I love to kiss and hug my girl without worrying about stinking and when I last had a fag.
I love that she's more likely to NOT smoke if mummy and daddy don't.(Both my parents smoked - go figure!!!)
I love not being a slave to how many ciggies are left in the packet.
I love not needing my asthma inhaler every night anymore.
I love being much less out of breath when I swim.
I love being almost £400 towards our Eurodisney fund - that's a third of the cost of the trip :eek: in 2 months.
I do believe that I'm much less stressed about things, usually at work I would have been really bothered by things and climb the walls until I could have a fag - I don't get anywhere near as bad as that now.....
I'm not looking forward to the party season and trying to avoid ciggies everywhere (never realised just how many people smoke before now and when will I not feel jealous of social smokers :confused:).
I don't love how lardy my behind is getting and daren't go near the scales!!!
I don't love being a moody wench to hubby who I know deep down is only trying to help (so why to I tell him to shut it so often :o)
These past few days have been the hardest of my entire quit so far... why? After 6 1/2 weeks? :mad:
However I'm staying quit because I can sing in full voice again. I'm no longer anxious throughout the entire gig whether my voice is going to hold out. I'm no longer tailoring the set around how croaky I am tonight... and because of this I have now been able to step up the gigs and have doubled my total income over the past month!
So.... not only am I saving money by not smoking, I'm making more money too! Win, win!
I'm no longer paranoid that every little twinge in my chest is the start of a heart attack... if fact I don't seem to get those twinges anymore!
When I'm out walking with my dogs I can walk uphill again without getting out of breath.
I no longer have to sit out in the garden in the pouring rain every half hour or so.
The condition of my hair and skin has improved.
I haven't had numb feet or hands since I gave up despite the fact the weather has gone sub zero on a couple of occasions.
I'm not paranoid anymore that I stink when I speak to people.
Actually.... I feel a whole lot better now that I've reminded myself why I quit!!!
hmmmm.... I think I need to do one of these soon - I'm also almost at 7 weeks and am having the hardest time in my quit too!
Reading the reasons list from the beginning of my quit doesn't help because I can't relate to them anymore if that makes sense. For example, I don't remember what it's like to stink and be dependant of a silly little cancer stick... if I don't remember how bad it was then how am I meant to see the positives?!
Smokers stink to high heaven, and we used to smell like that!! :eek:.
None of us are ever going back to that are we?
I bliming well hope not, Ed.
I find the stench of stale smoke and ciggies absolutely revolting now and when i notice someone who has just put one out i almost heave, :eek:. I know we should not moan like this because we all used to but OMG its just so bad now and i for one dont ever, ever, ever want to go back to that. Its not worth all the hard work to stop then slide right back to square 1, nah, not for me not again EVER
I find the stench of stale smoke and ciggies absolutely revolting now and when i notice someone who has just put one out i almost heave, :eek:. I know we should not moan like this because we all used to but OMG its just so bad now and i for one dont ever, ever, ever want to go back to that. Its not worth all the hard work to stop then slide right back to square 1, nah, not for me not again EVER
LOL
Absolutely. It's disgusting!! :eek:
As savuton said earlier:
Go sniff someone who has just been for a cig and remember that was you few weeks back
Even more so if the person's been out in the rain!! :eek:
That's true... its been raining for 3 days straight here and not only do I get to see all my smoking co-workers huddled around the 1msquared area that actually has a roof on it but I also accidentally catch a whiff when they come back in... its not sexy!
In fact, I really do wonder how complete non-smokers ever manage to live with a heavy smoker... it must be so strange and unpleassant for them! Especially because they can't really understand the addiction part of it as they've never smoked... they really must love the person
Oh God that video made me cry, I don't watch things like that normally but something told me to watch that one - I can't let that happen to me or my daughter......
Oh God that video made me cry, I don't watch things like that normally but something told me to watch that one - I can't let that happen to me or my daughter......
It is a very upsetting video. I wasnt too sure if i should post it on here..but at the end of the day, we have to wake up and get real to what smoking does to us and our families, especailly when we are wavering on our quit. I dont want my kids to EVER have to go through that. Thats the 1 video that i watch everytime i have a wobble, and its the only one that sets me straight again.
