I started smoking when I was 12

[The_Dark]

I was diagnosed with border-line emphazema last year.

I coughed up blood this afternoon.

I've smoked for 26 years.

When I wake up in the morning...

I WILL be a non-smoker.

I promised my kids

I need help

[Brenda Starrr]

Good luck, Mark!!!

[Onyx]

Good for you for making the decision. Definitely the best thing you can do for your health.

I'm sure there are a few ex smokers on here who can give you advice on being successful at quitting.

[Head Wreck]

good luck mate.

i know you can beat this. being as stuborn (a good trait) as you are your strong enough to quit.

hope the cough up blood thing heals

[Lilith]

take on day at a time, choose another activity to do or relax you when you feel cravings, and if you absolutly need one find the brand tyep that tasted the worst to you while you were smoking and just imagine how nasty it will taste, sure to detour you. Get sugar free candy/ suckers/ ets..... Hold an unlite ciggerette often to handle the hand addictions. Do activities that limit how much you can smoek in the first place.

I wish you the best,

lilith

[kellygrrrrrl]

Good for you sweetie! That is the BEST thing you can do.

I quit cold turkey 5.5 months ago.

I will tell you......

In the 1st week or so you WILL lose focus becuase all you want is a smoke. You cannot even think of anything else. THAT Is the hard part. It is up to you to not do it.

I found that NOT smoking a cigarette was the single most hardest thing I have ever done. Seriously. I smoked 10 years. Pack a day or more.

BUT it is possible.

I joined here:

quitnet.net This one helped me especially. My user is kellygrrrrl (4 r's there)

also try

whyquit.com

I am really pushin for you!!!!! PM If you need anything! :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :clover :cheerful :cheerful :cheerful

[Dollardave]

Its odd you brought this up cause I was telling brenda about me having pain in my lungs and needing to quit too. I haven't coughed up blood yet but I think thats a sign of cancer. I'm gonna go in for a chest xray see if theres any spots. We got some of the inhaler type nicotine I gotta find the inhaler for it. I hope you can quit I need to also I've smoked since 14 and I'll be 33 Saturday. Best of luck to u friend. Take care Mark.

[The_Dark]

10:38am... Day one:

I have been awake since 6am. i may kill someone before the day is done.

[Paper Hearts]

I smoked 20 ciggarettes/day for 15 years and quit in January. I just said fuck these things.

It'll take you about two weeks as long as you stay away from patches or nicotine gum, that kind of thing.

I found that drinking water (almost every waking moment) and chewing (sugar-free) gum, was helpfull.

I also had to watch my temper a bit while I was having withdrawls, sometimes I had to count to 20 and take deep breaths and that. Be especially carefull while you're driving. I think I was a bit of a bastard on the road.

And yes, it's a bit painful but you just have to be willing to accept that.

[kellygrrrrrl]

10:38am... Day one:

I have been awake since 6am. i may kill someone before the day is done.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ahh Yes, day one.

Tough, but you can do it......DO NOT Give in.

It takes 3 days to clear the nicoshit out of you. If you give in now, you'll increase the intesnity of your withdrawals, AND have another 3 days to go.

The fact is is you are addicted....as in addicted to a drug that your body depends on. If you introduce it back into your body, when the levels drop, your body will depend on it even more......it is a vicious cycle.....

DON'T GIVE IN SWEETIE! :clover

[The_Dark]

I'm fighting it... my body feels like it is shutting down... all I want to do is sleep... or passsout.. I'm not sure which.

[The_Dark]

and kill someone... yeah... things are already pissing me off...

[Paper Hearts]

I still have this chart up here in the office (from when I quit)...

After 8 hours of not smoking nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in blood reducw by half. blood oxygen level returns to normal

24 hours: CO2 eliminated from body. Lungs start to clear smoking debris. chances of heart attack start to fall.

48 hours: there is not nicotine left in body. ability to taste and smell greatly improved.

72 hours: breathing becomes easier. Airway passages in lungs begin to relax. Energy levels increase.

2-12 weeks: Circulation improves making walking and running easier.

3-9 weeks: Coughs wheazing and breathing problems improve.

1 year: Risk of heart disease is reduced to about 1/2 that of a continuing smoker.

