posted
If you work for the state, they could very well charge you a higher insurance premium. Not all states, but some (mine) do it. Some other employees do it, too.
quote:Cigarette smoking and coronary artery disease
Smoking is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Although all types of tobacco smoking increase the risk of developing CAD, smoking cigarettes increases this risk more than pipe smoking and cigar smoking. Up to 30% of all deaths related to CAD are attributed to cigarette smoking. 1 Smoking also increases the risk of sudden death from CAD.
Carbon monoxide, nicotine, and other substances in tobacco smoke can promote atherosclerosis and trigger symptoms of coronary artery disease. Smoking:
Causes the platelets in your blood to clump together easily, by making your blood cells more "sticky" and more likely to form clots. Clumping platelets can then block your coronary arteries and cause a heart attack.
Can cause spasms in your coronary arteries, which can reduce the blood flow to your heart in a way similar to that of atherosclerosis.
Can trigger irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias).
Lowers "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL). Cholesterol-carrying lipoproteins also more easily enter the walls of your arteries, where they can develop into a hard plaque and atherosclerosis.
Reduces the amount of oxygen that can be carried by red blood cells in the bloodstream. People who smoke are more likely to develop angina, have a heart attack, and die from some form of heart disease.
Smoking also affects those around you. Secondhand smoke may increase other people's risk of coronary artery disease.
It's not pretty, but there it is. Good luck quitting.
posted
Appearance related: Discolors your fingers and teeth. Makes your skin wrinkly and leathery so you look older than you are. Makes you, your clothing/home/car/breath smell. Cigarrette burns marring your clothing, furniture, car, etc.
Smoking is a fire risk.
Health related: Lung/throat/tongue/esophagus cancer, emphysema, high blood pressure, heart disease, dental problems, decreased tasting ability, stomach and esophagus ulcers, hernia/hemmoroids (from coughing), sinus infection, repeated viral illnesses, lung swelling, decreased lung capacity, difficulty breathing, aggravates flu/asthma, increased clotting/fatty acids in blood, eye infections/disorders, bladder/prostate cancer, and on and on and on. Check out this article.
Lung disease can set in after smoking 5-10 cigarrettes daily for a year.
Other people: Besides the risk of cancer due to second-hand smoking, smoking (even if you don't do it in their presence) can aggravate asthma/lung/allergy problems in those around you. To many non-smokers, the smell that accompanies a smoker is unpleasant and sometimes down-right nauseating (especially to pregnant women).
Think of the money and time that you spend on cigarrettes. Add it up over a week, a month, a year. The numbers are staggering.
posted
I'm going to an OSC signing on August 17th. If you quit smoking before then, email me and I will mail you a signed copy of Ender's Game.
I guess I should specify. If, by August 17th, you have not smoked for at least 10 days in a row (so your last cigarette was August 7th), you qualify. I'd suggest weaning yourself off so you don't have to go cold turkey August 7th, but that's just me.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:What are the health risks of smoking marijuana, rather than tobacco?
Habitual smokers of marijuana face many of the same lung-related issues as smokers of tobacco (linky). In addition smoking of marijuana decreases fertility, adversely affects the nerve receptors in the brain related to memory, causes impaired judgement (for the time that the chemicals are in your system), can induce or aggravate pyschosis, and can expose you to other harmful chemicals (marijuana is often cut with junk).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Bladder Cancer, with subsequent removal of said cancerous organ. Said removal leading to having to pee uncontrolled through a plastic hose coming out of the front of your abdomen and dripping into a catch bag. Filth and stink as expected. Said "ostomy" leading to subsequent loss of sexual function (well, certainly sexual desire and attractiveness). Possibility of subsequent gangrenous bowels, leading to removal of bowels and rectum, leading to a COLostomy, and the subsequent need to poop through a larger plastic tube, etc. etc. etc.
But, other than that, and the lung cancer, and the stinky breath, and the stinky sweat, and the stinky pee, and the horribly stained teeth it's great! Go for it! Smoking is soooo cool!
--Steve
PS: the above problems are real, and lead to the untimely death of my father-in-law, before I married his daugther, and before our kids were born. But we're not bitter.
