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Author Topic: Smoking Cigarettes  (Read 7936 times)

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Offline Regretsafew

  • Member
  • Posts: 101
Smoking Cigarettes
« on: September 04, 2006, 05:39:24 pm »
Hey all,

I know I need to quit smoking really bad... But since I found out my status I've been smoking alot more  like a freight train.  Any words of wisdom out there?

Big hugs to you all


Joey

Offline J.R.E.

  • Member
  • Posts: 8,207
  • Positive since 1985, joined forums 12/03
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2006, 05:50:29 pm »
Hello Joey,

It's a Dirty and tough habit to have to give up, and it won't be easy and most likely it is something that you will have to try multiple times at , before you become successfull, and kick the habit.

Heres a couple of links fron the old forums where it was discussed :

http://www.aidsmeds.com/Fusetalk/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=26789&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=arc


http://www.aidsmeds.com/Fusetalk/messageview.cfm?catid=17&threadid=24011&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=arc



Goog luck------Ray
Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

Offline angels4kelly

  • Member
  • Posts: 305
  • IT JUST IS!!.....OKAY!
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2006, 06:01:09 pm »
Hi Joey,
One of my best friends is also trying to quit.
He was diagnosed a year ago.
I quit just 8 months ago and I've been poz for 16 years.
I quit "cold turkey".
It's not an easy thing, but thinking about the possibility's of NOT quitting was much worse!

I am trying to support my friend and give him all the help I can.
One thing I do is keep telling him
"THINK EMPHYSEMA(SP?)
SO THINK EMPHYSEMA, JOEY!


The best of luck to you, Joey!!!!

Peace,
Kelly
                                           
POSITIVE SINCE-10/1990
CD4-610
CD4%-29.3
VL-UNDETECTABLE
VIREAD,VIRACEPT, EPZICOM

MOST RECENT...
10/9/2006
CD4's-714
CD4%-30%
VL-Undetectable
DIAGNOSES POSITIVE 10/90
SAME MEDS, VIREAD, VIRAMUNE, EPZICOM.

SHOOT FOR THE MOON! YOU MAY MISS,
BUT YOU'LL LAND IN THE STARS :)

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
 
Failure is not in falling down,
but the staying down

Offline david25luvit

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,409
  • Member since March 2005
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2006, 06:04:21 pm »
Hey Joey...

                     Same here.  Since giving up alcohol (I do have a glass of wine occasionally) and recreational
drugs...I smoke like a chimney some days.  The cost of cigarettes has skyrocketed so I collect coupons from
the major tobacco companies and save camel dollars which I trade in for cartons of smokes.  Of course I should
quit...  I am so DUMB....But there are some days when a cigarette is just what the %^$# ordered.

                      Oddly enough... cartons of cigarettes are seven dollars cheaper in Mississippi than in Alabama.
And then there's the extra money I spend on scented candles, potpourri and sprays to cover up the smell
of smoke.

 Incidentally.....Welcome to the forum, good buddy.
In Memory of
Raymond David McRae III
Nov. 25, 1972- Oct. 15, 2004
I miss him terribly..........

Offline Life

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,389
  • Member 2005
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2006, 06:07:25 pm »
Ok Kelly,  I am trying!!! I dont want any of that empha shit either!  I feel like a cold turkey! lol ;D

Offline angels4kelly

  • Member
  • Posts: 305
  • IT JUST IS!!.....OKAY!
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2006, 06:14:14 pm »
I SEE YA' GOT THAT MESSAGE, HUH ERIC? ;D
WELL GOOD FOR YOU!!
NOW LET'S QUIT AND THEN YOU'LL STOP FEELING LIKE A "COLD TURKEY"...LOL


LOVE YA'.
PEACE,
Kelly
POSITIVE SINCE-10/1990
CD4-610
CD4%-29.3
VL-UNDETECTABLE
VIREAD,VIRACEPT, EPZICOM

MOST RECENT...
10/9/2006
CD4's-714
CD4%-30%
VL-Undetectable
DIAGNOSES POSITIVE 10/90
SAME MEDS, VIREAD, VIRAMUNE, EPZICOM.

