Are You A Smoker?

[AdrianTrace]

Smoked for years (18-28), gave up whilst travelling round the world - it was easier to stop buying where I had no habit of nipping to the shops to get a pack.

I've reached the point where once or twice a year I can smoke for an evening and have no issue with not-smoking afterwards (although I'm always keeping an eye on me, being a reformed smoker!). In fact - just bought ten for the work Xmas party tonight. I can avoid the dancefloor by going for a smoke :lol:

 

[IainM]

I seriously can't see how anyone can say the "enjoy" inhaling what they know to be a cocktail of carcinogenic chemicals and highly addictive nicotine knowing what the likely outcome can be. Even if you don't succeed in getting the ultimate breathless, choking death it can still bring life long health problems that people seem to be aware of but accept as part of the risk but hey, that life ( and Death obviously).

I can. If it wasn't for the whole cancer, heart disease, COPD, poor circulation possibly leading to dismemberment thing, it would be a perfect drug. It helps concentration and doesn't dull the mind, it reduces hunger pangs, but calms the stomach when full. It wakes you up when tired, and steadies you when anxious.

 

[MickDundee]

Never have smoked. I don't understand why people of my generation (I'm 28) and younger start. The ill effects of smoking have been rammed down our throat (no pun intended) since we were in Primary School. My missus quit smoking about 4 months ago now...she's doing really well to be fair to her...albeit she tends to have cravings after a few drinks, though she resists.

I completely agree with this. I know a handful of people who started in their 20s too, it just baffles me. I can maybe understand a teenager wanting to look older or something taking it up naively but not a fully grow and (in the case of at least 2 of those I referred to above) well educated adult!

 

[geetee]

I can. If it wasn't for the whole cancer, heart disease, COPD, poor circulation possibly leading to dismemberment thing, it would be a perfect drug. It helps concentration and doesn't dull the mind, it reduces hunger pangs, but calms the stomach when full. It wakes you up when tired, and steadies you when anxious.

The nicotine bit may do that but also in uncontrolled doses can cause heart problems anxiety, high blood pressure and so on hence the need for regulation of these vape technology things. the chemicals put into cigarettes to keep them alight and the hot tar smoke that is part of the tobacco cause a lot of the problems

 

[Godsdog]

Started at around 13 used to hide them in a plastic bag under the local parks golf hedge,allowed to smoke in the house at 15 saw the effect later on in life on my dads health,he had COPD in his 40s but he never inhaled the smoke used to just suck and puff his cheeks out with the smoke.it really was sad to see him fight for his breath for nearly 30 years no oxygen assist back then,so I gave up around my 43rd birthday and was never a nicotine addict as I would go all day without one and as sure as eggs is eggs with a pint pot in my hand in the gob they would go,as I said 20 years packed in now with no Ill after effects.one of the lucky ones I suppose,the downside is snacking when drinking instead,much safer though

 

[stevey]

My Dad smoked when I was young, my Mum never has. I started at 11 or 12, it was always a cool thing to do when I was a kid,
I've given up three times. When I was 30 I went cold turkey didn't smoke for 3 years. then at 37 I gave up again and that lasted for over 10 years. Then we ran a pub and ironically, I didn't smoke until well after the smoking ban was introduced ( I guess it was the social thing of everyone going outside every half hour ). I smoked for 3 years that time and gave up again 6 years ago. I went cold turkey everytime, and sort of like the challenge.
I totally understand how people enjoy smoking, i really enjoyed it myself, but the health risks are just too much for me.
I don't ever intend to smoke again. My ambition now is to live long enough to see my Grandchildren have their own kids, and I just can't see myself achieving that and smoking.

 

[Clint]

No never smoked.

Cheers

Clint

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I smoked for many years and gave up 16 years ago, I haven't touched one since and hope I never do.

 

[Dutto]

Started at age THREE when my Dad injured his back! He took up cobbling and rolling his own fags. Home-rolled fags went out as soon as you put them down so I helped Dad out by puffing on them to keep them alight while he was doing his cobbling.

After a few weeks, Dad (and Mum) realised that I was doing the smoking and Dad was getting the occasional puff so they decided to put me off tobacco by insisting that I had a chew of tobacco.

However, after I had eaten and swallowed a lump of Condor Twist (Dad used to chew it down the pit) without any serious side effects, they decided to strike a deal with me rather than having me nicking dog-ends!

It was a few weeks before Christmas so Mum and Dad explained that if I agreed to give up smoking my Dad's fags for the rest of the year, on Christmas Day they would give me one cigarette for each year of my age. WOW! I jumped at the chance; probably because I didn't realise just how long a year was to a three year old child!

