minor gloat CO2 tank

Larry Jaques on Sat, 17 Sep 2016

Once you've kicked the nicotine - which is a real bitch to do - then comes the "habits of the hand". The automatic things one does which involve a cigarette. Couple stories, I was in college working on a CS degree. The one compiler was a frustrating kludge, and slow. I hit return and walked out of the lab, smacking my shirt pocket for my smokes - and realized I had quit smoking some twenty five years before. That's a habit. The other story was of going to church with my then SO, and the preacher needed a cigarette for a prop, and someone way in back admitted they had one. Then having used it as a sermon illustration, he dropped his left hand by his side, and continued preaching. I noticed, and pointed out to herself, "guess who used to smoke a lot" judging from he way he fidgeted with that unlit cig. OTOH, I knew two people who quit, mid-pack. So it is possible.

Yeah, it is 'easy' to quit. "I've done it a thousand times" as the cliche has it. Its the "habits of the hand" which are the hardest to overcome. That morning cigarette with your cup of coffee, break time, etc.

MY advice is to phrase it in terms of 'dispassion' - of adding tobacco to the lists of things one desires to no longer desire, and move on. Let me know how that works. While its only been 44 years since I quit, I still occasionally have a desire for one.

tschus pyotr

p.s. Or you cold switch to a pipe. More fiddling round, more "smoking as a social activity" than with cigarettes.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

Why didn't you admit to Jaques that you haven't been paying into SS?

Jaques is finally right about something!

A friend's adult son is a smoker and drug addict. Every time he goes to jail, he gets clean. Every time he comes out, he immediately goes back to drugs and smoking, and telling people that it's too hard to quit.

Ah, no, dumbass.

At this rate (strokes, bypasses, etc.) you may not last that long. Retire but stay active, which is easy for you.

That's a given. What, precisely, do they mean by the 5-7yr lifespan of grafts?

I've quit both alcohol and smoking. COFFEE is harder for me to quit because I love it. But I made the decision and quit both alcohol and nicotine, and I've never regretted either decision. If you keep telling yourself it's hard, it will be. The fact remains that it is a simple decision you have to make. Once you truly make that decision, it's simple to quit. Of course, it's much easier if you actively cut way back. I smoked 2+ packs a day and cut back to 1-10 cigs a day before quitting. I got the flu and didn't want a cig for 4 days. When I recovered, I decided that the hard part was over (nicotine flush) and quit. I flushed the cigs themselves (JIC) and threw away the package. It was and is a Good Thing(tm). Just Do It. Everybody who has tried and failed tells you how hard it is, and that's because none of them ever made the desision to actually quit. Most quit for other reasons/other people but still wanted to smoke. (Hard to imagine.)

The metabolic changes probably stuck with you. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that's one reason for you retaining most of your mind after the stroke. It's either that, or you're an Agent Orange Zombie, and you know what Occam said. ;)

Paul was a Type A, eh? Condolences.

Very cool. More power to 'em!

Not if you taper off first, as I know from experience. Drink lots of water to flush the toxins out of your system while you do. It works for all toxins in the blood. Drugs and other poisons.

I played with and sucked on straws (no comments from the peanut gallery, eh?) for a couple weeks afterward, getting over the manual and oral fixations. Habit trying to push through will.

Breaking a habit is a function of will. Most people have it and don't use it.

Another trick was to walk outside and take a few deep breaths when I wanted a cig. It works especially well in bad weather.

I've never wanted another one for more than one second, when the memories of smells returned to remind me why I quit and stayed quit. So, that's maybe 6 seconds over 28 years.

Swap lung cancer for mouth/throat cancer. Wonderful change!

You might try bupropion aka Wellbutrin aka Zyban. I take 450 mg a day for depression. It's also prescribed for stop smoking. For me it prevented me from reaching the point of where I'd kill for a cigarette. I have quit my cigars for several months and it was no big deal. I started again because it really helps my depression. Had a Dr tell me that cigarettes were the worse thing you could smoke. I smoke a pipe sometimes. I have a piece of .250 OD x 8" piece of 304 SS for the pipe stem. No tongue bite at all. Surprised me.

CABG's (cardiac arterial bypass grafts) are not categorically "only good for 5-7 years". PLenty of people are walking around 20+ years post CABG.

The problem is that many who have such surgery continue the lifestyles that contributed to their needing it, so the likelihood of blockages recurring for them is somewhere between high and certain.

I had quintuple CABG over 8 years ago. After a recent annual routine checkup my cardiologist told me I can (and should) do anything I want, and let's make the interval between checkups two years rather than one. I feel better now than I did 7 years ago.

My cardiac ejection fraction six months post op was about 25%. Normal is in the neighborhood of 50%. I was told then that was about as good as it would ever get for me. Now, 8 years later, my last checkup showed that my e.f. is about 45%, nearly normal.

Lifestyle changes: noth>>

Excellent news, Don. And butter is a hell of a lot better for you than that hydrogenated margarine poison. I use 2:1 coconut oil with butter, melted just enough to blend. It's tasty and my omelets come out nicely browned, crisp, and tasty. Try it. (You, too, Gunner)

Best of luck, mon. Maybe try slightly lighter workouts for slightly longer periods so your oxygenated blood flow keeps up? You'll figure it out. After straining a psoas a couple weeks ago, I've cut way back on exercise for now.

Most Excellent, DUUUUUDE. Congrats. The first couple days are the worst, so you're well on your way to smoke-free nirvana. (Talked the old lady into quitting yet?) When you feel like a cig, walk outside, take several deep, deep breaths, chanting the Money Hum (Om mani padme hum) during each, and walk back inside. Worked for me. LOL

That's hyooge. You are each and both more likely to succeed that way. Who will be the first weakling to fail (not I, goddamnit, and not you, you can kick Mr. Butt's butt) and so on.

I won't say best of luck because luck has nothing to do with it; what gets it done is the intelligence to understand what must be done and the will to do it all the way until it's done -- "done" here meaning that not having a smoke become a no-brainer rather than yet another bitchy inch in a long low crawl uphill under fire.

It keeps getting easier as time goes on.

One device I used for awhile was the "gun of the month club"; I could just about buy a new handgun every month with the money I no longer spent on tobacco. Not quite, but pretty close. Smokes now cost twice what they did then ... but so do handguns. I eventually pretty much quit buying handguns lest I need to start buying safes...and then houses to keep them in.

I hope it's virgin rather than the processed crap. Costco had 54oz jugs for $18, so it's cheaper than the processed stuff at the store, and much, much better for you.

Awesome! Congrats to both, and please pass on my kudos to her, too.

It's a simple decision. I'm glad they made it. Once you truly make it, it's not hard to abide by. The hardest part is not to let your old habit make you pick up and light one without your conscious mind being involved.

My neighbor quit for a week and then, for the 4th time in her life, started smoking again. So disappointing. The time in the hospital cleaned her out and she knew she's heal quicker without the chemicals in her body, but she went back anyway. That's a disgusting habit.

I hope you're stocked up for TEOTWAWKI, too.

In my case, after a couple people died and the sin tax went sky high, I determined to quit and went on the patch. Being a bullheaded SOB and with a whole lot of luck I haven't had a smoke since April 23 1993.

Congrats, Gerry. My end-use dates: alcohol in '85, tobacco in '88, and TV in '05. I'm working on politics now. It's a ghastly disease.

Too bad you can't quit knuckledragging.