Any smokers out there(?)

[DaubsNU1]

I am curious.

 

I remember my parents smoking when I was a kid...Mom smoked a lot...Dad smoked mainly when he drank. Grandparents, aunts and uncles on my Mom's side smoked. Just one of my cousins on that side of the family smoke now.

 

Dad's side not so much. I can't think of any cousins on that side of my family that smoke now.

 

My older sister (57), younger brother (50) and me (53) never smoked.

 

My Mom quit smoking in 1991, my Dad a few years before that. Years later Mom developed oral, and then lung cancer. She passed in 2013.

 

Curious how many out there smoke...what got you started...ever think of stopping?

 

 

[gunsinger]

I smoked for 20 years.  Got started when I was managing a Waffle House at the age of 19.  Stress was a major factor.  Quit cold turkey in 1986.  I honestly don't miss it though I do occasionally find myself taking a drag off my toothpick ?

[MN Fisher]

Parents both smoked - friend in school got me started at age 10.

 

Here I am, 50+ years later still smoking.

 

Tried various methods - patch gives me a rash, OTC gum and tablets give me 'Tijuana Two-Step'...as does the prescription meds, hypnosis has never worked on me...'too grounded' the last one who tried said...tried cold-turkey and turned into a right b-tard and the wife told me to go buy some as she couldn't handle me that way.

 

It doesn't affect me much...I don't wheeze, my EKG's are text-book normal...just a bit lowing of my endurance is all I've noticed.

[TnRiver46]

I like the smell of a pipe and a cigar but every time I tried tobacco I nearly fall out of the boat and got really dizzy. Bluh. Very similar to a gas station biscuit, I’ve learned my lesson To resist

[DaubsNU1]

26 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Parents both smoked - friend in school got me started at age 10.

 

Here I am, 50+ years later still smoking.

 

Tried various methods - patch gives me a rash, OTC gum and tablets give me 'Tijuana Two-Step'...as does the prescription meds, hypnosis has never worked on me...'too grounded' the last one who tried said...tried cold-turkey and turned into a right b-tard and the wife told me to go buy some as she couldn't handle me that way.

 

It doesn't affect me much...I don't wheeze, my EKG's are text-book normal...just a bit lowing of my endurance is all I've noticed.

 

My wife is a nurse practitioner in heart and lung transplant...she has lots of patients who have to quit smoking or get off drugs in order to qualify for the transplant lists. 

 

Cannot tell you how many times she has worked with drug addicts who say quitting smoking was WAY harder than drugs.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Cannot tell you how many times she has worked with drug addicts who say quitting smoking was WAY harder than drugs.

Ya - they say that Nicotine is WAY more addictive than even Heroin or Cocaine.

[gim]

My Mother used to smoke occasionally many years ago.  Then she went back to school for a nursing degree and her view point took a 180 degree turn.  She is very much against it now, obviously.  She openly admits it was a lack of knowledge when she used to smoke.  My uncle is in his low 50's and used to smoke a lot too.  A few years ago he had a minor heart attack and the cardiologist told him that smoking was part of the cause.  He was able to quit within a year and his health has rebounded.

 

I have personally never tried a cigarette in my entire life and I have no intention to.  I used to smoke a cigar every once in a while but even that I don't do anymore and really don't care to.  I can't comment on how difficult it is to quit because I never started.  I'm sure everyone that smokes knows that they shouldn't by now so there's no reason to beat a dead horse.  Its expensive and the health issues are extraordinary.  The smell really bothers me and its a very recognizable odor.

[Jigfishn10]

I don't smoke, $12/pack is enough to keep me out of that game.

[TOXIC]

I’m 64 and smoked from 17-24.  Quit cold turkey and never picked up another one.  When I started fly fishing at age 30, I was told by other fly fishermen that a cigar would keep the black flies and other biting bugs away…..and it did.  Then I found I enjoyed the cigars so much, I started 1 or 2 during the week and 1 or 2 during the weekend.  I bought a humidor and enjoyed trying different brands.  Promised the wife I would give up the cigars before I retired and haven’t had one in the last 4 years.  Do I miss it?  A little when I stop and think about it because I enjoyed the taste and it had nothing to do with kicking the nicotine.  That was a non issue for me.  I don’t crave them, I miss them, so it’s been pretty easy to give them up.  No health issues.  

[GTN-NY]

My father caught me smoking when I was 13 years old. He told me he would break my neck if he ever caught me smoking again. I believed him!

I’ve never touched another cigarette the rest of my life

[J._Bricker]

As you mentioned @DaubsNU1, a lot of family members and friends smoked, including myself.  It was socially acceptable, even in high school there were designated student smoking areas and you could have a smoke while going to your next class.
When my youngest started D.A.R.E. in school, she would show me pictures of cancerous lungs and ask me to quit whenever I’d step outside to have a smoke. Now how could I ask my kids not to drink, smoke cigarettes or dope if I couldn’t quit smoking when they asked as it was important to them?  BTW, I still have my last pack of smokes as a reminder…

 

[Bassin' Brad]

Nope. Never tried it. All my grandparents smoked most of their lives, and none of them are still alive. I believe my oldest grandparent was 69 when he passed, all the rest was even younger than that. 

