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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: The evil weed
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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 06-22-2004 11:46 PM
Randy,
I can't offer any wise words of wisdom, but I quit cold turkey just over 4 years ago. I'll never forget the day... Just after Hurricane Floyd, damn, that makes it nearly 5 years ago, anyway, I had a '95 Z-28 at the time that had water intrusion as a result of the 'great flood'. The interior of the car had been removed and new carpet (to the tune of nearly $500 had been put in. I did all the work myself, which was pretty easy, just time consuming. At any rate, a few days after I had everything all buttoned back up, I was on my way home for break (all Carmike managers know what time this would be.. LOL) and while flipping the ashes out the window, the "cherry" fell off and landed... you know it... right on the new carpet. It promptly burned a nice hole in the carpet which, in turn, pissed me off. I threw the pack out the window and haven't lit up since.
I liked to smoke, I admit it. I don't miss the smell in my clothes, in my hair, in my mouth. I did, for a while, miss the 'gratification' that a smoke gave me.
Oh, I also dumped the g/f later the same day... I married her this past October, proving, once and for all, not all bad habits are escapable... LOL... ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Rick Long
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 759
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-22-2004 11:48 PM
I am glad this topic came up again, if for no other reason than to read the excellent post by William Hooper which just about sums it all up. I too have really enjoyed a smoke while watching that same sun come up from the roof of a theatre after working all night.
Starting in early high-school, I have smoked a pack-and-a-half a day for about 45 years. Oh sure, there were times that I gave it up for a while, only to return to it for one reason or another. There was always justification if one looked hard enough.
As of this particular writing, I have been off the evil weed for 150 days. There is not one day in those 150 that I have not craved "just one fucking cigarette" at some point during the day, mostly for the reasons William has mentioned.
In Ontario now, most major cities have prohibited smoking in bars and restaurants. I see the people, still hooked, standing outside these establishments puffing away. I study them and ask myself "Would I still want to be them"? So far the answer has come back............NO!
One advantage....today I can climb the 46 stairs to the projection area, toolbox and scope in hand, without having to stop half way to catch my breath.
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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted 06-23-2004 08:41 AM
I have no idea how I missed this topic!
First, being from NC, I live in the former tobacco capital. They used to cost about 50 cents a pack here. Now, they are out the roof, but the growers seem to make less and less on the plants.
I've only smoked one cigarette. Made me SICK! I never forgot it.
My dad smokes. He's 82. Smokes much less than he used to.
We installed a new HVAC system in the parents house with an electronic air cleaner (EAC.) The EAC removes the smoke from the air. No smoke smell in the house.
I also have had an EAC in my own home since 1990. Recently, the power supply went out on it. After 3 weeks of hunting down the parts needed, they are on their way to me now. Problem is: The roommate smokes. When I walk into the house, I am hit by this odor that just makes me queezy. The EAC used to take care of this problem.
I am considering banning smoking in the house because I can.
At work, I am the oldest one there by about 17 years. They all smoke, and take breaks all the time. The warehouse, where they go, smells like smoke now. I hate it. Tobacco, especially highly processed leaf like what goes into Marlboros, has a nasty smell to it. Unprocessed tobacco smells almost sweet in comparison.
This summer of 2004, I have attended the funerals of 4 relatives who have died of some tobacco-related illnesses. If you are smoking, STOP. We've been after my dad to cut down for years, but he just sneaks into a small bathroom and smokes away. The bathroom has a dull brown film allover everything. Think what his lungs look like...
Tobacco growing in the field is a pretty site. Funny thing though, we are in need of rain here in the mountains. But, if it does rain, the local media starts whining about the rain causing 'blue mold' on the tobacco plants, and how the growers are hurt.
5 years ago, we were in a REAL drought. We were doing no plant watering, no car washing, etc, and everytime we had a day of rain, which was not often, the TV mouthpieces here would say things like: "Well, when is this awful weather going to let up?" Tobacco thrived during the drought. It would.
By venting this way, I want you all to know that NOT EVERYBODY in NC smokes. I also dont make moonshine, but do know someone that does, but, that's a different topic!
Thanks for the rant space.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 06-24-2004 08:52 AM
What's getting me down about smoking is that I only do it because I don't like the way I am when I DON'T do it.
A long time I ago, I started smoking full-time because it was a replacement for other things (drugs) that I didn't want to do anymore. At that time it was a fair trade-off. In comparison, tobacco was much more benign than that other crap.
Nowadays, other drugs are ancient history to me but cigarettes still hang with me. At first, I enjoyed smoking. Occasionally, I still do but overall I find it boring and unappealing. When I don't smoke enough cigarettes to maintain the nicotine levels in my bloodstream I lose the ability to concentrate, I get irritable , I get lazy and I'm generally a lousy person to be around. I keep smoking just to be "normal".
