A smoking thread for Sharlag

LOL! 

I smoke, I quit, I smoke, I quit, and the cycle goes on and on.  Right now I am in a smoking phase but I keep saying that there's no way I'm turning 40 a smoker.  So I have until July to break the habit for good.  I think I will always love cigarettes even though they are stinky.

I don't smoke but just wanted to say congrats on quitting.

My grandmother smoked since she would 13yrs old when she passed in her late 70s we were told she had lungs of a 20yr old and they wouldn't have believed she ever smoked a day in her life. It was the craziest thing lol

I am not a smoker, but I think it's awesome that so many of you have been able to kick the habit. My dad was an alcoholic, and heavy smoker for most of his life. He finally quit drinking after about 35 years. Then he tried to quit smoking. He never could kick that habit. He said it was way harder than kicking the booze.

I started smoking when cigarettes were about 48 cents per pack -- mid-late 70's, I guess. In May of 2008, the doctor told me that he was going to have to cut off my right leg if I did not quit smoking. I quit. Turns out I had Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), and had 100% blockage in my right iliac artery and 75% blockage in the left. I had never even entertained the thought of quitting. I loved smoking! A cup of coffee and a smoke; a smoke after dinner; drinking and smoking; smoking after sex. But that was my wake-up call. I quit and never looked back. A couple of years later, I was diagnosed with COPD/Emphysema. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I'd give anything to get a re-do on some of the decisions I made in my earlier years.

My lungs want to spread great big thank yous to all if you who stopped.

Cigarette smoke can knock me flat. And the smell on people, really they can't hide it.

Very proud of any of you who have quit. I know it must be hard. I lost my mom to lung cancer 26 years ago. She never met my kids. She was a long time smoker who quit and even taught quit smoking classes before she got sick. My MIL just lost a lung to cancer, but hopefully, they caught it in time and we won't lose her quite yet.

My father passed away when he was 51 (from colon cancer).  When they were in the middle of diagnosing his issues, they'd looked at his lungs assuming that since he was a smoker for 35+ years that the cancer had originated in his lungs.  Nope, not a single freaking spot on his lungs.  He was SO proud of that.  I just rolled my eyes because I still firmly believe that his smoking contributed (but not the ONLY reason) to his cancer since it's not just your lungs that take a beating from the nicotine but the rest of the body as well. 

No hate from me ladies.  I saw my parents fight over and over and over again trying to quit smoking.  My mom did it for more than a year...and then during a stressful time, she picked it back up and still smokes.  My in-laws quit when my dh was in his mid teens.  A health scare caused my FIL to quit cold turkey with 1/2 carton sitting on the top of the refrigerator.  MIL smoked for a year after that when she realized that FIL was serious about quitting for good. 

I smoke for a few months in my late teens...not because I wanted to try or because I liked it but because I worked in a place where if you smoked, you could go outside and get extra breaks.  If you didn't smoke and you went outside to take a breather, you'd get in trouble. I said fuck that and bought cigs.  And hated every single one I smoked. LOL 

I distinctly remember going away to college and the first weekend I came home and washed clothes.  When I got back to college, I opened my bag and I could NOT believe how much it smelled!!  I ended up rewashing everything.  After that, I tried not to take stuff home.  I remember begging my parents to crack the windows in the car because the smoke was so thick and it would make it feel like I couldn't breathe.  To this day, I have a hard time being around the smoke.  I feel myself gasping for air just walking through a cloud of it. 

We frequent a candy store in Maine when we go up there.  I remember the first time my kids were old enough to recognize those boxes of candy cigs.  My girls, especially, were horrified.  I remember one dd saying "Mom, WHY would kids even want those?!  What kid thinks smoking is cool or fun?"  I remember having them as a kid and thinking I was hot stuff.  I was just like Mom! 

I hate smoking. I don't have any particular beef with smokers except for the fact that I think it encourages kids to smoke. And I think that should be the goal...to not have any more new smokers. I have no idea how to accomplish this. I know it's hard to quit. That's why I don't want kids to just casually try it. It's too hard to stop.

Yeah, I could have written your post word for word. I quit 33 years ago and still miss smoking now and then. I love the smell of cigarettes but hate the stinky smell of my smoker friend's home. I'm grateful every day that I was able to quit -- I tried several times before it stuck.