[Smells like fish]

I may have a dozen cigars over the time of a year. Enjoyed by campfires or while fishing

[DitchPanda]

Nobody in my family smokes besides my brother in law. Mom never did...but my dad has chewed for 45 years and he smoked when he was young but quit before I was born. Have a close buddy that smoked for years but gave it up a few years back. My best buddy smokes and has no interest in stopping...his wife is best friends with my lady and she is trying to quit as we speak. My girlfriends entire family smokes besides her. Myself I've maybe smoked a pack or two in 38 years. Every once in a while ill bum a few if I'm drunk then the next day wonder why it did it. But as I get older and drink less and less even my extremely infrequent smoking is growing more infrequent.

[Mike L]

Give me a H Upmann Corona Major anywhere any time 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[fishwizzard]

I am one of those annoying people who can take or leave tobacco.  There are 2-3 year periods where I smoked maybe 5-10 cigarettes' a day, but then followed by a few years of maybe a monthly cigar at most.  I don't think I have regularly smoked in like a decade or so. The brand of rolling tobacco I liked changed owners and the quality took a hard nose dive, I never managed to find anything else I liked so I just stopped smoking.  If anyone has a line of a few pre-2010 bags of Bali Shag, shoot me a PM

 

 

[slonezp]

Quit 22 years ago

[Log Catcher]

My Dad was a smoker for a lot of years before he quit. My Mom never did smoke. 

 

I started smoking when I was 15 or 16. I smoked for about 50 years. This coming Thursday will be three years to the day I  smoked my last cigarette. I smoked the last one on Saturday morning. My left knee was hurting really bad so I ended up going to the ER. My knee was infected and required surgery to open it up and clean it out. Spent three days in the hospital. When I went home I never bought any more.

 

I knew I needed to quit from some of the test results my doctor was giving me. I am glad I quit. I'm happy I'm not wasting money on them anymore. My wife is happy and she says I didn't get in to bad moods or cause problems from the withdrawal.

 

If you smoke all I can say is please quit. It will help you more than you know.

[Bubba 460]

 

I smoked for 32 years, started when I was 14 back in 1962. Back then I believe more people smoked than not. People smoked everywhere, restaurants, movie theaters, airplanes, stores, buses, waiting rooms, high school even had a smoking area for students. Smoking was cool... It was presented that way in the movies, on TV, in magazines on billboards. Commercials catered to smoking, the rugged Marlboro Man was on every commercial segment it seemed. Smoking was IN and a lot of people smoked. Nothing was better than lighting a cigarette after a fine Thanksgiving dinner or other "social event". I quit smoking  about 28 years ago so I would not set a bad example to my four daughters growing up... It was hard.  Doctors say my lungs look good for smoking that long  and your lungs will regenerate if they are healthy ~ guess I lucked out.

 

Unfortunately two years ago I watched my best friend of 52 years die of lung cancer after smoking for almost 60 years. He wasted down to 75 pounds in less than four months, wasn't a pretty sight and certainly nothing "cool" about it. My older brother had a lung removed and what was left of the other wasn't much. We didn't know back then what we know know.

[CrankFate]

Tomorrow is 15 years to the day since I quit. I went cold turkey. But did try one cigarette about 2 years after. I took 2 puffs, it tasted terrible and I was like, nope. I’m done. Smoked 15 years. My wife was a heavy smoker, who quit 17 or 18 years ago and wound up with breast cancer at a very young age. The cigarettes may have had something to do with that. One of my friends just passed away less than a year ago from salivary cancer, that spread to his lungs. I assume it came from things like philly blunts, like the guy from the beastie boys.

 

There are so many other toxins we’re exposed to. We don’t need any more. I know the doctor did a test for me and said my lung capacity is fine, but it feels like they don’t stretch as much as they used to. He said it could be the extra weight on my body as resistance compared to when I was younger and weighed less, but the PFT test was good. So I don’t know.

 

Bottom line is smoking is bad. No one should be smoking now. But it’s hard to quit. Having seen a lot of addiction in a lot of people, I know cigarettes are the hardest thing to quit. You can’t be under the influence of drugs or alcohol all the time. It interferes with work, life, everything. Smoking does none of that. It doesn’t harm your job performance. You can still pay your bills. It doesn’t make you crazy so you fight with people or intoxicated so you pass out. Your wife isn’t going to leave you for smoking. You’re not going to get fired at work because of nicotine. Those things make other drugs easier to quit, IMO. No one ever hit “rock bottom” from cigarettes. Getting anywhere near rock bottom makes everything else easier to quit, at least if you ask me.

[Bluebasser86]

Black and milds for a minute when I was a dumb 20 something year old. I already have asthma though and my doctor asked if I was going out of my way to kill myself. I never really enjoyed it or felt addicted to it, more of a social thing when hanging out with friends or out at the bar I guess. Like I said, dumb 20 something year old stuff. 

[ATA]

I just smoke cigars when I am overnight fishing with friends, If alone or with my son ill never smoke, My cigar is el ray delmundo.

[roadwarrior]

What's the deal with "It's so hard to quit"?

I quit every night.

 

[HaydenS]

I had a bunch of old sports illustrated magazines, and every 5 pages there was and for cigs', people just didn't know better.

[Black Hawk Basser]

Yep, I do, for about 20 years now.  I'm trying hard lately to cut way back in hopes that I can get to the point of putting them away for good.  Thinking about an extra $2,000 a year towards other stuff is pretty good motivation.