*Sonic*

if it takes that long to 'clear' your system out so to speak, the only incentive I see to giving up is the cash

ive had Cancer twice, and yes I still smoke about 20 a day, doctor said it wasnt the cause of it, and when on Chemo, i spent most of my time in our dedicated smoke room, doing jigsaws and drinking beer on a night

edited to add, Congrats to those who can & do give up



[Edited by *Sonic* - 8/5/2003 9:54:47 PM]

*Sonic*

I know what you mean

I have thought about giving up on a number of occasions, not one of them have been health related reasons, depsite my previous history

my main reasons would be cash, & the smell

[Edited by *Sonic* - 8/5/2003 10:05:15 PM]

Clarebabes

I have given up after around 15 years and I feel great.

So, if you have the slightest feeling that you ought to, do give up. You'll feel better and you can live without it I promise.

It's hard, no one says it isn't, and with all the things you can use these days to help, (I'm personally using the patches), the support is out there!

I have nothing against people who smoke, remember I was one for nearly half my life (jeez!). It is a question of choice and if you want to do it, do it. But the day you wake up and grab for the **** and feel like you shouldn't be doing it, or you hack up your phlegm till your throat bleeds, that's the day it may dawn on you to do something for yourself and your family.



Good luck

P.s. it's been 2 weeks now

damian666

Good luck! Honestly speaking!

To all others thinking of quitting:
When you find that the lies about 'your chance of getting cancer is reduced after 10 years' is a lie, it will be too late. Your risk is as high as it was, and will be until you die.

Damo

MarkO

Not entirely sure about the cancer figure there, damian - sounds absurd to me. But the chances of a heart attack are significantly reduced.

Whatever the effects though, I gave up smoking 3.5 years ago, and feel fantastic for it. As I've mentioned before on SN, just the ability to be a smug pious git, lauding it over smokers who are too weak-willed to kick the cancer-stick habit is worth it, regardless of any health benefits such as the following.

5 minutes after stopping your heart muscles receive more oxygen

20 minutes after stopping, your lood pressure returns to it’s normal state, as does your pulse. The temperature of both your feet and hands has gone up.

8 hours after stopping the chance of your arteries blocking is less likely due to the reduction of clumping of your blood platelets.

1 day after stopping you start to feel more energetic and have more energy. There is a significant reduction in the possibility of a heart attack.

2 days after stopping You are more aware of tastes and smells than you were before. The stale smoke odours on your breath and body have disappeared.

2 weeks after stopping you no longer have a cough. Breathing has become easier due to your lungs acting more efficiently.

3 months after stopping your oral health has improved, with gum disease becoming less active and the disappearance of tobacco related patches. The risk of a stroke is greatly reduced. The level of fats in the blood has also been reduced.

1 year after stopping the risk of heart disease is down by approximately 50%. Your wellbeing has increased and your general health problems have reduced. You have less chance of developing a peptic ulcer. Your lungs are now more able to fight any infections.

18 months after stopping Your lungs are now free of the toxins left from smoking.

5 years after stopping the risks of developing cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus and lungs are now reduced by 50%.

10 years after stopping, in comparison to smokers you are now 30-50% less likely to become a victim of lung cancer.

15 years after stopping you are now equal to a non-smoker in the chances of having a heart attack.

In pregnant women You have significantly lowered the risks of foetal death, pregnancy complications and health problems for your baby.

Clarebabes

Yeah, I would worry about this myself because you never know I could fall off the wagon. Hopefully not, but playing it safe for now.

I was a bad smoker - I would never go out without my ****, always have at least a spare pack in the house "just in case", smoke a *** right up until having to go into work cos it was a long time til the next, smoke 3 or 4 at lunchtime for the same reason.

It was taking over my life!!!! I enjoy the freedom of not having to worry about going to the shop, being able to just go out for a walk/bike ride without carrying them.

Just being free.

The health risks are lessened by giving up, but that's not the main reason I gave up. Smokers could be faced with rotting lungs on the packs of ciggies, it will not stop most of them. They'll just find a way to cover it up and ignore it just like I tried to ignore the adverts on the telly with a tear in my eye.

MarkO

TBH, I didn't give up because of the cancer risk (or lack of). I gave up because of the cost, because of the other ('lesser') health issues, and also just 'cos I didn't really see much point in continuing smoking.

The end of halitosis and waking up without a hacking cough was just a bonus.

damian666

The lie, as quoted by MarkO!

Damian

STi-Frenchie

I gave up smoking 362 days ago and I'm a lot better for it. Go for it Clarebabes don't let anything put you back on the smokes. I smoked 2 packs a day for 21 years and only 6 months later did I get my (real) sense of taste back...a bit earlier than that I got my sense of smell back and THAT is what really helped convince me not to go back to smoking again.