Posts: 1862 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
My grandfather has the bladder cancer too. And severe emphysema. He is on oxygen full time and is currently in the hospital with pneumonia and fever not responding to antibiotics.
*looks at previous posts* Peripheral vascular disease/PAD (causing leg pain, lack of blood to the feet, and occasionally amputation) and strokes are also big problems that should be on the list of smoking complications too.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
SW, nobody can do it but you. But you CAN do it. You are not a slave to tobacco. The human will is a very strong thing.
It takes only 100 times of saying "no" to yourself to quit smoking. The first day you will have to use perhaps 20 of those. And maybe 30 on the second day. The third day 15, the fourth day 5, perhaps one or two a day for another two weeks. Then that's all. The last ones are for the rest of the years of your life. You will be tempted again in a year, perhaps, and maybe another 2 or 3 years. These are only dangerous if you don't know they're coming.
But you can and will quit.
Each time you get the urge to smoke, hold your breath for 30 seconds to 1 minute and remember how much stronger is the urge to breathe.
Avoid places and situations in which you are strongly tempted to smoke. For instance, if you drink, leave off alcohol for a couple of weeks as well, since alcohol can lower your resistance to the temptation to light up. One breast cancer survivor I know quit drinking coffee at the same time, since she always wanted a cigarrette with her coffee.
Displace the craving for tobacco into an addiction to exercise, or to drink lots of water, or do yoga stretches.
You will take years off your age and feel so much better. Your food will taste so much better. You will be healthier overall, less prone to colds and respiratory illness, and have a higher quality of life.
Don't be accountable to anyone else for your smoking but only to yourself (and God, if you're a believer). Also, if you're a believer, access God's strength when your own is foundering. Pray for strength to resist, and for this craving to be taken away.
Good luck! We are all behind you! You are so smart to make this choice. It will be such a great feeling of freedom to leave behind your craven need for this drug. Congratulations!
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Tatiana had some wonderful advice. I smoked for 14 years, and quite frankly listening to the health effects were not enough to make me quit. You've known for however long you've smoked that it's harmful, and you still know it now.
Make the decision and stick to it. Like Farmgirl suggested, check in here. Like Brinestone suggested, taper youself off if going cold turkey won't work for you. Yes, it will suck incredibly more than anything in your life has ever sucked for the first three days. After that, it gets easier - I promise. Don't go near smokers if at all possible and keep believing that you can do it.
I like what Tatiana said about the feeling of freedom, because it's so true. Before I quit smoking, I was sick to death of having to run out to the gas station every day to buy a pack, or cough up the money for a carton. I *loathed* the fact that instead of staying in bed and relaxing on a Sunday morning I was in the car heading to town because I'd run out of cigarettes before bed the night before. Hang in there and don't give up!
PS: I know my photoshop skills are amazing. I mean, those packs look like they've come alive with evil, right? Right?!
Posts: 459 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Oh, and one more thing: don't feel bad if you try and fail a few times before you finally figure out how to make it stick.
Don't give yourself PERMISSION to fail, because you can get discouraged and it wastes a lot of pain and suffering and effort.
But if you do happen to fail, chalk it up to experience. Examine the situation or the causes that led you to this setback, and make a strong determination to try again, maybe incorporating the new knowledge into your strategy.
Everyone is different. The easiest way for one person might be the hardest for someone else. I think most people find that cold turkey is the easiest, because it gets it over with the quickest. However, other people find the patch works for them, or gradually tapering, or nicotine gum, or some other method.
Pick a method that you think will work best for you and do your very best to stick it out. Each time you give in to temptation, it becomes a little bit harder to resist next time round. Each time you successfully resist temptation it becomes a little bit easier. So remember to think of the future as well as the moment. Remember that by caving in once, you are making it harder on yourself in the future.
