A GIANT step in the right direction.......

Hello everyone,

Just writing this to let everyone know that I have quit smoking! It may not sound like a big deal, but it is to me! I've been smoking for 11+ years, and now since Sunday (8/10/03), I have not had, nor craved a cigarette. I am cheating a little bit; I am not quitting Cold-Turkey. I am using the Commit Lozenge, but not to the full extent that they say I would have been. They say that I should use at least 9 of them per day for the first 6 weeks, but I have been averaging 3-4 per day. Everyone wish me continued success in this most important and healthy venture.

Dave

Sending you some serious good karma dave. You're doing the people around you good too you know. If you want to you can post this in the prayer forum and people will pray for you. I personally will be sending you hugs! (((Dave)))

Congratulations Dave!!!! It is a huge deal. Trust me, it's on my long to-do list. I plan on using Commit when I quit. Praying for your continued success.

Quitting smoking is a huge deal. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. Good Luck!!

Oh, what a wonderful thread! I will send you my very strongest vibes. Although I have never smoked, all of my five siblings did, and several of my favorite cousins died of lung cancer after being heavy smokers for years. I know from the talk in my family that it must be a huge accomplishment for most people when they conquer the demons.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking this step. That's one more person who won't be a bad influence on my grandchildren.

Great news, Dave! Lots of extra cash to spend on gardening now! John

Thank you everyone for your support!

Elsie, Please be prepared when you start your stop-smoking therapy. The lozenges aren't the best tasting things in the world, but after 2-3 days of use, you get adjusted to them. Good vibes to you! Hope you jump on this GOOD bandwagon -- I'll save you a seat!

John, That's what I plan to do with the extra cash, I figured 1.5 to 2 packs per day @ $3.35/pack, that's $6.70/day x 365 days = $2,445.50 -- That's a lot of plants!

Aimee, So Sorry to hear about your cousins. My prayers go out to your entire family. That is one of the main reasons I decided to quit. I started getting a funny tickle in my throat, and got scared. It went away when I wouldn't smoke, but then come back as fast as it could. That's when I decided to quit! I went to the doctor, and found out that the tickle was only allergies, so I take a claritin everyday, but I am still passing on the cigarettes! No more poison in my lungs.

Dave

This message was edited Wednesday, Aug 13th 12:02 PM

Begeebus, that IS alot of plants! Hmm...pondering if there is any bad habit I could give up for extra plant money...

One of the strongest habits to break. Only you can do it. It's either yes or no to smoking. There is no in between. It took me a long time to quit; one almost has to get angry at the situation. Better breath; more money to spend on plants; better smelling house and car; your friends will certainly be rooting for you. You are helping to put the cigarette companies out of business. Now what could be more fun!

Oh, my, I would have quit the instant I learned that it cost that much. Like burning hundred dollar bills!

Ohm, dave, so nice to meet ya, and I am proud of you!

The plants will love your fingers even more now.

And you will be around longer to enjoy them.

Keep up the good work, and holler at us when you feel tempted.

Hugs, Lavanda

Good for you, Dave! I started to smoke when I went into college. I smoked for six years, then one day decided to quit, and never smoked another one. It was tough! After many, many years, I occasionally still dream that I am smoking and think to myself, "I shouldn't be doing this"! I recently lost someone who was very dear to me from lung cancer. My father smoked since he was a teen-ager and died of emphasema. He was in the University of Texas health center which specialized in lung problems. I would see many people who were on oxygen, wheel their oxygen apparatus to the smoking area, turn off their oxygen, and light up a cigarette. What a powerful habit!
Not only are you doing a great thing for yourself, but for others that you come into contact with. Keep up the good work.


This message was edited Wednesday, Aug 13th 12:44 PM

Bill, when my daughter was in a hospital in Houston years ago, I actually saw people with so much of their mouth eaten away they could no longer hold a cigarette between lips, so they had a special gadget rigged up to help them smoke. It held the cigarette and "pulled" as a mouth would have done if they still had a mouth, and they inhaled the smoke as it was drawn through. There was no need for them to quit, they had mere days left to live. I am still haunted by those mental images, but if I had been a smoker that would have cured me.

