Staying in Shape (my rant on smoking)

[bazillion]

The backstory: I smoked for 30 years, about a pack a day. Quit (more on this later) in 1998, doing OK since then.

The story: Played Sunrise last weekend and almost died. Yeah, it's 7400 feet ASL and the air is thin, but hey - in high school I could swim a mile and then turn right around and swim another mile. Yet there I was, doubled over, feeling like my bag (10 discs) weighed a ton, moving down the fairway by sheer willpower alone. It took me TWO HOURS to play the first nine holes, and most of that time was taken up huffing and puffing and wheezing and wishing to hell that the course was somehow DOWN the mountain and still out of the So Cal smog.

The moral: Smoking equals death. Notice the period at the end of that sentence.

If you're a smoker, I'm not going to tell you to quit - you can do whatever you want with your life - but I do want to point out that there are consequences to your actions that you may want to consider before flicking your Bic.

How did I do it? Cold turkey. I decided (after a visit to the doctor, who showed me an X-ray and told me I had two choices - quit or die) to just quit, and resolved that every time my body yelled and screamed about wanting a ciggy, I would tell it "TOUGH SH!T - YOU AIN'T GETTING ANY".

It took two weeks of absolutely ruthless discipline, but it worked. I'm still alive, and I got the bonus of learning a new sport, too. Still feeling the effects of the decisions I'd made earlier in life, but hey, now I know, and I'm passing it forward.

Your choice.

 

[waynewf]

Amen bro.
Congrats on quitting smoking and good luck on getting closer to where you'd like to be. I hope every cig I smoke will be my last...perhaps you'll inspire me

 

[zenbot]

I quit the day I found out that I knocked up my wife.

So did she.

 

[billnchristy]

She knocked herself up?

I quit last year april fools day.

 

[g1nked]

you start dieing the minute your born so why not enjoy it while you can. Dont take life to serious nobody gets out alive!!

 

[shoe59]

Thanks for posting, maybe i'll try your "tough sh!t" method.

 

[Mike C]

Congrats, glad to hear it. I've never smoked one in my life, but I've always been a firm believer that if you really want it, you can do it exactly as you described...decide to do it, and just do it. What's interesting to me is how most smokers I know have tried to quit multiple times, but still go back. Good job sticking with it. Too bad about the air quality in so cal though...

 

[craftsman]

"don't you ever tell me how to live my life"

if I could post vid, I would

 

[Bubbajoe]

I'm at the end of my first week quiting. Using Chantix this time around to see if it helps. I too am sick of the huffing and puffing. At age 32 I'm runnign out of "Prime" physical years and I want to make the most of it. It's time to get into acutual shape as oposed to just looking like I am.

 

[buzzinb]

The health risks aside, quitting smoking will equal a lot more money to spend on other things like: discs, gas, supersized meals , family/friends, etc. I think I saw an article on the news where a pack of cigs will run you near $11 in NYC!!! Between the high price of tobacco and taxes, the financial implications of smoking may be worse than the health risks:-/

 

[chingy414]

Congrats to you on quitting, but nothing is worse than reformed smokers who constantly bitch about it. As much as I probably should quit, there are certain routines or actions that require an immediate cig. Also I wonder where you stand on the ganj.

 

[bazillion]

Congrats to you on quitting, but nothing is worse than reformed smokers who constantly bitch about it. As much as I probably should quit, there are certain routines or actions that require an immediate cig. Also I wonder where you stand on the ganj.

Re ganj - I don't particularly want to see this thread in the landfill, so I'll pm you on that.

Thanks for the gratz

 

[sidewinding]

I smoked for me but I quit for my wife and kids. Quitting smoking was the best thing I have ever done in my life. I don't miss the nasty taste, or wreaking of smoke all the time, or having to shell out at least four bucks a day for cigs, or having the lung capacity of an 80 year old man, or having my kids pick up a stick and pretend to smoke so they can be just like daddy, or needing a cigarette every few minutes just to stay calm and function in the world.

 

[Technohic]

Smoking sucks; but I love things that suck...

Still smoking even though I know how nasty it is. Its my only vice (asside from plastic I guess) since I hardly ever drink any more and havent done any "other" products since "high" school. Someday I need to bring myself to quit though.

winkwinknudgenudge

 

[sidewinder22]

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man. The physical withdrawal is not nearly as bad as many other drugs, but the mental withdrawal is one of the toughest. This is why cold turkey actually works well with cigarettes because it a decisive moment to quit. If you keep busy physically and/or mentally somehow, the withdrawal is not too bad.

