Smoking Addiction & Recovery Support Group
The CDC claims that nicotine is a "very addictive drug" that can be "as addictive as heroin or cocaine." Nicotine is typically eliminated from the body within 2 to 3 days, however, physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms may last for much longer depending on the individual. If you are trying to kick the habit, this community is dedicated to giving smokers the...
Why did I quit smoking????
Well, originally when I "started" to quit I was just tired of seeing the money go up in smoke... literally. That didn't really work...Oh, I cut down a lot from one pack to 4 smokes a day.....Yeah, I can live with this.
Then 4.5 years ago my husband got sick and went to the Doctor. Words I didn't like, couldn't pronounce, couldn't spell started to become part of our lives......EMPHYSEMA, PULMONOLOGY, PULMONOLOGIST. LUNG CAPACITY. PFT..( PULMONARY FUNCTION TEST). PROGNOSIS (5 years), LVRS (LUNG VOLUME REDUCTION SURGERY)...LUNG TRANSPLANT, BREATHING TREATMENT, NEBULIZER,....Yay!!! Are we having fun yet.....Let's add in MUSCLE WASTING and DEMENTIA. And there is more ...CANCER....Yep, the dreaded C-word. . Neck and throat. Now some new words. CHEMO-THERAPY, RADIATION THERAPHY, MASKS, MAPPING, PORTACATH, TRACHEOTOMY, STOMACH PEG (feeding tube). We can add TRACH CANULA, and TRACHEOTOMY SUCTION MACHINE AND KIT. PULMONARY HYPERTENSION (we don't have this one.......YET). I hate the fact that not only can I spell these words now I also know what they mean.
My house looks like a hospital store house and there is a hospital bed in my bedroom. For the first time in 36 years we are sleeping in separate beds. He gets the hospital bed.
I stayed so long at the hospital with him it was common place. The people who worked there knew me by name some even thought I worked there...The nurses, the doctors, the security guards, the people in café...the coffee shop... 3 weeks...it almost felt like a new home.
When I started writing this I was angry. Angry at some unknown person who thinks she/he will miss smoking. We all do. It was/is a major part of our existence. A huge part if our lives. If you smoke 40 cigs a day and each cig takes only 5 min.(how many of us only spent 5 min on a smoke my longs took 7 min if all I did was smoke it), and you smoked for 40 years that is 280,000 minutes smoking. Or 4,667 hours 194 days 6.5 months. 1 half of a year doing nothing but pulling garbage into our lungs non stop.
I am no longer angry...I am sorry...Sorry I didn't stay quit when I was in my early 20's. Sorry I subjected my friends and family to the second hand smoke...Sorry I set that example for my sons and Grandchildren. Sorry I have to watch a fantastic man deal daily with the pain and suffering of the vicious side effects from our addition.
I cannot say that the above disease will happen to any one person ever....But there are several sites on here alone fill with wonderful loving people who do have these dreaded diseases. And we and we alone can help to prevent ourselves from facing these. The younger we are when we realize this the less likely we will be to contract them.
Yes, it is a scary thought. And we ALL think it can't happen to us...My son's watch their dad go through this and smoke on. But what if, just what if there is a chance even a small chance that this is what we are headed for. Shouldn't we at least give our selves the large chance to try to avoid it. Quitting will not guarantee it won't happen but to continue to smoke is almost a sure bet that it will.
I smoked 3 packs a day for 20+ years. It started out just a few a day, but quickly grew and one day I woke up and it was 3 packs a day.
I use to work at the funeral home (30 years) and saw what smoking can do.....and usually does, yet I still lit up and joking that the funeral director would give me a good deal when it came my time :(
I am now 57 years old and quit 6 years ago. I am lucky......so far. I've had other health issues, but know that somewhere down the road, it can come to bite me in the arse. My dad had been quit for 40 years when his first diagnosis came that he had COPD as a direct result of smoking. The ground work had been laid.
My quit came as a result of the IRS over charging me $10 grand and I fought with them for 2 years and almost lost my income property over it (they kept closing my case without notice). When they finally made it right......I ended up having to give it back to them plus some!!!! (jerks).
I decided then that I would take them off my payroll any where I could/can.
Smoking was making them richer and me poor......my choice.
I quit on tax day and I haven't looked back.
When I quit.....my anxiety went through the roof. I felt like I was stroking 24/7 for 3.5 years and ended up in the ER 3 times. However, I toughed it out.
Yeah.....of course I thought about going back to end the misery I was experiencing.......but I had great support and this site was a saver too.
I kept finding different ways to keep my quit. I didn't give up or give in to something so stupid. I don't miss standing outside in all kinds of horrible weather. I don't miss smelling like smoke. I don't miss running out to feed the nicodeomon and miss out on my grandchild's functions.....and passing on second and third hand smoke to her.
Life is good......and it's precious too. You only get ONE body.....take care of it!!!!
The end results of smoking are not pretty and agonizing to say the least as grace has pointed out. I've also witnessed that at the funeral home.
Don't ever stop trying and stop saying you will start tomorrow......or next week.......or after a certain event.......START NOW!!!!
Thanks grace for a wonderful post :)