BS: another no smoking thread

Subject: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Morticia
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 06:36 PM

Need some help here,guys.I've been a non-smoker for nearly ten days ( and I've spent all my money on whisky and beer.....no, sorry, got carried away by a possible parody there for a minute). Anyways, any little tricks or tips to get me over the next few weeks , which I believe are the worst? I keep telling myself that I can satisfy the craving in about 30 seconds after which I will promptly wonder what the hell the fuss was all about....plus have to admit to people that I failed and that's kept me going so far but any other hints would be recieved gratefully.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: harvey andrews
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 06:47 PM

Morticia...well done..you've beaten the craving. The bodily addiction to nicotine is about 48 hours, after which you've flushed it from your body. What you're dealing with now is the mental addiction...when the phone rings....when you have a drink...after a meal...after lovemaking. these are all mental triggers for a ciggie.
What you have to do is face these trigger moments head on and deal with each one as it arises. Answer the phone and don't light up...have a drink and don't light up etc, and suddenly you realise that the ciggie added nothing to drinking. eating , making love, etc. Then you've beaten it forever.
That's how I did it 31 years ago.
My father did it by seeing his brother die of lung cancer. He came home from the hospital, took out his packet of fags and threw them in the fire. never bothered him again.
Whatever it takes...it's worth it.
"Break a leg"...as we say in show business!

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 06:51 PM

I knew a man once who quit...he said he got throught the worst of it by sucking on hard candies and such...satisfied 'just' enough of the oral cravings to allow him to make it the easier stages.

Everyone is different, Morty...some do it by imagining pictures of their lungs...some do it for love...some with an eye to the budget. But some need nicotine patches and a will of iron! Try it all, and the BEST of luck!

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 06:51 PM

Some people seem to find a lot more difficulty in this than others. I was lucky, just gave it up one day, and it wasn't at all a big deal. And I was talking the other day to my father-in law - smoked for over 50 years, than just gave it up. (That was many years ago - he's 92 now and pretty spry.)

I don't think it's will power or lack of willpower, I'm sure there's some biological or sociological reason. But one thing that probably doesn't help is that very often people have been led to assume that it's going to be terribly difficult. Well, it might be, but quite possibly it won't be.

One thing that might help - tell yourself you're giving it up for a fixed period, to prove you can. Six weeks or so. (Lent comes in handy that way.) And after six weeks you could well not feel inclined to go back to it anyway. Especially when you think of the extra drinks you have been able to buy with the money...And how much better your breath smells...

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 06:55 PM

(oh..I am told that avoiding others who are smoking can be crucial..(as much as possible)...it is a very 'social' thing

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 07:06 PM

Don't let repeated past failures be a drag on your motivation. Even if you quit for months and then lapse. Your time WILL come. Whether its easy or hard is variable even as to the same person, depending on the time/setting. You need to construct the appropriate mental focus that works for you, so others' advice may help, but if it doesn't, devise a new strategy and try again.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 07:17 PM

As a non-smoker married to a smoker, I can tell you that imagining how much MORE your honey will want to prolong those non-smoke-tasting kisses might be a helpful thing to do...if I remember right he doesn't smoke? Of course, you two are still in the ahem pre-honeymoon phase, so it probably doesn't matter....kisses abound albeit long distance!**bg**

Good for you and that is good advice...if you fall off one day, start anew the next, don't use it for an "oh, well, what the hell, might as well" excuse. My daughter stopped the minute she knew she was pregnant and has no plans to start again. My son has quit several times and continues to struggle with it.

Try eating more akaline foods, rather than acidic. I'll send you a list from my acupuncturist if you'd like. He says most of us have too much acid in our systems, from stress, worry, illness, trauma, both physical and emotional, smoking, and eating. Most of those things cause our stomachs to create more acid, so it becomes a vicious cycle. Anyway, it is helping me with a bunch of stuff and I would expect it would help with the toxins of smoking which help to create the cravings, as well as the acid does.

