Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group dreaded cigarettes

Hey Lori!

GOOD FOR YOU! (and others in this thread) who are thinking about quiting. I'm not a smoker, but my parents were, and I saw second-hand their multiple attempts to quit. It's not easy, but a well-thought out approach helps. When my parents finally quit 2+ years ago, they did it with Zyban (Wellbutrin) and lots and lots of support.

Truth be told, you can undo the damage that smoking has done to your body by quitting. Your body has a natural tendency towards health - and when you give it the chance to recuperate (like you would if you quit smoking) your systems would repair themselves. My parents still notice things like a better sense of smell and taste, increased capacity for exercise, and lowered blood pressures.

Possibly the way that it has revolutionized their lives the most is financially. They are amazed at how much money they're saving now that they've quit --- they golf all summer, take trips and help their daughter with the daunting costs of medical education . These are all things that they werent able to do before, and now they enjoy being able to do them that much more.

From a completely AS-related perspective, you can have imflammation (and eventually fusion) at the sternum and ribs. If you are going to have diminished lung capacity due to the AS, anything you can do to reserve what you have left is a great accomplishment.

Here's a pretty good link - loads of information on different smoking cessation methods. It would be great if everyone here who wanted to quit set a KICKAS QUIT DATE as Cheryl has suggested!!! If there is anything I can do to help you all out lemme know. (If you start a thread for Zyban in the AS pharmacy, I'll get the info on the drug in there just as soon as I can!!!!).

http://www.quitnet.com/qn_main.jtml

Your quit-smoking-cheerleader.


Jeanna

Hey Lori , I have never smoked , but one of the first things my doc asked when they said I had a AS was " Do you smoke ?" when i said no he said well don't ever start !! I am sure it was the reasons that Jeanna mentions in her post .Did anyone else here have their ruhmy tell them not to smoke ? Sorry i can't offer much help , but I will offer my support . Talk Later.

Bruce

Umm YES my rheumy told me not to smoke. All my doctors do. Repeatedly...

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Kristin

TODAY IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL!!

Hey Lori!

Dont mean to push you, but someone started a thread in the pharmacy (thanks K!), and I have input the drug profile for Zyban already.

Honestly, let me know if I can be of ANY other assistance.

Hugs,


Jeanna

Krystyn,

Actually, your absolutly right. The literature on quitting smoking that I have read says the more times you try to quit and fail, the more likly you will quit the next time.

Take care my friend

Daniel

Keep on keepin on Kicking some AS

Hi Lori,

I am smoking as I type this. I am really suprised at the number of smokers on the site! I assumed there were just the couple that I new about before this post. I, unfortinatly, don't want to quit right now. Since the seperation I have started smoking a lot more, but I do want to quit soon. (actually I might need to when I move in with my dad, a big anti-smoker) The one time I successfully quit was when I was in the hospital to get my gall bladder out. I was having so much pain for those several weeks that I didn't crave cigeretts in the hospital, and when I got out, I had no craving what so ever. Stupidly, I decided after a few weeks that one wouldn't hurt, and here I am now! My advice to any smoker who finds themselves in the hospital for an extended period of time is to just not smoke when you get out. Now, I'm not suggesting giving yourself a deadly disease of life threatning injury! There are better ways that some have mentioned, I just wanted to put this in here as food for thought in case anyone who wants to quit winds up in the hospital. Good luck quiting.

Take care my friend

Daniel

Keep on keepin on Kicking some AS

Hi,

I've quit many times using most of the tricks...pocket calculators which beep when you can smoke, slowly making it longer and longer between beeps...gum, which tasted foul...inhalers, which burned my throat...patches, which meant no hot showers during the day... and all worked well until I chose to go back.

I've been smoke free for 3 months this time and I didn't use any help. One day I just said enough is enough and poof, they weren't a part of my life anymore. I was amazed because it wasn't something I'd planned, there was no target date, I didn't use any of the methods that the pros suggest, I just put em down and with that move, all desire to smoke left as well. That was not the case using the tricks. This is the first time I can say, I don't want to smoke. Also, this is the first time I have gained weight:( I've gained 16 lbs (35.2kgs)!!!!!

Good luck!
Pete

Pete, your lbs and kg conversion is backwards 16 kg = 35.2 lbs You'll get that off in no time, and congrats on the smoke free for three months

"I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me."
- Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Good for you Pete!

Like I said below, my parents used Zyban .... but I think a larger incentive was I said I would move home if they quit smoking. (It was just before I was dxed, and I really needed some extra help, but I wasnt going to move home if the 2nd hand smoke was going to do me more harm than their help was good).

Your metabolism really does change when you quit smoking, but even that should balance itself out eventually. And incidentally Pete, while your imperial-metric conversion was a gallant effort, there's no way you've gained over 30 kg .. more like 7.3. Dont you feel better now?


Jeanna

I quit smoking when I started to date my present wife as I knew that she was highly alergic to the smell of tobacco smoke which did make her quite ill. I didn't start smoking until I was 26 years old and I have no memory as to why I did start. All I can remember is wondering why I am doing this.

For any of you who like an excellent red wine or a good beer or the subtle taste of fine cuisine and are still smoking, then you have no idea re what these tastes are really like and if you quit smoking, you will be amazed at what you have been missing.

Yes, I've read all the literature that states that even if you only stop smoking for a day and start again, keep doing it for your chances of success get better and better. Bullfeathers! I think that these continuous and repeated attempts only reinforce the notion in your mind that you can't really quit but regardless, it makes you feel better to keep trying.

You have to reach a point in your life (just like Pete did) where you put the cigarettes down and don't pick them up again. You can all do it but you have to want to do it more than anything else in the world. I did it because I wanted to keep seeing this gal I was dating. No patches or pills or gum were needed. It was just that my future was going to be decided on what I did with this habit.

I talk about smoking with my kids and thankfully, none of them smoke and likely never will. What reinforces their belief that smoking is bad for you is the pictures of my older brother Robert who pushes his little oxygen cart everywhere he goes. He has emphysema and needs the oxygen to breathe. The sad part is that he periodically takes of his mask and has a cigarette which he inhales as deeply as he can but he can't do that very well either.

Even more sadder and dangerous is that Robert doesn't care or realize that smoking near an oxygen tank is a dangerous thing to do so his family have fire extinguishers everywhere. Robert also has Alzheimer's and doesn't even understand that there is a problem.

Please, all of you who are going to try and quit, I beg of you to make this your final and successful attempt. Your health is important to us all and your loved ones.

George

Breb Assyl