Smoking

First off *high five* congrats and hope everything is ok.

I used to smoke, started at about 17ish cuz it woz kowl - yeah right!

I only specifically tried to quit once and stopped for about 6 months, when I picked it up again I believed for the first time it was an addiction (albeit a small one a pack could easily last me a month at times).

I kind of smoked on and off for a number of years as a social thing and never saw a pattern of addiction as I really could take it or leave it. I'd go away on exercise with the Army and hang with the smokers as that was how you knew what was going on, it really was an information gathering exercise, same with work, my bosses & staff smoked and it gave me an opportunity to get in their ear and push my agendas and find out new information. In-between times I generally only smoked when drinking. I completely understand what you're saying about missing smoking on the patio, that's what it was for me, a habit in particular situations.

I haven't smoked in a year or so (not exactly sure) I didn't really try to stop this time I just kind of did, I think the difference was that most people around me don't smoke anymore and it’s banned in bars. I have no interest in smoking ever again, it's simply not healthy or attractive, I am a little unsure why it was so easy this time around but I’m not complaining.

 

Lurker, you're in the army?

 

Um, yes(ish) Reserves, I only play soldier. My real job is in finance.

 

i started when i was 12, and even then, i could smoke a pack in a matter of days... even now, if i don't control my rate, i could easily chain-smoke 2 packs in one day, though this has only happened on a few occasions...

the thing is, i have also conditioned myself (and Tr... err, Lurker probably knows people that's did this), but i could still pound out a 7-mile run with no problems, or ride a bicycle in city traffic for 10 miles in 35 minutes...

i come from a whole family of smokers, i only have 1 uncle that doesn't smoke...

at present, i don't have a smoke the first part of the morning... i won't have one until around 3-4... and even at the second job, when i get there at 3pm, i won't have one until i get off...

but when i would go into work on the base, i would report and then go outside to the smokepit... and just chill out there, sometimes for hours...

i have tried quitting a few times, and once i did... for over a year, i didn't smoke... but then i made the mistake of reaching for just that one, and then just that one pack.. it was only a matter of time, albeit a very short time...

the last time i had tried to quit was in 2006, and i managed to quit for about 3 months... but then bored at work drove me back out into the smoke pit... and i started again...

...damn boredom... when i'm busy (as i love to be anyways), i could quit pretty easily...

...but no, for now, i am still a very committed smoker...

 

probably...

 

I started smoking when I was 13, gave up because a few weeks later because it was just making me cough, and i still wasn't as cool as the cool kids (yay impatience)
smoked cannabis on and off again (bush) all my life
smoke vanilla flavoured cigars maybe twice a year since i was in my early 20's

 

Sigh i smoke, socially its an empath thing i think i feel others addictions and have to have one...My husband, my mom and best friend are purely addicted smokers so Its very easy for me to pic up those feeling of need and desire for a smoke...I quit for a long time just trying really hard not to feel it but I caved Honesely I dont smoke unless I am around Dh, my mom or BFF)

 

No smoking no drugs.

I had very strong reactions to drugs (medical type) as a teen and was advised by my doctors that addictions would come easy so I resolved not to get started in the first place.

My mom used to smoke and I remember always having bronchial and sinus infections, lots of colds in winter, and when she finally quit we all got a lot healthier.
There is a family history of lung cancer, and emphyesma (spelling?) in the smokers, which is another reason to avoid it. My grandfathers both suffered a lot before they died.

My husband smokes, and its been a battle to keep him quits. As long as he's with us it doesn't seem to be a problem to stay quit. While he's been away from us (Iraq, Imagry Tech School, and now at Creech) he can't seem to stay off them. We had a deal, he quits, I don't cook with black olives (he hates them). Needless to say, I've been enjoying my olives for a while now.

 

I think I was addicted to the habit. Since I like my alone time and since smoking makes you a social outcast (literally in my state you better be xx feet from the building) it was a perfect way to get away from the masses. It's kind of funny because I think I became a smoker because I was being social but ended up be addicted the privacy.