But even if it takes many attempts, don't give up until you are free. It's a nasty vile horrible enslaving drug, and you can and will break free of it. I think you will find that the experience of quitting will be very liberating and good experience for you. You will feel a sense of control over yourself, and of accomplishment. Remember at the end of LotR when Sam realizes he's going on regardless? That he's heard all the arguments for despair and he rejects them? Then he gets this sort of thrill all through him that he's made of steel or something? That's how it will feel. It's a great feeling of freedom and power and unlimited possibility.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
There's always an idiot who insists on smoking around the gas pumps. I consider that a hazard to the entire city block. If they didn't smoke, it wouldn't be a problem.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Here's a tip: Go visit people for two weeks who don't smoke and don't allow smoking in their home. They must live in a hot place, such as Reno, Nevada. That's where my husband is. He returns on Monday. He usually smokes 3 cartons in 2 weeks. He bought a carton last Saturday and was on the fifth pack today. He can't smoke in their house and it's been so hot he doesn't want to go outside.
Of course, I only have his word for all this ... he could really be smoking like a chimney ... I'll know on Monday.
Oh, and our bishop (LDS, he's also a school principal) tries to focus on the financial aspects of it. I can't remember his statistic. It's something like someone who smokes for (X) years, if they saved that money, would have a million dollars. I just can't remember the number of years.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
I have a patient. She's 70 years old, and had zero medical problems. Heck, she hadn't seen a doctor in ten years. Except she's been smoking since she was 20. Comes in after being very short of breath for the last month.
Carcinoma of the lung. Predicted survival? In the weeks.
Here's a person who would have lived a VERY healthy life into her 90's, and enjoyed many beautiful days with her husband, her children, and her grandchildren. Who's now dying. Painfully and miserably.
(Identifying info has been changed, just so you know)
Posts: 1261 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
When I wanted to give up smoking I read a book called
'The easy way to stop smoking' by Alan Carr.
I stopped smoking after I finished it (the second time) and I haven't had a cigarette in the 3 years since.
When I stopped I had been smoking about 15 cigarettes a day for 6 years. 3 weeks later my taste buds came back - ahh the taste of strawberries!
I still think it was the best decision I ever made and suprisingly easy once I had finished the book and truely decided that I didn't want to be a smoker for the rest of my life.
And that really is the secret, you actually really have to want to be a non-smoker.
The book takes you through a series of stories that reframe how you think about cigarettes ... leading to an understanding that you want to be a non-smoker.
posted
I'm a nurse. We nurses have a name for people who keep on smoking even though they know that it's bad for them and even though their friends and family have tried to get them to stop.
We call them patients.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I had a deal with Dad a few months back to quit. Turned a loan into a gift if I quit. Wasn't doing well with it, but did cut down and even stopped for a week. Then of course Mom died and I NEEDED some serious ciggy action. Couldn't hide that from Dad but he gave me a grace period. Oh I'm sure I can hide my smoking from him again if I want to, but now my brother and my friends found out about this contract and are hounding the crap out of me.
I need to stop anyway. I always said I'd quite when I'd turn 30 (which is in two yeas) and it's damaging my breath control and upper singing range. I could sing the alto parts easily back in college but now it's hard for me to keep up with 1st tenor.
I just like smoking too much. Not just the addiction but the "coolness factor" of it. And I actually like the smell of freshly burning ciggies (dead butts are horrible), always have. The motion of smoking is cool and comforting too. And it's great at parties when there is a lull in conversation...just take a drag from your fag. Ahhh... nothing like a flaming fag in your mouth.
Anyway...I'm trying to ween myself off.. Matt my brother thinks that I should just go cold turkey. I wish I could get to a point where I didn't need to smoke, where I would just do it once in a while at parties or something.
Ah well... let the battle continue. Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:I just like smoking too much. Not just the addiction but the "coolness factor" of it.
I don't know of any non-smokers who buy into that coolness factor bit. I also don't understand it - at all. Eh, maybe it's part and parcel of me never beeing one of the cool kids.
I'm one of those who's bothered by the smell and gets sick - even if it's just the lingering smell of smoke on the smoker's clothes. (Although I do know some smokers who managed to not have the smell invade their clothes, car, house, but I'm not quite sure how they did that, other than always smoking inside, regardless.)
posted
The money. The things you can buy with the money you save is endless. (like hardcover OSC books)
The fact that smokers are treated-like second class citizens who can't smoke when the cravings come. In wonderful locations where it snows you get to stand outside in the cold to smoke. Don't put up with that.
