I turned 52 today and just realized I've smoked aprox 438,000 cigarettes in my life

[Wiley50]

I started smoking at 12 and have smoked aprox a pack and a half (30 cigs) every day

10,950 cigs a year X 40 years

438,000

Not even counting the 30 plus years I smoked pot too

Those were the years that I was continually coughing all that stuff up

Now I don't cough anymore

Lung x-rays and ct scans look great considering
I even had one of those high tech pulmonary studies a couple of years ago.
"Looks Damn Good for someone who has smoked as long as you have" -pulmonary tech

Knock on Wood!

I've quit a thousand times
patch, gum, Xyban (wellbutrin drove me friggin nuts)

My ex started taking Chantix on 1 july
1 aug she laid them down
hasn't picked one up since

Medicaid allows me 5 prescriptions a month
only two can be brand name
I'm on 5 now. All vital to my health

I kills me that I've spent so much money in 40 years
contributing to greedy right wing tobacco companies

I roll my own now so it's as cheap as it can be without quitting

Ya know, two of my prescriptions are Fentanyl and Morphine
and it's not the first time I've been on them
and shit the withdrawals are miserable
and I don't ever want to go through that again

But nicotine is worse, much, much, worse
after a week you are over withdrawal with opioids
with nicotine it never really goes away

[krispos42]

1. Slacker

Support the poor tobacco farmer, a true man of the earth if ever there was one! Can't you at LEAST do a full two packs a day?!?!?

Why do you hate America???






:hide:






On a more serious note: I'm glad you're still healthy after a half-million coffin nails. I shudder to think about how many Doritos I've consumed...

And I say this while munching on a tube of Pringles! I'm a bad, bad boy...

[Droopy]

2. "with nicotine it never really goes away"

That's right and that's what nobody ever tells you. Even when you quit for a long period of time the craving never goes away. I quit for 7 months one time and I always found myself in situations when I wanted a drag.

[flying_wahini]

3. OK - I'll bite,

I smoked throughout my late teens till I was 32.

Quit for 10 YEARS.

picked up the habit again. (yeah, stupid.)

now, 10 years later I am still smoking - around a ppd.

don't know if the cravings ever go away, but I know if I ever

quit again, I will never smoke again....... ever.

it's hard to quit. but I am going to keep trying.

plan to quit by Thanksgiving. going to go cold turkey.

[LaraMN]

11. A-freaking-men.

Every time the season changes, for some reason, I get cravings again as though I just quit a week ago.
I quit about 15 months ago.
It sucks.

[hfojvt]

4. that's about 22,000 packs

or $25,000 at $1.15 per pack.

[Heidi]

5. Happy birthday, Wiley50!

:party: :hi:

[tkmorris]

6. Oh dear GAWD do I need to quit

Don't know if I can. I know I can if I really want to, but I'm not sure I really have the WANT to. I am so gonna die.

[zanne]

10. Dear tkmorris...

I quit five years ago and I didn't want to. My cardiologist simple told me "quit or die". I wish I could lend you my cardiologist--he's very scary. Anyway, it works whether you want to quit or not. I still have an occasional urge, but only a slight one, and it makes me feel good to think that, even though I want one, I don't need one.

[Maraya1969]

7. This book and nicotine anonymous did it for me

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Stop-Smoking-Nonsmokers/dp/1402718616

I didn't like the "make up your mind you will never smoke again" since I am a one day at a timer. But I love the philosophy and I know it works.

Don't think of a craving as horrible. It is just a feeling. Most of our pain about it goes with the thoughts we associate with it like; "I'm going to fail" "I can't stand this" etc.

I think the tobacco companies want people to believe that it is horrible to stop smoking and we of course have bought into it and now it is horrible to stop smoking. They have done a good job of brainwashing us.

Once guy said that when he realized that cravings could not hurt him he quit right then and there.

[zanne]

12. I've never heard of Nicotine Anonymous.

Is it everywhere or just in your area? I'd love to be able to tell smokers about it if they want to quit.

[Maraya1969]

13. It's in a lot of areas. Check this link.

https://www.nicotine-anonymous.org/standard_search.php

[zanne]

14. Thank you! nt

[Callalily]

8. Wishing you a

[raccoon]

9. I disagree with this statement, "with nicotine it never really goes away."

I was an avid smoker--2 1/2 packs a day when I quit.

