Smokers/ExSmokers

[minneman]

For you Smokers,Last Wed.Am I had a real I opener, 6:am sitting right here, cup of coffee, havin a smoke, reading the best fishin info around, I feel kinda clammy/hot. I reach up behind me to open the window. after opening I feel as tho I pulled a muscle in my chest. nothing major, just irratating, 10 min. later its more of a heavy feeling, I go lay down next to the wife to strech it off. NOT!
30 sec. of that I wake her with the Scarriest words to ever come out of my mouth.. "I think you should take me into the hospital, "I think im having a heart attack??"

With pain that feels like an elephant standing on my chest we get to emergency and although relieved to be there, I still am in pain. 2 little sprays of nitro and the pain is gone. the next day im shipped to Fargo for an angiogram, and ultimatly angioplasty and a stent for the blockage they found. lucky for me there was only minor damage to my heart, the blockage was not in a major artery.

Here is the thing, Im male, 42 yrs young, and there is no heart disease in the family, None. my Cholesteral level is 164, Im not over weight, 6'3" 205lbs, and am phisically active. My downfall is that ive Smoked for 26 years! !!Quit Now!!

Ex Smokers, please share with me the ways you found things to do to avoid the urge, I havent smoked since 6am wed. and am doing the patch, so far so good, but today I return to work (selfemployed const) and in this biz smoking is the norm. Yes, they will all get an earfull!!

Thanks for your time! I have a totaly new outlook on life now, and sharing this is part of it, hoping that atleast one of you great people will Kick it!! Ted

[Rick]

Regardless what method you use,

It WILL work if you are absolutely and irrevocably determined never to suck in on that round smelly brown thing - EVER.

[willowcat]

So far so good. I havn't given in and I dont plan on it. The one thing that's bothering me is for the last two days I've been coughing more and have some pain in my lungs. Is this normal to have after the first week of quiting?

[Rick]

Congrats willowcat,
it is part of the process. Your lungs start to clear out and the cilia that really keep your lungs clean start to grow back.

Just wait till you start feeling the extra energy in your system. Now that's a rush as well as breathing so much better.

[upnorth]

Willowcat,

It is very normal, it is the start of the lungs healing process. I started to get over that after a couple of weeks, my wife to a couple of months to clear out. Each person is a bit different.

I does get better as time goes on

[willowcat]

I just want to say thanks to every one for your support. The clinics have the 1-800 numbers but who needs them when you have Fishing Mn! No clinic can compare to this.

[mistermom]

EVERYBODY SING:

"Cigarettes are a scourge on the whole human race.
A man is a monkey with one in his face.
If you smoke them I'm tellin' you brother,
There's a fire on one end and a fool on the other!"

CHORUS: "Cigarettes and whiskey and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy. They'll drive you insane." (repeat chorus)

mm

[minneman]

Just thought Id pass this along for more incentive.

The Bill came today for my hospital stay and related heart attack issues, added together nearly $20000.00 yea, thats "twenty thousand dollars"

I have insurance, but what if you dont!??

Quit Now People!!

Get a jump on the Great American Smoke Out

[upnorth]

Mistermom, you have waaaay too much free time on your hands

[mistermom]

It would appear that I do. But that is a real song that I saw Peter Sellers perform on the Muppett Show, a very funny episode!

mm

[Paul Rohweller]

A 20k wakeup call eh? Kinda spendy. I hope I quit in time. How much of your heart trouble was cholesterol related? After my dads heart attack he had strict orders to cut the fat out of his diet. I think I should have followed suit.. He smoked a pack and a half of old fashioned pall malls a day. Your still too young to have to go thru what you did. Keep the faith folks!! Paul

------------------
Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[minneman]

Paul, my cholesteral was 180 something. I can say this however, one thing that was talked about by the Dr's a bit was stress and its effects, Im now thinking that this may have played a good part in this whole deal with my heart. since this happened i have had to try to minimize stress. being self employed and living in a household with 4 women, is tougher than I thought..

[upnorth]

Mistermom, I was giving you credit for coming up with the ditty. Kinda cool anyhow.

[Paul Rohweller]

Self employed? Stress? NAAAA.... lololol
I'm only semi self employed and I can feel it.
I can see your point tho.. Thank god for fishin...Paul

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[fishface5]

Stress plus colesteral plus smoking plus regular over consumtion of adult bevereges plus relationships with the other halves plus Mc D's etc. etc. etc. = IV, EKG, O2, and maybe an ET tube and a shock or three (on a visit from me) $20,000. or more?!?! First step? STOP SMOKING!!!!!!!!

[mistermom]

BUMP! For those of you who caved and started smoking again I thought I'd put this back up to the top. You can do it!

mm

[Rick]

I'm still a recovering smoker.

I will never smoke again.

How are the rest of you doing?

If you gave in let us know.
I for one am proud you tried.
That takes guts.

We'd really like to know what caused the relapse, it might help us and others to stay quit.

We'll be here when you decide to quit again and we already know you will on your own time.

[BDR]

I quit exactly 7 days, 4 hours and 17 minutes ago. It's the second try in 20 years,but I'm very motivated. It's going pretty good, as bad oir good as I make it.

