Quit Blog

I spent a bit of time reading the Surgeon General's report on the health effects of smoking.

Lung, mouth and throat cancers are not the primary killers of smokers. Circulatory diseases are. Essentially smoking destroys the heart, arteries and veins much faster and more effectively than it does the lungs.

The report detailed every part of the human body, statistically comparing smokers to ex-smokers to never-smokers. Needless to say never-smokers had the lowest incidences of disease and smokers had the highest. The report compared rates of every type of cancer, including penis cancer. Smokers are about twice as likely to develop penis cancer as never-smokers. And I am amazed at that statistic, as that particular organ has nothing to do with smoking, is far from tobacco smoke, etc.

I've read elsewhere that typical, never-smoker Americans rates their lover between 8 and 9 on a scale from 1 to 10. This number drops to about 6 for current smokers. And impotence is not uncommon for smokers. The more I study the effects of tobacco, the more I'm repelled by it. I don't believe there is a single part of the human experience that smoking doesn't harm, and harm dramatically.

I wish I could say I never have cravings or think of smoking, but that's part of addiction recovery. As time goes on they are less intense and farther between. From reading others success stories, about three months out the cravings fade to once or twice per week. At a year the cravings are pretty well gone. Doesn't matter, however. Crave or no crave. I'm not smoking, not even one.

Here's a quote from a fellow that quit at 65 and lived to be 97:

"Son," he once told me when he was in his early nineties, "I was a tobacco-chained man most of my life. After the chains came off, I could go anywhere I wanted."

There's a big difference between craving a cigarette and thinking of smoking. A crave has a desire, something akin to being hungry. One can talk about why they are hungry or even rationalize being hungry, but it doesn't change. They are still hungry. Thinking of smoking is different. The are no emotions involved and certainly no pangs.

As time goes on, the cravings are ever fewer and farther between. I do think about smoking, but it involves no emotional rollercoaster, rage or fits.

From here on out I think the trick is to keep calm and deal with any stressful event, tragedy or trigger by a resolute "NO".

Years ago one of the tobacco corporations did a study that showed cigarette smoking was actually good. Besides farming tobacco, manufacturing and distribution the study concluded that on the average smokers die about 63 years of age.

You see, one cannot draw social security or retirement until 65, so smokers pay into the system but die before pulling any money out. Of course, smokers typically had higher health care cost but that was offset by their earlier deaths and lack of retirement. The tobacco company later apologized for the report (though it was accurate).

I actually applaud the tobacco company's honesty and don't think they need apologize. At any time in the past I could have quit; nobody forced me to smoke. Nobody pointed a gun at my head and said "smoke". I knew the risks and dangers. If anything their honest report is motivation to quit.

Fortunately I woke up and quit, so I should be living well past 63.

There is something just wrong with tobacco - especially as an addiction. One can see it better after quitting. Even walking by a group of mid-day smokers is telling. Some of them will not make direct eye contact, look at down or otherwise seem a bit ashamed or awkward. This may not be true in bars or clubs where smoking is allowed and common, but in general there seems to be a sense of embarrassment around tobacco usage.

Not much to report. Supposedly most smokers have cold-like symptoms for a few weeks right after they quit. I didn't, but it does seem to have finally caught up. I have a sore throat today. Not bad, just a bit scratchy.

Most of the "what to expect when quitting" literature is for smokers that smoked for just a few years, I think. I smoked for more than just a few years and I'm having the typical quit symptoms, they are just taking a while to show up.

The withdrawals are completely gone. I can't even think of smoking without getting physically ill.

I'm beginning to think the healing process will be fairly long. Don't get me wrong, I feel better every day. I've read the lungs are 30% improved after just two months, and that does seem about right based on how I feel. However to get the lungs back to 100% can take 5 to 10 years, or so the books say. No problem - as I plan on being around at least that long.

They say that quitters usually gain weight. I have but it isn't fat. My muscle tone is really coming back and the mid-section fat is fading.

I think the biggest challenge has been finding places to put all the extra energy. Every task and part of life has gotten easier since the quit, and I find myself with quite a bit more free time than I had as a smoker. What an irony. Besides killing the smoker years early, smoking actually reduces the amount of free time a smoker has in life.

Had a physical last week - first time I've been to a doctor and not worried about the "smoking lecture". Felt good telling him I quit more than a month ago. He told me that I added ten or twenty years to my life.

I'm a long time smoker and noticed that the effects from quiting lasted a bit longer than they should have. I mean anxious, tension, stress, etc. are essentially suppose to end by day 30. Interesting enough (and at least for me) it took a bit longer. Day 40 and those symptoms are still fading (and yes they are fading).

I think it was more related to healing. For the last few days I have gone to bed at 8:00pm and get up at 7:00am. Since the quit, I've sometimes slept 12 or 13 hours a night. I can tell my body needs it. I wake up completely relaxed and full of energy, but those days of staying up smoking and reading until midnight or later are over.

Since the quit, I've developed a certain calm. I think smoking keeps one from growing emotionally or at least slows growth. To hear a smoker say "I need a cigarette" is rather revealing. Perhaps they should be saying "I don't want to deal with this so I will get a euphoria high by smoking". In other words smoking keeps one from having to face problems on their own - just like any other drug.