No Wonder We Feel Cruddy ~

WITHDRAWALS:

Withdrawal from nicotine can be a very unpleasant experience for the person who is trying to quit the habit.

A person can suffer many withdrawal symptoms which most often include:

irritability,

depression,

mood swings,

weepiness,

light headedness and headaches,

"pins and needles" in the legs,

tiredness,

insomnia,

difficulty in thinking,

gastro-intestinal upsets,

increased hunger or cravings,

constipation,

various aches and pains,

chest pains and coughing.

My Social Agenda ~

Since, for the better part of the past 30 years I've been either a full time smoker or a struggling quitter, I used to absolutely HATE the "I Quit" - Holier than the Pope - Former Smokers.

I hated their condemnation of current smokers and I hated their disdain of the habit they used to hold dear themselves ... I put up with so many so often I swore once I quit I wanted to be a NON smoker not and ANTI-smoker.

Now, I've learned to understand ... I'm not an anti smoker but I have a hard time being around cigarette smoke ... The temptation still hasn't gone away and I am VERY sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke ... Sometimes I love it, sometimes I find it abhorrent.

One of the times I miss smoking the most is during social occasions ...

The other day I wanted to watch the World Cup from a bar stool .... A few weeks back I went to see Styx and Foreigner in concert .... This weekend I am heading to the lake for a reunion with some High School friends (Half of them still smoke) ...

Recently another friend from my past invited me out for a night on the town ... I did every thing I could to avoid a commitment without being excessively rude.

I can't avoid every social situation but I can limit them if need be!

How Many Days???

Sometimes it seems like just yesterday ...

But 350 Short days ago I laid down my cigs for the last time and for good!!

It's been a struggle but I am succeeding ....

If you are currently struggling with this evil addiction, take heart ...

it does get easier with each passing day!

Just think, Just two short weeks til my one year mark!!!!

Google, KS ~

Home alone, MYOB (minding my own bee's-wax), something I do very well.

Suddenly, early evening, I get the call ... Trouble in Google (aka: Topeka) Kansas and there is no one else available to drive there and oversee operations.

Is it really that serious? Do you really Need ME?? I'm having a hard time answering both questions. But -- I just do what's asked of me.

Back in the olden days -- or, at least 345 days ago -- it would not have been that big of a deal. I would have just gotten in the Jeep, drove to the nearest Circle K, filled up with gas, bought a large coffee and, of course, a pack of smokes .... Then .... I would have smoked the entire drive to Kansas' Capitol.

I may have smelled like an ashtray by the time I got there but I would have at least enjoyed the drive. In fact, I've been offered the mid-Kansas territory before. I may have considered it if I were still a smoker. Being in your car most of the day is not a bad job for a smoker in today's world. No one around to pester or bother you. Just smoke and java.

My cravings for cigarettes have subsided GREATLY since last July but I have to admit, there were times on my little road trip where the thought of stopping for a smoke sounded VERY appealing!

Like Gloria Gaynor: I Survived!

The 7 Types of Smokers: Social, Sneaky, or Skinny?

What kind of Smoker Are You??

People have all kinds of reasons to smoke: enjoyment, stress relief, weight control, peer pressure.

Smokers may have different reasons for lighting up, but they all have one thing in common: They should quit. Knowing why you smoke may be the first step in that direction.

Check out these profiles of the seven most common types of smokers. Which one are you?

Skinny smoker

The profile: You’re worried about your weight. (You’re not alone: Fifty percent of women smokers and 25% of men smokers feel the same way.)

Your motivation to smoke is tied up with your body image, a trait that’s especially common among women. You're like the college-age women who, in one study, reported an increased urge to smoke after trying on a bathing suit.

Why you should quit: Although the average post-quitting weight gain is 4 to 10 pounds, ex-smokers usually return to their normal weight, and there are steps you can take to keep the pounds off.

Sneaky smoker

The profile: You can’t (or won't) kick the habit, but you’re ashamed of it, so you sneak cigarettes when your family and friends aren’t around.