Stand next to a smoker...their clothes stink, their breath stinks and no matter how nice the person may be, as an ex-smoker, you won't want to be around them too long. Problem is, smokers don't know or won't accept that they stink (or don't care) so they think everything is hunky-dory - it's only when you stop that you really notice.

Pious? Me? Yes. I can definitely say, on this issue, I'm a pious ba5stard and getting worse the longer I'm off the foul things.

ianmiller999

Congratulations to those of you who managed to give up. Aboy a year ago my grandad gave up smoking after over 70 years of it. His health and well being etc has improved so much and I have never seen him so active in all my life (I am now 15)

Just a little point for the smokers to consider, when they get older say around 70ish what will they be doing with their life when you get so out of breath that it takes you 15 minutes to make a cup of tea etc.

Peanuts

iTrader: (15)

tabless for 9 weeks now and feeling great.
reasons for giving up...

1 cash, enough to pay my insurance twice over or a full tank of optimax each week.
2 health, nah not really but its a pretty good bonus
3 future, the advert about the little girls dad who has LC is a choker and thought that one day that could be my little girl (touch wood to the opposite obviously).

feel great now tho, and wish I had given up earlier, most noticable things are energy in the morning, I have some now, and the smell is gone round the house (apparently and I can taste things again.
If you can, do, but do it when you want to, it will be easier than doing it because you are told to..

Peanuts.....

MarkO

Damian, whilst your chances of getting cancer may not be reduced by giving up, I'd be very surprised if your chances of getting lung cancer weren't reduced by giving up, relative to when you were smoking. Two entirely different risks....

drumsterphil

iTrader: (1)

I am now in my 8th month of not smoking (after having smoked for 9 years) and it's honestly the best thing that I have done.

I'd done the 'Oh, I'm going to give-up' for ages then had to go into hospital for a knee operation last december so that finally gave me the impetus to kick the habit and two weeks prior to the op I did just that.

I will not lie and say that it has been easy - it bloody hasn't - and the first four months were seriously hard work but I stuck it out and now consider myself an ex-smoker.

After not having smoked for a while you can then sense those that do and realise how much the smell of smoking clings to smokers and their clothes - not very nice at all.

I certainly haven't become a nag to other smokers - I'm just glad that I came to a point in my life were I cold finally kick a habit that was costing me a fortune and quite literally killing me. At the end of the day it's your choice if you smoke or not - I just decided that smoking was not going to be a part of my life anymore.

The Zohan

Well, done and keep up the good work!

MarkO

Damien, it would appear that Cancer Research are under the opinion that giving up smoking significantly reduces your risk of lung cancer - and I suspect they know what they're talking about.

What particular evidence/statistics have you read which would imply that your lung cancer (or general cancer) risk remains the same whether you give up or continue smoking? I'd be interested to read it, if you've got a URL.

MooseRacer

I'd be interested too Damian. It's all very well saying it's not true - but where's your info. to back it up?

MarkO

The only thing I can think is that Damian is implying that once you give up, your risk of lung cancer doesn't reduce it merely remains constant (since the damage is done). Which may, or may not, be correct.

However, compared to somebody continuing smoking, for whom the risk is continually increasing with each cigarette, the risk is decreasing (relatively speaking).

I presume that's what you meant, Damian?

damian666

Don't be angry MarkO - seek proof!
Damian

damian666

Study: Risks of smoking never stop // Study: Smoking permanently raises
lung cancer risk
Austin American-Statesman
Wed, Sep 17 1997

Austin resident Jim Spiller took up smoking as an 11-year-old kid in
Baton Rouge, La. He puffed his way through the Navy during the Vietnam
War, buying cigarettes for 10 cents a pack. He quit at age 35--a feat he
says is one of his life's greatest achievements--and took up exercise.

Now 51, the state employee considers himself to be in excellent physical
shape. But are his lungs?

A study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
suggests smoking causes permanent, genetic damage in the lungs, raising
the risk of lung cancer forever, even in people who stop.

"We always knew smoking was bad, but we didn't realize quite how bad it
was and . . . how long the damage persisted after smoking stopped," said
Dr. Adi Gazdar, a professor of pathology.

The good news is, the findings may pave the way for drugs, called
chemoprevention agents, that actually reverse lung tissue damage on the
molecular level.

Gazdar emphasized that the study shouldn't discourage anyone from
quitting. The smoker who quits lowers the risk simply by not adding more
damage to what's already there.

Gazdar and his colleagues studied lung tissue from 63 current smokers,
former smokers and nonsmokers. In both the current and former smokers,
they detected genetic changes commonly found in lung cancer tumors in
noncancerous lung tissue. Lung tissue from lifetime nonsmokers showed no
genetic alterations.

Results of the study, which appear in today's issue of the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute, confirm similar findings this summer by the
University of Pittsburgh and University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center in Houston.

Scientists have long believed that smokers who quit are at a higher risk
for lung cancer than people who have never smoked. In fact, more than 50
percent of new lung cancers occur in former smokers.

Now scientists are beginning to understand why this might be so.

