Former Smokers

Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed

Be what you is not what you what you ain’t
Location
Central NY
Former smokers describe how you were able to kick the nicotine habit.

Before I stopped smoking, a dentist inserted a staple in my ear. Several years past and I had top stay overnight in the hospital cardiomyopathy. When I returned home all traces of tobacco related products including lighters were removed, I stopped cold turkey with little or no withdrawal symptoms.

It’s one of the greatest gifts I could ever ask for.

I smoked 36 years before stopping
 

I smoked for 45+ years, tried quitting several times. I finally quit in 2011, my big "secret"? I had a horrendous flu, felt like I was dying, so sick I didn't feel like going outside in the cold to smoke. Right then I realized that I had not ingested nicotine for over 72 hours...hey! No nicotine in the body...I should jump on the opportunity to just continue not smoking! Done. The hardest thing I ever thought of doing(quitting) turned out to be the easiest thing I actually did(quitting).
 

Seven years ago I was hospitalized for a few weeks.

When I got into my friends car to go home, all I wanted to do was light a cigarette but instead we stopped to pick up pastry.

So I decided to wait until I got home.

Then I promised myself I would light up after supper.

Instead I decided to go to bed and have a cigarette the next day

I did not smoke that cigarette the next day, nor did I ever smoke again.
 
I gradually cut down in this new century, first with patches, then with Chantix. I was never able to quit, still savoring 3-5 cigs a day that sent me in a swoon, I loved them so much. Wanted to smoke more, but didn't. Then, 2 years ago, was diagnosed with L cancer. A third of my lung removed. I didn't know I could live through such pain, it was agony. And I thought Natural childbirth was bad. Not in comparison! Took six months to heal surgical wounds. Then, along comes Covid.

Haven't smoked in over two years. Can't smoke. Wish I could. Stupid of me. Won't give in. That would be even more stupid.
 
I quit 9 years ago. Best thing I ever did. I used the "keep quitting til you quit" route. Finally one day it worked. I drank some Chamomile tea with a fruit flavored tea to help out when I got a craving. But, after a short time, I didn't need to do that anymore. Still drink the tea, but just because I want to (and no calories).

Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea, Chamomile and ​

Celestial Seasonings, Fruit Tea Sampler​

The sampler gave me a choice for something different each time.





​

 
I've never been a smoker but my late husband was when we married. Over the next few years, he tried to quit but never was successful for long.

Living in the Detroit area, I had chronic bronchitis from November to April every year; finally, I was on the edge of developing emphysema, according to the lung specialist and I mustn't be around smoking.

I went home, told my husband that and he removed the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tossed them in the trash and never once smoked another one in his life.

He couldn't do it for his own health but he did it for mine. Bless him.
 
I smoked for 60+ years, then my Doctor's Surgery started trying
to help people in many different ways, one was to stop smoking,
so I went for that, I visited the surgery every Wednesday for three
months I think, I didn't take any patches, sprays, or other aids to
stop, the nurse, Joyce, asked me "how will you stop then"?

I told her that I would stop because I had told her that I wouldn't
let her down and that I always keep my word, she breathalysed
me every week and I was clear. I kept my word to her.

Why I didn't stop years before, I have no idea, but I have been
stopped for 4 or 5 years now.

Mike.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Former smokers describe how you were able to kick the nicotine habit.

Before I stopped smoking, a dentist inserted a staple in my ear. Several years past and I had top stay overnight in the hospital cardiomyopathy. When I returned home all traces of tobacco related products including lighters were removed, I stopped cold turkey with little or no withdrawal symptoms.

It’s one of the greatest gifts I could ever ask for.

I smoked 36 years before stopping
Click to expand...
Congratulations there Mr. Ed. My wife who is now deceased was a smoker too. She quite after getting a cold and the cigarettes no longer tasted that good. She was a non smoker for 25 years and never missed it. I read some where that nicotine addiction can be stronger than heroin for some people. I don't know myself since I never seriously smoked and I sure as hack never tried heroin. I really believe that bad habits in your youth come to haunt you in your latter years. Sooner or latter you pay for your "sins."
 
RadishRose said:
Seven years ago I was hospitalized for a few weeks.

When I got into my friends car to go home, all I wanted to do was light a cigarette but instead we stopped to pick up pastry.

So I decided to wait until I got home.

Then I promised myself I would light up after supper.

Instead I decided to go to bed and have a cigarette the next day

I did not smoke that cigarette the next day, nor did I ever smoke again.
Click to expand...
My Gosh is that 7 years ago ...doesn't time fly ?...wow !! WTG RR....you did great
 
Pepper said:
I gradually cut down in this new century, first with patches, then with Chantix. I was never able to quit, still savoring 3-5 cigs a day that sent me in a swoon, I loved them so much. Wanted to smoke more, but didn't. Then, 2 years ago, was diagnosed with L cancer. A third of my lung removed. I didn't know I could live through such pain, it was agony. And I thought Natural childbirth was bad. Not in comparison! Took six months to heal surgical wounds. Then, along comes Covid.

