Posted without comment:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

[NYC_SKP]

1. My Dear CaliforniaPeggy...

Thank you so very much for posting this.

I'm proud to be able to say that without exception that I have not smoked since November 18th 2007 and I will never ever ever ever again do that bad thing.

I love you.

Be well right now!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear NYC_SKP!

I am thrilled to hear that you will never smoke again!

It is a very damaging habit, and I want you to live well for a very long time...





I am doing well, sweetie.......thank you...

[Tx4obama]

3. UNrec. The subject line should note the OP is anti-smoking.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. UNrec my ass!

[HipChick]

5. My Dearest CalifPeggy

As a non-smoker, I'm not offended... Carry on...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Oh good, my dear HipChick! I'm carryin' on!

[HipChick]

18. Everyone in my family smokes..

but for some reason it never stuck with me..

[olddots]

7. I made it 3 &1/2 years before they found throat cancer

I said finally 43 years and about 60 thousand dollars down the drain for a habit with no buzz and the money goes to some of the worst scum on earth ----the doctor told me he didn't know if it was the ciggs but I'm pretty sure .

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Oh, my dear olddots...

I am so sorry to hear this awful news, sweetie...

It probably is the cigarettes.....but you didn't know.

[Sirveri]

59. that's what I've always been curious about. Is there a high or buzz?

I mean, what's the point otherwise if it doesn't alter you in some way? Pot I get, because you can get high off it, same with alcohol and a bunch of other drugs. But it doesn't seem like you get a 'drug' effect from smoking, so I've never understood the appeal.

[hrmjustin]

8. I am glad to say i got both of my parents to stop smoking in the past 2 years.

I stopped in my teens but i developed asthma so I guess i paid for it.
Thanks for posting this CaliforniaPeggy and I am hoping and praying you will feel better.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. Good for you, my dear hrmjustin...

My parents didn't stop smoking till after my brother and I had left the nest...

I am feeling better now, and thank you, sweetie...

[JayhawkSD]

9. Thirty years after quitting

Unfortunately, the 50% of each lung that has been destroyed by emphysema is still dead air space.

Don't start.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. You know, I wanted so much to smoke back in college, my dear JayhawkSD...

But it made me sick, so I never really started...

And then I married a devout non-smoker, so that was that.

I am really sorry about the emphysema.

[JayhawkSD]

62. Well, thanks, but...

I happen to have unusually large lungs, so I function fairly normally for an 85-year-old guy.

Of course, I'm only 70, but still... I don't use an oxygen tank, and I'm not crippled.

I have very few lung problems and seldom have issues, but when I do they are never small. I had pneumonia this winter and was in the hospital for two weeks, and was on antibiotics for a bit over two months. Lost 25 pounds in that process, and two months after my lungs are "back to base line" I'm still rebuilding my stamina. My pulmanologist never uses the word "normal" in reference to my lungs, refers to them as my "left disaster area" and my "right disaster area." He's a fun guy.

San Diego climate helps.

[OriginalGeek]

10. I quit cigs on 4/20/2003

and yes I picked that day on purpose.





I still have 3 to 6 cigars a year. My doc ain't mad at me for that though. He's mad that I struggle with not having dessert. Right now the sugar is worse for me than the occasional cigar.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Good for you, my dear OriginalGeek!

I know sugar can be a problem too...

[OriginalGeek]

17. Thank you kindly Ma'am

and glad to hear you are doing well!

[cbrer]

13. Proud to Rec.

My stardate was Sep. 10, 1999. Cold turkey.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. Wow, cold turkey! Congrats, my dear cbrer...

[cbrer]

19. I bask in the warmth of your kindness

*Despite* ANY method of quitting those damned things being a huge plus.

I'm glad that one worked for me. Insidiously evil product. Must be worse than heroin.

But that still bears no explanation for reply #4.

How might one go about unrec.ing your ass?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

20. That unrec was just a joke--not to worry!

I always try to be kind since I know how tough it is when people are unkind...

[cbrer]

23. My Dear California Peggy

I've noticed that about you during my brief tenure at this fine site.

And feel a slight inclination to apologize for my crude attempt at humor.

You are without a doubt, the kindest person inhabiting this particular electron flow.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. Thank you...

[indepat]

55. Cold turkey on 07/09/70

Suspect check-out time would have been long ago if had not quit. All out best wishes California Peggy.

[snot]

21. The risk of cancer never goes back to the same as non-smokers, I take it?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. I just looked at it again, my dear snot...

And I guess you're right: the risk never goes back all the way to that of non-smokers.

I hadn't realized that.

I'm sorry...

[Skittles]

24. the money saved is awesome too!!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. Damn right, my dear Skittles!

