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.
It's where you don't see them smoking that shows there is a stigma. It is the look that you get when you smell of smoke that proves there is a stigma...
I quit smoking a little over a week ago and have threatened my husband in every way I can think of. He wants to help and offered to get me the patch but I knew if he did I would either roll it up and smoke it or he would find me covered head to toe in them one day. I am doing it and must say some days are better then other but I am not sure how much longer I can last.
I quit smoking a little over a week ago and have threatened my husband in every way I can think of. He wants to help and offered to get me the patch but I knew if he did I would either roll it up and smoke it or he would find me covered head to toe in them one day. I am doing it and must say some days are better then other but I am not sure how much longer I can last.
Hang in there. You made it this far, so you can do it.
With cigarette prices going up over a dollar a pack tomorrow, I am going to have to quit. I need to hear success stories like yours, right now. I am thinking of transitioning to herbal cigarettes, so I can work on the physiological first, then tackle the psychological.
I quit smoking a little over a week ago and have threatened my husband in every way I can think of. He wants to help and offered to get me the patch but I knew if he did I would either roll it up and smoke it or he would find me covered head to toe in them one day. I am doing it and must say some days are better then other but I am not sure how much longer I can last.
Hang in there. I quit 7 months ago and I would say the frist month was the worst. I was a basket case because I wanted a cigarette so bad. I was mean, tired (not able to sleep right), hungry all the time, had the shakes, and I just missed relaxing while I smoked. However, I just would not smoke because I realized that the cigarettes where controlling me at that time. I have big issues with things controlling me due to the fact that I grew up in a household where addiction was a way of life. All I can say is hang in there. It is wonderful when you realize that you went almost a whole day without craving a cigarette.
I am a smoker too. Have been smoking since I was 13 years old (now 28). My longest period no smoking was when I had my daughter (quit for 14 months). I wish I hadn't started again! My most recent attempt was last summer when I quit for 3 months. I am planning on making another one after Im settled into my new job. I hate the fact that I smoke so much, I stink, its expensive, I'm setting a TERRIBLE example for my daughter. If she ever started it would break my heart. But like an addict, I love smoking too. One day, I will be proud to call myself a non-smoker :)
April will make two years since I have quit smoking and so far this has been my longest stretch. Aside from my pregnancies the longest stretch was 1 year the last time I quit. I am pregnant now so I know that smoking is not an option and hopefully this time around I will never go back. It does help that ciggys are now over $9 per pack in the Bronx. I know that the smokers in NYC hate Mayor Bloomberg for putting all this tax on ciggs but two years ago when I heard that the price was going up to $7 I called 311, got some nicotine patches, and quit. It was a matter of principle for me and I refused to pay that much to smoke. When I was in H.S cigs were a $1.50 for crying out loud!
Still even with these crazy prices I know people who pay the $9+ daily for cigs and some people go as far as to buy black market cigs. I tried some and they tasted funny to me and then I heard that people were making counterfeit cigs...can you believe it?
Good luck to those of you who are still smoking. I hope that you can acheive your goal of being smoke free eventually and I hope that those of us who have already quit can remain smoke free.
Loricatus, ty for sharing those commercials with us. I NEVER knew it was ever like that. Boy, what I wouldn't give to grow up in that era. I actually bought my first pack of Pall Mall's yesterday because they were the cheapest brand at the store! And to my surprise they tasted pretty good.
I read the post about the person dialing 311 and got the patch in the BX.............were those free? Do other states have a free patch handout? I may consider that angle, for free. The only reason I haven't tried the patch is because the highest dose is only 21mg per patch. Isn't there about 1mg per cig? My case like that other poster, I would be covered in them patches!!:chuckle
Atheos
2,098 Posts
There's a stigma against cigarettes?
I hadn't noticed...
I see smokers EVERYWHERE...