What's that old Kingston Trio song...Allan will know it...something about "kisses sweeter than wine..." **bg**

luvyakat

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Janie
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 07:29 PM

Terri,

You won't believe this but I stopped 8 days ago, so I am in the same boat. I have tried many times to quit--gone through 2 expensive programs, tried the patch, gum, etc. and have never had even 8 days success before.

I am now recovering from my second bout with pneumonia in 6 months and hope I am finally getting the message that at 51, I AM OUT OF TIME!!!! While I was so very sick I could not have enhaled if I had had the energy to. Now that my lungs are clearing, I am finding the urges more frequent and more tempting. So far, here is what is working for me.

1. Drinking a large glass of water when the craving is strong.
2. Telling myself how grateful I am to be a non-smoker until the urge fades some.
3. Remembering that when I have quit for 3 or 4 days in the past, those first puffs were actually not satisfying--It took half a pack to get the nicotine built up enough to actually be satisfying.
4. Cutting WAY back on caffeine. (I gave up drinking many years ago,
but if I still drank, I would probably be cutting way back on that.
5. Focusing on feeling pleased about being a non-smoker.
6. Thinking about how crappy I feel slipping out back doors to smoke a cigarette, and how embarrassed I am when people see me.

I'm pulling for you and me both.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 07:36 PM

Ah Morty, welcome to the club and well done!! I am SOOO proud of ya!!!!

For me, the thing to remember is that you only say no to one cigarette. The one you temporarily desire just at the moment.

But if you say yes, you're buying a trainload.

I found it really helped to get some nicotine lozenges (Commit, they're called) and suck half of one when it got really bad. After a few months of that the only thing that was left to dowas walk away from the nicotine itself. That was rough for me, but a lot less rough than quitting the whole package at once!!

All I can say is, from my experience, you DO come though. Therefore, do NOT turn back!! Because when you pop out the other end of that tunnel, it is all worth while!!

Love ya,


A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Sorcha
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 07:40 PM

I'm tracing this one.............

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 08:09 PM

Well, tell ya what -- Janie and Morty, stay on the wagon, and I'll give you both a big kiss when I see ya!! :>) Nothing like odor-free osculation to perk one up in the morning!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 08:38 PM

Well, the tricks that others have shared are all good and I suggest using whateven seems natural to you.

When I quit 17 years ago I just sat down, got righteously indignant on the subject. "I AM NOT A SMOKER!" I would tell myself over and over and over. (Sorry to yell...) That's what it finally toof after several attempts to guit over a 10 year period. One even lasting 4 years!!! But you just have to get mad at yourself, at cigarettes and advertising men who tell you just how cool it it to smoke. And you have to get mad at the tobacco industry for spiking their products with addictive additives.... Just get mad. Stay mad... I mean, really FRIGGIN' MAD!!! (Sorry to yell...)

Yeah, righteous indignation!

Guarenteed to work...

I'd say good luck, but this ain't about luck. This is about proacting to get a gorilla off your back....

Way to go!!! You're tougher and smarter than a danged cigarette. Don't think so. Put the stupid cigarette on the driver's seat of your car and tell it to drive...

Get my drift...

Sure it'sough but you're tougher!!!!!....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: SINSULL
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 09:09 PM

Good for both of you. I have no intentions of kissing either one of you but I am still pleased to hear that you have quit. Happy, healthy days ahead. Enjoy!

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Aug 03 - 09:28 PM

"...avoiding others who are smoking" because of the temptation to smoke? More likely you keep your distance because of the way the smoker smells. When I quit, my sense of smell became very acute- some smells made me gag, literally. Dirty ashtrays and people without a recent bath were the worst.

One other trick I used when I was quitting, I stood a lot. As soon as I sat down, I wanted a cigarette; as long as I was on my feet I could handle it. I walked a lot too.

