degree of accuracy just how long I've been off the tobacco habit but I didn't and my reasoning was that I didn't want to add any importance to or make a big deal out of it as I felt doing so might in some way hinder my success. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I simply was sick and tired of smoking and wanted to quit.....
However it has been some years ago now and I'm damned positive I've been off of nicotine at least 5 years, maybe 6 or 7 now but..... Like most everyone that's ever smoked and tried to quit but only managed it for a few days, weeks, or months at a time, I did the same. These periods aren't a failure to quit, only practice until at last you're finally good and ready to quit.
Also like so many others here I needed to quit for my health and you'd think that'd help but for me it was an added pressure that often made me smoke more.....
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[FONT=&quot]What finally caused me to lay tobacco down for good was my true Desire to lay tobacco down once and for all because I was - Truly Sick - AND - Tired of Smoking - being a slave to something that was so damned bad for me - my health deteriorating on a daily basis - feeling worse and worse - hurting more and more - drifting off back to sleep after an early, "P call," while setting at our kitchen table having another cigarette in the wee hours of the morning when most people are still asleep and countless other reasons. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Back when it was allowed to smoke in your hospital room an older nurse showed me a trick that was supposed to keep you from dropping your cigarette if you happened to fall asleep with it in your hand, the trick being to stick the cigarette as far as possible into the web between your index and middle finger.) Well the trick failed me every damned time I tried to use it and my cigarette would fall out of my hand onto our carpeted floor and burn a nice little line in the carpet, usually after first hitting my shirt and burning a small hole in it..... [/FONT]

Y'all have heard me say this time and time again..... [FONT=&quot]"What are you willing to give up too get what you want?" - And - "Be who you say you are!" Yeah they may just be words to most people but for me they are a way of life and have helped me to avoid much heartache and pain as well as helping form me into the person I am today and have been the last several years. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I do have to admit that for about four or five months or so after I quit someone would light up and I'd feel like slapping 'em and taking the smoke away from them but it wasn't all that often and I kept using my saying's and made it through. Every time I started craving a cigarette I would say something to myself like, "What am I thinking that for? I don't smoke." and I'd get up and find something to do with my hands.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Same kind of deal if I started to get cranky with someone, I'd say to myself, "That's not who I am, why am I responding to a loved one (or someone I care about) in such a manner?" I also did a lot of apologizing in the beginning.
And today I'm still really glad I was able to finally quit and I can truly say that, "I no longer miss the damned things, not even one iota!" and I wish everyone the same success I've had. [/FONT]:thumbup: :D :cool:

I can also say for a fact, if you're anything like me, that within a fairly short time after you quit tobacco food will start tasting better than you can ever remember, which is part of the cause for the usual weight gain.
You'll also start sleeping better as well as having a better general overall feeling of health and you'll have a lot more energy just to name a few of the benefits I experienced. All I can do at this point is pray that anyone/someone reads it, takes it too heart, and in some way uses it to break that ugly addiction/habit!:thumbup: :cool:
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Believe me Edutsi, i take most everything you say to heart, for wisdom from the elders is most always given out of respect, love and faith. I'm no longer the hard headed young man who knows everything and as i've gotten older i've found that i've gotten more stubborn about doing the right things and seeing them through.

I have both my families behind me on this. I am confident that i'll succeed.
The good things in life are never easy.
 
I dipped tobacco for 20 years. I quit years ago because my insurance premiums as a tobacco user were higher than one of my business partners who is 20 years older than me and had cancer!

Take the $5 a day it costs you and start a collection for a new knife, or a vacation, etc. When you see the $$ start to collect its good incentive.

The hardest part for me was not dipping where I was in the habit of doing it. For me, it was driving, so I would keep gum or hard candies in my truck.

Good luck.
 
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If i had the money to save i would. Part of quitting is to keep the roof over my head for now.
 
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Shann said:
I dipped tobacco for 20 years. I quit years ago because my insurance premiums as a tobacco user were higher than one of my business partners who is 20 years older than me and had cancer!

Take the $5 a day it costs you and start a collection for a new knife, or a vacation, etc. When you see the $$ start to collect its good incentive.

The hardest part for me was not dipping where I was in the habit of doing it. For me, it was driving, so I would keep gum or hard candies in my truck.

Good luck.
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Shann, I sent you an email.
 
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For me, the decision to give up smoking was based upon cost as much as health reasons. Some 18 years later I can't remember how I did it except taking it a one day at a time. I was lucky in that I lived alone except for the canine companions who put up with my bad tempers as only dogs can do.

