Do You Smoke?

[EmoxxKid]

Take the poll ;)

[Linda]

I started to smoke when I was 15 or 16 years old, and quickly became a pretty heavy smoker: more than a pack per day. I was smoking usually the cheapest cigarettes. Tobacco products are generally cheap in my home country, at that time it was something like a dollar per pack. When I came to the US, I realised that this habit costs me significant amount of money, as I was working on a minimal wage at this period of time. So, I prefered to quit by radually decreasing the number of cigarettes per day, finally coming to zero. I did not smoke for five years since then, and went back to it for a short period of time (a few weeks, literally). However, that did not make me a habituala smoker again. Right now, I am not smoking at all (means under no circumstances) for 1.5 years.

[anthony]

Same with this... your asking: Do you smoke? There is no straight out Yes and No answer, with the only other being social. Ie. Yes, No, Social, Quitting

Your thread question was correct, Do you smoke; where the poll question asked "How many of you smoke?" I changed the poll question to reflect the title of the thread, being what your answers related too.

[EmoxxKid]

Thank you for helping me.....I didn't think I was doing it right, lol.

Now I know ;)

[nie]

I smoked from age 15 - 19, but I haven't smoked since. I am now 27.

[Lisa]

Unfortunately I'm a chimney. I started at 16.

[Awakening]

Errr derrr..

This is off the track but I just discovered a new thing about the polls - you can see who voted for what by clicking on the number.

I'm delighted with my genius! ;-)

[becvan]

Hey that is cool! LMAO, I'm an admin and I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing Awakening!!

bec

[batgirl]

Oh that's funny I never knew that Awakening, thanks! Now I'm all curious about all the polls haha. Though I noticed, it's only for the public polls. I never make my polls public, because I'm afraid fewer people will vote.

I have never smoked, but I'm quite surprised by the results so far, I really thought more people on here would be smokers.

[sunnydaze]

Quit 7 years ago

[spiritofnow]

Quit 3 years ago!

[spiritofnow]

I'm delighted with my genius! ;-)
Funny :-)
Just tried it!

[TaraJ]

I smoke when I'm very sad.
I think I do it to take my anger out.
I don't know why I'm taking it out on myself, but it seems to help
me to feel better.

[morgan]

I've been smoking since I was 12. Wish I could quit. Guess I'm just not ready yet.

[pandora]

Started at 15.....I know the health risks being a nurse...haven't quit yet....smoke outside and not around my son....maybe one day.
I was actually surprised....I thought there would be more here voting yes but it really has become socially looked down upon..IMO.

[upstream]

Nope. Tried a cigar once on the last day of high school, but I don't think that counts. I'm a bit of a health nut.

[chrissym]

i started smoking at 16 i'm 41 now....i guess its time to quit...

[JustJane]

morgan, try chantix. I am almost certain your doctor will prescribe it to you, assuming it doesn't counter any other medicines you are on.

[TLight]

Love one in the morning that I roll myself with coffee. Maybe one in the evening too.
Noticed I'm starting to get those litte lines above my upper lip..

I'm going to just cut them out completely. Shouldn't be too hard.

[Cindy]

Wow that is cool about the numbers.

I am trying to quit. I'm quitting for my health. (New Year's Resolution). But, I don't really want to. I'm so close though. Down to three cigarettes a day. Eliminated car smoking, lunch break cigarette, tomorrow I'm going for the morning coffee time. Pretty soon it will only be evening at home. Sitting at the computer ... Maybe by Saturday it will be my first non-smoking day.

[Jet]

I have never smoked. Spent the first 10 years of my life watching my dad struggle for breath and then die because of it. I can remember very clearly my dad, hooked up to the oxygen tank and still lighting up.

[shelly82]

wow, jet i'm sorry you had to witness that. yea, i know a couple of people who lost a parents to lung diseases related to smoking and never want to touch cigs as a result. I am a smoker and I sincerely wish I could quit. Being addicted is complicated though. It's not just the nicotine you miss. You become emotionally reliant on the nicotine and the very act of smoking.

[sallyb98178]

Quit in '96, chewed nicotine gum till Sept 07. Just your normal pain avoidance protocol, eh? ;o))

[veiled_misery]

Average about 1 or 2 a day. Newport pleasure baby.

[nightowl52]

I smoked about a pack a day. After I was injured ( Ptsd) I stayed in the back room & I'm afraid I went up to 3 packs. I lost 2 years after that, smoking like that. I'm down to 2 packs . Some other things are on my mind right now which makes it hard to attempt, come to think of it, there's so much on my mind I can't sort it all out. Yes, I have to quit, some of you may understand that.

[monkee]

I quit over 3 years ago

[cypher]

I do not smoke, never really got into it. Yeah, I've smoked a few cigarettes, but didnt like it so I didnt do it anymore.

[veiled]

need to draw a line in no smoking and quit smoking

[cactus_jack]

Only time I smoke is when I'm on fire.

[rachey]

I do smoke and have been since I was 14.
It seems when I'm in a depression I get so much worse and smoke nearly a pack a day.
Does anybody else have this happen to them?

[dedic8edmum]

I do smoke and have been since I was 14.
It seems when I'm in a depression I get so much worse and smoke nearly a pack a day.
Does anybody else have this happen to them?


I started smoking at 15 and for sure find that my aniexty level as well as my depression dictates how much I smoke each day. It can honestly range from 7 a day to a pack and a half!

[Grama-Herc]

I smoked for the first 40 years of my life. Then one day in 2003 I decided that I had really had enough.

I went out and got LOTS of my favorite ice cream and spent the weekend in bed watcing old movies and thoroughly enjoying the ice cream. I have been smoke free ever since.

I had heard people talk about going "cold turkey" but since I was unable to go 4 houors without going bonkers, I knew I could never do it. I had tried several times before to quit and 4 hours was my limit without my "fix"!

To this day it still amazes me how easy it was to quit. I keep thinking it is a dream and I'm going to wake up and reach for that first morning cig.

There, I quit. Still amazes me every day I actually quit ! ! !

[catjudo]

No way...
Watched my paternal grandfather die a slow, miserable emphysema-related death DECADES after he had quit smoking.
Watched my maternal grandmother die a slow, miserable emphysema-related death.
My father didn't die from emphysema but his huge smoking habit exacerbated his heart disease and played a huge role in why his body was not able to fight off the cancer that killed him.
Watched my aunt who never smoked a day in her life die from lung cancer.My conclusion: not being able to breath and suffocating to death because of it is a scary, painful, miserable way to die. Even though it can happen to non-smokers, I'm not taking any chances!

p.s. I'm not saying this to offend any of you who are smokers it's just that smoking has had a huge impact on my life and the early loss of my loved ones so I feel very strongly about it.

[Mick]

I quit while in the hospital after my worst trauma.

[Thornyrose]

I started smoking weed with tobacco at age 11, got hooked on the nicotine in the joints by 12, smoked tobacco (and everything else!) increasingly (chimney) until I was 21, when I decided 10 years of smoking tobacco was a lack of personal control (like everything else wasn't? Ha ha!) Went cold turkey on the baccy, (became evil for a week or so), and 5 years later, I have absolutely no desire to smoke.

In a weird way I associated one of the events which gave me PTSD with my smoking (don't ask!) so soon after, I stopped enjoying those cigarettes and it was easy to give up...

...I think I've just explained how PTSD could have saved my life.

Now thats revolutionary.