Good luck, both of you. You can do it, and it won't be long before you are SO glad you did.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 01:19 AM

katlaughing send the list please

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Morticia
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 01:53 AM

Thanks for the support,folks, I needed to lean on other people for a while...Janie, I won't if you won't,and vice versa, deal? PM me if you need a rant or whatever and I'll do the same....after all, we each know pretty much what the other is going through. And I'd like to see that list Kat,please?

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Dead Horse
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 07:06 AM

O.K. Morti, I wont hang around you any more, breathing my awful smokey breath down you neck.
If it helps, it helps.
Luv,
Ken

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Morticia
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 08:48 AM

you could try plying me with GIN until I don't notice anymore, DH *G*

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 08:58 AM

My own sense is that the presence of others' smoke is an independent variable -- I can sit comfortably alongside of someone smoking most all the time now. It's only uncomfortable when I'd be feeling tempted anyway. This may be a subjective thing.

Anyway, Morty and Janey, we are rooting for you!


A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 10:49 AM

Here is a partial list, to start with. For protein, he suggests Boca brand soyburgers, etc. They are VERY delicious! Also for snacks he suggests almonds. He says the ratio of fat-protein-carbs is not what is important; rather getting the akaline balance back in our bodies. If you do a search on google quite a few sites come up, too. This one has a more extensive list: click. According to some info, it's the acid brought on from all those things I listed above which contribute to a host of ailments including high blood pressure and arthritis.

Here's a little more of what my acu-guy has to say: The best way to create a meal is to choose 80% alkaline and 20% acidic. That's it! You can still eat acid foods but now you know how to neutralize them with alkaline foods.

If you are very ill, then just eat foods that are more alkaline until you are feeling well and then slowly introduce acid foods back into your daily diet if you choose.

Alkaline Foods: (Remember these are the ones you want more of:-)

All Vegetables including potatoes and tomatoes.
All fruit including lemons and limes.
Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, homogenized and non-fat milk
Grains: millet, buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, sprouted grains.
Nuts & Seeds: almonds, sesame, sunflower, flax.
Beans: soybeans, lima, sprouted beans.
Sugar: honey.
Oils: olive oil, sesame, sunflower, corn, safflower.

Acid Foods:

All meats: beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken and fish.
All refined white flour and wheat products: bread, pasta, pancakes, cookies, cakes.
All dairy: cheese, eggs, yogurt, butter, cream
Coffee, Alcohol, Juice.
Grains: brown rice, white rice, barley, wheat, oats, rye
Nuts: peanuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts
Sugars: brown sugar, white sugar, milk sugftr, cane sugar, high fructose com syrup, maple syrup, molasses.
Beans: Lentils, navy, kidney.
Oils: lard, crisco, margarine

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Dead Horse
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 11:04 AM

Wot! No gin?

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 11:39 AM

You can't smoke while you're using your hands for something else, so when you're at home, when the urge takes you, play a tune instead. Takes your mind of it too. If you don't play the penny whistle, maybe now's a good time to learn.   

And, as harvey andrews pointed out, you're well past any physical addiction, it's all in the mind. Some people do have an enormous struggle with it, but a lot don't have any real problem at all. Just because other people had a bad time with it, or even gave up on giving up, that's no reason you should have a major problem.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 12:21 PM

Not to start an unecessary argument, but I do disagree that, even if it is true that all nicotine is gone from the blood within 48 hours, there is no more physical withdrawal at that point. In fact, I would suggest that the absence of nicotine is exactly the cause of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. If she was seriously addicted, these would last at least one week, and the suffering she'd be enduring would be quite significant at the moment, not all in her mind. Morticia: I believe you have made it to the toughest and most critical stage right at this very moment. Hang on a little while. . . .

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Morticia
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 12:26 PM

I'm hanging.....

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 12:45 PM

48 hours? Pure bull; the nicotine addiction lasts longer than that on its way out, blood or no.