I decided to quit smoking about a month ago when I was the tech/operator for a lecture in the main auditorium at work. The speaker was Dr. Alex Stalcup, a drug addiction expert from California. Back in the late 60s and 70s he was medical direcor at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco, CA. If there is anybody on the planet who knows about drug abuse and addiction first-hand, it's this guy. It was after the lecture when I spoke to the doctor in person and asked his advice. What he told me blew me away, so to speak. A short time after that, I made the appointment to see my doctor. Just a few days ago, I had the consultation with him and I started taking the Wellbutrin.
I felt an intial "boost" when I first took the medication (which was kinda' fun) but it takes as long as two or three weeks for the stuff to have full effect. Even at this early time, I'm starting to be able to tell the difference between the cigarettes I smoke out of psychological habit and the ones I smoke because of physiological (neurochemical) addiction. Under normal conditions, I would have smoked somewhere between 1/2 - 1 packs per day. Right now, I'm down to slightly less than half of a pack. (I bought a pack yesterday and I still have 12 smokes left out of that pack. In the past, I would expect to have only 6 or 8 left over.)
I'm supposed to keep a record of my progress. If you guys don't mind I'd like to do it here. It's only been three days but the results are promising already.
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Christopher Seo
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 530
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 06-25-2004 06:35 PM
Others have spoken with far more eloquence and emotion than I possibly can, but I have to repeat it: don't start smoking! I started on a whim, thinking I was somehow invulnerable to the addiction, and the past year and a half have proven me quite wrong. Ironically, I don't think I looked at this thread when Randy first started it... because I hadn't started smoking then.
Also, if you do smoke, don't feel embarrassed to take medication for it. I recently started taking Wellbutrin, actually for depression and low energy, but it has definitely reduced my craving for cigarettes as Randy described.
It really is frightening to think I may never completely lose my desire for a cigarette. Still, my mom managed to quit after about 20 years of smoking and has virtually never craved nicotine since.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 06-25-2004 09:09 PM
Addiction to any drug has always been thought of as having two components: Physical and Psychological. However, the latest research on drugs has shown that there is a third component to addiction: Neurochemical.
When you take any "substance" you cause the release of neurotransmitters which produce a sense of euphoria. This euphoria is directly proportional to the "strength" of the substance and the amount of the substance you take. Caffeine from coffee produces a mild euphoria compared to that of, say, "crystal meth" which is said to produce the sensation of 10 orgasms. (!)
Now, imagine a scale of 1 to 10. "1" represents the worst you can feel: "I want to die." "10 represents the best you can feel: "Having 10 orgasms". "5" represents the way a normal, healthy, undrugged person feels on an average day.
Let's say you take some drug and it makes your "Mood Scale" move from "5" to "8". Later on, the drug wears off. When you "crash" your mood scale will go back down, PAST "5", all the way down to "2". In other words, you feel as much DYSphoria when you stop taking the drug as you felt EUphoria when you were high.
This EUphoria-DYSphoria pattern produces a compulsion to seek euphoria and to avoid the dysphora which leads to repeated drug-taking behavior. After several attempts to "self-medicate" the brain's neurochemistry gets skewed (set off-balance) so that "5" on the mood scale is no longer "normal". "6" or "7" may become normal. In other words, you need to keep taking drugs just to stay normal.
This goes BEYOND simple physical or psychological addiction. With physical addiction, you will get sick (get the "Jones") if you stop taking drugs. You will get the shakes. Your organs and body must have the drug to function. With psychological addiction, you take drugs because you have become accustomed to doing things a certain way. When your neurochemical balance gets thrown out of whack, the way you think and feel is altered. You can't concentrate. You can't keep your mind on a task. Your thoughts wander. You are always in a bad mood. You feel crummy, depressed and disinterested. You are just a disagreeable person to be around.
If neuroadaption is ignored when trying to break the addiction cycle the patient has much less of a chance at winning the game. Some research has shown that it takes as much as 5 - 10 years for a person's neurochemistry to go back to normal! It all depends on what drug the person has been taking; how much and how long.
What's worse is that every time you try to quit taking drugs but fail and start taking them again, the neurochemical balance gets skewed even more. You are even MORE hooked than you were before and it will be even HARDER to quit the next time.
Wellbutrin works to break the cycle of neurochemical adaption and allow the user to get off drugs. This is a big part of the reason I went to the doctor to get some of the stuff for myself. (And, like Christopher said, I need a little boost to get out of the depressed mood I've been in.)
I've only been taking the stuff for 4 days now. Already I have seen my smoking drop off by 1/3 and I'm hardly even trying. Next week I'm going up to the next titration level. (They start you off taking 150 mg per day and slowly work you up to 300 mg per day.) When that happens I expect to see even more dramatic results!
If there's anybody reading this who has been thinking of taking Wellbutrin (or Zyban) I would certainly recommend it!
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