[dria]

Originally Posted by suanna

A massive MI, CVA or end stage COPD are my only hopes of retireing earily. If I quit smoking now I'll just have to work longer to draw my pension. If I can keep up at 2PPD I'm thinking I'll be off the job by 55.

I'm hoping you meant this tongue in cheek...what's the point of an early retirement if you are too sick to enjoy it.

I too smoke. Like a chimney. Use the last one to light the next on a bad day. Been doing it for 14 years now (OMG) Haven't tried to quit, not one single time. Right now just isn't the time...I have other dragons to slay first. Someday I'll get the courage to elaborate, but for now, know that I am lurking...

[SDS_RN]

I too am a smoker longing to quit. No matter how bad I want to quit the craving is so much more powerful. I do not smoke at work but when I get home I'm out that door having a smoke even when it's -39below windchill. Burrrrr I hate that. I also like to smoke but I do feel guilty for being a nurse and smoking. I also feel like I'm letting my kids down because they are always telling me to quit. I just hope and pray that they never pick up this bad habit. I know how bad it is and what will come but still even knowing that it's soooooo hard to stop.
My husband also smokes so the many times I have tried to quit have been hard because they are readily available to me and I struggle not to get one out but I always eventually give in to the craving. I'm the only one out of my 2 siblings that smokes because my parents smoked as we were growing up and they hated it. I did too but here I am a smoker. I stole my parents cigaretts when I was 9 for the first time and then really started up about 12yrs old. Something I regret to this day but it's too late to turn back. I'm just hoping that one day I will be strong enough and kick the habit. My dad finally quit 3 years ago after smoking for 30+ years and I'm soooo proud of him. I just hope it doesn't take me that long to stop. Good luck to all of you who are trying to quit, I hope you succeed.

[Franemtnurse]

Originally Posted by suanna

A massive MI, CVA or end stage COPD are my only hopes of retireing earily. If I quit smoking now I'll just have to work longer to draw my pension. If I can keep up at 2PPD I'm thinking I'll be off the job by 55.

Trust me dear, you will regret that. I am in endstage COPD. have had a PE, and 2 minor CVAs, the second one being worse than the first. If you wait until this happens, you will regret ever saying it. I quit smoking 42 years ago, and although it took me 18 years of staying smoke free one day at a time, I was always happy I got through another day. The COPD popped up in 2002.

[danissa]

OK, guys, I just have to post this to all you smokers, (like me!), PLEASE just watch it!
I grew up watching this guy, Dave Allen,comic legend in the UK!

He always did his comedy show with a cigarette in his hand! All through the 70's and part of the 80's!
It's not a preachy post, honest, just very observational, and I'm sure we will all recognise a bit of ourselves in his words!!
Please watch to the end..the guy was a genius!...(Note..I say WAS, he's dead now of course!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cT-BQLX6nU

[piccrn56]

Hi, I'm Karen and I am a grateful recovering smoker! I never really wanted to quit but I felt really pressured to do it and was embarrassed for anyone to see me smoking. I started on Chantix and cut my smoking by half during the first twelve weeks. I was then truly a smoking addict, smoking only at home where no one could see me. During the start my second twelve weeks of Chantix I got a cold and had a non smoking visitor for a week. After that was under my belt it was relatively easy to stay quit. I did take advantage of the Get Quit website through daily emails. Now at 100 days quit I have graduated to twice weekly e-mails from them. I am wll aware that I can never smoke even one cigarette again or I will be right back to smoking. So I take it one day at a time. Another helpful website for me is Hazeldon who also send daily e-mails. Smoking is just another addiction perhaps one of the worst. Keep at it, Thunderwolf! I can't begin to tell you how much better I feel, look and smell!!!!