You’re in good company: President Obama is the Sneaky Smoker in Chief. He’s tried to quit, but during a 2009 press conference, he admitted that he sneaks a guilty cigarette from time to time, but always away from his wife and kids (and news cameras, of course).

Why you should quit: Even the occasional cigarette has health consequences. According to a 2008 study, smoking just one or two cigarettes can compromise artery function for more than a week.

Rebel smoker
The profile: Unlike the sneaky smoker, you smoke because it’s unhealthy and against the rules. You identify with the Marlboro Man, a character who projects "individualism" and "freedom" (according to tobacco industry research), or with the "nonconformist, self-confident mind-set historically attributed to the Camel user." You probably picked up the habit in your teens—an age when rebelliousness is linked to smoking, research shows.

Why you should quit: Smoking cigarettes is like riding a motorcycle: If you do it long enough, you’re likely to end up seriously injured or dead.

Social smoker
The profile: You only smoke in certain situations: at parties, at bars, at night, on the weekends. You’re the tobacco equivalent of the social drinker. You might go a bit overboard sometimes (and smoke a whole pack in a weekend, say), but you don’t consider yourself a real smoker. You’re not necessarily addicted to nicotine, although you might be addicted to smoking.

Why you should quit: Even social smoking is bad for your health, and you might get addicted to nicotine. A 2005 study that followed social-smoking college students for four years found that one-fifth of them became daily smokers.

Stressed-out smoker

The profile: You’re one of the 47% of smokers who say they light up to relieve stress. When you’re racing to meet a deadline at work, or after you’ve had a fight with your spouse, you reach for a pack of smokes.

Why you should quit: You might feel more relaxed after a cigarette, but smoking actually causes the physical markers of stress in your body to rise. Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises are all healthier and more effective ways to relax, and they can help you during the quitting process.

Serial quitter

The profile: You tell yourself that every cigarette you smoke will be your last. Quitting smoking—and failing—has become a habit in itself.

You’ve tried everything: cold turkey, gum, the patch, prescription drugs. You’re one of the 16% of smokers who, in a 2006 Gallup poll, said they’ve tried to quit six times or more.

Why you should quit (again): Never give up! In the Gallup poll, some former smokers quit and failed eight times before they were finally cigarette free.

Committed smoker

The profile: You’re one of the 16% in the Gallup poll who said that they’d never tried to quit. You don’t care if you’re damaging your health, and you don’t care what people think of you. You love smoking—or just simply can’t imagine life without cigarettes.

Why you should quit: Your habit is costing you thousands of dollars a year, and each cigarette you smoke reduces your life span by 11 minutes. (If that’s not enough, here are 97 more reasons.) If you already have lung cancer, it still makes sense to quit; even at this stage, you’ll live longer if you ditch cigarettes for good.

Not Just Lung; Most Male Cancer Deaths Are Smoking Related

A recent US study shows that smoking is linked to most male deaths from all forms of cancer, not just lung cancer, reinforcing suggestions made by other studies.

The epidemiological study of men who died of cancer in Massachusetts over a 25 year period found that more than 70% of the cancer death burden was linked to smoking. This is more than twice the 34% estimate used since 2001.

The study was the work of lead author Bruce Leistikow, a University of California (UC) Davis associate adjunct professor of public health sciences, and colleagues, and was published online in the journal BMC Cancer.

Leistikow, who specializes in researching premature deaths, said in a statement that the new findings support a growing scientific understanding that "smoking is a cause of many more cancer deaths besides lung cancer". He said that in the rush to link other factors like diet and pollution to cancer, we have perhaps overlooked the full impact that smoking, including breathing in second hand smoke, has had on cancer.

In their background information, Leistikow and colleagues cite various established ways of finding out, from an epidemiological point of view, how smoking is linked to deaths from cancer. However, their usefulness is limited because they can't generalize to all subgroups of a population. But a new way is now available that can, hence the reason for this study.