"My belief is, and this is only hypothesis, you need many, many
(molecular) changes to get lung cancer," Gazdar said. "What we think
happens when you smoke is you get cumulative changes. When you stop
smoking, (the changes) don't go away but the new ones stop accumulating
at the same rate."

The carcinogens in tobacco smoke alter the genes in the lungs. Over time,
the changes debilitate genes that suppress tumors and fight cancer, said
Dr. Waun Ki Hong, who is doing similar research at M.D. Anderson. This
type of genetic damage is not hereditary, he said.

Because lung cancer symptoms are elusive, most cases are discovered in
the advanced stage when they are difficult to cure.

Gazdar said he hopes identifying genetic changes, or markers, will enable
researchers to tell which smokers and ex-smokers are at greatest risk of
developing lung cancer.

The markers will also help researchers tell if drugs that prevent or
reverse damage are working. UT Southwestern and M.D. Anderson are
currently testing chemopreventive agents in former smokers.

Spiller said he wants to know just how the changes he made by quitting
smoking have helped.

"I know how long I smoked. . . . I know what I did to correct the
damage," he said. "I'd be curious to know if it was effective."

Copyright 1997, Austin American-Statesman. All rights reserved.


Sorry for not giving the URL - these were all posted on alt.smokers

Damian

damian666

MarkO, your last comment is right - the damage remains, as does the risk of lung cancer. Its just you are not doing additional damage to your lungs!

Damian

MarkO

Actually, Damian, you may be totally wrong after all. The BMJ, 2000 had an article which showed that the absolute risk lowers too. Your risk heads back towards that of someone who has never smoked.

"People who stop smoking, even well into middle age, avoid most of their subsequent risk of lung cancer, and stopping before middle age avoids more than 90% of the risk attributable to tobacco."

So the sooner you stop the better....

damian666

Bah humbug! (dreaming of an icy cold day outside )

Its too damn hot today!

I think we both know that studies can show whatever they are paid to show Nothing can ever conclusively be proven - nobody knows what will really happen, although I think it makes sense that if you quit, you are less likely to get lung cancer than a smoker.

Damian

MarkO

Yep. 95% of statistics are clearly biased to show whatever their owner wants them to say.

damian666

LOL

too true!

Damo

ianmiller999

Just a question to the smokers, from a non smoker. After you have been smoking for numourous years do you still enjoy it?

It would kill me to think how much I would be spending if I were a smoker.

damian666

Hard to classify 'enjoy' for me really. It seems like the 'perfect' end to a good meal, a pause when downing pints, a way to waste time waiting for the bus. It is a timewaster, a distraction, a solace on cold winter walks alone.

I wouldnt say I light up and go 'cool refreshing smoke' or anything - its not very often I think about it.

The tension of no cigarette/relief when you finally get one scenario is probably the best way to describe it.

Damian

MarkO

Cigarettes are certainly enjoyable. Every 2-3 months I really fancy just sitting down with a cuppa and a ***, and I know I'd enjoy it. I don't do it though, 'cos I know it'd be a slippery slope and I'd be on 40-a-day again before you can say "tar-rotted scabby lungs".

Diesel

I quit Jan 2nd. Still off, still want one now and again - the biggest thing you tell yourself is that this passes - usually in less than 3 minutes (until you want one again next time). It all lessens over time and just distract yourself when it happens - suck a lolly or whatever Kojak!!

Lets not split hairs here - it is a good thing to do. Period!

Like the 'be able to make a cup of tea when you are 70' line Very true - even walk the dog, but not on 20 a day x 50 yrs. Aint never gonna happen. Start saving up for a nice chair!

D

PS felt justified in borrowing (£5 x 365 x 4) to get myself something that smells much nicer than Marlboros - leather seats arranged around a big 4.6L 4 X 4

Leslie

Lots of good sense in this thread. Congrats to you Clarebabes, you have done really well but stick with it for goodness sake. Its so easy to slip back into it,but the longer you resist the easier it gets of course.

One thing that stuck with me was that when I was going in for the op for my smashed hip, they said my blood/oxygen was 95%. I said thats not too bad then and they said it was terrible. Six weeks later when I went for another op after I had stopped smoking the oxygen was up to 100% as Marko said.

Yes of course your lungs get damaged by smoking and it will take time for them to recover, don't know whether it is complete but you can be certain it is a definite improvement in your chances of keeping healthy. Ian Miller is right about what it will lead to in your later years. it just is not worth it. I have seen so many older people suffering terribly when others are still enjoying a full life.

Good luck Clarebabes.

Les

jods

I used to smoke - Felt ****e in the mornings.
Took Zyban for a couple of months 3 years ago.
Stopped smoking - Feel great in the morning.

ALSO

As I had saved approx £200 a month I put that towards buying myself the best reward present going. And I am still driving it and enjoying every day :

Swopping Cigs for a Scooby was the best Swap ever !!!!!