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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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That sobriety thread seems to have become a resource for many. Maybe this thread will help for those who find themselves with this particular monkey tickling them.
Recent events have brought home what a serious issue this is and how much trouble people are having. Maybe the Op or others can share some success stories to inspire the rest.
Hi, you know who you are.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Lost another one to emphysema. Keep at it!
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Success stories: My parents, one at a time. Both were chain smokers from their early 20s (or maybe even earlier)
Mum: about 60 years old in about 65. Her Doc said "your high blood pressure is going to kill you if you don't stop smoking". About the 3d year he gave her this message, she quit, cold turkey, forever. Note that the public still didn't know how massive the health effects are.
So now Me Dad is still smoking in the house and the car and at parties.....
Mum does NOT resume smoking.
About 5 years later Dad gets the message from public knowledge and common sense. Even though he hadn't any symptoms of ill health from smoking. Dad stops Cold Turkey to never smoke again.
Mum eventually died from heart failure directly related to her smoking. Dad died of other causes, primarily excessive drinking.
But they BOTH pulled it off, without pharmaceutical assistance.
Hey, if you need the Nicotene Transdermal (full disclosure: I worked on the development of this product) or other pharmaceutical assistance, go right ahead.
Just Do It! Yes You Can.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Both my parents smoked a lot while I grew up. That means mom smoked through pregnancy (back then they didn't think it hurt anything) and I grew up in a smokey house and rode around in a car filled with smoke and the windows rolled up tightly. It must have been quite a sight!
One of my chores was to clean their numerous ashtrays around the house. Some kids made fun of me at school because I stunk like smoke every day. Once someone anonymously left a bottle of perfume for me saying I stunk like smoke.
I hated it but what the kids did to me didn't bug me at all compared to my fear of my parents dying. This was during the time that schools educated students on the dangers of smoking.
I saved up all my money and paid for my dad to get some treatment that involved acupuncture points in which they injected something to aid in stopping smoking. In hindsight, it seems a total scam. But it hurt like hell to have it done! I don't know that the treatment did a darn thing but my dad knew I'd save up a couple hundred again to have him redo the treatment if he didn't stop. He stopped. :)
Mom was a different story. She was difficult and during her many attempts to quit, my dad would buy her a pack of cigarettes because we couldn't take living with her while she tried to quit. Not fun. Finally years of trying to stop cigarettes and terrorizing the house, she got the patch.
Did she follow directions? No! She chewed nicorette gum (far more than prescribed), wore the patch and smoked. One night, after too much bourbon (oddly she rarely drank) the excess caught up with her. She's lucky she didn't kill herself really. All that nicotine in her system was too much and she was sick - really SICK for days afterward.
Recovering from the worst hang-over ever didn't deter her desire to smoke. But oddly, she could no longer actually do it or she'd barf. So for about two years she hung around other smokers wishing she could partake and breathing that air. Then suddenly she didn't like second-hand smoke any longer. She's not smoked for 20-25 years now.
Cigarettes are devious. While I've never smoked, I've seen how hard it can be to quit it. Best of luck to all of you trying - I know it's not easy. You can do it though!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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After a series of nosebleeds my mom stopped cold turkey on my eighteenth birthday, 1974. Probably in part why she's here today at 88. Her sister died of emph @ 65, her father at a similar age of the same cause.
Now we're working on the chinese branch of the family. Which is slow work. It's amazing how many people in China still smoke.
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Cold turkey, over a year ago.
I don't remember exactly when I quit, because smoking no longer dominates my thoughts.
My mind was what needed to be rebooted. Smoking had clouded my ability to make my own decisions, rather the addiction made them for me.
I have been way less volitile, sleep better, climb better, and smell better.
Long drives are less stressful.
Find your reasons, make sure they are your own.
Quitting Smoking should not be the hardest thing you have ever tried.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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mucci
WELL DONE.
Both my parents smoked a lot while I grew up. That means mom smoked through pregnancy (back then they didn't think it hurt anything) and I grew up in a smokey house and rode around in a car filled with smoke and the windows rolled up tightly. It must have been quite a sight! Yeah, I don't think I suffered from my Mum smoking while pregnant but I often wonder if I'll die of second hand smoke.
Some kids made fun of me at school because I stunk like smoke every day. Try being that kid in Utah where smoking was a sin.
I was lucky enough to go BLEEEECHHHH when I tried it out behind William's garage when we were about 11. We each swiped our Dads' pipes and cigarettes. He became a smoker. I never took it up.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Feb 18, 2012 - 11:52pm PT
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Something I wanted to mention on this particular thread, as opposed to either of the other two stop smoking threads; While I want to encourage Lolli and Brandon and everyone else, to do whatever it takes to quit, I still gotta wonder about this approach, the patch. If done only part way, couldn't it be just a bait and switch? I know at least one guy who claims to have quit smoking, but, has quadrupled (at least) his nicotine intake with the patch and shows no sign of slowing down or cutting back.
Granted, It cuts down on the smell, and is no doubt better for the lungs, but is it quitting? also I've heard of instances of backsliding with this technique where the subject smokes while on the patch, that's gotta be the worst of all.
I've never smoked, but when I quit red meat, and later, alcohol, I quit cold turkey after a short taper each time, leading up to the decision to quit.
Again, whatever works, but something to think about....
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jun 12, 2013 - 01:57am PT
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How did this go?
HP!
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Jun 12, 2013 - 02:04am PT
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Two plus years cold Turkey for me on a 15+ year addiction to the 'tine--try pulling Bali Shag out of a water pipe for some serious nico-action...
...large doses of nicotine is the best and cheapest sedative for a Black Rhino, btw
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jun 12, 2013 - 11:45pm PT
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Wow, you and Pat! Strong work!
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Jun 12, 2013 - 11:51pm PT
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QUITTER!
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