KraneXL

Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die? That's your advice?

Seriously, smoking is an addiction, so you've got to find something else (hopefully less detrimental to your health), to occupy your interest. You definitely sound like you need to make a transition though. Ever try the patches or gum? In either case, the goal should be to quit completely.

sally552

A craving to smoke only lasts three to five minutes, whether you smoke or not. Call a friend, get a drink of water, do some deep breathing or play a game on your phone. Find something to distract your mind so you can make it through those few minutes.

FlMTNdude

dennis336

While I've been fortunate to not personally have struggled with addiction, I've had several very close family members who have and have seen how difficult it is to break free. While I don't want to give advice on something I haven't had personal, direct experience with, I really wanted to congratulate you on the 10 months of sobriety - it's a very big deal and something you should be proud of. Please don't beat yourself up while you're working through the cigarette use. Sometimes we can be so hard on ourselves that we get discouraged and discouragement rarely helps us take positive steps forward. Celebrate each day of sobriety from the other substances and start each day new on working toward breaking free from the cigarettes - don't allow yourself to be discouraged or nurture thoughts that aren't helpful to your forward progress. Wishing you the best!

IvyGodivy

I have serious doubts you were a smoker. There is a reason quitting smoking is so hard and we use things like Chantex to help us.

Dudelsack 

No.

noimagination

Thanks for explaining, I apologize for my lack of understanding of your post.

congaree

I did...and there are articles both pro and con to nicotine. (ex: https://health.howstuffworks.com/wel...h-benefits.htm)
My point is, it's very close to caffeine in it's health impacts and is not a carcinogen. From a smoking standpoint, nicotine effects are the smallest risk factor.

IvyGodivy

BS!!! I can't even comprehend someone honestly believing that smoking risk factor is less than those drinking coffee.

I have to stop posting on this thread otherwise my bluntness will start coming out.

congaree

I was specifically not referring to smoking...I was referring to nicotine obtained from vaping.

Maelochs

Hello people ... if someone wants a fight, he will find one---if he cannot, he will start one.

People who want to have a conversation will Ask when there is confusion. People who want to fight will Attack when there is confusion ... even if it their own.

Smoking is amazingly damaging to the body. I Hope no one thinks otherwise.

Not saying people shouldn't smoke--it is personal choice. Cancer, emphysema, general lung damage, vasoconstriction ... are Not choices. They just happen when you smoke.

Coffee and nicotine are both addictive substances. Both can have negative health effects. But ... neither is a hundredth as deadly as smoking cigarettes.

If someone stops smoking cigarettes by switching to vaping, they immediately stop doing massive damage to every bit of tissue from the lips to the alveoli. They immediately lower their cancer risk. They immediately get away from a very expensive, very destructive habit ... and if they swap it for a much less damaging ans slightly less expensive addiction ... it seems like a good swap to me. Don't care who disagrees.

I was lucky enough to be able to quit cigarettes. Some cannot ... and not through lack of trying.

The guy I ride with who vapes can drop me on the flat, and forget on a hill. We climbed a very rare 6.8 percent slope---one of the steepest within miles of where we live---and I was barely able to make it. The whole time, he cruised along side of me casually offering me encouragement ... not even breathing hard. Not many hard-core multi-pack-a-day smokers could do that. i bet he couldn't have done that, back in his smoking days.

IvyGodivy

The effects on vaping have yet to come out. Now it's not that harmful but lets see in a few years. Vaping as long as it's been around is still new in the grand scheme of things. BTW it is very addictive. When I tried to quit I tried using vaping. Every 2 weeks I would degrees the nicotine count till I was at 0. When I was smoking 0 I felt like i was going cold turkey. So that alone shows it's effects on a person.

IvyGodivy

I don't agree "coffee" is an addictive substance. I do agree if a person tries to quite caffeine (which you can get in many ways) they will suffer withdrawal but not experience cravings; the withdrawal is really bad headaches.

When someone believes they are addicted to coffee to me it's more they are addicted to the way it makes them feel. With smoking yeah it is great after a big meal, after sex, while driving, but when I stop smoking I feel it in my face and the cravings are like a vampire trying to quit drinking blood. But with coffee, whatever it does for you it can be accessed elsewhere.

I quit coffee with no cravings, but no interest in suffering headaches so I drink hot and cold tea.

I do miss smoking though, but I can't bike and workout like I do if I continue to smoke.

Maelochs

Anyone who cannot admit to the enormous difference in danger between smoking and vaping is just unwilling to be honest.

Milton Keynes

Not really, it just shifts the risk of cancer from your throat & lungs to your mouth.

IvyGodivy

Give it time, I believe vaping is dangerous just hasn't come to light yet.

Go back to the origins of smoking which is when my grandmother was alive. She was prescribed/suggested to smoke to help with nerves. Now doctors are telling you to quit.

Maelochs

Exactly. You are citing imagination and claiming it is fact. That's called "lying."

Cigarettes were called "coffin nails" back in the 1920s. Peopel knew smoking caused coughing and lung damage ... after people had been smoking in Europe for 300 years by then. People didn't know all the damage cigarettes did ... but no one thought they were healthy.

There is a reason doctors were paid to give pro-smoking testimonials for advertisers .... and it isn't because people thought smoking was offering health benefits.

congaree

I can't disagree with what you are saying, especially since you've had personal experience with vaping. It's kept me 100% off cigarettes for nearly 6 years now when nothing else worked for me, so I'm passionate about asking others not rule it out if nothing else has worked for them. But, it certainly doesn't work for everybody, as you can attest. The way I view the risk of the unknown harmful aspects of vaping is that I'll gladly accept the risk of any future potential harm being identified against the 100% guaranteed harm caused by smoking. And for somebody who has never smoked or completely free of nicotine, I certainly do not recommend they start vaping.

Milton Keynes

Anything which increases your heart rate while also narrowing your blood vessels can't be good for you.

congaree

Yep...agree with you 100%.

Maelochs

Right ... and exercising too much can hurt you too ... but CONTEXT, people .... we are talking about people who smoke cigarettes switching to vaping. if you think there is no benefit .... well, have a great life, and keep away from me.

As @congaree notes, better not to do either , perhaps ... and maybe better not to eat meat (certainly not grilled meat, which is carcinogenic) and no coffee .... but anyone saying "if you are going to vape, you might as well smoke cigarettes .... " well, that pretty much says all that needs to be said.

And whether they have thought it through or not .... that is what the nay-vapers are saying.

Maelochs

By the way ... before this slap-fight gets even sillier ... anyone have anything to say which addresses the OP's situation?

Milton Keynes

Wasn't there a news article a while back which suggested that vaping may cause "popcorn lung?"

IvyGodivy

Well what I said is how my grandma explained it.

congaree

I didn't say it was good for you, like vitamins or anything (though research has identified some potential benefits), but there is much, much worse to worry about when smoking. And it's clearly been overly stigmatized compared to any actual long term harmful effects it produces.