As a result I smoked my three fags that Christmas Day and didn't even think about fags for a whole year. I honestly think that Mum and Dad thought I would have forgotten about their "Fag per Year of Age" promise after a year but come Christmas Day 1947 there I was begging my four fags!

This went on until I was fifteen, at which stage Dad told me I could buy my own fags because by then I was working all the summer holidays at a majestic 2/6d (12½p) per hour.

I tried to give up from about the age of 30, with varying degrees of success, and the one bit of memorable advice I had was from my doctor who said "Okay, so you failed. The only advice I can give you is 'Don't give up giving up!'" so I persevered, smoking and quitting until I was 62 years old.

The "quit" came about when two non-smoking friends asked us to go on holiday with them in their brand new caravan for two months! Both of them would have insisted that I smoked in their new caravan and I just knew that my smoking would have stunk out their new caravan for months, so the choice was simple ...

... turn down the offer of a fortnight of their company OR give up smoking.

I decided on the latter and ONE MONTH before the holiday was due to start I stopped smoking.

Apart from one fag at a friends 40th Birthday Party (I was mightily drunk) I haven't had a single cigarette, cigar or pipeful of tobacco and I have even avoided the chewing tobacco that I used to chew on rigs and refineries and the snuff that I used on aeroplanes and helicopters.

Believe me, I was the complete nicotine addict so nicotine in any form was great but my "preferred method" of delivery was smoke inhalation.

For me, THE most amazing thing about giving up smoking was (wait for it) ...

... HOW EASY IT WAS ONCE I GOT OVER THE FIRST MONTH!

So my advice is a repetition of my Doctor's ...

DON'T GIVE UP GIVING UP!​

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:​

 

[Chippy_Tea]

HOW EASY IT WAS ONCE I GOT OVER THE FIRST MONTH!

I tried to give up several times (cold turkey) and the longest i managed was a couple of months, i then walked through a crowd of smokers outside a pub on a night out and that did it i smoked again, this time i decided to aim for a month then after that went well a second month (that was my ultimate goal) once i got to the end of the third month i knew i had cracked it and as i said earlier 16 years later and i never give them a thought until someone posts a thread like this.

 

[cmwood64]

Started smoking at 17 cos my girlfriend smoked! Stopped at 28 when I bought a house. Started again about 4 and a half years later having split up with my fiancee. Smoked till i was 42 and gave up because my twins were getting to the age where they would notice. Also because I was starting to feel the effects of years of fags. It happened to coincide with the smoking ban in Scotland which made it easier. First time gave up cold turkey. Second time used nicotine chewing gum. Got addicted to the gum for a couple of years, but managed to kick it too. I m 52 now.
My Dad died earlier this year from a lifetime of smoking. No cancer, just copd. A horrible way to go. If you witnessed what I did it would certainly make you think twice about smoking.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[Dutto]

For me, the deciding factor was when I recognised the facts that:

I was (and still am) addicted to nicotine in ANY of its forms.

and

There was a little man inside of me who didn't want me to give up feeding my addiction.

So, the internal conversations went like this:

ONE
Me - "I'm going to give up fags."
Little Man - "Great idea. Why don't you just cut down to begin with?"
So I would cut down and be back on 60 fags a day within a month.

TWO
Me - "I'm going to give up fags."
Little Man - "Great idea. Why don't you start by rolling your own?"
So I did and hardly noticed any difference as I switched between Marlborough and Old Holborn!

THREE
Me - "I'm going to give up fags."
Little Man - "Great idea. Why don't you start by smoking cigars instead?"
So I did, very quickly got up to 60 small cigars a day and switched back to fags.

FOUR
Me - "I'm going to give up fags RIGHT NOW!"
Little Man - "Okay, I'm right behind your decision." and then after three days "Well, that's it, no fags for three days! Why not have a fag and a cup of coffee to celebrate?
So I did and then kept on celebrating my "Non Smoking Status" up to sixty times a day!

The list goes on and on and on and until a person recognises that they have this little bit of themselves that just doesn't want them to give up they will forever be active nicotine addicts.

Don't believe me? Then just answer three questions.

One

"How many people do you know who gave up smoking by using a nicotine substitute?"
​

Two

"How many of these people 'Fell off the wagon.' within a year?"​

Three

"How many of the people who 'Fell off the wagon.' went straight back to nicotine chewing gum?"
​

I have no doubt that had "vaping" been available when I was still smoking I would have been right in there to try it.