[hfojvt]

45. but the best part

is you get back your progressive cred

[RobinA]

60. Smokers

Aren't allowed in the Progressive Club? Good thing I'm a liberal.

[tandot]

25. I am 18 years without smoking now

Hopefully, I'll be fine.

I got an almost 4 year old boy that I want to be around for

[CaliforniaPeggy]

28. I hope you'll be fine too, my dear tandot!

That almost 4 year old boy wants you to do just that!

[tandot]

32. my husband had A-fib and Atrial flutter

he was on several bad meds (amiodorone, coumadin, levothroid, etc.). Before our son was born, he was in the hospital for congestive heart failure. We are both in our late 40ies. He had several electrical cardioversions.

We did some research and he is taking CoQ10, L-Carnitine, magnesium, and some other supplements. He is totally off prescription meds.

I don't know what your diagnosis is, but I would recommend some research and talking to your cardiologist. This is where we started:

http://www.afibbers.org/atrial_fibrillation.htm

Of course, you shouldn't do anything without talking to your doctors. His doctors were fine with him trying it and he is doing great now for over 4 years.

[BrotherIvan]

54. Thank you tandot for sharing this information!

Our family friend was also hospitalized with atrial fibrillation and chest pains. He is very healthy and under 40 and has already had a heart attack. Has been on high dose statins to deal with his cholesterol. Strictly following doctor's orders which ended in a heart attack. I gave him a lot of information and with a no sugar, low carb diet (which lowers insulin which is the fastest way to lower cholesterol) and magnesium supplementation, he is off meds and all his stats look AMAZING. Statins are scuzzy drugs and the pharmaceutical companies are making a fortune off them.

I feel I feel very sorry for the state of American health care. The drug companies have totally captured care in this country and now every doctor just prescribes pills instead of trying to create health. It is bankrupting seniors who fear if they wean themselves off expensive medications they will die. When sometimes lifestyle changes can do far more. I wish your husband and California Peggy great health and wellness.

[KauaiK]

29. I quit 8 months ago

Thank you for this...it reminds me why I quit.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

30. A little reinforcement is always a good thing, my dear KauaiK...

Congrats on making it!

[WCGreen]

31. Quit drinking booze 29 years ago and then stopped smoking 1 year later...

[Contrary1]

33. These pre-senior cataracted eyes can't read this...

Is there a link for the pic?

Thanks!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

46. Here ya go! Hope it helps...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=370955046346506&set=a.223064071135605.45905.222272341214778&type=1&theater

[IGoToDU]

35. Love it!

I'm at 7 years now and never ever ever going back!!!! Thanks for posting the best reminder why!

[jimlup]

36. I quit 32 years ago

I sometimes have dreams that I started smoking again - they are nightmares.

[rurallib]

37. I think everyone who ever quit has some form of that dream

or so I have been told.
I am 40 years quit, but I still have the dream about once a year.
Shows how much you abhor the thought of ever smoking again.
I used to literally wake up sweating after one of those dreams

ETA - Hoping you are doing well, Peggy.

[pipi_k]

41. I know...

I have those dreams too.

I wake up in the morning almost swearing that I've had a cigarette.

Or sometimes I'll smell cigarette smoke around the house even though the Mr. and I quit in '96.

It's weird, to say the least.

[jimlup]

43. Yep that's it exactly!

After one of those dreams I feel as if I smoked for a few days. And I feel the guilt and the shame and the whole thing.

I'm glad I'm safely on the ex-smoker side now and I guess those dreams are just reminders for us to never go back.

[alcibiades_mystery]

38. 15 months quit here

Cold turkey, after 22 years.

Was moderately annoying for first four days, then poof, gone. First and only time trying to quit.

For anybody who thinks they can't quit, it's not that bad. Ain't nothin' to it but to do it.

I was a moderate smoker (about a pack a day).

[Earth_First]

39. ONE YEAR CIGARETTE-FREE on Tuesday!

I made it!

I still have a penchant for an occasional 'occasion' cigar, however I have successfully quit!

Thanks for the reminder (and continued motivation) why I quit, Peggy!

[mokawanis]

58. Right on

Glad you were able to do it.

[pipi_k]

40. Someone mentioned above

the money saved...

Mr Pipi and I both quit in August of 1996.

He found a program someplace that calculated how much money has been saved by not smoking.

Haven't calculated in a while, but last time we did...about six or seven years ago...we discovered that between the two of us we had saved over $70,000.

We've gotten a whole lot of really neat stuff with that money. Additions to the house...fun electronics...new vehicles...

I've been trying to get both my kids to quit, but it's hard. They fall off the wagon, so to speak, and figure, oh well...might as well keep on smoking. I tell them to keep trying until it sticks. I understand how extremely difficult it is to quit...just keep trying, that's all.

