corney 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2015 Will be two years for me on May 3rd. Best thing I have ever done for me! I haven't quit because I am not a quitter, I just chose to not smoke anymore and it's working for me? I know I can not smoke even a cigar or I will be all four feet in the through again! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2016 Didn't read all the posts but I smoke and tried to quit many many times worse addictive drug ever made! Anyways I can't stand to see butts in the wild, I carry a ziplock baggie with me and put mine in it...if I see someones butts on the ground I pick them up. I've been know to confront people I see throw butts on the ground also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2016 21 years smoke free having a heart attack cured me of that habit i dont smell like an ash tray anymore Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike West 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2016 21 years smoke free having a heart attack cured me of that habit i dont smell like an ash tray anymore I had a Heart attack also about 2 years ago...I have a stent,..I swore cigarettes off...I still smoke. Evil Drug! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave G. 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2016 Saw a guy over by the canal doing stretches and some exercises. I would presume this is part of his health strategy. So I had to just shake my head in not understanding such an approach in seeing him smoke one butt after another.. I just don't get that. In the eighth grade in science class we had two jars. Soaking in formaldehyde were a good sized chunk of human lungs , one in each jar. One was from a deceased smoke free person, the other from a smoker. I was a young teen at that point in time and I found it interesting to see the difference. The smokers lung was black and shades of dark brown and the normal lung was pink as I recall. This is right about the time that I started smoking. Fast forward a few years, it was about 1973. I was sitting in my apartment, had just opened a brand new pack of cigarettes. I lit one up. I swore after seeing that lung back in the classroom that I would just have a butt here and there to go along with the crowd type thing. I was now at 1-1/2 packs a day and there was no crowd. So this particular evening I sat there looking at the butt burn , holding it over an ash tray. Twirled it in my fingers, I watched the smoke curl up, I watched the paper turn brown and then black at the burn line and glow a little. I looked at my stained fingers that don't even inhale this crap but just get brushed with it. I watched the ash drop off. I looked at the tar in the ash tray. I thought about that black lung. I imagined that this cigarette was wrapped in a dollar bill going up in smoke. I thought about if my body needed this and would it be healthier or less healthy if it actually was a dollar bill going up in smoke and that is when it hit, it was at that exact moment I realized that what had happened is the butts had control of me instead of the other way around. I reasoned that This Thing with no brain, no power, no sense of reason had control over me and it was purely me who was applying no will over it.. That made me angry, it was costing me money, it was bad for my health and all I had to do is turn the tide on it.. I crushed that half burned butt, I crushed the brand new pack of butts and threw it all in the trash. Non of this bull crap that I'll taper off , no program, no anything, just plain quit. Along came proof that smoking is an addiction though, as sure as I'm typing this. I had withdrawal, I was dizzy during the next few days, I craved the cigarettes and I felt anxious. That part lasted about two weeks but I would be damned before another butt was touching my lips. Then for about 2 years I only craved it after a good sized meal. I just put my mind elsewhere. And that was that. Some here say it's a terrible addiction and it is. But you aren't powerless to lick it, you just don't. Not with any conviction. Don't let the next health crisis be the deciding factor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bimini15 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2016 Kudos to all of you that managed to kick the habit, no matter how you got there. If I could only do the same with these extra 100lbs. I carry around... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 I had a Heart attack also about 2 years ago...I have a stent,..I swore cigarettes off...I still smoke. Evil Drug! Mike ... try Chantix. Boss had vivid dreams (one of the possible side effects) but quit within 2 weeks. Wife had very upset stomach and couldn't use it ... she still smokes. Co-worker had vivid dreams and quit within a month. I wanted the vivid dreams (didn't get them). Nor did I get any of the other possible side effects. What I did get was gas. For the first two weeks of the treatment, I was a farting machine. Fun, but not socially acceptable. BUT ... I did quit after just three days. I continued the whole month of the treatment. That was 7 or 8 years ago (I've lost track), last May. I don't remember how many years ago, because I've never even wanted one since. Wife still smokes, and I still don't want one. I wanted to quit, though ... and I think that's the real key. You have to TRULY WANT to quit. A lot of people try to quit, because everyone around them wants them to. But if they don't really want to quit, for their own reasons, they won't. If you truly want to quit, it's a daily choice you have to make. Chantix makes that choice easier every day. I know I sound like a commercial ... but I believe it's worked that well for me. I'd do a commercial for them, if they asked me to. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bimini15 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 What I did get was gas. For the first two weeks of the treatment, I was a farting machine. OK...!!! I take back the "no matter how you got there" part. Just Kudos to you Mike... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 LOL Yeah, it's not something I'd wish on others. Fortunately, I don't get embarrassed. And, I wasn't teaching classes for most of that time, so students didn't have to suffer through it with me. I'd planned it that way, but I'd expected the irritation and mood swings some people report when trying to quit. I didn't get any of that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Saarinen 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2016 I couldn't quit if i wanted to, but i don't want to, so it dosen't matter!;-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corney 0 Report post Posted October 12, 2016 Don't sell yourself short Adam, I believe you are a real determined person! Apparently you are determined to keep smoking? Lol Mike summed it up when he said you have to Want to quit, I decided I didn't want to smoke anymore and don't. I am still not a quitter and I still reach to my left shirt pocket when I get irritated or someone pisses me off. I believe it's all in my head and my head knows that I was paying about $16/day to kill myself. I don't cough up unidentified nastiness or huff and puff after a good piece of tail anymore! Original point was there is a pile of garbage in each pack of smokes please don't throw it around in my world! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
