Letters to the Editor
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Congratulations!
I've never been a smoker, but I have struggled with having to quit eating things that my body could no longer tolerate, and it wasn't (hasn't been) easy. Food was what I used the way others use cigarettes.
Sounds like a major detoxification comes with withdrawal from nicotine, along with the weight changes, etc. Perhaps it would be better for anyone else contemplating quitting to start in the spring or summer, and get past the worst of the symptoms before winter sets in.
As for the immune system, in our house we go through lots of elderberry... lozenges, extract, whatever. (I haven't tried wine yet, but might.) Not just when we don't feel well, but even when we do, trying to keep symptoms at bay.
And, there's always acupuncture, which could help in general, and maybe with the after-effects of smoking.
What I'd like to read is what came before, what made the decision to quit a natural, and what it was like to make that change then or shortly after.
Some years ago, a couple of my female friends both quit smoking, independently of one another, and they each had a similar reaction. They were both aware of becoming more outspoken and less likely to hold back what they really thought. Makes me wonder what Rebecca Traister might do/say/write in the future... not that I think she holds back much now.
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I can totally relate
I quit smoking 12 years ago at the age of 36, after having smoked for 20 years. I did get bronchitis, and then asthma, sinus trouble and shortness of breath when I'd never had it before. My doctor told me that smoking suppresses your immune system, and you can have low level infections and not know it. You can also become dehydrated which contributes to digestive and upper respiratory problems. So after using an albuterol inhaler for a while, and doing the deep breathing with yoga, I'm fine, sinuses and all. I just take a decongestant every now and then. I did have a lot of trouble dealing with stress afterwards, and that's gotten better. I notice one thing about the people I know who do still smoke, mainly my sister. It's not that she doesn't deal with stress well, she doesn't deal with it at all. Something upsetting may happen, and she'll become flustered, smoke a cigarette and shrug it off. She's not upset anymore but nothing gets solved. I used to be the same way. I am so glad I quit. I have kids, and I used to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my cigarettes. I was not a nice person without them. It's really good to be rid of them.
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I smoke because it's the only thing that separates us from animals.
I had mixed feelings reading this, as I did so during a period in which I, too, realize it is time to quit. After reading it I went back and re-read a hilarious Salon article from Feb. 2000 that all my smoker friends circulated at the time.
It was by Carina Chocano, and was titled "I Am A Smoker: I Hate You Too". Some memorable excerpts: "I smoke because I adore being lectured. Because we owe it to the Indians. Because cigarettes keep me company without getting on my nerves. Because half the point of having a vice is pissing off the virtuous."
Combined the two articles reflected perfectly the ambivalence I'm feeling. I know I need to quit, that it's good that I quit, but the relentlessness of society's anti-smoking vibe these past few years has me wishing I could do one last smoking fuck-you, like smoking in a packed gym, or during a funeral. Yes, that would be perfect. Catching the eye of the grieving widow, and mouthing a silent "do you mind?" as I snapped open a big fat Zippo and lit a menthol 100.
Hey, I'm just sayin'..
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The best, or at least the better, is yet to come
I quit for what I hope is the last time around five years ago, when I was coming up on fifty. I progressed through various stages of coughing, physical disintegration and disillusionment before reaching a point where, I realized with some surprise, because improvement had crept up on me stealthily, I felt better than I had in ten years or more. I also look ten years younger than I did when I quit, if you overlook the scraggy haircut and a recent summer of gross overexposure to the sun.
I had quit several times before but failed to cross the bar that separated post-quit crumminess from recognizable improvement. I wonder if the damage from smoking doesn't continue for quite awhile after you stop sucking in the smoke, but you notice it more because hey, you can taste and smell and see things better, including the apparent ruination of your own protesting carcass. Once the repair process takes over you feel better month by month until there's no denying that really, it was all worthwhile.
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he who speaks the truth is off by about 30 years unless he fucked up big time or is VERY unlucky
my guess is he most likely has had 30 or 40 extra pounds of fat all along that should never have been there and that is why nothing ever went right, the line about having diabetes but controlling it by diet without really changing your diet is a dead give away. If you get adult onset diabetes you are too fat. Period. Style is not medicial reality.
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don't smoke, don't be a fat pig, exercise
you have to do ALL THREE TOGETHER to make it work, if you do
ALL THREE TOGETHER you will be in GREAT SHAPE, unless you are a very very rarely unlucky person. Exercise will deal with the stress and your body will handle it fine if you aren't TOO FAT. Of course you have to be reasonable about what exercise you do and how you do it.
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addiction
You lost your constant companion and stress reliever. The mind/body connection is real. You're finally hearing what you're body is saying and so naturally it's speaking up more. That's a good thing. Keep listening, keep responding sympathetically. Now that you're not numbing yourself you'll feel much more alive very soon.
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"I've never been a smoker..."
then STFU - you are in no position to even comment on this.
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way to go
Congratulations on quitting and best of luck with continuing.