10 years: Risk of lung cancer to about 1/2 that of a continuing smoker. Risk of heart disease is similar to someone who has never smoked.

15 years: Risk of stroke is similar to someone who has never smoked.

This came from www.thetimeisright.co.uk

[The_Dark]

How do you eliminate CO2 from the body?

[Paper Hearts]

Sorry. I skipped that day science 101. Carbon Monoxide.

[JaneDead]

good luck!! you can do it. i know you can :pirate

[Homicidalheathen]

If you take up running, I hear it helps clear that stuff out of your lungs....

[holliwood66]

I quit cold turkey as well~

Some things:

- You will likely be extra-exhausted from emotional and chemical fluctuations. Try to get plenty of sleep, even tho insomnia can happen for the forst few days/week of quitting.

- Stay away from salty/fatty food and drink tons of water and take a multi-vitamin. (My tummy was upset/off for a week after quitting...bleh.)

- I ate 5-6 small meals a day to keep my blood sugar level - which helped temper flares/heat flashes - perhaps this might help you?

- Exercise as much as you can to alevuate stress and cravings.

You can do it! Hang in there~

[The_Dark]

Day 2...

light headed... got the shakes.. feel like curling into a ball and crying.... smells like burned sugar in here... my coworker has a pack of smokes in his shirt pocket.. I can see them... must put the hammer down....

[kellygrrrrrl]

Go ahead and curl up and cry if that is what it will take.....

Go buy a punching bag....I did, and kicked the shit out of it.....its bent and broken now....

But hey at least I am not smoking.

Seriously, check out this site......It REALLY Helped me to see things from an addiction standpoint....

whyquit.com

At this point you are probably telling yourself "Why should I do this it is so much easier to just smoke...." This is where most people cave.

Or, "Well, I've gone 3 days, I can have one now right?" NO is the answer......

YAY You made it through DAY 1! That is awsome!

You might find that things you normally enjoyed are not so enjoyable. You might find yourself hating everything, and wanting to hurt people or yourself. THIS IS normal believe it or not. Just act out on something else....

Go play some video games or go for a walk...walk the dog if you have one.

On my day 3 I went for the angriest walk in my life. I was so frustrated, and angry that I didn't want to take it out on my man, that I went for a walk, stomping and with a mad face and all walking at about 10 mph just steaming, crying, fist clenched, etc.....before I knew it, about 15 minutes later, I was about 2.5 miles from home....it was the hardest and fasted walking I ever did.

YAY Day one and onto day 2! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY :peanutbutterjellytime :peanutbutterjellytime :peanutbutterjellytime :peanutbutterjellytime :peanutbutterjellytime

Heres the hard part, don't give in! EVER EVER EVER AGAIN!

[The_Dark]

Thanks Kelly... I need all the support I can get. Prolly going to a walk into th woods after work tonigth and nto come out till the kids are in bed sleeping.

[JaneDead]

i think it is best when you can get support from someone who has been there and understands what it is really like to go through this. and hopefully looking at pictures and reading websites about what smoking really does to you will help. i am getting on my husband again to quit. i hope he actually will. congrats on day two!!!

[Shade Everdark]

Sorry I'm late in replying to this.

I've been shut of cigarettes since April. It was not easy, and it still isn't. My roommate still smokes and when he steps outside to grab one, it often wafts in through my bedroom window. Even that little bit is enough to spark cravings.

Use whatever will give you an edge in quitting. For example, I decided to quit one weekend when I got a bad sinus infection. I didn't want to eat or drink anything, let alone smoke. I also used my natural laziness in refusing to go out to buy more.

Gum helps some people, others it doesn't seem to matter. I will say it helped me kick the psychological part of the addiction.

Finally, I guess just focus on what's important. I've made it no secret that I don't much care for kids, but I know I'm abnormal, and that's why I'm not a parent. I know your kids mean the world to you, and all kids need a good set of parents. Just keep reminding yourself that if you go back to smoking, you might not be there to love them and help them when they need it.

[soothsayer]

I hope everything gets better for you Dark.

[kellygrrrrrl]

Hoping you made it through since yesterday!

As Rob Snyder(SP?) would say, "YOU CAN DO IT"....?spanish? accent attached*