[Old Codger]

42. Good OP

Quit in 91 after 38 years as heavy smoker, COPD is not fun but can be worse .. Good Post...

Hope all works out well for you

[99Forever]

44. Thank you for posting this CaliforniaPeggy.

I promised myself when I quit smoking 5 years ago, that I would not become a "smoking Nazi," but I am very much in favor of positive messages like this one. Quitting smoking is without a doubt the best thing I have ever done for my health. Thanks again.

[TheManInTheMac]

47. Thank you, Peggy. All these DUers and this post will

hopefully get me to quit some day. I was just thinking today, when I was a kid people would tell me "smoking will stunt your growth." It's strange, of all the horrible things smoking does, people used to pick the one thing it doesn't do to try to scare kids away from it.

[madokie]

48. August 14 1977, 8:05 am smoked my last cigarette

Kept a pack with me for months just in case I couldn't handle quiting. Months later a friend and I are checking our plants and he was jonesing pretty bad when I remembered I had a pack in my glove box. He took it out and at some point in time I had opened the pack but didn't smoke one. He took one and lit it up and about choked because it was so dry. At the next stop for him to get a pack of cigarettes I threw the pack I'd kept all these months in the trash. I quit drinking the same way, kept a bottle handy just in case. Its been 5 going on 6 years now and I think I the bottle is still under the kitchen sink, never been opened. It helped me to know that if I just had to have a smoke or a drink it was handy. Otherwise I'd have went to the store to buy some and probably would still be smoking and or drinking today.
the two bestest thing I ever did for myself. Except settle down and marry my sweetheart of all those years prior. been married for a couple months shy of 23 years now.
We met and fell in love shortly after I returned from the war but I was bug nuts at the time and knew that I couldn't handle marriage So we parted, remained friends. She married had two sons and divorced and a chance meeting 23 years ago the fire was rekindled and the rest is history.
I love her. I love life

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Don't know what you got under your sink

But been using some expensive vodka for mildew removal.



We don't drink...and since my dad passed...

[GoCubsGo]

49. Thank you for posting that, California Peggy.

My grandfather died of lung cancer and emphysema from smoking. And, I'm convinced that those goddamn coffin nails are responsible for at least the first round of my breast cancers. Every time I see a young person light up, I just want to smack them in the head, granted that wouldn't do anything for them. If they don't know those things will kill them by now, they'll never learn.

[Arcanetrance]

50. Haven't smoked in three years I'm proud to say and it's true you do feel better.

Also living in NYC the money I'm saving is ridiculous

[geckosfeet]

51. 450k smoking related deaths a year- 49k from second hand smoke

And it's completely legal.

[forthemiddle]

53. My mom was a lifelong smoker (along with everyone else in the family)

She successfully quit smoking "almost" 10 years ago. She was so excited to reach that decade point.......On the day before Thanksgiving she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and we are now in the throws of chemotherapy, and hoping she lives for her first Grandsons college graduation at the end on May.

I also quit smoking after 30 years, almost 2 years ago. I hope my luck is better than hers......

I will never be a smoke nazi, in fact I still love the smell of smoke wafting by, but it has killed my family's life, and I wish everyone would quit today.

[mokawanis]

56. We're about to go cig-free in my place after 30 years of smoking

We painted, replaced the curtains, scrubbed walls etc. and now we're going to switch to e-cigs, as a step toward our goal of being nicotine-free. It's a start.

[Scruffy Rumbler]

57. Great timing, Peggy!

Today is 1 month of being smoke free for me!

Glad you are doing better!

[Duppers]

61. This EX-smoker appreciates the graphic!

3-pack a day, 27 years long gone.

Yep, my chest is proudly stuck out. Giving them up was hard but do-able.

It's troubling to see folks in denial; even when I was inhaling the toxins I knew and admitted that I needed to quit.


You rule, Peggy!

[JayhawkSD]

63. I should add that my father died at age 72

from cancer that originated in his lungs, after a lifetime of smoking.

I didn't stop until several years later when I was diagnosed with "well advanced emphysema," but some of us are just plain stupid.

Quitting cold turkey is by far the best way to go. I have assisted quite a people in that process, both with smoking and drinking (I stopped drinking in 1982), and addiction is about not allowing urges to control you.

All on the chewing gums and patches and such are about "controlling" the urges, but it works far better if you simply decide not to let the urges to control you. Just "ride out this one urge." It will pass. Another will come and it too will pass. Ride them out one at a time, not thinking about the ones that are behind you or ones that will come. The only one that exists is this one and it will pass.

In time the urges will be farther apart and less compelling, and that process will begin sooner than you think. And the day will come that the urge doesn't happen at all.

You may get a group of people with experience to help ride it out. I did so on the drinking issue.

[rustydog]

64. Thanks for Posting! Non-smoker going on 23 years!