Menu
What's new

Quitting drugs

Ken, my tobacco consumption in high school per week was, a carton of cigs, a roll of skoal and two pouches of Beech Nut. I know this because this is what I bought each Saturday. I quit smoking except for the occasional cigar back in 77-78. Last cigar was before I got my dentures, the heck with my lungs, didn't want to stain those expensive new teeth!!!!! (that was about '98).
Quit chewing the first time in '86. Started back chewing about '90, the second time was toughest for me. But quit it all, if anything because I am to cheap to spend the money those things cost now!!!!!
Good for you, keep it up. I gained over 50 pounds once I quit it all. Guess better to be a fat live person than a skinnier corpse. :eek:
 
:rofl: Jonathan, I could never 'chew'...swallow once or twice and that'll teach ya right quick, at least it did for me :D. I'm already fat so I'll have to watch out on that aspect. I'm 52 been smoking since I was 13 or 14, long enough!!! Oh yeah, had one encounter with Grandpa's 'snuff' back when I was a kid...one snort and I can still recall my reaction :eek::rofl:
 
Ken Cook said:
... thanks to modern medicine us 'will-powered deficient' folks may just have a chance. ...
Click to expand...

Good luck, Ken! :thumb:

I was a smoker starting in high school and kept increasing the habit until I was up to 2.5-3 packs a day. As to "will power", I found a better thing: "won't power". As in: I won't eat everything in sight!

When I quit smoking in 1974, I used several aids. I psyched myself up for a couple of weeks, then set the plan in motion. I allowed myself two packs the first day, 1.5 the next, 1 the next and half a pack the fourth day. Along with that, I held a pen or pencil in my hand most of the time, chewed gum, and sucked on Certs. It worked!
 
I've been smoking since I was about 14 or 15. Continually about a pack or a little more a day. I've been psyching myself up for awhile now and I'm almost ready to quit. Fore me I think it's a stress thing. No real work, no money, and 2 adults and 2 kids moving in with us. I've always been a good earner and it's hard to take the backseat to my wifes teaching income.

I quit for 3 years in the mid 1980's. I was in a golf league and one day after 2 or 3 beers in the bar a friend of mine lit a cigarette. It smelled so good I asked for one and 20 minutes later I was feeding quarters into the cigarette machine. Boy was my wife angry at me. :eek:

Almost forgot. Since I have COPD the Doctor say's I'm going to die if I don't quit.

I've lost about 80 pounds and couldn't handle a diet and quitting smoking at the same time. As soon as I lose 20 more pounds I'll quit. Once I make up my mind on something I always stick it out.

I won't say good luck Ken. Luck has nothing to do with it. I know it's not easy but just do it:thumb:
 
Ken, congrats. Hang in there, hope you succeed with the quitting part.
I never was a smoker (puffed a few but never got hooked). But, at one point I became a tobacco chewer. Worse, I didn't spit, I swallowed. Yes, I knew it would eventually give me stomach cancer but I still did it.
We had a 'surprise' late in life child, our daughter. I was age 48. About a year later I just decided I wanted to live to see her grow up.
Cold turkey I spit out my mouthful and tossed all my pouches. Had withdrawal for about five years. It wasn't easy. I can't/won't criticize those who go back to smoking after quitting because I know it is a difficult addiction to break.
The motivation is the key. You have to want to quit to be successful.
Good luck.
 
Ken Cook said:
Thanks Bill, if chewing gum counts as exercise, I should have no problems with weight gain :rofl: my jaws actually hurt, but it's a good hurt :thumb:
Click to expand...

I remember the sore jaw aspect, too! Forgot about the typical weight gain people talk about when quitting smoking. I was aware that could be an issue, so I really watched my diet - still ate the same things, but didn't overdo. Six weeks into the process my body was getting past the addiction and I had lost five pounds!

You can do it, Ken! ;)
 
i do have to agree with the luck part as bob mentioned in realty.. the willpower is the key,, you need to tell your self no.. chewed since 12 or 13 spratically till i got to be old enough to buy it then it was full time stopped for two years once then started again the last time was the hardest,, as for me when i was sick it was easir to start the stopping.. and if you can stay away from those that do ,it makes your days go by easier:) so i am among one of the ones that understand the cravings of tobacco,, but dont need any of it now:)
 
Congratulations, Ken, keep it up!