The fact that you lose your sense of taste and smell. Food isn't as enjoyable. And people who do have these senses working know exactly how gross you and everything you own smell. And would rather not go near you or your house or your car. Or purchase those from you should you wish to sell them.
Your voice. Your ability to run.
Your time. I'm sure you think about cigarettes when you need them. You could be obsessing over somethig a lot more interesting than killing yourself.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
MIght be useful for me to give a bit more back ground to the Alan Carr book. Some of his main points:
Cutting down is the hardest way to quit (just magnifies the pleasure when you eventually have one which just makes it harder to give up) Thinking of the health repercussions of smoking makes it even harder to quit (You get scared and when scared / nervous what does a smoker do? ... SMOKE)
The secret is to recognise that the only reason you want a cigarette is because of the (very mild) withdrawl symptoms from the last one. And yes they are very mild. Indistiguishable from hunger, in fact, and very easy to work through if you want to.
Imagine one of the best part of life, enjoying and great meal with loved ones. Following the meal everything is perfect, relaxed, entertaining, but a smoker still needs that one extra thing to really enjoy the situation. Even if smoking that cigarette means standing out in the rain to get 'his fix'.
And what does he get out of it? The great sensation of mild suffocation, smelling fingers and stinky clothes.
So, you stop smoking and know that each day you are killing that little nicotine monster a little bit more until you are free of needing a cigarette to really enjoy life. All it takes is three days to overcome the physical addiction and three weeks to overcome the mental addiction and then you are FREE!
Posts: 571 | Registered: May 2001
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quote:Ahhh... nothing like a flaming fag in your mouth.
We're still talking about cigarettes, right?
Regarding the coolness factor, it's SO over! It was cool maybe 50 years ago, or in some current day Junior High Schools, but now? Nah, it's played.
I know these things, because I am on the cutting egde of what is cool and in. That's what I'm doing on Hatrack with the rest of you with-it cats and kittens. Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I think the "cool" effect of smoking is in part the fact that it gives you something to do with your hands when you might otherwise be fidgeting. All the actions of smoking are well-rehearsed and can help you fill awkward pauses.
As for quitting, I think firebird's given some of the best advice so far. You quit by genuinely not wanting to smoke anymore. I don't smoke, but I see this the same as anything else that requires willpower: dieting, sticking to a writing schedule, whatever. Your desire to do it is more important than someone else pestering you.
Of course, I'm no expert on willpower, as anyone waiting for me to be done with chapter 3 will tell you.
See, I don't know if I agree with that. I'll say that it's not true for me at least. I quit smoking many months ago and do not consider myself to be "free." Maybe it takes years? I still find it extremely difficult to be around people who are smoking. I actually get pissed off at them, if that makes any sense. Pissed off in a very childish sense - "They are smoking and oh, I loathe them so for being able to smoke and I can't smoke, etc." Now, after a second I remind myself about all the good things that come with not smoking, but it's still hard sometimes. I have no plans to EVER smoke again, and I'm pretty confidant that I never will. I dunno. My sister quit smoking years ago and says it's still hard for her sometimes. Are we just weirdos or is this a regular thing?
posted
Just based on people I know, I don't think what you're describing is that uncommon. I know people who've quit for several months at a time and suddenly broke down and started smoking again, and others that haven's smoked for years but think about it or get the temptation every now and then.
Maybe medically the nicotine addiction is out of your system in a few days or weeks, but the habit itself seems a lot harder to break. I know a lot of people who associate smoking with stress relief, so when they try to quit a bad day at work will get them smoking again. Probably everybody's a little different.
An odd sidenote: I have never smoked in my life. But sometimes in dreams I smoke a cigarrette. And generally in the dream I won't be a regular smoker; it's still a big deal in the dream itself. I don't really get that, either.
posted
The epidemiologist Sir Richard Doll established smoking as a major cause of lung disease over 50 years ago. And he died last week. Quit smoking in his memory.
Or, you could take other advice he gave and fulfill your social responsibility to "live dangerously."
posted
I know many ex-smokers who don't feel free. They feel every day that they are denying themselves what was a pleasant habbit due to health / cost reasons.
I know that for me I really am FREE! (It feels so great).