Why? The Little Man would have insisted that I give it a try so that I stayed with my addiction and kept him happy!

 

[dad_of_jon]

I saw another thread on here this morning about giving things up for the New Year. I'm at the end of my sixties now (pause for condolences), and smoked between the ages of 15 to about 27/28. I often say I could have 'smoked for England'. I smoked everything, plain cigs mostly, pipe, cigars, roll ups, I even tried smoking chewing tobacco!
Since I gave up I have been progressively anti-smoking, and perhaps more so since I see my neighbour who has emphysema and can't move about much and is fully reliant on an oxygen tube, following a life time of smoking.
So what, you are thinking?
Well I went to see the asthma nurse the other week and she says I might have a mild case of COPD probably directly related to my smoking all those years ago. So it may have come back to haunt me, in spite of the early recognition of the harm it was doing to me.
So, I wondered, how many of our forum members still smoke and perhaps why and will they be giving up for the New Year, given the evidence concerning the health problems it causes?
And how many of you did smoke but have properly given up?
And how many have never smoked, a group I wish I was in!?

My grandpa had emphysema and never smoked. He was a miner and he had a nebuliser but always struggled for breath near the end. My grandma did smoke and she died of lung cancer. My view is quality of life is what counts rather than quantity. Maybe living with a smoker and working down the mines was too much for my grandpa. My grandma died quite quickly after diagnosis, whereas my grandpa suffered for a lot longer.

I have never smoked, well my mother let me have a puff when I was six and it was so horrible that I never ever tried it again. :thumb:

she continued to smoke much to my disgust but smoking never killed her, she died at 50 of mnd so life is all a bit of a chancy gamble.

 

[mickthetrick]

started when i was 13 and stopped then i was 26. no big hardship to quit. was diagnosed with a neurological condition 6 years at aged 39 back and become very depressed and stared to smoke again. i quit 1 year ago again and have never looked back. my heads is in a better place now but i dont regret starting up again when i did. just the way it was.

 

[Hoppyland]

I started smoking in my teens - the family were all smokers. I only really got into it when I left Uni & got my first job, in Saudi Arabia. I was earning a fair bit, fags were dirt cheap, and I quickly developed a 50 a day habit. When I came back roll-ups replaced tailor made, and I branched out into pipe & cigars.
I got married at 28, and immediately cut down, as it was obvious my habit was dangerous to my health as well as expensive. I finally gave up aged 48. I was visiting an old school friend, with similar smoking habits, when he had a very serious heart attack. Only me & him in the room. After the shock of that I thought "b****r this". I suppose it had such a psychological effect that I had no problems stopping - I noticed no withdrawal symptoms, had no cravings at all. After that, I did have the very occasional cigar (Christmas & birthday maybe), but I don't even do that now. I'm now 65, and I still miss smoking, because I enjoyed it so much, but no way could I be tempted to start again.

I seriously can't see how anyone can say the "enjoy" inhaling what they know to be a cocktail of carcinogenic chemicals and highly addictive nicotine knowing what the likely outcome can be.

Yep, I totally see your point. But it doesn't work that way! Beer contains alcohol, a known carcinogen. I'd increase my chances of a longer life if I didn't drink at all. But I like it - it tastes great & I enjoy the mild intoxication. Until quite recently I had a 800cc motorbike. I loved riding it, despite the knowledge that doing so definitely increased the chances of me being seriously injured or killed in a road accident.
My pleasure in smoking did not come from inhaling carcinogenic chemicals - it came from the flavour, and some of the effects of nicotine. I used to blend my own pipe tobaccos, in much the same way as I concoct beer recipes, and I had my favourite types of cigar, in much the same way as I have favourite commercial beers.
But, as the full story of how harmful smoking is became clear, well it had to go. And I definitely can't understand anyone taking it up by choice now!!

 

[Manxnorton]

Mine was on my birthday nearly two years ago I suffered not one but two strokes..founded nearly 11 hrs later..
7 month in hospital..4 months home theropy physio...and I'm still alive...
Should of killed me...lost everything..memory left leg arm and my speak was damaged...five month I got out the wheelchair against all odds..battle every day doing my exercises trying to walk...cold weather smashed me...fancied a tab and a drink now n then...but I'm not getting any better in age...just have get up n battle..
Strokes can happen to anyone!!
Not just by smoking..stress, bad diet etc...
This forum gives me so much hope and theropy I'm like a knew man!! Lol

 

[Amidared]

Yep, smoke and have done since I was nine, I'm early sixties now and have C.O.P.D. I smoke a pipe, cigars and cigs and I enjoy it. The longest I packed it in for was about six months years ago. Mostly I smoke the pipe now, nothing like it to relax, love it.