Aimee, that would have certainly cured me too. What a terrible sight. One more story, several years ago I was on a flight to Chicago, and a very large man across the aisle from me had a heart attack. The flight personnell were trying to give him oxygen, and he was begging them to shut it off and let him smoke a cigarette. That's really when I realized that smoking is an addiction as powerful as any drug.
Bill

YOU CAN DO IT!

I quit, restarted, then quit again and again till it "took" one day.

Congratulations and keep it up! I'll pray that you have srength!

I am so glad for you! I quit almost 3 years ago - I had smoked for almost 30 years. Wellbutron is what helped me and it made it a breeze. At the time I decided to quit, I really didn't want to. I loved smoking! But the cost in money and health and having to smoke outside everywhere I went just wasn't worth it anymore. Now I don't miss it a bit and when I see someone else smoking I think how glad I am that I am not hooked anymore.

It is a HUGE deal to quit smoking. My DH quit 29 years ago and he hasn't missed it once he got over the hump of a few weeks.

My MIL just died last week of emphysema and it breaks my heart what a good life she could have had these last few years if she had been able to breathe properly.

GOOD LUCK!!!!! if you get the urge just pick up some of the beautiful gardening catalogs and dream of the plants you can buy.

how are you doing??

Food starting to taste more delicious? Fragrances more powerful? Head clearer???

Nice huh?

Anyone else who quit: are you an anti-smoker? I have become very much unable to stand the smell of it and if I am in a smokefilled room I deteest smelling that way now... much worse than ever when I smoked... it even bugs me if it's in a car in front of me and we both have windows down, go figure.

Dave....ATTABOY! I quit on June 9th, 2002....by accupuncture. It worked wonderfully. My husband died of lung cancer two years ogo about Christmas time.....so Bill, I know whereof you speak!!

Now I am hanging out (litterally)in the DIET forum...trying to loose the 20 pounds that was caused by "food tasting so good"....worth it though!! Jo

Hi, neighbor Dave! I'm so happy for you - you're doing yourself a big service, a great thing! You go romp with your dobey when you have a craving. That way, you'll both have fun. :)

Janiejoy, you talk just like my DH did 30 years ago when he quit smoking. He had all those feelings that you did and do. He complains more about cigarette smoke smells than I do and I am the one with the asthma. lol

Hi Dave, I've never smoked, so I don't know how horrible it must be to quit...regardless...I am pulling for you! I think it is wonderful! Here is some extra incentive just in case you might need it. This article appeared in our local newspaper a couple of days ago. I thought it was very inspiring....please read it if you have time! Good luck to you. Here is the story:.....

"Local teen’s project aids in father kicking 20-year smoking habit"

By JEWEL BUSH
The Courier


The findings from Kayla Callais’ ninth-grade social studies project on second-hand smoke were so alarming her father, Scott Callais, a 20-year smoker, quit cold turkey.

Kayla, a 14-year-old Galliano native, who has never puffed a cigarette, has the lungs of a 41-year-old.

Since birth, she has lived around smokers. The damage, in some cases reversible, is largely attributed to her dad’s two-pack a day habit.

The teen has coughed, wheezed and battled reoccurring bouts of bronchitis and ear infections -- linked to passive smoke -- all of her life.

Being around cigarette smoke, Kayla said, has always irritated her.

Over the years, she noticed her friends whose parents didn’t smoke didn’t suffer with the same breathing-related ailments as she did.

The inquisitive teen-ager wanted to know why.

So when the annual social studies fair rolled around, Kayla thought what better topic to research than the effects of passive smoke.

Second-hand smoke, also referred to as environmental tobacco smoke, consists of the smoke inhaled and exhaled by the smoker, called mainstream smoke, and sidestream smoke, the smoke released from the end of a burning cigarette.

Two thirds of the smoke from a burning cigarette is not even inhaled by the smoker, according to studies. That contaminated air is inhaled by anyone in close distance to the smoker.