Using the new method, which is based on the concept of "smoke load" to determine the population-specific smoking attributable fractions (SAFs), the researchers assessed cumulative lung cancer against non-lung cancer death rates among all Massachusetts men who died between 1979 and 2003.

The data came from the National Center for Health Statistics.The results showed that "lung and non-lung cancer death rates were tightly and steeply associated across years".

A key finding was that the lung cancer/non-lung cancer associations suggested that 73 per cent of all cancer deaths in 2003 were smoking-related (ie linked to SAFs) for all ages and 74% for those who died between the ages of 30 and 74.The authors concluded that:"The strong lung/non-lung cancer death rate associations suggest that tobacco smoke load may be responsible for most prematurely fatal cancers at both lung and non-lung sites."

"The present method estimates are greater than the earlier estimates. Therefore, tobacco control may reduce cancer death rates more than previously noted," they added.

Leistikow said:"The fact that lung and non-lung cancer death rates are almost perfectly associated means that smokers and nonsmokers alike should do what they can to avoid tobacco smoke. It also suggests that increased attention should be paid to smoking prevention in health care reforms and health promotion campaigns

Holy Smokes!!

Eleven Months Smoke Free ... Can you believe that??

After nearly Thirty Years of smoking cigarettes with many attempts at quitting ... This is the first time I've gone this long without a smoke since I was 14/15 years old!

I can't say I totally miss my old crutch or that I'm completely healed -- I doubt that I will ever be completely healed of this addiction -- But I sure can say I don't have the same desire I did Eleven months ago; or even 10, 9, 8 or 7 months ago. It does get easier with every passing day!

Last night however, I did have another one of those dreams. You know the ones: Where I'm smoking a cigarette and at the same time disappointed with myself for having fallen off the

smoking wagon once again.

These dreams are not near as frequent as they used to be but oh, so realistic. So much so, as I

am sleeping I am calculating in my head how long I have to continue smoke free to make up for my one imaginary cigarette.

Now -- Only ONE month to go before I hit the unattainable goal I've had for so long --
One Year Completely Smoke Free!

Why I Needed to Quit ~

Three Hundred and Thirty Five Days into my first year of not smoking and I can definatly feel the benifits to my body as well as my wallet!

Here's a list of some of the best reasons anyone can have for quitting smoking now ...

Health:

Health concerns usually top the list of reasons people give for quitting smoking. This is a very real concern: Half of all smokers who keep smoking will end up dying from a smoking-related illness. In the U.S. alone, smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths, and about 8.6 million people suffer from smoking-related lung and heart diseases.

Cancer:

Nearly everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few people realize it is also a risk factor for many other kinds of cancer too, including cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and some leukemias.

Lung diseases:

Pneumonia is included in the list of diseases known to be caused by smoking. Smoking also increases your risk of getting lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These diseases are grouped together under the term COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). COPD causes on-going (chronic) illness and disability, and worsens over time -- sometimes becoming fatal. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis can be found in people as young as 40, but are usually found later in life, when the symptoms get much worse. Long-term smokers have the highest risk of developing severe COPD.

Heart attacks, strokes, and blood vessel diseases:

Smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as are non-smokers. And smoking is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. Smoking also affects the walls of the vessels that carry blood to the brain (carotid arteries), which can cause strokes. Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (impotence) because of blood vessel disease.

Blindness and other problems:

Smoking causes an increased risk of macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness in older people. It also causes premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, gum and tooth problems, bad-smelling clothes and hair, yellow fingernails.

Special risks to women and babies:

Women have some unique risks linked to smoking. Women over 35 who smoke and use birth control pills have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots of the legs. Women who smoke are more likely to miscarry (lose the baby) or have a lower birth-weight baby. And low birth-weight babies are more likely to die, or have learning and physical problems.

Years of life lost due to smoking:

Based on data collected in the late 1990s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking. And given the diseases that smoking can cause, it can steal your quality of life long before you die. Smoking-related illness can limit your activities by making it harder to breathe, get around, work, or play.