After 43 Years, The Nicotine Habit Is Broken

The Intelligencer Wheeling News-Register ^ | 5-1-07 | Fred Connors

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

In the early days of life without nicotine I am focusing on the positives associated with quitting.

The greatest thought is an incident that firmly planted the quit smoking seed into my mind. Even before my diagnosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease surfaced, the wheels were put into motion by a most unlikely source.

It came out of the blue from my 9-year-old grandson.

As part of the Thanksgiving observance last year at his school, he noted what the holiday means to him. What he posted on the wall in his third grade classroom was priceless.

He wrote, “I am thankful for my family. Also, I hope my cousins will have a great Thanksgiving. I hope that God will help my grandfather to stop smoking. I hope that everyone stops doing bad things. I praise the Lord for everything.”

This simple, innocent message began ringing in my mind like one of those songs people get stuck on and can’t quit singing.

When push comes to shove and I feel weakness slipping in, I will revisit my grandson’s words.

I’ll also go to another uplifting reference.

The American Lung Association says when a smoker quits, within 20 minutes of smoking that last cigarette the body begins a series of changes.

- At 20 minutes after quitting: blood pressure decreases, pulse rate drops, body temperature of hands and feet increases.

- At eight hours: carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal, oxygen level in blood increases to normal.

- At 24 hours: chance of a heart attack decreases, ability to smell and taste is enhanced.

- At 72 hours: bronchial tubes relax making breathing easier, lung capacity increases.

- At two weeks to three months: circulation improves, walking becomes easier, lung function increases as much as 30 percent.

- At one to nine months: coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decreases.

- At one year: risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker.

Day One

The sun came up without incident. I sensed excitement in the air as opposed to secondhand smoke being exhaled from my poor lungs.

I realized about nine hours had passed since I destroyed my last half pack of cigarettes. That, according to the ALA, means my blood pressure decreased, my pulse rate dropped and the body temperature of my hands and feet increased. Also, the carbon monoxide level in my blood dropped to normal and my oxygen level rose to normal.

All this — and all I did was wake up and get out of bed.

It felt good walking into the newsroom alone rather than being accompanied by the stench of tobacco.

A few early birds, part of my ally brigade, acknowledged my quit day with well wishes. One thoughtful staffer went so far as to leave a beautiful, encouraging greeting card on my keyboard.

It was a rather routine news day for the paper but a great news day for me. I did not smoke. Truth is, I didn’t want to.

Quit day. It’s all good.

The next couple of days were surprisingly uneventful. I thought about cigarettes, but there was no real strong urge to light up. This may be attributed to my determination to use the medication and lozenges exactly as directed.

Referencing the ALA 72-hour milestone, it’s nice to know my lung capacity has increased, and I tend to think my bronchial tubes have relaxed because I am breathing easier.

A recurring thought tells me that lighting up now would undo the precious few health improvements I have gained.

Why go back to block one?

Here I am, one week into a way of life that seemed so out of reach. I’m convinced the excitement of this accomplishment by far overpowers whatever rush I might get by giving in to nicotine.

In conclusion, everything covered in this series contributed to my success in becoming nicotine free. The defining factor, however, was my mindset. When I honestly decided to end a 43-year addiction, the rest was doable.

Some studies say a person has truly quit if that person uses no form of tobacco for 30 days. Others suggest it could take six months.

That means the jury is still out on me. It might as well come back in.

I quit.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

This is the third part of a three-part series of articles....

Part One: Calling It Quits

Part Two: Nicotine: A Worthy Opponent

[stopem]

My husband used a drug called Chantix to quit, it’s been 72 days of smoke free LIVING.

[bn2sassy]

i’m going to join you. Thanks for the info.

[muggs]

It will be 2 years in June since I quit smoking. I can say that in the last month I have almost quit missing cigarettes. Yesterday I was very stressed and thought about smoking, but it is easier than in the beginning.

[DuncanWaring]

Quitting’s easy. I did it dozens of times.

[FarmerW]

I just quit. It was two weeks for me Sunday. I went cold turkey. I was going to do the patch thing, but I stumbled onto this website. It is a little awkward to find things on I think, but the info and video’s are amazing for me. I could not have done it without this guy.

www.whyquit.com

[CertainInalienableRights]

Congratulations FarmerW. I have a couple of days on you - it will be three weeks Thursday night at 9pm.

That site helped me a lot too - especially the pictures.

Good luck to you.

[billhilly]

Like many boys in their teens, I started smoking, and maintained the habit, with periods of cessation up to six months. At the ripe old age of 63 I pulled the plug on smoking. On April 19, just a couple of weeks ago, six years had passed since I have given up demon weed.

It is worth the effort.

[AirForce-TechSgt]

I have set my date to quit smoking. 12 May 07. It is my birthday and I can not think of a nicer present to give myself.

[CertainInalienableRights]

Thanks Billhilly.

I didn’t start until my last year in college (when I certainly should have known better). I really had it more or less under control for about 10 years - just smoking when I drank, and occassionally on the weekends. Back then I usually didn’t finish a pack and ended up tossing it.

About 4 years ago I was in a relationship that got progressively more stressful. My smoking increased with the stress (actually making the situation worse for both of us). When we finally broke up last year, I was addicted. I’ve “quit” so many times that I lost count, but this time feels different, and I’m ready now. I’m just shy of 40, so I’m hoping I can undo the 15 years of damage before my body starts slowing down due to age.

I’ve already noticed some of the wrinkles on my face starting to fade - that’s reason enough to keep off the death sticks.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

These were my symptoms:

At eight hours: Nerves were figity, wanted a smoke.
At 24 hours: Skin was crawling, mouth was dried out, felt like I was going to be sick.

At 72 hours: Three days of living hell, felt sick as a dog. Could not concentrate on a damn thing.

At Three months: Felt great, the worst passed after about a week. By three months it wasn’t an hour by hour thing, only thought about a smoke several times a day.

At 4 months: Quit hacking up those phlem balls from my lungs.

At 13 years: I only get the urge when I smell a freshly lit cigarette. After that it’s nauseating.

[eureka!]

mark for later

[somniferum]

Good luck! I’ve been tobacco free since July 28th, 2006. It was tough but ultimately so rewarding in the end.

[RedRightReturn]

I quit 3 days shy of my 39th birthday. That was 24 OCT 04 almost 3 years ago already!!! You WILL succeed!!

I was an on and off smoker for 15 years. At my worst, I smoked 4-5 cigars a day, and INHALED em’ too! God I hope I didn’t eff myself up...

www.whyquit.com

[RedRightReturn]

whyquit is the only way, put the nicotine down...all of it...

[SE Mom]

bookmark

[commonguymd]

Ahhh, you people are just a bunch of quitters.

;)

[GATOR NAVY]

18 months this week. I went cold turkey after 25 years. Did it at the beginning of a 6 month deployment because I figured that the lack of alcohol during that period would help. Alcohol was a problem during previous attempts.

Sometimes I still smoke in my dreams.

[leadpenny]

Thanks for posting day 3, ConservativeStLouisGuy, I had something come up early this a.m.

[raybbr]

I have set my date to quit smoking. 12 May 07. It is my birthday and I can not think of a nicer present to give myself.

Start today. Call it buying your present and keep it wrapped until then.

In my experience plans to quit like that end up being postponed indefinitely.

Just start where you stand.