User Post: Confessions of a smoker

one more thing Holly, can a woman give herself to a man (i mean have sex with him) if she's just in love with the idea of love and not the guy she's dating? this is one burning question that i would like answered coz it has really piqued my interest and curiosity ever since i read your blog. i hope you'll answer this question truthfully as well, coz i have never come across a blog that is more interesting than yours, that is why i want to fully understand it and i want to understand women as well. so please be honest with your answers if you care to answer at all. thanks again Holly and i hope to hear from you soon. it's really nice to have intelligent bloggers like you around. more power to ya!

hi Holly. please ignore my previous comment above and read this one instead. i am so digging your post entitled 'Are U Really In Love With Him Or Are U Just In Love With Having a Fan?'. there's just one thing that i dont quite understand, maybe u can help me out. on that particular post you said that "after vows of liking one another have been exchanged or a kiss, the passion often dies for you". what exactly do you mean by "kiss"? do u mean a literal kiss or are you referring to sex? coz i'm not sure if you're saying that the passion dies after you've kissed someone for the first time or if the passion dies after you've slept with someone. i just wanna make sure that i fully understand what you're talking about coz i find that post to be very very interesting and insightful. so please be honest with your answer coz i really wanna be enlightened. but if you think you can't give me an answer that is 100% true then just ignore me. i'd rather get no answer if complete honesty can't be achieved. either answer my question truthfully (and i mean the whole truth and nothing but the truth) or just ignore me. i trust you to make the right decision Holly. thanks for your time. hope you'll get back to me on this. thanks again. great post!

:)

I know it's a really personal subject, but I think one of the most important things a smoker who is quitting can tell him or herself is that they have control. It's a matter of taking responsibility and getting control back. At least, that's what it feels like to me. I quit in December after about ten years of smoking, and it honestly wasn't hard. Yes, there were days that sucked, but I just kept telling myself that I wanted to control my own life. I didn't want to always be worried about where the exits were so I could get out to smoke, I didn't want to have to turn around and go home to grab the smokes that I forgot. I didn't want to have clean my car for two hours before picking up my non-smoking friends. I also started running and doing Pilates and yoga and doing some volunteer work, and that has helped immensely.

I too always tried to be a considerate smoker, but I realize now that it's not really possible to be one. Smokers always stink. Always. There is always a bit of residue on the skin or clothes that is incredibly potent to someone who doesn't smoke.

Still, it's a great accomplishment and I think anyone who quits deserves support, understanding and praise!

Smoked from 13 to 27. Probably one of the most wasteful things I have ever done in my life. Quit many times, then the day came that it stuck. Have not smoked in over 2 years and don't even have cravings anymore. They left long ago. If you need one more thing to put you over to quit, calculate how much it will cost you to smoke over 30 years(not counting tax increases, inflation, lighters, or medical care that number is just over -mine was $49,000). Then calculate how much you would have made off that money in a regular savings account. Same amount of money-HUGE DIFFERENCE!!! Do you want to be poor, stinky, and in need of an oxygen tank or youthful, healthy, and with about $67,000 more in the bank when you retire? It's up to you to make that decision. I choose quality of life and some money in the bank. Good luck.

Cigarettes are absolutely a drug and some argue that they are more addictive than hard core drugs like crack and heroin. My brother is a recovering heroin addict (he has over 5 years clean!) and he said that quitting smoking was more difficult than quitting heroin. I give much deserved applause to all of you who have quit! I'm 25 and have been smoking regularly since I was 13. I just recently decided to quit. Wish me luck!

I quit 8 mo. tommrow after 16yrs as a smoker,it gets way easier! Emotions are raw at 1st and it's scary letting go of such a security blanket,but it is by far the best thing I have ever done for myself!
You can do it!

I will never forget my first cigarette. I was young, probably about 12 and I had just stolen a smoke from my Dad's pack. I felt cool, like a rebel, and then I inhaled. I felt sick, couldn't stop coughing, couldn't catch my breath and then there was the drool coming out of my mouth because I was on the verge of vomiting. Ahh yes, the good ole' days. Then at 14 I started dating an 18 year old who could buy me cigarettes! I could choose my brand, not steal the cheap ones my parents had started smoking, 'to help them quit", they said. Then I became addicted. I quit when I became pregnant with my son, 10 years ago. Started again shortly after his birth for some stupid reason. I'll blame it on my now ex-husband! I have tried to quite 3 times since I started again after my son was born. I'm happy to say that I've been smoke free for over a month now! I figure it took me a few times to really become addicted, it's going to take me a few times to quit! It's stupid to think that I can vividly remember that first drag and how bad an experience it was, and yet I basically "trained" my lungs to suck in this polluted smoke that I thought made me look and feel cool. These days, I may have bad days and I take a drag from someone's cigarette but I don't beat myself up over it. I don't smoke the pack a day I used to. I work out and take care of myself, so what if it may take a few more months for me to completely be free of the smoking demon. I can assure you that the days I go without even thinking of a cigarette and the smell of them wants to make me vomit, I'm one step closer :)

This is by far the most touching article for me being a smoker for 17 years, which just typing it is very embarrassing for me. This year I've decided that I want to stop but I just don't know how. I will read the the book mentioned by some the commenters, so wish me luck.

