Smoking?

[carolinagirl]

I don't know about anyone else but, for me, it's not an addiction to the nicotine so much as it's an addiction to the physical act of smoking. Sometimes I'll be sitting there with a lit ciggie in the ashtray and I'll absentmindedly light another one. Sitting in front of the computer, working, I'll chain smoke. But if I'm somewhere that I can't smoke, it's no biggie - I can go for hours.

That's why I don't think nicotine replacement stuff would do anything for me. I need to replace the physical act of smoking with some other habit. For me it's more like someone who bites their nails.

I have never smoked, but my mother and father smoked when I was growing up. When my mother quit several years ago, she said the same thing -- it was the act of smoking that was the hardest to break. Alot of people claim to gain weight after they quit smoking. The reason for that is you replace your habit of smoking, i.e. hand to mouth, with eating most of the time. My mother replaced her cigarette with a lollipop to help her break the addition.

 

[jazz lady]

Heroin is a chemical dependency. You are in physical trouble if you're addicted and you ain't got no smack, right?

Cigarettes are a habit, you aren't in physical distress when you're out of smokes. You're in mental, ie, something you can control, distress.

The withdraw symptoms of quitting smoking are nothing compared to those of quitting hard drugs or alcohol.

I have to beg to differ with you on this on. It IS a very real chemical dependency, albeit not on the magnitude of hard drugs. I spent the first couple of weeks of not smoking not sleeping much either. There were times I felt I could easily KILL somebody looking at me the wrong way as I was jonesing for a cigarette that badly.

The cravings at times almost made me feel like I was losing my mind. It wasn't pretty, but as the cravings lessened and I could breath and TASTE things again, it got much better.

 

[cattitude]

Alot of people claim to gain weight after they quit smoking. The reason for that is you replace your habit of smoking, i.e. hand to mouth, with eating most of the time. My mother replaced her cigarette with a lollipop to help her break the addition.

While that may play a role in weight gain, smoking actually raises your metabolism so when you stop smoking you are likely to initially gain weight even if you don't eat more.

 

[Larry Gude]

The poll agrees with you...

I have to beg to differ with you on this on. It IS a very real chemical dependency, albeit not on the magnitude of hard drugs. I spent the first couple of weeks of not smoking not sleeping much either. There were times I felt I could easily KILL somebody looking at me the wrong way as I was jonesing for a cigarette that badly.

The cravings at times almost made me feel like I was losing my mind. It wasn't pretty, but as the cravings lessened and I could breath and TASTE things again, it got much better.

...but my argument is that there is no tobacco wing at Betty Ford.

People have a tough time kicking caffiene to. I won't argue that the addition/habit level is the same for everyone but I will argue that as long as one is enjoying a great deal of smoking then torturing oneself to quit may be worse than just smoking.

 

[Chain729]

Heroin is a chemical dependency. You are in physical trouble if you're addicted and you ain't got no smack, right?

Cigarettes are a habit, you aren't in physical distress when you're out of smokes. You're in mental, ie, something you can control, distress.

The withdraw symptoms of quiting smoking are nothing compared to those of quitting hard drugs or alcohol.

Have to disagree. I wouldn't smoke as much as I do if it wasn't for the light-headedness, followed shortly by headaches. The same goes for caffeine. Both have medically documented withdrawl symptoms. Of course, they and the their degrees vary from person to person.

When I first started smoking, I only smoked when I drove. Then, I started smoking while at parties as well (social habit). Eventually, I had to continue doing so after work, to get the withdrawl symptoms to stop. This followed by having to smoke in the morning to get rid of the headache and then consequently during the day. For the first three years I smoked, I never smoked at work, and didn't need to. Now, if I don't, I start getting light-headed after an hour or so.

 

[Pete]

Just found out in a meeting that one of my close friends has small cell lung cancer. I think tomorrow at 5:05PM I am trying to quit again.

 

[KCM]

I think it is a little bit of both. I smoked for 14 years and decided to go cold turkey. Been smoke free for a little over 4 years now. But there are times when I am having a few drinks or at a party where I want that cigarette. I guess because it seems to me that the alcohol and the cigarette go hand in hand.

 

[K_Jo]

I have smoked off and on since high school. Never had a problem giving it up if I had a non-smoking boyfriend. I smoked a lot when I first moved in with C because it was a smoking house. But when I put the screws to the indoor smoking, I was too lazy to go to the basement, plus I started taking Welbutrin, so I cut way back. It took me from October 2 until one day last month to finish a carton. Sometimes I have one or two a night. Sometimes I don't have any.