The withdrawal/cravings did go away.

[zanne]

15. I agree that it's misleading.

When you're used to smoking two packs a day and you have to go without for four hours (more or less), the withdrawal cravings are really intense; nothing like the occasional urge you might get to smoke once you've quit. I remember thinking that I'd always have those intense urges and I was very happy when I quit and realized I no longer had the need to smoke.

[_testify_]

16. I smoked for about 15 years

Pack-a-day for most of that time.

I quit in June 2006 (using Welbutrin, which I did not enjoy either), and I live with two smokers including my SO. I have had an occasional drag but it isn't really satisyfing at all.


But the URGE is still there...I still identify with smokers...I guess the best way to describe it is as being a smoker who doesn't smoke. I'll never feel like a non-smoker.

[Kajsa]

17. Happy Birthday, Wiley.

Your post speaks to me.

I hope you have a great birthday.

:hi:
:party: :toast: :bounce: :toast: :party:

[Dystopian]

18. Happy Happy Birthday!

You're here & that's what counts!


peace~

[Wiley50]

19. Thanks For All Of The Birthday Wishes Everone!! n/t

[BrotherBuzz]

20. 40 years here, too

Although I started at age fourteen. On a whim, I asked my oncologist about Chantix and he said he never heard of it, so pulled out a blackberry type device and had all the info right in front of us. He said it sounds good and prescribed it for me, but thought my insurance would nix it (Medical). I was approved, have the kit in hand, and will start after my chemo ends in a week. My condition dictates I have a blood test for creatinine, but all indicators are good and I will be smoke-free by my birthday in a month and a half. Cancer free, too, I hope

Go ahead and submit it to Medicade - they just might approve it.

[bluethruandthru]

21. I quit after nearly 30 years of smoking...

I used Wellbutrin and the Patch. I'd tried the patch alone several times but always went back. Using the Wellbutrin at the same time made the difference. There's a generic version of Wellbutrin which may be cheap enough to afford without medicaid. But buying patches costs nearly as much as cigarettes!

[Wiley50]

22. I'm Bi-Polar. I can't take Wellbutrin or Effexor

It reminds me of some poorly manufactured methamphetamine

like I would sometimes run across in the early '70's. My druggie period.

It speeds me up franticly, like methamphetamine, except it's not at all pleasant.

It's just trashy speed.

Prozac and Luvox do the same except not as much.

I've been taking Trileptal for bi-polar since 2002 and am symptom free.

It's one of my two allowed brand name drugs. The other is Lotrel 10/40 for High Blood Pressure.

The three gernerics I'm allowed are Duragesic (Fentanyl) transdermal patches and Morphine
(both needed for chronic pain from my back problems) and Remeron, an anti-depressant

And I'm about to go on 6 months of Interferon-Ribovirin Viral Chemotherapy for Hepatitis C

and my doctor doesn't want to change any of my meds during this treatment because the stuff is bad news
and causes major joint pain, nausea and depression.

[bluethruandthru]

23. I'm sorry you're having to go through so much.

Maybe having a couple of smokes here and there isn't so bad! Do your best to cut down and cut yourself some slack. Don't beat yourself up about smoking...that's not good for you either.
..and Happy Birthday!

:toast:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

24. Think of all the money you have flushed down the drain....

[Inchworm]

25. It is tough to quit

I did a while back, but still crave sometimes. If you stick through it its worth it. You could at least stop that big arse number. :hug:

:hi:

[lost-in-nj]

26. Oh man

:hug: :hug:

I wish there was some way you could quit.....

I am lucky and the Wellbutrin is helping me.....

good luck to your ex

and you.... hope it works out
these are my stats.....
I think I have saved a lot more money than that though.....


My Stats:
Your Quit Date is: 2/15/2007 10:00:00 AM
Time Smoke-Free: 235 days, 8 hours, 56 minutes and 17 seconds =
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 9415
Lifetime Saved: 2 months, 11 days, 22 hours
Money Saved: $1,645.00


lost

[JuniperLea]

27. I quite a year ago July 4

My doctor said the addiction list goes like this... most addictive first...


Sugar/Carbs

Cigarettes

Heroin

Morphine



It took a very long time before I stopped reaching for the pack when I quit. It gets better.