Quit Smoking

Go to sleep. I have found that whenever I'm sleeping, I stay away from cigarettes.

And, welcome to A2K. My name is Gustav and I pretty much run this show.

There:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25937

Ahhhh, that's more like it.

Try Nicorette gum or the patch, and make sure you read the directions.

Ahhh, that's more like it.


(see what happens when you misquote someone, paula?)

Try finding distractions and going places where you can't smoke - swimming pool, cinema, library - although this could be tricky if you are at work or have family commitments.

As a smoker, I can appreciate what you're going through, lord knows how many times I've 'quit'. But persevere, truly, and you will look better, smell better, feel better. You have my sincerest best wishes, NoMoreCityGirl.

Try following O'Bills (he of the link above) and post in with a stress-relieving diary-thing and for moral support. Good luck!

slow news day Gus??? lol

That is a misquote.........I have 4 teeth.

NoMoreCityGirl:

I am 60 years old. I have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a result of smoking about 35 years. I cannot:

Play actively with my grandchildren.

Keep up with any family/friends with whom I travel. I love to travel abroad, but these days I almost always go alone so that I can pace myself and put in half-days worth of sightseeing (at most). Others are willing to slow down for me, but that in itself makes me very uncomfortable when you've paid x amount of dollars to go see some part of the world.

Same thing applies with even short trips within the city.

I can only accomplish approximately 1/3 of what I would like to do (and which any half-way healthy 60-year-old can do) each day.

Do you want to hear more?

I tried to stop smoking several times, and was finally able to do so when I was habitually so short of breath that I was frightened. At that point, the damage was already done.

If you quit smoking when very little damage has been done, you may never experience health problems at all. Human beings have such an over-abundance of lung power that you can kill some off and never know it. But lungs do not regenerate.

According to the measurement most often used to assess extent of lung damage (called FEV1), I operate on approximately 28% of the lung power that a healthy person of my age and sex has.

You didn't give age or years of smoking in your message, but trust me: There is less damage done to your lungs if you quit now than there will be if you quit next year, or in 5 years, or whenever.

Statistically, only about 15% of smokers end up with badly damaged lungs. Genetics is probably a factor. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't gamble on the percentages!

Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I ever voluntarily did. (Coping with deaths of people close to me was harder, but not undertaken voluntarily.) But I am so glad I did. At least I am still alive and enjoying life at this point. Had I not quit smoking I'd just be in worse shape (or dead).

Did I scare you?

Hang in there. It's definitely worth it!