Positive thoughts and prayers for you being sent up from the seaside. :thumbup:
 
I quit about 8 years ago; Used the smoking cession clinic at the hospital. Best choice I ever made. Lots of good advice from the group and Drs. . Especially Don't believe you must quit on the patches schedule. Use what ever you worsk for you.
 
3rd day on the patch and zero cigs.
Today they don't seem to be doing much.
Watched from dusk til dawn last night...guess what kind of dreams i had.
It's been hot and muggy here, I'm irritable as all get out.
I feel like i'm losing what little mind i had left.
It's all i can do to keep from buying a pack.
 
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Karda,
My prayers and encouragement go out to you. I feel compelled to share a story with you.....

I understand your journey only through watching my own father's journey.

Let me set the stage...My father was very athletic, still holds the gymnastic record at his High School in Southern California, for the hands and arms only rope climb to the ceiling of the gym 1958. (still holds the record, because they have since shorten the rope requirement!)
My father was a Construction worker, he once beat the Los Angles County Fire dept's Arm Wrestling Champion, at an informal match during a water sking trip. He was also the youngest man to qualify for a Superintendent's position with the Dept. of Water & Power in 1969. He was strong physically and mentally. He smoked most his life.

And now the story....

...15 years ago my father was found colapsed on the back steps of his mother's house. His sister had found him concious but struggling to breathe, a quick call to me and 30 minutes later we were in His doctor's office..Doc said: this is it ED.. your checking into the hospital and your quittin' smoking. We wheeled him accross the street, me pushing, my Aunt holding the oxygen tank. It is a sight to behold, a grown man, in a panic to get just one more smoke in him, before we got accross the street and into the hospital.

They had to place him on permanant oxygen, and also prescribed Zyban...Nicotine is a terrible drug, it is strong, it seeks only to satisfy itself with no side benefit, at least other drugs make you feel good, Nicotine does NOT! As the years past, he had to relocate back to California (entire family moved to Northern Nevada in the late 70's), the altitude did not offer enough oxygen. He could visit a few weeks, but soon had to get to lower elevations.
He had also developed a need for drugs administer'd through a nebulizer in order for his lungs to accept enough oxygen.

About 5 years of this life style change, carrying an oxygen bottle, using the nebulizer, taking Zyban, etc, etc, etc....He was traveling back to Southern California and had stopped at a rest stop with his travel trailer for the night.
He kept a Journal of how he was feeling and how the Medicines were working, mostly for the Doctors, because he hated writing.
I read the entry dated Oct. 21st 2000: "Nebulizer treatment not working, still can't breathe, feels like someone holding your head under water, and your drowning...." It was the last thing he wrote before placing the gun barrel to his head a pulling the trigger.......He had just turned 60 yrs old the week before.

The Story doesn't end here....
Because 10 yrs ago when this happend, his three sons; David-18 and joining the Marines, Patrick-33, married and two new sons, and Greg (myself) 38, struggling Construction worker...were struggling with their own lives but unknowingly entering the best times of their lives....and our Father missed it!

He missed his youngest son going throught the Marines, two tours in Iraq as a private Security Contractor, Put himself through gunsmithing school and now starting a business.
His middle son raising two wonderful boys, and and a great wife, becoming a susscessful IT director a a huge Home Builder in Houston Texas.
His oldest son (myself) Married to a wonderful woman, and having a daughter (only daughter on that side of the family, otherwise all boys), becoming a suscessful Construction Superintendent at one of the largest Construction firms in Northern Nevada....
All the things he worked so hard for, to teach us, to make sure we would get through life okay, His grandchildren,.....he missed all the blessing of his early life's labor.

I hope this hasn't been too depressing of a story, It is meant to be another point of view, or possible perspective of your Journey.

So when you feel like having a cigarette, think of it as a gun barrel pointed at your head, and the flicking of the lighter as pulling the trigger...BANG!! and your going to miss a whole bunch of life....


"Keep the high ground" and "keep up the good fight"

Sincerely and with encouragement,
Greg, aka "The Superintendnet"
 
Cigarettes are one of the hardest addictions to kick. Your body needs the nicotine right now, and you're doing the right thing by using the patch. You can't kick a 30+ year nicotine habit cold turkey. If you need to smoke, take a few puffs on a pipe, but don't buy another pack of cigarettes. Too easy to start over again. Pipe is something different. Patch is different. Gum is different. If you need the nicotine, take a little bit . . . just don't light up another cigarette.
 
Thinking of you Karda:)
Hoping that you are well.
We fall down. We stand again.
You are loved.

Mark
 
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