[flightnurse2b]

i am also a smoker.

i have been smoking since i was in 7th grade. i did it because someone told me it would help me stay skinny. now i can't stop. i am also a recovering anorexic/bulimic, and i am scared to death if i quit smoking i will gain alot of weight. i know how stupid that sounds, i really do. i am ashamed.

i don't enjoy smoking. i don't think i ever did. i hate the taste and i hate the smell. i hate how my nails are yellow and i hate how my teeth are stained.

but i hate the person i am when i am not smoking, because that person is anxious, crabby and hungry. my relationship with cigarettes is very ambivalent.

i have tried patches, gums, lozenges, hypnosis, laser treatment, etc. my last resort is chantix. i am waiting until graduation though so i have the extra cash becasue it is sooo expensive.

thank you to thunderwolf for starting this thread, and keep up the good work!! i hope we can all help each other stomp out our smoking habit.

[Thunderwolf]

Originally Posted by danissa

OK, guys, I just have to post this to all you smokers, (like me!), PLEASE just watch it!
I grew up watching this guy, Dave Allen,comic legend in the UK!

He always did his comedy show with a cigarette in his hand! All through the 70's and part of the 80's!
It's not a preachy post, honest, just very observational, and I'm sure we will all recognise a bit of ourselves in his words!!
Please watch to the end..the guy was a genius!...(Note..I say WAS, he's dead now of course!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cT-BQLX6nU

Very funny video...thanks, for sharing.

[barefootlady]

Thunderwolf,
Thanks for sharing. Good luck on quitting.

[Stringer]

Originally Posted by Thunderwolf

Since Tweety, Marla, Silverdragon102, TheCommuter, and Arwen_U, my co-staff, bared their hearts...I can do no less. My first smoke, or taste, was when I was in the first grade...by my alcoholic stepfather. I began smoking as a habit since my sixth grade...allowed to smoke openly in the house during my 8th grade. Everyone in my family smoked. In my family, being of Appalachian descent, smoking never batted an eye. Folks who did not smoke were more of the exception to the rule. It was a way of life...if not a rite of passage...like getting one's driver's license. I have quit many a times and started back up many a times during my life. My biggest run of sobriety was for 6 years, but I ended up falling off the wagon, er...cigarette truck due to stress...it's in my Bio story (Bio link). Personally, I love to smoke...but I know as a nurse that it is not good for me. I hate the way my clothes and apartment smells when I do. I hate the amount of monies wasted on it. Cancer in our family is unheard of, on either side...so the fear of cancer never ever came to me as a concern....and they all smoked like chimneys, living to their elder days. Good genes, I guess. I don't deny the risk of cancer...but, it doesn't seem real to me growing up in the family I did. Cold turkey was the best way for me many times. I even tried Chantix once....which was very helpful then. Something that I may again try real soon....for the withdrawals (very real) were nonexistant for me. I look forward to reading others' successes, as well as their struggles, with smoking and other addictions. It gives hope. Unless one has been hooked on a substance, it makes it hard to be empathetic to one who is...I know this...so I try to be patient and understanding to those who do not know/have experienced it for themselves.

Yes...I will think about the Chantix once again. Maybe it is time once more.

Peace

Thanks for sharing. Wow, it really must be difficult when you start so young. That carries a whole other level of psychology with it. I didn't start until I married a smoker.

I quit smoking so many times... Although I did not bring it up in NA/AA meetings, I started to incorporate smoking into my 12 step routines. STILL could not quit. I'm not sure what finally took--probably the kids, one way or another. Gum helped me, but I know it doesn't help everyone.

Like Mr. Tweetie said in another post, you only fail when you stop trying.

Peace to You, quit or not.

Stringer

[Franemtnurse]

Originally Posted by Stringer

Thanks for sharing. Wow, it really must be difficult when you start so young. That carries a whole other level of psychology with it. I didn't start until I married a smoker.

I quit smoking so many times... Although I did not bring it up in NA/AA meetings, I started to incorporate smoking into my 12 step routines. STILL could not quit. I'm not sure what finally took--probably the kids, one way or another. Gum helped me, but I know it doesn't help everyone.

So true. I began smoking when I was 8, and it took me 18 years of withdrawl, feelings doing one day at a time before I no longer had the craving. I tried cutting down, but it didn't work, so I went cold turkey. My brother was 7, and he is still smoking.