19 replies to this topic

[dubstepkid]

Im trying to quit smoking cigarettes following my spinal cord injury, but if i dont soon should i expect some serious issues?

[mellowgator]

greybeard can answer that. i smoke and am also trying to quit. i had a bad time with my lungs when i was first injured and didn't take up smoking until 5 years ago. but now i'm addicted again and really want to quit.


mellowgator

[Illinois Boy]

Been smoking since I was 13, I enjoy it........
Just tried my nephew's electronic smokes..... Not bad....
Gonna get me some........

Jim

[mellowgator]

Illinois Boy, on 17 August 2010 - 01:18 AM, said:

Been smoking since I was 13, I enjoy it........
Just tried my nephew's electronic smokes..... Not bad....
Gonna get me some........

Jim

how do they work? is there tobacco involved? do they come in menthol?


mellowgator

[stillgotswag]

Smoking has several and severe health risks for us with SCI. From increased chances to catch all types of cancer to pneaumonia...(which I believe is the leading cause of death in quads.) Therapists...Dr's they all say its 'not good.' But they fail to mention the dangers and complications it brings. Google it to fully answer your question.

Its a hard habbit to break... ...I haven't.

[qbounce]

It takes away the elasticity of your skin too. This makes you more susceptible to pressure sores.

[evilmac64]

I have lived through 3 near death esperance's i enjoy smoking pain pills vodka weed my dog grandchildren my wife making money in that order
and am not stopping any of them until an hour after I'm in the ground-I have been told by every doc all this stuff will kill me-I'm still here and am not going any where soon-when they put you in the ground if you did not have a good time its your fault-End of story

[pinkcloud]

evilmac64, on 17 August 2010 - 05:15 AM, said:

I have lived through 3 near death esperance's i enjoy smoking pain pills vodka weed my dog grandchildren my wife making money in that order
and am not stopping any of them until an hour after I'm in the ground-I have been told by every doc all this stuff will kill me-I'm still here and am not going any where soon-when they put you in the ground if you did not have a good time its your fault-End of story

I stopped for 3 years - and the pain etc of the sci got me smoking again. So in this case I agree with evilmac64. I had this accident due to having mad fun living the dream on a horse. I still dont regret taking this risk. I got 30 years of fun before it went wrong. I am just sorry for my children.

I'm not sure of what the dangers are - I dont want to live til I am 100 with this pain - but neither to I want to go before I am 50 for my childrens sake.

SO if you find out anything would you post on here

I too had trouble breathing greybeard but I am used to it now. I smoke the roll ups (no weed, I can just cope with lyricas side effects I am not against anyone else smoking it or taking it - its just not for me) and these are better than proper fags - them I cant breathe well at all after smoking. So maybe you could cut to them. It got me off 50 normal fags a day (and I worked full time) habit by using them .

All the best fellow t-spine kid

[greybeard]

I smoked mainly roll-ups, but at times also cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, for over forty years. You could say I was as hooked on tobacco as it was possible to be. I tried many times to quit but failed through lack of will power.

I tried the nicotine gum for a while, but found I got just as dependent on them (you know, patting your pockets down before leaving home to check you had your fags/pipe/tobacco/lighter - then gum!!)

But then I found that using nicotine patches completely took away my need to have something to suck on all the time. It was a bit strange, finding things to do with my hands, for a while but that soon passed.

After a few weeks of applying daily patches, I found I could cut them in half and still get the benefit, and after just three months I reached the stage where I just carried one around in my wallet - just in case. I rarely needed it. After another month or so, I even forgot that there was a patch in the wallet.

I can honestly state that the patches made quitting easy, and over-all, they were no more expensive than the smoking products.

However,..............

I quit twenty years ago, but three years back I was diagnosed as having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This is the modern catch-all term for all the similar permanent lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis etc. In my case, it was definitely caused my smoking tobacco. The condition is incurable because permanent physical damage has been caused to my lungs.