SHOOT FOR THE MOON! YOU MAY MISS,
BUT YOU'LL LAND IN THE STARS :)

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
 
Failure is not in falling down,
but the staying down

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2006, 06:21:21 pm »
Joey
This is a really depressing subject. When I first tested Poz I was told by the doctor that quitting smoking was not necessary ( since noone was living very long with HIV) and the stress of quitting was probably worse. Now it's just the opposite and I cannot quit.  Every time I get stressed out its back to the cigarettes. I think I've quit 4 times in the last two years.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline Alain

  • Member
  • Posts: 679
  • I am.
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2006, 10:18:02 pm »
.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2006, 09:42:28 pm by cowandalehouse »

Offline RapidRod

  • Member
  • Posts: 15,288
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2006, 10:53:59 pm »
I've never had cold turkey, but I've had Wild Turkey.
I've had Cold Duck too.  ;)

Offline Sky

  • Member
  • Posts: 225
    • Myspace
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2006, 11:51:47 pm »
God I'm trying to quit right now as a matter of fact...I think I've chewed more gum in the last two weeks than I have in years.  Not gonna lie, I loved to smoke for some reason.  It was my final crutch to let go of after testing poz.
Poz since 2003.

Offline Miss Philicia

  • Member
  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2006, 01:40:19 am »
I've put limits for the last few years of not smoking inside which cuts down things somewhat.  I'm down to 1/2 pack per day.  I've quit three times in the last 13 years and the last time was for 2.5 years.  That time I underwent hypnosis.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline joemutt

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,167
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2006, 01:44:48 am »
When I got diagnosed in 97 I stopped immediately and started again 3 months later  :-\ . 2000-2001 I spent quitting and relapsing, only in 2002 I managed to stop permanently (as up to today), I had chronical bronchtis and now that's gone. :)
« Last Edit: September 05, 2006, 01:46:50 am by joemutt »

Offline Jeffreyj

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,403
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2006, 02:19:12 am »
Joey, I quit smoking 5 mos ago. I read an article that said 70% of hiv-ers smoked! That blew me away.
I bought some Commit lozenges. I started with the 4mgs and took about 6-8 per day for 2 weeks or so. Then i bought the 2mgs, and did that for 2 weeks. I started with 6, then 5 then 4 etc. I totally quit! It was MUCH easier then I thought.

The main thing is you have to WANT to stop. Until that day comes, you are waisting your time. Good luck. I can't tell you how much more energy I have. Not to metion, I save $300/mo (I was smoking 2packs/day.

You can do it
« Last Edit: September 05, 2006, 07:11:42 am by Jeffreyj »
Positive since 1985

Offline Jerry71

  • Member
  • Posts: 956
  • Biktarvy CD4 637 04-17-18
    • Facebook
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2006, 02:21:58 am »
It's total up to you if you want to quit you can. I personally have been smoking for over 10 years. I wish I never picked up that first one. But I guess we all learn from our mistakes.

Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2006, 07:48:01 pm »
Hey Joey,

I have quit - many times. I think Jeff put his finger on it. You have to want to quit. I really have never wanted to stop.

I know I should. I know my body probably would like it if I did. That doesn't mean I will.

Worse, every time I think about quitting, some damn fool government bans them someplace. That usually pisses me off and start smoking all the more.

Besides, smoking raises your blood pressure. For me, that's a good thing, since mine is a tad too low for comfort. (How many people have doctors tell them to eat more salt?)

I applaud your desire to quit, I will applaud your success if you do, but I won't chastise you if you don't. Been there, still doing that.

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline Eldon

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,664
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #15 on: September 06, 2006, 02:03:21 am »
Hey Joey,

I wish you BEST on quitting smoking. It can be tough as Jeff said it; "you have to want to".