Haven't smoked in over two years. Can't smoke. Wish I could. Stupid of me. Won't give in. That would be even more stupid.
Click to expand...
Poor Pepper what a nightmare you've been through!
It's all over........ you're free 🌹 (y)🥰🥳
 
Pepper said:
I gradually cut down in this new century, first with patches, then with Chantix. I was never able to quit, still savoring 3-5 cigs a day that sent me in a swoon, I loved them so much. Wanted to smoke more, but didn't. Then, 2 years ago, was diagnosed with L cancer. A third of my lung removed. I didn't know I could live through such pain, it was agony. And I thought Natural childbirth was bad. Not in comparison! Took six months to heal surgical wounds. Then, along comes Covid.

Haven't smoked in over two years. Can't smoke. Wish I could. Stupid of me. Won't give in. That would be even more stupid.
Click to expand...
((pepper)) so sorry for all you've been through because of that terrible addiction... despite what caused your LC ..and after all it's not always Cigarette smoking tbf... you're very brave to have gone through so much pain and out the other side.. 🤗
 
Mike said:
I smoked for 60+ years, then my Doctor's Surgery started trying
to help people in many different ways, one was to stop smoking,
so I went for that, I visited the surgery every Wednesday for three
months I think, I didn't take any patches, sprays, or other aids to
stop, the nurse, Joyce, asked me "how will you stop then"?

I told her that I would stop because I had told her that I wouldn't
let her down and that I always keep my word, she breathalysed
me every week and I was clear. I kept my word to her.

Why I didn't stop years before, I have no idea, but I have been
stopped for 4 or 5 years now.

Mike.
Click to expand...
Yeaaahhh well done Mike...👏...60 years is a very long time, and to give up an addiction so late in life must have been extremely difficult...
 
It'll be 5 years quit for me in Jan. 2022. I smoked since I was a teen.
I quit cold turkey after it finally dawned on me that smoking was going to kill me sooner rather than later. It was not easy for me at all. Wasn't sure I was quit for life for probably 7 months. I was actually on vacation in Las Vegas and of course many smokers there, even in the pool! Looking at all those people being a slave to nicotine made me feel sorry for them. That's when I knew I would never smoke again.

No matter how difficult quitting is, the challenges don't last all that long and the rewards last for life!
 
About 15 and 14 years ago I had major surgeries in my shoulders. Rotator cuff surgery and much more once the surgeons got into my shoulders. The nurses told me that it takes three or seven times longer for a smoker to heal from surgery than a non smoker. I stoped smoking about a month before my first surgery and after that I have never had a desire to smoke anymore.
 
I started smoking when I was a teenager when cigarettes were 35 cents/pack. I wasn't a heavy smoker, usually took me 2-3 days to finish a pack unless I was watching exciting sports event
In the 90's when cigarettes cost $1 that's when I quit 'cold turkey,had to have something in my hand usually a pen/pencil. There was no nicotine gum on the market when I quit. I did gain 10 pounds but was able to walk it off. After a couple of months,the smoke smell bothered me as it does today
I'm glad I kicked this nasty habit when I did
 
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, quit smoking at the age of 76. The catalyst was that of front man, Mick Jagger's open heart surgery. Richards admitted that he had snorted, ingested and injected almost every substance known, then added that tobacco was by far and away the hardest to quit.

The reason is because the tobacco companies don't want quitters, so the tobacco is sprayed with up to twenty addictive chemicals, so it's not just nicotine that the smoker is trying to quit, no wonder it's so hard to give up the dreaded weed.

It's 53 years since I gave up, but my medical records still show that I'm a "smoker." Whenever I have a medical examination I'm asked about my smoking. I started as a student and finally quit about five years later. How stupid of me to ever start smoking. The thing was though, it didn't kill you back then, in fact I remember a doctor, putting her cigarette in the ash tray before putting on her stethoscope to listen to my lungs. Well if the doctor smoked, in the surgery too.................
 
I smoked on and off from the age of 15-27 — at times fairly heavy. At the age of 25, I was diagnosed with beginning stages of cirrhosis of the liver. My doctor told me that if I continued on the path I was on, it would kill me. He was talking about all the drinking and drugs I was taking. It took me two years to quit that lifestyle — not because I was concerned that it would kill me, but because it wasn't making me feel good anymore. Plus, I got fired from a job because of it and started thinking about giving life another chance.

So I quit smoking, drinking, and doing drugs all at once. I started drinking and doing some drugs a year or so later after moving to Colorado, but didn't start smoking again, although I had cravings for years whenever I had a drink.

Now, I can't stand the smell of smoke. I've developed a sensitivity to it and can't be around smokers. They stink, even when they're not smoking.
 

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