I hate the way smoking has been demonized. I know why it has, and I don't refute that it's bad and unhealthy and blah blah blah, but the arrogance of non-smokers is appalling (some of them, not everyone). I have always taken great pains to make sure I'm a conscientious smoker, I won't smoke in front of children, I'll give a very wide berth to non-smokers so I don't bother them with my smoke, and still, I get laid into about what I'm doing with MY BODY. And there is no one out there that doesn't have some sort of unhealthy vice (most of the people who give me grief are hardcore diet soda addicts, which I find disgusting). I've always found it really intrusive when people try and give me the "news" that smoking is bad for me.
I smoked for 16 years and have JUST quit (I just turned 30), and it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I'm still in the first week , so the withdrawal is incredibly severe, but I'm using vanity to motivate me. I don't want to look like a handbag when I'm 45.
Keithandcallie is correct, each day it gets easier, and I'm proud of myself for getting this far. It motivates me to keep going and not fall off the wagon (I NEVER want to experience the first 3 days of nicotine withdrawal EVER AGAIN). Every time I crave a smoke, I just think about how terrible it will be to stop again and that helps me power through the cravings.
Good luck to anyone trying to quit smoking. I hope this post isn't too abrasive...I'm trying to combat the withdrawal, but talking about it makes me mad because I miss smoking!

I can relate to cigarette smoking,Here's my story......I started smoking when I was 11 years old, So like everyone else at that age I thought it was way to cool, But 35 years later it was'nt so cool......I developed COPD, Emphysema and Asthma.....I went to a doctor, he found a spot on my left lung..Still was'nt enough to make me quit. Took another x-ray the spot was gone (Thank God) I finally quit 2 years after that...It has been 3 years and i still want a cigarette really bad at times but it passes. (By the way I smoked 4 packs a day)..So u can quit..Its not easy... My husband still smokes, but he will quit when he's ready. Everyone has a different way of trying to quit..So good luck to anyone trying to quit.

Damn those cigarettes! I smoke about a pack a day of Kool Kings. Remember the Marlboro guy who died of lung cancer? He smoked Kools, not Marlboro. I really want to quit so bad but it is sooo hard. I guess this is what it is like for drug addicts. I think excercise is what will help me. Anyone know of anything on the market that actually works? My aunt took Chantix and was successful, but it made her sick to her stomach on a daily basis.

I am 35 and have been smoking off and on sice I was 15. I quit completely, both times I was pregnant and started up again after I quit nursing. I made yesterday my last day and have not had one today, nor do I plan on going to buy any. The reason I started? Just wanted to see what it felt like. Not because I thought it was cool or because my friends did it.

do it for yourselves. best of luck on your new found freedoms.

I am 35 and have been smoking for 12 years. We all know the theories of what smoking does to the body but again we have ignored the facts.
Last year I got married and I wanted so badly to have a baby, guess what, I am having an early menopause and after investigating all the sources SMOKING killed my ovaries. Hard to believe it, tell me about!
I am so sad and I feel terrible.
So, I am continue smoking to kill the pain of not having the chance to have a baby!

I quit almost a year ago,after having smoked for about 30 yrs. What worked for me (and 4 of my friends) is Chantix. It's a prescription you get from your doctor. After the very first pill I have not had one cigarette. It's a little pricey but worth every penny and besides I spent more than that on cigarettes. I still have moments when I desire a smoke but they pass and really I don't ever want to smoke again. Good luck all!

its very hard i dont know how i gave up my best friend was marlboro lights i had surgury on sept 22 was out the next day and i just couldnt smoke so im still smoke free but i still crave it at times until i smell it

i have not smoked since december 15 0f 2008 and it had to be one of the hardest things i have done i have tryed adleast 10 times longest was 1 year but after smoking for 20 years and for the last 5 years at 3 packs a day i think now is the end for it but i do hope it gets either because even though i couldnt breathe had to use my asthma pump 10 times a day in the emergency room every 2 weeks for breathing treatments i still want to smoke that is what is so sick and disgusting about it even if it is killing you you still want to do it.but what helps me keep control is telling myself i want to be here for my 5 children see my 3 beutiful daughters get married and be able to run around with my 2 sons .so at 30 years old now it is finally in my past and if i could do it anyone could stress ,relationships ,money problems ,etc i had them all and still do so it is all excuses because when they tell you your sick and dieing from it none of that will matter you will have bigger problems then that..and i no all the breathing problems were from smoking cause now i dont use my ashtma pump at all and no visits to the emergency room so good luck to all

I.m 72 and I quit three different times. I last smoked in 2001. Instead of smoking inhale fresh air deeply and expel the way you would if you smoked. Secondly drink plenty of water when you get the urge to smoke. Keep a glass of water nearbyAlso think abiut how crappy you feel after you have smoked several cigarettes.

I am 27 and have been waging the battle...and losing for awhile. I've been smoking just a bit more than a decade and it's time to stop. That Marlboro Light is my best friend, and has seen me though countless boyfriends, countless bands in crappy dive bars, and hundreds of hours writing. I will miss my old friend, but sometimes you just have to walk away....