Tests have shown that my lungs now only work at 47% of normal capacity. If I pick up a chest infection, that percentage drops even lower. On a good day, it takes very little physical effort to leave me gasping for breath. Bad days see me almost completely incapacitated despite sucking on three different types of inhaler every day.

I am now an unapologetic anti-smoking zealot and cannot abide the smell that smokers unknowingly trail behind them. When I regained my sense of smell after quitting, I felt so guilty that I couldn't apologize enough to the people on whom I had inflicted the stink of my smoke for so many years. They must have been really good friends for tolerating it.

If my story doesn't persuade you to stop smoking, I suggest you use Google Images to study all the photos of diseased lungs and visualize just what yours must look like. Then picture yourself confined to a life where you are unable to complete even simple physical tasks because you can't breathe in enough oxygen. You might as well stick a plastic bag over your head and finish it now. It probably won't feel much different.

Edited by greybeard, 17 August 2010 - 08:18 AM.

[Wheelsonfire]

Smoking, um.

I washed my car last week, must say myself it was gleaming.
Came out next morning and it had a layer of dust.
No fires lighting locally to cause the dust, the weather brought no wind to raise the dust, so where did the feckin dust come from…….me looked up and thought, feckin dust.
Environment enters this equation also.

Now it is obvious that it was either the dust fairy or pollution, my bet is on pollution.
So your gonna inhale it one way or another, might as well pick your brand..

Now a few years back I remember talking to my GP, I advise I wanted to quit, he laughed and told me not to worry about it and enjoy the cig, he advised I could drop dead at the age of 50 from prostate cancer and never have smoked a day in my life.

Side effects MAY include a multitude of ailments to bring you around to reality,,,,,,,,One thing for sure is when ya gotta go ya gotta go…….

[greybeard]

That dust was most probably pollen. A pollutant? Not normally considered as such, although an asthmatic or a hay fever sufferer might have a different view.

[mahmutkaplan]

I hate smoking. After accident, I finished two pockets one day. First I decreased one pocket. After this, gradually decreased. I was smoking three cigarettes a day long period. Then one day I stopped and never started. Now I feel very comfortable.

[Wheelsonfire]

greybeard, on 17 August 2010 - 01:06 PM, said:

That dust was most probably pollen. A pollutant? Not normally considered as such, although an asthmatic or a hay fever sufferer might have a different view.

Never thought of that GB, you might have something there, but this amount of pollen would set a sufferer into shock.

When I smoked the spasm was uncontrollable even with high doses of baclofen, first day or two was the hardest on the legs but when I refrained from nicotine replacement and realized that smoking isn’t a habit but a nasty addiction,(only for the addiction to nicotine, you would not put a cig in your mouth) the legs were more supple and the muscle bore more elasticity, not to mention cutting down on spasm tablets.

If I was to take a cig now, I would get tingling in the legs much like pins n needles.

Check this dude out http://www.allencarr.com/central/

[Illinois Boy]

mellowgator, on 17 August 2010 - 01:58 AM, said:

Illinois Boy, on 17 August 2010 - 01:18 AM, said:

Been smoking since I was 13, I enjoy it........
Just tried my nephew's electronic smokes..... Not bad....
Gonna get me some........

Jim

how do they work? is there tobacco involved? do they come in menthol?


mellowgator

No tobacco, just nicotine and what ever flavor you want, [Marlboro Red]
The tip lites up like a real cigarette, and the more you inhale, the more smoke and nicotine you get......
As soon as he sends me the link to the site, I will post it.......

Jim

[E-DOG]

Ah tobacco! Bane of my existance for MANY years.
My story is a lot like G/B's. Started when I was 11 and quit around 4 months ago at 53. Cigarettes, cigars, pipe, chew, snuff, keester, any and all forms types ways and styles. When I find an addiction I like I run with it till it takes me to the curb, then into the gutter and then down the drain to an abyss so deep sunlight must be piped in via fiber-optics.

I tried to quit several times, failing abismally, my self esteem plumitting further each time. I finally realized that to stop was in fact a physical impossibility and I was destined to die a slow horrific death, my brain being starved of life giving oxygen via the COPD the doc's told me I now had.

Along comes my traumatic, catastrophic SCI and whoa, stuff gets even better. Pneumonia every few weeks. Sleep apnea causing more lack of air to tjhe brain. Inability to expell co2 properly. Finger nails turning a cool shade of blue. (look honey they match the color of yer eyes! We have so much in common!) That one got me laid more than once!

The SCI made the effects of the smoke worse made the lack of O2 worse made the pneumonia come round more often made the lungs worse and on and on in a giant circular pavane of hell death and destruction from which I was certain there was no relief.

Then one day I'm in the horse-pistol, again some lung related who slapped john or other when it dawned on me I'd gone 8 or 9 days with out a ciggy. Hmm I sez to myself. That's long enough for the physical withdrawals to have come and gone. All that was left was the obcession to be delt with. That would be easy, as I could think about the good that would come from my ending a life long self destructive behavior pattern.

Knock wood I ain't had but 1 or 2 buttski's since then. I do smoke the occasional Swisher Sweet cigar. Kind of a faggy sounding name for a tobacco product now that I see it in writing, but they are good, and cheap, and readily available. And my care-giver hates the smell and I do like that!

So there you have it, a real life epic saga of one man's struggle with the horrors of what the Native Americans were nice enough to give us. I think it was a revenge tactic for taking their land. Oh well, we deserve no less.

E-dog / cough hack spit whew!

[sh1wn]

I am now an unapologetic anti-smoking zealot and cannot abide the smell that smokers unknowingly trail behind them. When I regained my sense of smell after quitting, I felt so guilty that I couldn't apologize enough to the people on whom I had inflicted the stink of my smoke for so many years. They must have been really good friends for tolerating it.



I know what your talking about, growing up both parents smoked, and I think I started around 11 or 12. I really did not know how bad it smelled until I got hurt.I really had no choice to quit, I woke up on a vent and the last thing I was worried about was smokes. I still chew but at least it doesn't smell
Shawn

[The Black Sheep]

Within the passed 2 years I've developed a small smoking habit and found it calms my nerves. I have about 1-2, maybe 3 small cigars a day after work to calm my nerves. Since I got married and lost my parent's insurance I can't mooch my Balofen that cheaply anymore, and smoking has had similar effects of calming my legs. I know it's a lot less healthy, but I try not to do it excessively and it helps sometimes with the stress.

I second what most people say about the smell. I don't smoke in the morning before work simply for that reason.

I have noticed a little bit of shortness in breath sometimes when I'm trying to sleep, sometimes.

[pinkcloud]

[/quote]

Hey Blacksheep, you sure do well just smoking only a few a day. Any secrets to share? I used to be naughty at work and smoke 3 or 4 in a very small 'fag break time'. So I still managed to keep my 40 a day habit when working full time hours. It does calm me down too and help with muscle spasms - they are still there but I think about my fag instead. Bad bad habit I got there

[The Black Sheep]

haha, I don't know if my advice is really helpful. I've never been a full-on smoker and go a couple days, sometimes weeks without thinking about one.

However, when I do start smoking 5-6 a day, my husband throws the packs on top of the fridge where I can't reach them. =) It sucks, but if I physically can't get them, I can't smoke them either.

[Snakeye]

I love going to the VA having some 300lb yuppie nutritionist inform me I'm gonna die from smoking 8-10 ciggs a day... I retort.. when you quit committing suicide by fork I'll quit smoking. Yes it's in fashion to blame ciggs for every ailment known to man nowadays. Perhaps these same do-gooders might start a just as vigerous campain against smog..auto emissions, chemicals in our food, cheeseburgers and on and on..Those things do just as much harm but are not nearly as in vougue to bitch about...I've survived war, measles, sci, car accidents, Elvis inpersonators and watching a Michal Jackson vodeo so I guess I'll make it thru a couple of smokes a day and if I don't... it's my business....So, put that in your pipe and smoke it...Yuk Yuk