Keep on hanging in there, Morty -- there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 01:36 PM

Just because some people miss it an awful lot for a lot longer than a few days doesn't mean it must be a physical thing about nicotine. The mind is pretty powerful, and social rituals are pretty powerful too.

Anm illustration of that is that a lot of people who drink decaffeinated coffee would find it just as hard to give it up as those of us who drink it with the caffeine still in it.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 02:09 PM

I didn't mean to make less of the physical research cited; I am simply asserting that for physical, mental, or other reasons there is more to the addiction than that by good measure.

A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 03:18 PM

Not exactly Lancet but try this:

http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/withdrawal1.htm#index15

I understand that we wouldn't want to place her in unwarranted awe of the obstacles, but reviewing this and similar can reveal why there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 04:22 PM

10 years for me apart from a 3 month gap in Belgium where it seemed to be compulsory to have a roll up or a Gitane hanging out of your gob... Even then had no problem when I got back!

When out for a drink I just had 2 pints instead of a pint and a cigarette. Got me realy pissed but oddly enough left me with no hangover! Not out for a drink was more of a problem. Sex is good but can get you banned from Sainsburys;-)

What realy did it for me though was just becoming a non smoker. I hadn't given up. I wasn't a reformed smoker. Just set my mind to being a non smoker and bingo! Easy. Can't realy explain it any better but just imagine looking at someone inhaling a deep lungful. Instead of thinking how much I would enjoy it I thought how much it would make me feel sick. And blow me - it worked!

I am going to become a smoker again and take to the pipe eventualy but something keeps putting me off. Just like it did when I used to try giving up. Might manage it when I retire...

Keep it up and good luck.

Cheers

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: JudeL
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 05:18 AM

Thinking in terms of aversion therapy....Just remember no more needing to have the window open to let the smoke out which in the evening also allowed moths to come in attracted by the light.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 05:59 AM

Perhaps with a really heavy smoker the smoke would repel the moths. The only time I've smoked in recent years has been as a way of keeping off the flies and so forth when camping or walking - and I've never felt the slightest urge to go back to smoking generally after this. The idea that you're necessarily always one fag away from dependency is no doubt true for some people, certainly not for me. (And I'm not suggesting that's this is a matter of willpower on my part and lack of willpower in theirs.)

I think people have a tendency to generalise too much from their own experience about things like that.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: alanabit
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 11:47 AM

You are right. It is different for everyone. I smoked intermittently in my late teens and early twenties - never more than a few weeks at a time. At one time I was even receiving free samples of cigarettes. The last time I stopped smoking I found it more difficult than the previous times, so I thought, "Bugger this!" I haven't smoked cigarettes since 1981.
   My mother finally stopped smoking in her early forties after several failed attempts. My father stopped at the first attempt in his late forties after some thirty years.
   My girlfriend, then 27, stopped smoking within the first month of us living together. (I never said anything - so I have always wondered what it was about me that put her off her ciggies). If I return from an evening of passive smoking (rehearsal room/pub etc), I am greeted with the tender words, "You stink!" It's all encouragement. Nothing like stopping my nookie to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 01:22 PM

True enough. One thing when you don't smoke is that, when you come back from a night playing in a smoky pub or wherever, you really do appreciate how much your clothes stink of stale smoke.

What I really hate is when people put down a cigarette to smoulder in an ash tray instead of stubbing it out - at least with smoke that's been through someone's lungs, the worst of it is filtered out by the time they exhale. Which is rough on their lungs, but makes it a bit less unpleasant for the bystanders.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Janie
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 02:38 PM

Morti--I'm finding that after meals is a particularly tough time--it is helping to to note how nice it is not to slink off from the table for that smoke. Don't know what your situation is, but I literally have no friends or family who smoke, and only 1 aquaintance.

