POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: Regretsafew on September 04, 2006, 05:39:24 pm
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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
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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
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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
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/angels4kelly/HIGHJUMPCAT.jpg)
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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.
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Ok Kelly, I am trying!!! I dont want any of that empha shit either! I feel like a cold turkey! lol ;D
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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
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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.
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.
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I've never had cold turkey, but I've had Wild Turkey.
I've had Cold Duck too. ;)
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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.
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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.
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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. :)
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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
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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.
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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
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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!
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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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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