The difference is, I think, the reframing I did while reading the Alan Carr book. I don't feel I am being denied anything pleasant at all. As the only pleasure you get from smoking a cigarette is the relief you feel from the withdrawl symptoms of the last one. Do every day I already am in the state that smokers have to smoke to get to.
I know some people say they like the smell, or the feeling of smoke in their lungs, or something to fiddle with. The smell ????? please! The sensation of suffocation ... are you sure? And something to fiddle with? Try a tooth pick or pencil!
I hope all the smokers and ex-smokers reading this get to experience the sense of freedom I have found.
Posts: 571 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
hey guy's, just wanted to check in, I went camping this weekend with some friends and I haven't had a smoke since Friday...........trying to keep with it......Thanks for all the support, it really does help.
Brinstone, that is an awesome offer, I don't know what to say. you support is greatly appreciated. ^_^......I will continue to seek motivation and strength through the support of my friends (that includes you guys ^_^).
thanks again for all the support.........one day at a time.
posted
Keep yourself and yours hands busy, Sticky, so they don't automatically go for the cigs. Suck lollipops (like Telly Savalas did) or something, if you need just for the psych benefit.
Good going -- the whole weekend without smoking! We're proud of you!
posted
Kissing a smoker is much like licking an ashtray. Few people enjoy that.
Therefore, you will be unable to find love, or at least love that lasts past the first kiss.
In frustration after decades of loneliness, you resort to prostitutes. From one, you contract a malignant form of syphilis that is incurable, kills within two days, and will feature in the next Micheal Crichton sci-fi thriller.
posted
I've heard if you have any cravings to smoke, brushing your teeth can help. Of course that could work for some and not for others.
Another reason to stop smoking is those you're around get second hand smoke. I live in an apartment and the people below us smoke and it drives me crazy! I have a two year old for heaven sakes! sorry....venting done..
I wish you luck Sticky, I hope you get that signed copy of Ender's Game! (You are so awesome Brinestone)
Posts: 1417 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Good luck w/this Sticky Wicket. Here are my thoughts:
One thing to consider is that down the road someone will often be on oxygen. I work in a nursing home and see patients who smoke/have smoked who get so short of breath that even things like going to the bathroom are tiring and require extensive assisance of other people. Those w/COPD will often require extremely long times to get dressed and manage daily living tasks. Plus, smoking increases your blood pressure and increases your chance of getting a stroke. (Sorry if this was already noted, I did skim the entire thread but can't remember if I saw this noted). When I meet those who smoke, the sad thing to me is that in some cases, if the person had not smoked, they would often be spending their golden years doing fun things/traveling or whatever instead of planning all their needs around managing the oxygen tank and related worries. I remember one wonderful gentleman who was finally looking forward to going home after being in the hospital/rehab for several months. I asked him what was the first thing he was going to do upon going home. His answer? Check his oxygen consenstrator (machine that makes oxygen and decreases risk of oxygen "running out").
Another great man told me how he started smoking during WW2 as cigarettes were distrubed in the military. He stopped a few years ago. When I met him, he was in our facility for severe COPD. He was resting and telling me a bit about his wife and then w/tears told me how he just hoped to make it to his 60th wedding anniversary. He was lamenting the cigarettes and telling me how he still missed them. I praised him on having given them up. However, his words, the damage had been done. Sadly, for him, his hope didn't work out. Of course there are a myriad of ways in which we can die. For him, however, though that lung damgage did result in him missing that milestone anniversary. I wish so much when I see teenagers in convenience stores buying cigarettes that I had the courage to tell them that smoking is not cool. I wish I could tell them that down the road they might be so weak as a result of smoking that they will need help with those most basic functions of life.
One lady I worked w/who decided to stop smoking said her motivation was to be around to see her grandchildren. Find out what motivates you, perhaps that will help. Now I need to take my own advice in dealing with my junk food addiction.
Stick to it Sticky!!!
Posts: 38 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Printer-friendly view of this topic
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for all this ... he could really be smoking like a chimney ... I'll know on Monday. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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We're still talking about cigarettes, right?![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
It was cool maybe 50 years ago, or in some current day Junior High Schools, but now? Nah, it's played.![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Of course there are a myriad of ways in which we can die. For him, however, though that lung damgage did result in him missing that milestone anniversary.