Lets keep on hangin', Girl.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 05:07 PM

Keep on hangin' gals!! I go into occasional pits of despond and always come out. Without succumbing to the tobacco demon.

It may not be easy but it sure is fun!


A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Ely
Date: 22 Aug 03 - 12:39 PM

Do you have kids/grandkids (if you're 25, pardon me for asking)? My grandfather, a lifelong smoker, died of a heart attack when he was 60 and my grandmother, who didn't smoke but breathed his secondhand all her married life, died of cancer at 57. I never met either one; my grandfather died a week before I was born. My mother has never quite forgiven him for that.

A college friend of mine had a really hard time with it, quitting and relapsing over and over, but he always commented that things smelled and tasted better, he got sick less, and didn't get as out-of-breath running around campus when he wasn't smoking.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: nutty
Date: 23 Aug 03 - 12:44 PM

Morti .....sorry I didn't get to this sooner but I've just got back from Whitby.
I'm still off the cigs and it's well over 2 years. There are still days when I have the urge to smoke but it doesn't really bother me all that much.
Everyone finds their own road to success but here are a few tips I've found useful ...........


Change your routine ,... particularly after meals
Try sugar free chewing gum
Sit on your hands when you start to get twitchy
Keep a glass of iced water handy and sip it (I use ice-lollies as a treat)
Have small things like grapes, celery pieces and carrot sticks in the fridge.
Avoid alcohol if (like me) you know it lowers your resistance
Don't worry if you start to put on weight (you are going to be more attractive anyway, with better skin and hair)
Don't try to deny your low moments ....I found that having a real good moan here on Mudcat always put me on the right path again.

I couldn't have been successful without the support of all these lovely people here. Thanks again folks

Good Luck to everyone who's trying

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 23 Aug 03 - 01:09 PM

Hey, if we're gonna open the gates on moaning and bitching abou withdrawal, pull up a chair -- between Morty and Janie and me I think we're gonna need a new hard drive to hold it all!! LOL!

I hear you about support -- the acknowledgement of those I hold nearest and dearest both on and off the Cat has been THE thing that made it possible.

A

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: paulo
Date: 23 Aug 03 - 04:32 PM

Hamish Imlach (a Scotish folksinger) was once asked why he drank, he replied " because I smoke"

When asked what he meant he said " I drink, I smoke and I eat lots of fatty foods because I'd hate to die of liver failure and leave perfectly good lungs and heart behind".

He did die at the age of 53.

Paulo

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Aug 03 - 09:19 PM

Of course another way of getting off smoking is to take snuff instead - a much less anti-social way of taking tibacco. You don't get passive snuff taking as a rule.

With bars in New York and no doubt elsewhere banning smoking, I suspect snufftaking could be due for a comeback.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Janie
Date: 23 Aug 03 - 10:12 PM

Oh Puleez!

J

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: alanabit
Date: 24 Aug 03 - 04:15 AM

I liked Hamish Immlach too. He was a good singer and a very funny man. Another one of his very funny one liners was his description of good health as, "The slowest poosibble way of dying." He certainly enjoyed his cigarettes, alcohol and food. That didn't give his heart much chance, which was a shame. I am not the only one who would have liked to have him around still.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: alanabit
Date: 24 Aug 03 - 05:09 AM

Can somebody correct my typing there - I think there is another way to spell "possible"....

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 03 - 07:19 AM

I'd like to second Bobert - think about the tobacco industry and their heinous practices, and the ludicrous amount of your money they'd like to get their hands on. Think about the way they advertise their products, and the way they're pushing them in the third world, now that their first world market is wising up. (They have attractive young street teams handing out freebies to teenagers on African beaches, that kind of thing - get them young).

Get angry, and refuse to be suckered. I think this was the most potent and helpful thing that I got from reading Alan Carr's book, can't remember the title but he has several give-up-smoking books. I gave up a number of times, and after reading his book, finally succeeded, and surprisingly easily.