[wishing for walleyes]

Today is 1 month for me and going strong.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Hey!!
I wish all you guys the best of luck man…
I know it is tough but hang in there guys!!!!
20 Some years ago I tried to be cool in High School by smoking like all my friends I couldn’t hack it. I tried to be cool by chewing couldn’t hack that either. As much as I tried to be a tobacco user I just got sick every time. “I Guess I Feel Real Lucky Now” and don’t mind being called a “Big Wuss” anymore.
Now, I cannot stand to be around the smoke it just drives me nuts. I can tell a smoker a good 10 yards away from me and it makes me gag darn near. However I do like a good drink every night or so and if it happens that we end up in a Bar (I still can not stand it) BUT I choose to be there and don’t get on any one for smoking around me as much as I may hate it. However if anyone is rude about their smoking (Blowing it in my face cuz their friends don’t like it in theres) I’ll voice my opinion!!! At any rate I have seen friends and family try to quit and it is tough I think you guys are on the RIGHT (CORRECT) TRACK!!!!!!!!

Hang in there I know you will enjoy life so much more being “Stink Free” unless of course it is the smell of fish or bait.

Hang in there guys!!!!

------------------
Hook Em Good!!!!!!!

S.D. Ice Angler;
NRA, DU, NWTF,
Varmint Hunter
& NAHC Life Member

[This message has been edited by S.D. Ice Angular (edited 11-26-2003).]

[minneman]

Still recovering here too ,but! No giving in here! that monkey is gone but still pesters me from time to time, its been 71 days for me!

this will be a very special Thanksgiving for me. after all I am alive and I have the Will power to win this battle with smokes!

thanks mistermom, for the btt

Hey!! $550.00 saved to date!

[Paul Rohweller]

Guessin around 60 days for me, dont really count anymore. Wife caved in after three weeks but is going to try quitting again soon in her words.(3 weeks? She was almost thru the tough goin! Dumb.) Wanted one this afternoon myself but just put my mind to my work and it passed quickly. Hang in there folks!! Paul

------------------
Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[Ronsay]

It's been 12 years since I last smoked, it was very dificult for about 2 years after I quit, I think I started smoking about 3 times in that period. The only thing that worked for me was the pill, and my doctors telling me that I was wasting there time if I did not quit.

I smoked 3 packs a day for 35 years, it was the cool thing to do when I was young.

I have an upper lobectomy because of cancer on my right lung, I cannot exert myself without losing my breath.

I had rectum cancer 2 years ago which they caught at an early stage.

I had bladder cancer 11 years ago and it just returned 3 weeks ago, the surgery was succesful and they caught it early.

If you have never smoked, never start. If you do smoke, Quit, no matter what it takes. Try what ever it takes to quit, the biggest part is mental. When you start smelling and tasting again it is a new sensation that you may have not experienced for many years.

Cancer is genetic, so look at your family tree, has any of your grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, or cousins had cancer in the past? If yes to any of them, quit immediately. Ron

[fishinphyl]

Hey Paul - have your wife look at the new Better Homes and Gardens magazine. They have an article on quitting smoking for women only. Good luck to you both.

Did any of you see the article in the Fargo Forum about the young man (this started when he was in high school) that has lost both of his legs to a rare disease caused by cigarettes? It is really hard for a non smoker to understand how you could keep on smoking after all that.

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Phyl

[BDR]

Ronsay Thats quite alot of incentive youve had! Thanks for sharing. I see your from Akeley, we may have met before. My grandmother is Ruth Rogers. I think she knows everyone north of Motley.

Brian Rogers

[This message has been edited by BDR (edited 11-26-2003).]

[Aquaman01]

Still good here. 8 weeks. Bought some gum, though. The Target store brand is a bargain, but the heartburn is fierce.

Hang in ya'll - be well.

Rob

[upnorth]

Glad to hear of those who are still hangning in there

I agree with the do whatever it takes to get off the smelly things. Gum, patches, sunflower seeds, candy, etc, it is all better than the cigarettes themselves, and easier to give up later.

I have heard all the excuses, gotta die from something, I get too stressed out, I will quit someday, they calm me down, whatever! If you want to quit there is a ton of good suggestions on how to make it work here on this thread, use it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

[mrmillelacs]

ok im going to quit on monday, again. talked the wife into it as well. you guys have convinced me its worth tryng again- wish me luck. wife bought 10 pounds of tootsie pops

[minneman]

Best of luck to the both of you! Being totaly committed is the key to winning this battle!

You Can Do It!!!!

[upnorth]

mrmillelacs,

If I can do it you can do it. Just think about why you are quitting when the cravings come and you will do fine

Good luck!!!

[This message has been edited by upnorth (edited 11-29-2003).]

[Paul Rohweller]

Welcome aboard millelacs!
Thats great that the wife is joining in too but just remember you cant force her to do anything she doesnt want to. So be mentally prepared to go it on your own or at least with our help. The tootsie pops were my ticket along with the patch. I did the miniature tootsies, the full size were too big! lol Little ones were just right to beat down the monkey...Good luck and stay in touch! Paul

------------------
Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie