Letters to the Editor
-
Ashes to ashes
Kudos to Rebecca for quitting, sticking to it, and writing such a funny, honest account of what happened next.
When I quit (full disclosure - I've still been known to sneak a smoke at a party, and the love affair never entirely wanes) I immediately developed a soul wracking case of bronchitis that ruined an entire summer.
As for the exciting bonus features of aging - well, they do come with the territory but I'd never agree with anyone who says it's all downhill. I'd rather have my over 40 brain than my 25 year old butt any day.
-
Congrats,RT. They say it's harder to give up smoking than it is to get off of heroine.
I gave it up July of '86 after ten years. Asthma & allergies have been my constant companions since then.At least I still have my lungs -nice and pink again,or so my Dr. says. The first few years after quitting ,I would become bed ridden with winter colds.I grew up on the Great Plains with winters that were bone chilling,never once did I have a cold the likes of which I had A.Q. The fact that I lived on the west coast ,in a most temperate climate ,after quitting, made it all the more confounding.C'est la gare.
It's been six years since I have had a cold of any type.my hand washing is a bit o.c.d. But worth it.I do yoga,some pilates,run a bit ,walk a lot.I could do more cardio -but so what.I gain and lose the same ten pounds every 14 months.(everyone needs a hobby).and yet I still look back on my smoking years with a certain melancolia.I started smoking when I left home to go to university.All of the fun stuff one does when away from home for the first time-it's all tied up in my memory with
smoking.The smokes were always there to keep me company.when I had boy problems,or school problems,or when my mom died .Traveling across europe, smoking all of these weird types of tobacco. (I don't me 420).In Eastern Europe all I could afford were the Russian black cigarettes,tasted like sucking on an exhaust pipe.
I met a lot of memorable people huddling outside grabbin' a smoke.
I'm glad I quit but I still dream of smoking, occasionally.
To all of the sactimonious,self-rightous,assholes so proud of there-"never smoked a day in my life"bullshit,
Bite me!
-
Tip to help quit smoking
This worked for me. Your mileage may vary.
The gum tastes like shit by itself. I paired it with good tasting gum, it wasn't bad at all, I could put it between cheek and gum for a long time.
-
Quiting smoking and health
Here's a quick heads-up to all of you who had heart palpatations after quiting smoking.
Niccotine is the most powerful anti-anxiety drug known. It's why most people who quit get really jittery. You've just lost your anti-anxiety medication and are in withdrawl. And different people have different levels of anxiety. It is why some docs prescribe "Zyban," for their patients who want to quit--it's a low dose version of a major anti-anxiety (I think Paxill).
But cigarettes aren't candy, and they do re-wire your brain. So, life going haywire after stopping this major drug is NORMAL.
BTW: I quit 20 years ago, and am now cigarette hostile.
-
15 years after...
...once in a while I STILL dream I'm smoking, and it feels good. And following a car in which someone is smoking is still a guilty thrill.
It won't go away. But it will subside.
-
Some unsolicited advice
I quit smoking around the same time as you (Nov. 3) and started weight training for the first time in my life on the same day. Initially, having sore muscles gave me something else to think about physically instead of nicotine fits, and the boost in metabolism has offset the extra eating I've done. Starting with weights (maybe instead of yoga) might help a couple of different ways. Though as you say in the article spring is approaching. I was walking in our local park last evening enjoying the first warm night since who knows when a puff a smoke from somewhere made it into my nose. Dear God it smelled delicious....
-
the head lice
I'm pretty sure quitting smoking didn't cause that episode.
Though I supposed if you'd had cigarettes around, you could have used them to burn the lice off the scalp.
-
It'll Stay with You
I've quit for long periods. The first time in my mid 20s for about 3 years. The second, after a recitivistic year of smoking and a bad relationship.
I had lumps in my throat and still, after over a year of quitting for good, probably, pains in my chest.
Here's my guess: You will never get over the habit of smoking. It'll just manifest itself in some other annoying obsession.
Mine happens to be wine at the moment.
There are times, when watching a smoker indulge after a meal or during a drink, the urge creeps back like a biological imperative.
You will always have to deal with this. But hey, think of it like an exercise of the will.
-
You Still Got Off Easy
Moan, moan, moan.
About a decade ago I did the double-header - quit smoking and drinking, (both of which I did copiously). The drinking was literally killing me, so ending that produced immediate improvement. But I quit smoking not so much for health reasons as for the fact that smoking had become such a pain in the ass. Metro North had done away with the sanctuary of the smoking car, and having to go out in the cold to satisfy my addiction to nicotine was getting old. And forget about smoking in other people's homes and cars. If smokers were pariahs back then, I can't imagine what they're treated like today.
And let's don't forget the cost! Hell, at the rate I smoked, even at those old prices, it was a line-item on the budget.
Like many who quit smoking I not only didn't feel any better, but to some degree felt worse - got colds I had never gotten before, etc., all the stuff we cry about after ending our love-hate relationship with the Marlboro Man.
Want to know what really sucks? Last year - ten years after I quit smoking - I was diagnosed with and treated for hypopharyngeal cancer. (To be fair to cancer sticks, this type of cancer is blamed on the combination of smoking and drinking; your mileage may vary.)
Bottom line? Shit happens. So quit yer bitchin'. Buy some Altria (formerly Phillip Morris) with the money you save, and reap the harvest of all the idiots out there who still do smoke. MO is one of the shining stars in my portfolio, up 100% since I got in.