 

[Dutto]

My grandpa had emphysema and never smoked. He was a miner and he had a nebuliser but always struggled for breath near the end. My grandma did smoke and she died of lung cancer. My view is quality of life is what counts rather than quantity. Maybe living with a smoker and working down the mines was too much for my grandpa. My grandma died quite quickly after diagnosis, whereas my grandpa suffered for a lot longer.

I have never smoked, well my mother let me have a puff when I was six and it was so horrible that I never ever tried it again. :thumb:

she continued to smoke much to my disgust but smoking never killed her, she died at 50 of mnd so life is all a bit of a chancy gamble.

Can't put a "Like" on this Post but know what you mean.

Dad smoked all his life but it was the pneumoconiosis and silicosis from the pit that really nailed him! My Granddad and all my Uncles smoked and they also all worked down the pit so again most of them died from the coal dust (pneumoconiosis) and/or the stone dust that limited or prevented fires and explosions (silicosis).

Ironically, not one of them died of lung cancer.

My Mum also smoked about 10 a day, but as she smoked mentholated "Consulate" fags she thought she was immune from lung cancer. This was until her Doctor pointed out that she would just have a "sweet smelling cancer", so she gave up smoking aged about 70.

Mum died aged 98 and the doctor put the cause of death on her Death Certificate as "Old Age" which is a rarity in this day and age.

I'm hoping that there is a major genetic influence as to whether or not you get anything nasty from smoking because, with the exception of accidents and industrial diseases, almost none of my family have cocked their clogs before reaching 80 years of age.

Most of them have been in their 90's, one Aunty made it to 101 years old and I still have an Uncle, an Aunty and a Second Cousin alive in their late eighties.

I live in hope of not being an exception to the rule! :whistle::whistle: :whistle:

 

[geetee]

For me, the deciding factor was when I recognised the facts that:

I was (and still am) addicted to nicotine in ANY of its forms.

and

There was a little man inside of me who didn't want me to give up feeding my addiction.

So, the internal conversations went like this:

ONE
Me - "I'm going to give up fags."
Little Man - "Great idea. Why don't you just cut down to begin with?"
So I would cut down and be back on 60 fags a day within a month.

TWO
Me - "I'm going to give up fags."
Little Man - "Great idea. Why don't you start by rolling your own?"
So I did and hardly noticed any difference as I switched between Marlborough and Old Holborn!

THREE
Me - "I'm going to give up fags."
Little Man - "Great idea. Why don't you start by smoking cigars instead?"
So I did, very quickly got up to 60 small cigars a day and switched back to fags.

FOUR
Me - "I'm going to give up fags RIGHT NOW!"
Little Man - "Okay, I'm right behind your decision." and then after three days "Well, that's it, no fags for three days! Why not have a fag and a cup of coffee to celebrate?
So I did and then kept on celebrating my "Non Smoking Status" up to sixty times a day!

The list goes on and on and on and until a person recognises that they have this little bit of themselves that just doesn't want them to give up they will forever be active nicotine addicts.

Don't believe me? Then just answer three questions.

One

"How many people do you know who gave up smoking by using a nicotine substitute?"
​

Two

"How many of these people 'Fell off the wagon.' within a year?"​

Three

"How many of the people who 'Fell off the wagon.' went straight back to nicotine chewing gum?"
​

I have no doubt that had "vaping" been available when I was still smoking I would have been right in there to try it.

Why? The Little Man would have insisted that I give it a try so that I stayed with my addiction and kept him happy!

It was either him or you so sorry but I would have shot that little man years ago!!

 

[Dutto]

Sorry, but I would have shot that little man years ago!!

That's exactly the problem! :lol: :lol:

You can't shoot yourself so all you can do is recognise that the little swine exists and try and control him. :thumb:

Proof that the Little Man exists is the story of where a shop assistant is approached by a huge brute of a customer who wants to buy half a cabbage.

"I'm sorry sir," he replies "but we don't sell half cabbages."

The customer leans forward, shoves his nose into the lads face and growls "I want to buy half a cabbage."

The young lad gulps down his panic and says "I'll just go and ask the manager for you." and scuttles off the the manager's office.

When he gets there he says to the manager "There's this stupid gorilla of a bloke out there who wants to buy half a cabbage." and as he says this he becomes aware that the customer has followed him into the manager's office so the Little Man came to his rescue and he carried on with ...

... "and here's the gentleman that wishes to buy the other half." :thumb: