Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    If you've made it ten months, you're free. But it might be ten years
    before you stop being a nuisance about it :-)/2 .
    Find positive self images that fit a non-smoker - a sweet-smelling,
    sweet-kissing person with a fine palate, healthy, concerned for
    the health of others, a bold crusader for clean air, etc....

    Dana_who's_gone_13_years_2_weeks_without_a_cigarette

    I second Dana's idea about hooking into the imagry...it's really
    affirming.
    
    						=maggie
    						non-smoker since 1971

    
    	Perhaps try getting into something *athletic*, where the impact
    of your success would be most readily apparent. Join a health club,
    get into the Aerobics classes. Remember what it feels like to be
    winded?                             
    
    	This will also divert some of the time you might otherwise feel
    left out in toward a new activity, new people, etc.
    
    	A great alternative to "the bar"!
    
    	Joe Jas

    Speaking as an ex-smoker I can relate to what you're experiencing.
    I quit "cold turkey" 4 years ago after realizing that my lungs felt
    bruised.  Remembering that kind of "bio-feedback" kept me away from
    cigarettes at the time.  Now, I can't stand being in the same area
    with a smoker.
    
    With the new DEC non-smoking policy which is to be implemented by
    Jan., '89 it is my understanding that smoking cessation programs
    are or will be available to those attempting to modify their smoking
    behavior. Reimbursement for external programs is offered as well.
    
    You may want to investigate these programs as the support they provide
    could be invaluable to you at this time.
    
    Hang in there,
    Ann Marie
    
    

    Funny how different people react differently.  I quit 6 years ago,
    and have no interest in starting again.  It was one of the best
    decisions I ever made.  But to this day, when someone near me lights
    up, I find myself leaning over trying to get a whiff of the smoke.
    I still think it smells good -- not the stale tobacco smell that
    gets into your clothes and your house -- but the smell of a freshly
    lit cigarette.  Oh well, guess you can see why it would never do
    for me to EVER light one up again, not even just one!
    
    							Pat

    That's interesting -- I've never smoked, never even been inclined
    to (my sinuses plug up at the first whiff of most cigarettes), but
    I, too, enjoy the first whiff of a freshly lit cigarette.  It smells
    so pungent and wild.
    
    --bonnie

    I started smoking in the army, smokers could take breaks in the
    day, nosmokers couldn't.  the easy way was to just start smoking.
    I haven't tried to analyse what I am doing when I smell smoke, I
    can't figure out if it smells good or not. Maybe its "fear of smoking"
    thats causing the mild hysteria????  I tried to do arobics after
    I quit, but kept weeeezzzzzzing so thought I would give the ole
    lungs a break and just take my obese dog for a walk in the evening.
    When we both start whezing we sit down.  I still do miss going dancing
    at bars though.....it was always something I enjoyed but I get short
    of breath alot faster then when I smoked.  People who know me, remember
    when I played softball, I'd run bases with a cigerrette in my hand,
    then I didnt have a problem breathing.  this doctor I don't go to
    anymore told me that the smoking also protected my lungs from all
    my allergies.  Yup, I was allergic to tobacco to.  He said I could
    either take all the allergy pills or start smoking again.  geeez.
    I don't have the desire for a cigerette anymore, and I have this
    fear of starting over again, Its like being an alcoholic,
    it just takes one.   
    I quit smoking when I had my jaw surgery, my mouth was wired shut
    for 8 weeks, and the one and only time I tried to take a puff, the
    stitches in my mouth got caught on the wires and I had to untangle
    them.  I was also on alot of medications that left me mostly numb,
    so the withdrawal was relatively easy.  I figure if I ever started
    up again, I wouldn't have it as easy as i did this time.  (It was
    the 3rd time I had quit)  
    but I am hanging in there..  thanks for the support....
  
    Vivian    

    re: .7
    
    I'd have started smoking in the Army too!  But that doctor you
    tell about gave you some total bullshit.
    
    What happens is that nicotine is a stimulant.  When you smoke,
    your whole body gets hyped up -- heart beats faster, blood
    pressure goes up, etc. etc. etc.  It's just like you were under
    attack and might have to fight or run. A side effect of this is
    that your blood carries more oxygen to your cells.  So you
    feel more energetic, but it's because your body is always
    overextending itself.
    
    Now your body has to learn to breath on its own and develop its
    own oxygen-carrying capacity.  Probably there's also an anxiety
    factor that triggers a certain amount of shortness of breath.
    After all, your body is facing a new situation (smokelessness)
    under new conditions (oh, no, I can't have the crutch I'm used
    to!)  and that's a very scary thing for your body to face.
    
    You may also be underestimating how much of a strain your jaw
    surgery was on the rest of your body.  It can take a couple
    of years to really get your energy and fitness back after a
    major trauma like having yourself cut open and wired up for
    several weeks.
    
    It sounds to me like walking is the wise course at the moment.
    More and more doctors are recommending the morning constitutional
    as a less-stressful road to aerobic health. 
    
    Your allergies should get better now that you're not chronically
    exposed to smoke.  It may be that now that you aren't constantly
    numbed by the cigarette smoke, you're aware of being more allergic
    to other things, but more likely your lungs are just getting rid
    of years of smoke.  
    
    And how, you ask, did she learn all this?  Helping her brother
    quit, that's how.  He, incidentally, came down with bronchitis a
    few months after he quit; apparently it's not an uncommon
    consequence of quitting if you've been a heavy smoker.  It's a
    byproduct of getting the ash and tar and stuff out of your body.
    If you're really wheezing instead of just short of breath, it
    might be a good idea to check with a doctor. 
    
    A different one!
    
    --bonnie

    Re: .7
    
    > I quit smoking when I had my jaw surgery, my mouth was wired shut for 8
    > weeks,...I figure if I ever started up again, I wouldn't have it as easy
    > as i did this time.
    
    It does not sound like you had it all that easy last time either! :-)
    ....ouch!
    
    						MJC O->

    Due to high blood pressure and high cholesteral, I'm working on
    quitting a 30 year smoking addiction.  I say working on it because
    every time I think about going cold turkey, I work myself into a
    real panic.  I use smoking as a reward mechanism.  If I can make
    it to a customer's site without having an accident on the interstate,
    or, just fixed a disk, so lets take a break and celebrate, or fixed
    a wonderful dinner so lets top it off with a cigarette and whoopie
    coffee, or ......... let's make up any excuse to have a cig! Shit,
    who needs an excuse, lets just mindlessly pick up the pack, smell
    the aroma, light up, take a deep breath . . . . . .
    
    I had four cigarettes yesterday ..... after I did 1 1/2 hour workout.
    Did I need, want, or enjoy them?  No, no, no!  At least I'm not
    buying them anymore.  My SO is really gonna be pissed when she finds
    out I'm smoking all of her cigs!!  She doesn't know it right now,
    but she's gonna quit too!
    
    Vivian - I congratulate you and rejoice in your dedication to self
    preservation.  I'm working one day at a time for myself, and hopefully
    next year at this time I can say I haven't smoked for ten months. 
    
    I think I'll go back to bed now.
    
    -shirley