I say post it - I've never seen that before and tbh never seen someone struggling to breathe like that yet still being wheeled out for a fag - yes it's a strong video but shock tactics is sometimes what is needed - I cried but it did reinforce to me why I'm doing what I'm doing and made me that bit stronger today to say no to Nasty Nic!
My mother never smoked, never drank, and yet she died of cancer a year ago. She had Pancreatic cancer, which although operated on at an early stage, has a very poor prognosis.
During her last few days in hospital, the doctor took my brother and I aside to show us Mum's latest scan.
The cancer had spread: lungs, liver, kidneys - as the doctor eloquently said "Not compatible with life" - she looked and sounded just like the lady in that video.
Luckily she passed away in less than a week.... Some beds were occupied for only a few hours of palliative care, but many had been occupied for weeks as people died just like that.
The thing is, she was the ONLY non-smoker in her hospital wing - it was a private hospital, everyone had their own room - and this place was like the busiest hotel in the world - never an empty room.
I will never forget the sights and sounds I witnessed each day in that place - the terror on the patients faces, the desperation of the friends and loved ones.
Mum was very unlucky to end up the way she did - smokers would be very lucky not to.
We are all addicts, and it's all about a quick fix. It beggars belief that I waited just over a year following the events above, before I started my quit. My brother continues to smoke.
antgreen thank you so much for that post. i had seen the video before and it had a very powerful effect, your post however has helped me to truly believe that this future could (WILL?) be mine too if i don't manage to stay off the cigs.
well done for seeing the light yourself and quitting, it's such a difficult thing to do, i think sometimes we forget how difficult because everyone on this forum has done it. keep spreading the word, best wishes
Totally agree 5mol<er, although I'd never seen this video before your story makes it so real and close to home.
Claire- thanks for posting this, it IS shocking but that's what we need sometimes. After a while I couldn't look at the screen anymore so I listened to the audio only... that was possibly worse but now I know, if I ever want a cigarette, I'll watch that first and then see if I really do want one that bad - chances are the answer will be no!
I really did think, think, and think some more about if i should be posting this, as its so upsetting.
I apologise if i scared/worried/offended anyone, but what happens in this video is the main reason that people quit and smokers WANT to quit. This is the driving force of my quit- cancer.
Its not nice to watch, but then again its not meant to be nice. Cancer isnt NICE, watching a loved one die of, and suffer with, cancer, isnt NICE. Thats the point to most of our quits.
Snow-i am so sorry if i upset you.x.
Antgreen- i am so sorry if i brought back memories that you would rather i hadnt, but 5mol<er is right, your story makes it real for us.
"Mum was very unlucky to end up the way she did - smokers would be very lucky not to"- you are right, your mum was very unlucky, but smokers put themselves in with a chance of enduring that, and putting it on their families, everytime they light up.
Well yes upset.. but in my opinion it is something i needed to see!
I have seen this in real life too, but a few years ago now and not when i wanted to give up. (in denial back then)
Seeing it again now has made me more determined than ever to quit for good!!
The guy that made the video, wanted to put out a very good message to everyone and hopefully many people will take that on board and make sure that porr lady didnt die in vain.
It's fine. I think a lot of smokers are very sceptical of videos like this.
For example, the photos that are on each packet of cigarettes here in the UK, I've spent more time laughing at the dodgy moustache than noticing the big raw lump on the blokes throat.
I think that whilst in denial, we all view it as propaganda. For years I was happy because I never, ever, saw anyone walking around with a smoking related illness.
It's only now that I realise that folks with such an illness simply can't 'walk around', so no-one ever sees them.
I posted my story to try and demonstrate that this is not an exceptional case, it's not propaganda. I saw this same thing, every day, when visiting my mother. That was just one cancer unit, in one town (not a big town or a city, just a regular town) and it was always busy.
Hope it helped.
On a more positive note, Arsenal beat Wolves last night, and I'm looking forward to the game at Everton on Sunday. As an added bonus, I'll be making my first post in the week 3 area just after kick-off.
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