I think it's more of a habit for C than an addiction. When he was in the hospital after his back surgery they slapped a patch on him and he said he didn't crave it at all, but he kept reaching for a ciggy out of habit.

I feel like you do, Catt. I want Otter...I mean C...to quit because he has smoked since he was 15 and only stopped long enough to get through boot camp. I don't want him to die. :sad: Oh, and he freakin' STINKS when he comes to bed after his final smoke down in his little basement hovel.

 

[K_Jo]

Oh, and Pete...

 

[jazz lady]

...but my argument is that there is no tobacco wing at Betty Ford.

Well, maybe there should be.

People have a tough time kicking caffiene to. I won't argue that the addition/habit level is the same for everyone but I will argue that as long as one is enjoying a great deal of smoking then torturing oneself to quit may be worse than just smoking.

I just kicked the caffeine habit in the last few months. It was NOTHING compared to stopping smoking. I'm sleeping better and actually need LESS sleep now.

I enjoyed the heck out of smoking, but I enjoy MORE knowing I can get up in the morning without hacking and coughing, take long walks without being out of breath, and using all the $$$ I threw away for something better. Is torturing yourself about quitting worse than the effects of smoking? I don't think so. The effects of smoking on your health and the environment are staggering. Cancer, emphysema, premature aging, indoor air pollution, etc. It's mind-boggling.

Quitting smoking is a mindset as is overcoming almost any addiction. I'm coming to terms with my addiction to food, what it has been costly me healthwise and doing something about it. Tough? Heck yes, but something FINALLY clicked in my brain to get me to focus on being ABLE to do something about it rather than finding excuses for NOT doing it. I enjoy eating but I also like being able to do the things I used to not be able to do even more. My energy level is simply amazing now. It is mind over matter, pure and simple.

 

[Railroad]

I didn't quit until a cancerous cyst was found in my bladder. Quitting after that was like closing the barn door after the horse was gone, but I feel a lot better now and can do a lot more than I was previously able to do, without getting breathless. As a cancer survivor, glad that the scare is behind me (at least for now), I don't look back much. I was a pack-and-half a day smoker after age 21 and until age 46. Before that, beginning at age 9, I was smoking at least 5 - 10 cigarettes a day.

 

[Christy]

...but my argument is that there is no tobacco wing at Betty Ford.

There should be.

 

[mAlice]

Larry, is vria's smoke getting to you again?

 

[vraiblonde]

Larry, is vria's smoke getting to you again?

We separated our offices so I could talk on the phone without distraction and he didn't have to smell my air pollution. So what does he do? He pops in to say hi and complains about the smoke.

Actually it's not so bad in here anymore. I got a Sharper Image Patented Ionic Breeze and it REALLY makes a difference.

 

[mAlice]

We separated our offices so I could talk on the phone without distraction and he didn't have to smell my air pollution. So what does he do? He pops in to say hi and complains about the smoke.

Actually it's not so bad in here anymore. I got a Sharper Image Patented Ionic Breeze and it REALLY makes a difference.

I've always wondered if those "smokeless" ashtrays work well.

 

[Railroad]

I encourage all of you that are smokers to quit as soon as you can.

 

[Topper]

Three Times and I'm Out

A habit is sometimes defined as an addiction, for example the use of habit in the phrase "drug habit." This question seems to define habit as a custom or practice, by making a distinction between the two words. Addiction seems to be defined as "being given up, having yielded to a habit, or practice ...to the extent that the cessation causes severe trauma." Personally, I cannot testify to the addictive capacity of smoking, as I have never smoked. However, I have known three people who did and tried to quit. One was successful, but she told me that even ten years after she craved a smoke daily. One was successful, and told me that he never thought about it. However, whenever he was asked, he licked his lips, and put his hand to his mouth. The impulse betrayed his denial. The third was not successful. Although he was a person of strength and character, admired and loved by many, he was unable to quit. He died of a heart attack before he was fifty. The receiving line at his wake was so long, it went out the door, down the block and around the corner. He was my dad, and I have never smoked.

 

[kwillia]

<img src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20051110/capt.nyma10211102010.bodies_the_exhibition_nyma102.jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=4pDNjaHpnnAfhg8EB.5Lhw--">

A healthy human lung, left, and a smokers lung injected with a polymer preservative are on display during a press preview of 'Bodies...The Exhibition,' Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 in New York.

 

[BuddyLee]

Thank God I just second hand smoke.

 

[crabcake]

Yea, well black goes with everything!