Have the BEST Day!

Offline sdcabincrew74

  • Member
  • Posts: 540
    • My Manhunt account
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2006, 12:40:49 am »
Hey Joey,

I have quit - many times. I think Jeff put his finger on it. You have to want to quit. I really have never wanted to stop.

I know I should. I know my body probably would like it if I did. That doesn't mean I will.

Worse, every time I think about quitting, some damn fool government bans them someplace. That usually pisses me off and start smoking all the more.

Besides, smoking raises your blood pressure. For me, that's a good thing, since mine is a tad too low for comfort. (How many people have doctors tell them to eat more salt?)

I applaud your desire to quit, I will applaud your success if you do, but I won't chastise you if you don't. Been there, still doing that.

HUGS,

Mark


My doctor tells me to eat salt all the time, seems my body likes to dump it out faster than I can take it in.....always something!
The difference between an overnight and a layover is luck!

Offline Beatz4me

  • Member
  • Posts: 39
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #17 on: September 07, 2006, 01:02:13 pm »
Joey....You can do it....

I quit cold turkey a month after testing Poz and had smoked a pack a day for over 15 years.

The trick this time (for me) is not saying it's forever. I know where the store is and I know if I really NEED a cigarette, I can get one. I just haven't really NEEDED one that badly so far.

You take it day by day. I may eventually fall of the wagon but I have lasted 4 months so far and it's so much easier now than it was four months ago.

Hugz

Offline jack

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,578
  • fomerly the loser known as Jake
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #18 on: September 07, 2006, 01:39:37 pm »
I love to smoke. I quit around ten years ago after several years of buying a pack,smoking one, and throwing the rest away. I always like to remind myself of what your lungs look like after a few years. Black coal. I also like to remind myself that my fathers brother died at 39 and his father at 50. They were both smokers. He is not and is still alive at 80. You figure it out. They are a legal addictive drug that are more dangerous than many illegal drugs.
You must quit by getting up every morning and making that your goal. It is very,very difficult.
I always choose the smoking sections in restaurants. God, I love Marlboro's.

Offline spudboy

  • Member
  • Posts: 14
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #19 on: September 07, 2006, 02:51:12 pm »
Oh Ya! Who doesnt love a marly hmmmm. I smoked for 30 of my 43 years. Never once tried to quit- didnt want to. Then in May i got hit with back to back bouts of pcp. For the first two weeks of my stay in the "hotel"(my term for hospital) they put me in an isolation room while they ruled out TB, MAC and any other contagious critter that might be crawlin around in there. So after that and two more weeks of their hopitality I figured why start again. The others are right- YOU have to WANT to quit. If your health doesnt motivate you than think of all that money you could spend on other things. I know it aint easy but it does get better day by day. Good Luck Joey and anyone else brave enuf to try.
nearly all of our miseries in life come from our false notions of what is actually happening to us, thus to judge an event sanely is a great step towards happiness.

Offline lydgate

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,022
  • Virgin, can't drive
Re: Smoking Cigarettes
« Reply #20 on: September 07, 2006, 02:55:32 pm »
Hey Joey,

You were diagnosed pretty recently, right? I think one of the understandable "mistakes" that newly-diagnosed folks make (myself included, last year) is trying to deal with too much all at once. I felt I had to decide, right away, how I was going to lead my new, pozzie, life. Disclose to all and sundry? Go on meds? Drink bottled water only? Choose medical team? Quit smoking? etc... I'd suggest taking things slow; if you're dealing with a lot at the moment, and are stressed, maybe this isn't the best time to quit, since the attempt might be difficult and ultimately unsuccessful. Perhaps in a month or two. I'm not, of course, advocating that you continue smoking; if you feel you're ready to quit now, more power to you!

Jay
Her finely-touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.

George Eliot, Middlemarch, final paragraph

 


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