Tapering off nicotine by reducing the number of cigarettes or switching to a patch or gum works fairly well. The key to tapering is to do it gradually. Reducing 10% a week has very good results and keeps the withdrawal symptoms at minimal. I'd recommend that if you smoke 20/day, take to 18/day for a week, then 16/day the next week....once you get to 10/day you can either keep it aggressive reducing 2/day or safe reducing 1/day for each week. This is a long process but it works naturally and is relatively painless/harmless.

Chantix works by occupying the pleasure receptors, so you are basically being doped up 24/7. It is effective at reducing cravings because that smoke will produce less pleasure since the receptors are already occupied. This is also effective at blocking other drugs that produce pleasure and has been used clinically for them, but present the same issues. Chantix is constantly using dopamine up to fill the receptors, so this strains your natural production of dopamine which then affects your ability to have pleasure from other things and seriously screws with your sleep and dreams which is why there is a high rate of depression and suicide associated with this drug. Most studies show that Chantix produces the same quit rate at 1 year as nicotine gum. Also you have to taper off Chantix or it will produce withdrawal symptoms of its own which are similar to nicotine withdrawal.

 

[chain-addicted]

I quit back in 2004 cold turkey.... It sucked at first but you get over. I never went back to cigarettes. NOW the DIP is another story!...WHEW! You wanna talk about addictive!??? I LOVE the dip but quit it about 3 weeks ago. I still cop a pinch off of someone who has a can every now and then though....

 

[leppard]

Always good to quit. I've never smoked. Just started a new job though about 75% of the people that work there smoke.

 

[Apothecary]

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man. The physical withdrawal is not nearly as bad as many other drugs, but the mental withdrawal is one of the toughest. This is why cold turkey actually works well with cigarettes because it a decisive moment to quit. If you keep busy physically and/or mentally somehow, the withdrawal is not too bad.

Tapering off nicotine by reducing the number of cigarettes or switching to a patch or gum works fairly well. The key to tapering is to do it gradually. Reducing 10% a week has very good results and keeps the withdrawal symptoms at minimal. I'd recommend that if you smoke 20/day, take to 18/day for a week, then 16/day the next week....once you get to 10/day you can either keep it aggressive reducing 2/day or safe reducing 1/day for each week. This is a long process but it works naturally and is relatively painless/harmless.

Chantix works by occupying the pleasure receptors, so you are basically being doped up 24/7. It is effective at reducing cravings because that smoke will produce less pleasure since the receptors are already occupied. This is also effective at blocking other drugs that produce pleasure and has been used clinically for them, but present the same issues. Chantix is constantly using dopamine up to fill the receptors, so this strains your natural production of dopamine which then affects your ability to have pleasure from other things and seriously screws with your sleep and dreams which is why there is a high rate of depression and suicide associated with this drug. Most studies show that Chantix produces the same quit rate at 1 year as nicotine gum. Also you have to taper off Chantix or it will produce withdrawal symptoms of its own which are similar to nicotine withdrawal.

dang who let the phizer rep on the forums?


im a pack-a-day smoker. you know they teach recovering suicides to smoke? that whole affirmation of life thing. ill tell you what if i quit i wouldnt be safe to be around. would probably eat some little kids ear for looking at me wrong.:\

 

[SAxDrc]

you know they teach recovering suicides to smoke?

how do you recover from suicide?

 

[sidewinder22]

dang who let the phizer rep on the forums?


im a pack-a-day smoker. you know they teach recovering suicides to smoke? that whole affirmation of life thing. ill tell you what if i quit i wouldnt be safe to be around. would probably eat some little kids ear for looking at me wrong.:\

Suicides don't recover. Failed suicide attempts either show one's incompetence or are non-lethal acts of crying for help. A long taper off cigarettes might be good for you, but hey if they keep you from committing suicide or eating little kids then thats cool too.

Im far from a Pfizer rep and all those big drug company commercials are often just marketing ploys for unproven products. Or they might add a sugar molecule to an existing product that worked and the patent ran out, so they say its new and improved, they patent it, and sell the crap for 10 times more than the product that already worked. It amazes me how these drug companies run the US, as they are in the pockets of our lawmakers and have way too much power. They are putting out potentially dangerous products with sketchy biased studies and making them look innocent. They are basically allowed to brainwash us with those commercials. This is one area that actually needs better regulation.

Do you ever feel unhappy? *Shows and rains cloud following person*
Well then I have the thing for you, ask you dr about it! *Shows and sun with cool sunglasses following person*
Side effects may include...x,y,z...should you expierence...x,y,z...tell your dr as this may be a bad sign.

Drs get spammed by these drug companies and provide a brief seminar about the products and give them some propaganda and free handouts. Hey Doc, sell our crap and we will give you kickbacks since the insurance companies scam everybody else.