Every time I read threads like this, with SO many people saying how hard it is to quit, I again give thanks for my mom who I credit with the fact that I never started smoking in the first place.

I applaud all of you who've managed to kick the habit, or are working on it. :thumb:
 
Congratz Ken, I started smoking when I was 11. I smoked for 30 years.
I did try quitting a couple of times, once I made it for 2 years before starting again. What finally did it for me was when my father in law came down with lung cancer from smoking, had his third lobe removed and went through kemo. That thanksgiving we were all at a restaurant celebrating and he had just finished his kemo, I snuck outside to have a cig and he was right on my heels. He was lighting right up. when I asked him why he was starting again he told me "Hey, I'm cancer free now I can smoke again"
That's what did it for me. I got myself worked up to quit and did just that by the week of Christmas that year. Cold turkey, I bought the gum but only chewed it when I was absolutely desperate for one. Haven't looked back since.
Now if I get a whiff of a cig it makes me ill...
Hang in there it does get better!
 
Art Mulder said:
Congratulations, Ken, keep it up!

Every time I read threads like this, with SO many people saying how hard it is to quit, I again give thanks for my mom who I credit with the fact that I never started smoking in the first place.

I applaud all of you who've managed to kick the habit, or are working on it. :thumb:
Click to expand...
What Arts says. I never started either. Made me a bit of an outcast in HS, but I've already outlived a bunch of them. Guess it was worth it. Except for an occasional cigar or pipe back in the70's, I've always been smoke free. I hope you pull through this and emerge victorious over the tobacco!:thumb:
 
I didn't really ever smoke, but my freshman year of college I started to chew and I mean lots. If I wasn't eating or sleeping, I was chewing. I quit a few times and then started back up. Then I saw a billboard with a pic of a man without a jaw...that did it. I quit cold turkey and after a few days I noticed how much easier it was to fall asleep. I had a chew in right up until I went to bed. :( I still crave it when I'm in the car on a long drive, but haven't had any since the last week of Aug. 4yrs ago. :D

Ken, keep it up and try some hard candy or sunflower seeds if your jaw gets tired from the gum. :thumb:
 
been many tooth pics turned into saw dust as well.. ken the erge to eat will go away and the weight gain is not a fact, some dont its all part of the healing process..
 
Larry said weight gain is not a fact. Dang it! I was going to start smoking so I could quit and gain weight.

I have smoked 3 cigarettes in my entire life. I was in the military WWII and bored out of my mind.

Dad smoked 2 - 3 packs a day. Yet he convinced me that it was totally stupid to start. Now that is what I call good parenting.

My uncle Bob lived a couple blocks from Fred Mc Murray (movie actor). Uncle Bob also looked like Fred (handsome). It used to make his wife mad because the teen girls would come by and want his autograph --- thinking he was Fred. Bob would sign the autograph book or whatever, thus ticking off his wife. Bob figured it didn't hurt anybody and it gave the girls from Idaho, Kentucky, wherever a thrill. Fred was in on the scam---even showed Bob how to sign.

Uncle Bob was a wonderful person who died way before his time. He died of lung cancer. He looked like he was a 90 year old skeleton. I am sure anyone who knew him before and after, quit smoking.

May the power be with you to succeed.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone for the positive vibes :thumb: the Mrs is a day behind me and I think that will help a lot...we can help each other with a push when/if needed.
I believe the motivational comments are the key...you won't quit it you don't want to. I feel very confident now that I've got past that first day! :bliss:
 
Well Ken being that I am an old druggie from way back, my drug of choice these days is Tobacco and caffeine. I have quit booth for 10 years or more but old habits die hard. I just like the taste of dip and coffee black , straight up. I know it's bad for me but so is riding a bike and working in a spray booth all day. Heck at my age sex can kill ya LOL
 
I have a friend that lives in Perth, Australia. Hadn't seen him since 1984 then a couple years back he was over here visiting and I got some time with him. Saw a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket and asked, "what gives, thought you quit." He says, "I did quit smoking, just can't quit carrying them or fiddling with them. He says he goes through a pack in about a years time. He'll subconsciously take them out, tap them, pull one out, flip it through his fingers then put it back in the pack. Says they get sorry looking before he throws them out. In his mind, he hasn't "quit" he just plays with them and then tells himself how long it has been and he really doesn't need this one at this time then puts it back in the pack and the pack in his pocket. Whatever works for you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top