Second-hand smoke is the combination of poisonous gases, liquids and breathable particles harmful to a person’s health.

Based on research, second-hand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, 50 of which are associated with, or known to cause cancer.


Kayla uncovered such information during her Internet probing and from interviews she conducted with six doctors and medical professionals, including various nurses and X-ray technicians.

She surveyed 100 adult smokers from her community asking questions about their awareness of the hazards of smoking and how long they have smoked.

Seventy-eight percent didn’t know smoking was harmful to their health.

However, the turning point in her fact-finding mission was when the results from her lung function test determined her lungs were 27 years older than she.

The family was devastated, and furthered shaken, when one of Kayla’s friend, who is also 14 but didn’t live with smokers, took the same test and her results came back as the right age.

The way the lung function test works is a person breathes into a mouthpiece connected to a recording device, where he or she inhales and exhales.

As part of some procedures, a person breathes a mixtures of gases like 100 percent oxygen, helium and air or a mixture of carbon monoxide and air.

Kayla’s father, Scott said he was shocked and never intended for the nasty habit he picked up from friends to hurt his only child.

In the past, the 37-year-old made up to five failed attempts to kick the habit. He quit for good when he learned of the results of his daughter’s school project.

Scott has been smoke-free for nearly a year, and said he can feel the toll two decades of smoking took on his health.

Before he was always tired, yet now that he has quit, Scott said he feels better than ever.

"It’s sad some people just don’t care. Parents should quit smoking if they really, truly care about their children they would just quit," pleaded Kayla, who said, before this project, she probably would have taken a crack at smoking cigarettes.

"I would personally never smoke. After, knowing all the risks. I would never try. I wouldn’t just be hurting myself, I would be hurting others."

Kayla said there are alternatives if a person chooses not to quit smoking. Smokers can light up outside, but preferably not around the home and never around children.

The South Lafourche High School student, who plays tennis, is a member of the 4-H club and is active in the area’s beauty-pageant circuit, said now that her father doesn’t smoke, her own health has improved.

Her coughing and wheezing has nearly disappeared.

To increase her lung capacity, Kayla plans to exercise her airways using a machine designed for the purpose.

"I’m glad Kayla did this project. This is a serious issue that needs to be brought out in the community," said Kayla’s mother, 38-year-old Annette Callais, who smoked for about three months before she became pregnant with Kayla.

Two others have stopped smoking cigarettes as a result of Kayla’s project, which earned her first place in the state social studies fair: a 25-year-old mother of two and a 20-year-old man, who lives with two small children.

Janiejoy, All you said is true -- everything tastes better and smells better too. That might cause a problem -- I'll be joining Jo in the diet forum! I would say that I am making great progress. I haven't craved a cigarette the whole time now (5 full days). The smell of cigarette smoke actually makes me sick. I think I have overcome 50% of the mental and 50% of the physical addiction. Now I have to work on the other 50% of both.

GW, That's exactly what I do. If I get a craving (not for the nicotine), but for the motion of smoking (my hands now get bored a lot easier), I just play with my dobe. He really enjoys all the more attention he's getting now!

Lisa, Very inspiring. I got to doing some research on the chemicals in tobaco smoke, and was appauled (sp?). I am glad I quit, and will never go back!

Well, I'm moving into my second week shortly, Sunday to be exact. They say that the first week is the easiest, then it gets harder for about 2-3 weeks, then it's back to cake after that. I really enjoy having so many of my DG friends backing me on this, please keep in touch, since I'm enetering the deepest, darkest part of the journey now ~~ WEEK 2!

Keep in mind that your physical body by now is cleared of nicotine - a wonderful fact to know.

You can do it - lots are behind you! I'm so glad I quit! You will be, too!