Also - my grandfather died of emphysema, caused by smoking. It's a slow and a horrible death. And totally avoidable...

Keep at it, Morticia - you'll never regret it.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: alanabit
Date: 24 Aug 03 - 08:07 AM

I wish you had put a name on your post Guest, but I agree with every word you wrote. Here in Germany, smoking is officially banned in the underground train tunnels. On the other hand, nearly every station carries large cigarette advertisements. I call it peddling drugs to children and it pisses me off big time.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: MBSLynne
Date: 24 Aug 03 - 09:52 AM

Keep it up Morticia and Janie!! Well done so far. (Lots of encouragement seems a good way to help you!) Ted gave it up when I was pregnant with Richard and has never smoked since (Richard is 12). I had a friend who put away the money she would have spent on cigarettes every week and by the end of a year she bought a really lovely leather coat.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: MAG
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 12:57 PM

I smoked briefly in college and still have the occasional dream about sneaking a puff, 35 years later. I come from a medical family where everyone jumps down a smokers throat and my brother still got hooked bigtime. He gave up cigs cold turkey this New Year's and I am so glad.

Go see    or rent "Insider" if you need a reminder of what Bobert said.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: GUEST,DavidfromSydney
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 10:42 PM

Hi to all...

I don't know whether this helps Janie and Morticia... I smoked for about 20 years. Used to smuggle 10 Number Six and a muffled matchbox out of the house in the mornings and light up on Harlow Mill station while waiting to catch the train to school. Progressed to a 30 a day habit, but gave up when I moved to Australia in 1988.

This year I was diagnosed with early onset inherited Emphysema (I'm 48). Well I was well pissed off I can tell you - whinged to the Doctor about going to all that effort to give up smoking, and still coming down with a smoker's disease. He put me straight pretty quickly... "If you hadn't given up we wouldn't be chatting now".

Actually because my emphysema is inherited, although smoking helped it along, I was pretty certain to end up with it anyway. Giving up smoking has certainly prolonged my life. What helped me give up was the fact that moving continents pretty well broke all my old associations with smoking (pubs etc). I realise that that isn't an option for most people, but hang on in there... you could literally be saving your own lives.

I'm not militantly anti-smoking, personally I think it's an individual decision. I do believe that people should not smoke in public areas where they will affect others who do not share their decision to smoke. I now know that I should never have smoked, (and a simple cheap blood test as a child would have told me that). But my case doesn't apply to everyone. However, if you choose to smoke I think you should at least get a Pulmonary Function test every couple of years once you're past 40... believe me, you do not want Emphysema. Emphysema is a silent disease... you can lose over 50% of lung function without being aware that it's happening, because unless you are tested it doesn't show up except as very gradually increasing breathlessness with exertion (and don't we all get a bit less fit as we get older). This damage is irreversible. However, if caught early enough by a test, and you stop smoking at that time you stand a chance of containing the damage. If you let matters slide, you reach a point at which your lungs will continue to deteriorate whether you smoke or not.   

Dave Swarbrick has emphysema...He's still performing, and he's a huge encouragement to the rest of us "lungers" but I'm sure he'd rather be without the wheelchair and the oxygen bottle.

Janie, if you've had 2 bouts of pneumonia in six months think about getting your Doctor to refer you for a Pulmonary Function Test (if he hasn't already).

Good luck with the struggle. The most important thing is not to be hard on yourselves. Realise that any day spent not smoking is a big health plus. Tell yourselves, even if you slip up, that you're not a smoker. When offered a cigarette say "I don't smoke"... not "I'm giving up".

Good health

David

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: John Routledge
Date: 26 Aug 03 - 01:57 PM

Congrats again Morty Keep it up.

Subject: RE: BS: another no smoking thread
From: Amos
Date: 26 Aug 03 - 04:19 PM

Hey MORTY!!!


How's it going today??

Ya still riding that roller coaster??

Love ya,

A