'Smoking' topic, and the challenges of quitting. The desires to also continue.

I smoked for 20 years and quit cold turkey 15 years ago. I did start vaping, and I still do but have cut way down to the lowest nicotine level. I am not sure about smoking PG or VG or the flavorings ( the additives ) though. Might be harmful, probably are...I just can't live a perfectly healthy life. :)
 

I smoked a pack+ a day of Marlboro Reds for 15 years. I quit cold turkey almost 40 years ago, smartest move I ever made. I did try unsuccessfully numerous times before that, but my heart wasn't in it. I don't desire smoking anymore, and luckily I've had no negative health effects from it.
 

People may like to stop smoking, but without the firm decision to actually stop smoking, they never will. I smoked for around 35+ years. I quit a bunch of times. By day 3, I was crawling the walls for a cigarette. I remember digging through the trash at 4 AM, looking for a big butt. Then one day, I quit cold turkey. The difference was that time I wanted to quit, rather than I should quit. Without that determination, no addiction will be stopped. How you go from "I should" to "I will" is what rehab is all about.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I smoked a pack+ a day of Marlboro Reds for 15 years. I quit cold turkey almost 40 years ago, smartest move I ever made. I did try unsuccessfully numerous times before that, but my heart wasn't in it. I don't desire smoking anymore, and luckily I've had no negative health effects from it.
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I was a loyal Marlboro Red smoker too. It's funny how the tobacco companies got our loyalty through all that advertising. I must admit I do miss it at times, especially with that first cup of coffee, but my wallet and my lungs are very happy that I no longer smoke !
 
fuzzybuddy said:
People may like to stop smoking, but without the firm decision to actually stop smoking, they never will. I smoked for around 35+ years. I quit a bunch of times. By day 3, I was crawling the walls for a cigarette. I remember digging through the trash at 4 AM, looking for a big butt. Then one day, I quit cold turkey. The difference was that time I wanted to quit, rather than I should quit. Without that determination, no addiction will be stopped. How you go from "I should" to "I will" is what rehab is all about.
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That's it in a nutshell. All the earlier times that I tried to quit were in vein, as I didn't have the "want to". When I did want to quit, it was fairly easy. No cravings or thoughts, although every once in a while when I smell someone's second hand smoke, it smells pretty good.
I have had several heroin addicts tell me that kicking tobacco is much worse than kicking heroin.
 
True for both addictions to substances and to behaviors. As with so many things we are all different. What many don't realize is that some people are more 'susceptible' to addictions to substances for physical reasons and that makes controlling/quitting those addictions harder for those people. If you have lots of receptors for a substance in your brain--you will have a harder time quitting it, including it being a bad idea to quit cold turkey. But you also need to avoid the 'triggers' the situations in which you used to consume the substance. Emotional reasons can be hard too, but you are not likely to have a bad physical reaction to quitting cold turkey (probably a good bit of anxiety trying to cope with whatever you were self-medicating for tho).

i consider myself very lucky that despite both parents being smokers and there being Alcohol issues on both sides of my family (Mom and Paternal G'ma both weekend binge drinkers--never let it interfere with earning a living to support their kids, but didn't fully think thru the impact of it on their kids) i was not physically addicted to either. Smoking was more of 'prop' in my teens/20s--i rarely smoked when alone. So 'quitting' was not a big deal and unlike many who are physically addicted being around smokers never makes me 'crave' it.

During the last 30 years i've smoked maybe a couple of dozen small untipped/filtered cigars when i did get a hankering for it. Often i wouldn't finish the whole thing at one time and if i didn't wrap it up good it would go stale before i wanted one again. My heavy smoking family members and friends would get so frustrated by this. i tried to explain it isn't a virtue--it's luck of the draw--how i'm built. None of my kids smoke, tho the boys tried it as teens--they went thru drinking phases too--but wised up quick. My daughter tried wine coolers--one time. Didn't care for it. Knowing the family history (her Dad's side has alcohol issues too, and one uncle who's a recovered hard drug addict) she just wasn't willing to risk she might be susceptible. She's even very cautious about OTC pain relievers.

BTW decades ago when sociologists from America talked to people in places where the average age of death was closer to 100 than what ours was then (or is now) they found 3 things the oldest people had in common:
They stayed active--not exercising but doing chores--farming, dealing with firewood, house repairs--
They smoked--usually 1 pipe or 1 cigar daily--
They drank alcohol--again usually not more than 1 beer or one shot of hard liquor daily.
i don't recall because it was so long ago i read those studies but suspect the smokes and alcohol were part of their evening 'wind down' from days' activities ritual. And we have to consider that their general environment was probably 'cleaner' (air/water) than in '1st world' countries. Some of the health detriments we see in USA, UK, Europe from use of tobacco and alcohol may be synergistic effect of A) Using way beyond moderate levels B) the environment itself having a good deal of toxic effect and C) the more complex stressors of our way of life. Stress makes everything worse--allergies, the impact of diseases--even how much you feel pain from an injury.
 

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