((((( dave )))))

I remember the habit being the hardest to break. Every time I got in the car, I reached for the cigarette lighter to stoke up. Keep up the effort. What plants have you gotten to reward yourself. $6.70 X 7 = $46.90 sounds like at least 100 daffodil bulbs! or half way to one of those outrageous Amorphophallus-titanium at Plant Delights http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/01775.html

Dave, I am one of the weird ones that other people's smoke doesn't bother me...I moved away from one girl smoking and told her that her cig was beginning to smell TOO GOOD....but I quit mostly for my (then) 7 year old grandson...he was always onto to me to stop!! Thanks, Andrew!! Grandma is lucky to have you,

I'm pulling for you Dave!!!

Jo

Lisa, the article you posted gave me goose bumps. What a girl! What a dad! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Jo, I also like the smell of "used tobacco" smoke! It makes me sick, I get a wicked headache, it clings to my hair and makes me feel filthy, I detest the stained fingers and teeth and bad breath of the smokers, but sometimes the smoke just smells downright good. Definitely, an inviting thing at times. But I have seen the effects too often, although not as close as you have.

Two of my children smoke. My precious grandson stated when he was seven that when he was grown up he would smoke, "like my dad". He had constant ear infections and bronchitis and other URI episodes as a baby and young child. Both of his parents were heavy smokers, even throughout the pregnancy. This grandma fears for his health in the long run. And there is nothing I can do.

Hats off to all of you who bit the bullet and quit.

I really like dobermans.

Hey - wonderful!! Wishing your mega luck on breaking that nasty habit. I've been after one of my sons to quit for years. Hopefully he will see the light someday - sooner the better. I'm rooting for ya.

You can do it, I did and I love them too much, that was the first thing I picked up in the morning and the last thing at night and if I woke up in the night I smoked then also. Now I can't stand to be around smoking if it is in a closed up room. Both my girls smoke but they go out side when they come to see me.
Hang the there.
Ruth

How are things going Dave? Still pullin' for you!

Well, here it is my 10th day being smoke free! It's actually going better (easier) than I had hoped for. My roomie's cigarettes were laying on the coffee table lastnight, just sitting there calling me! I'll tell you what -- I am so glad I took all those psycology courses in school. I used my id to overtake my ego! I ripped those little horns off of my ego's head, and fed them to him. They did look tempting though. So, I just covered them up with a newspaper, and moved to the loveseat, where they were out of reach. GW, I couldn't play with Gambit, he was upstairs in bed already! Wel, just checking in, and letting everyone know how its going.

Does anyone need an unopened box of Commit 4mg Lozenges? I'm only going to need the one box that I opened. The other box is still wrapped in the protective celophane. These are the 4mg lozenge, not the 2mg. If you smoke your first cigarette with 30 minutes of waking up, these would be for you! If anyone is interested, shoot me an email. I'll talk about specifics in the email.

Dave

YAY! Good for you Dave, I am so happy for you! Great going...

Dave...I'm glad you "fought the devil and won". I have a milestone of my own...I DID NOT HAVE A CHOCOLATE ALL DAY YESTERDAY!!! If I can break that habit I think I came meet the diet challenge. Jo

You are doing great.

Dave, you ROCK, my friend! That's great news - keep it up! :D

Dave, this is great news. Keep up the good work.

kc81cw, Dave, good for you. I never smoked but lived with a smoker for 50 years until it finally got him. I'm sure you can do it. Like someone else just said get out one of those pretty plant catalogs and think of all you can buy. I just received the White Flower Farm catalog today. haven't looked at it yet, but I do have a $75.00 credit for a plant my daughter gave me that arrived dead. So i will peruse the catalog, and order something and get it planted this fall. Best wishes Donna aka rutholive

Good for you, Dave, just keep saying NO.

Dave, that is sure good news. Just think of all the plants that you are gonna be able to buy now. And you will be able to smell the flowers next year like you haven't ever smelled them before.

The fact that you resisted those cigs last night is a true sign that you are doing it. Great job!

Dave best of success in this endeavor, I definitely will add you to my prayers. I've tried quitting so many times with no success from nicotrol, prescriptions, fake cigarettes, hypnosis and just cutting back including the patch. I'd really like to quit too I already have the onset of emphazeema and they're so expensive aside from stinking. Denise