It was weird though because I could go hours without a yearning for one. I could go days if I was in a situation where I couldn't smoke and it didn't bother me. But I couldn't seem to just quit.

Finally I got deathly ill. It scared me and I officially quit. I didn't miss the smell or the nicotine but I missed a place to escape to for peace. That is when I realized how much I used to avoid being uncomfortable or feeling at all.

Since I've quit I've gained weight which my husband says look good (I don't agree). I seem to feel more intensely and that was the hardest part to cope with and still is at times.

The real irony is that though I no longer smoke my health has not been declining since I quit.

 

LMAO! How about making pizzas with one half olive, one without?

Yeah I will admit it, I smoke also. Have done since around 18 or 19. I really want to stop, for health reasons. Ive been putting it off for months now. If there is one good thing about being sick with the flu or a cold its is the fact that I find myself truly tasting the disgusting burnt rubber smell of the tobacco, as the storm of mucus clears out through my nasal passages.

Im planning on quitting in the next couple of weeks...Somehow!

 

I smoked pretty heavily for the better part of six months. It was mainly due stress from breaking up with my girlfriend, and wasn't helped by the rest of my friends being smokers.

It passed the time while I was working as a landscaper, and on the weekends I'd drive to the neighboring college town to get wasted with my friends. We got a bit of coke one time; myself and everyone else went through at least a pack that night.

I quit earlier last year after I had a falling out with this girl. I was attracted to her, but she eventually turned out to be a psychopath. I smoked my "last" cigarette the last night I talked to her. I considered it to be the end of a chapter in my life (Ch. X - Quit putting up with crazy bitches).

I bought a pack a few months ago on a whim. I smoked two cigs and threw the pack out; haven't touched them since.

I had my fun smoking, but ultimately they're quite bad for you, and I don't like smelling bad. If anyone is on the fence about quitting, it's quite worth it. Food is much more enjoyable when you can actually taste it.

 

I personally find smoking disgusting. The smell nauseates me. I've tried an experimental cigarette...never again. Coughed, gagged, nearly threw up. Power to you who do smoke, but don't smoke in my car, in my apartment, in my space, lol. If you can quit, please do. It's not good for you, lol.

 

There is a thread on electronic cigarettes that I highly recommend anyone who smokes to read through.

I smoked about a pack a day and since I started smoking these, which are actually just a nicotine vapor, realtively harmless to your body in terms of carcinogens (and no stinky side stream smoke), I have pretty much quit real cigarettes. I only have smoked recently because I am waiting for a new shipment of supplies. what a drag. no pun intended.
But even now, when I do smoke a real one, it's down to about 2-3 cigs a day, which makes me happy.

Definitely a better alternative if you can adjust to them.

 

Dead honesty, I don't smoke because I am addicted and when I smoke it is because I like the inhalation of the raspy smoke, to the formating of the smoke in the air.

Somehow I find it can look elegant as well.

 

agreed

 

Congrats on quitting and like Lurker, I hope things are okay too.

I smoked once when I was 16, didn't like it and never did it again. I also have come to the realization I can't be in close proximity with people when they do smoke, the fumes make my sinuses go haywire. (The last time I went to a bar that allowed smoking, I had a sore throat by the end of the night and a 3 day sinus infection).

My husband smoked from the time he was 15 until he was 23. When I became pregnant with our daughter, I asked him to promise he would quit smoking once she was born, and he did...quit cold turkey and hasn't smoked since, it'll be 4 years in July.

 

Yeah, I smoke. Have been smoking for 5 years now. I am aware of the side-effects, and frankly I couldn't care less.
Ignorant perhaps, but it is not that much of an issue. I have no dependents, I do not smoke outside of designated or permitted areas, and I ensure I enjoy each one.

I guess one of the factors that gets me thinking of the health implications is that of lung cancer.
In which case, I would probably have failed in achieving some key goals in my life and would not have established anything that would merit quitting indefinitely. e.g. Having a family, or an SO who does not smoke.
If such was the case, I may just kill myself and pick yet another dangerous activity (the ultimate).