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Anyone quit smoking? and see improvements?

notmyself

Senior Member
Messages
364
I know smoking is bad..i smoke for the last 12 years 20 plus cigarette a day..I really want to quit,i wander if anyone here quit and see some improvements,theorethicly it should improve blood flow,and oxygen wich could be very beneficial.I try once for 2 days and i could't sleep at all.Insomnia is not what i need now..But for a greater cause maybe it's worth it..
 

Alvin2

The good news is patients don't die the bad news..
Messages
2,996
I didn't notice any difference what so ever health wise, nothing at all
Smoking is a long term health risk, by quitting you reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema and so forth, diseases that typically take years and often decades to develop (except cancer which can happen at any time, though we really don't know its incubation period). I believe smoking eventually kills 1/3-1/2 of smokers :cry:
 

notmyself

Senior Member
Messages
364
Smoking is a long term health risk, by quitting you reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema and so forth, diseases that typically take years and often decades to develop (except cancer which can happen at any time, though we really don't know its incubation period). I believe smoking eventually kills 1/3-1/2 of smokers :cry:

i guess quiting should improve overall health aswell..better blood flow,more oxygen in the blood ,less vasoconstriction from nicotine..maybe less anxiety aswell..but the quiting is probably horrendeous :(
 
Messages
1,082
Location
UK
Smoking is a long term health risk, by quitting you reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema and so forth, diseases that typically take years and often decades to develop (except cancer which can happen at any time, though we really don't know its incubation period). I believe smoking eventually kills 1/3-1/2 of smokers :cry:

Sorry i just meant noticeable effects
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
I've quit smoking lots of times, the longest was about 2 years. The craving, for me, never goes away.

I smoked for the best part of 30 years and was not a light smoker ;)

About 5 years ago I found out about vaping, since then I've started 3 cigarettes, all in the first year and all so disgusting I couldn't take more than a couple of drags.

Still vaping, it costs peanuts (a couple of pounds a week max), I have about 12 years worth of nicotine in the freezer so never need to go out (for that reason anyway) etc.

If you can quit, quit, if you can't then vape - it's much cheaper and much safer health wise.
 

notmyself

Senior Member
Messages
364
I've quit smoking lots of times, the longest was about 2 years. The craving, for me, never goes away.

About 5 years ago I found out about vaping, since then I've started 3 cigarettes, all in the first year and all so disgusting I couldn't take more than a couple of drags.

Still vaping, it costs peanuts (a couple of pounds a week max), I have about 12 years worth of nicotine in the freezer so never need to go out (for that reason anyway) etc.

If you can quit, quit, if you can't then vape - it's much cheaper and much safer health wise.
what is the difference beetween the two?..does vapping still have carbon monoxide?
 

Alvin2

The good news is patients don't die the bad news..
Messages
2,996
i guess quiting should improve overall health aswell..better blood flow,more oxygen in the blood ,less vasoconstriction from nicotine..maybe less anxiety aswell..but the quiting is probably horrendeous :(
Quitting has many positive health benefits, anyone who wants to should quit.
The anxiety is a curious animal, many people say smoking reduces anxiety but what happens is when you get cravings the anxiety goes up because your going through withdrawal, after you smoke the anxiety goes down because your nicotinic receptors are saturated. I suspect people confuse this cycle with positive anxiety effects.

So when you quit for good you will stop going through this cycle.

If you can quit, quit, if you can't then vape - it's much cheaper and much safer health wise.
Its very likely vaping has less health effects then smoking, and it may have new ones of its own (iirc a study found formaldehyde being created by ejuice vapourization). Lets not forget that for a generation cigarette companies tried to maintain ignorance being bliss by paying doctors to advertise that cigarettes are good for you. :bang-head:
So quitting is best, ecigs are second best but your taking unknown risks. Hopefully the devil you don't know is better then the devil you do know.
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
what is the difference beetween the two?..does vapping still have carbon monoxide?
You don't burn anything vaping, so nothing apart from the nicotine (at a fairly low concentration, between 0.3% and 2.4% for most people, and whatever the carrier is, usually glycerine diluted with a little water in my case. Most people also use flavouring and buy commercially mixed liquids but I make my own, it's cheaper and I know exactly what's in it that way.

Because there is no burning there is no carbon monoxide in the inhaled vapour, or any of hundreds of other toxin chemicals. There's nicotine and not much else, at least in unflavoured juice.
 

notmyself

Senior Member
Messages
364
You don't burn anything vaping, so nothing apart from the nicotine (at a fairly low concentration, between 0.3% and 2.4% for most people, and whatever the carrier is, usually glycerine diluted with a little water in my case. Most people also use flavouring and buy commercially mixed liquids but I make my own, it's cheaper and I know exactly what's in it that way.

Because there is no burning there is no carbon monoxide in the inhaled vapour, or any of hundreds of other toxin chemicals. There's nicotine and not much else, at least in unflavoured juice.
in this case it 's definatelly safer..
 

Invisible Woman

Senior Member
Messages
1,267
I quit smoking before developing ME but around the time of horrendous thyroid issues. I smoked at least 20 a day and often 30. Totally addicted and had seriously tried to quit on about 4 or 5 occasions (this was long before the advent of vaping).

The only way I could handle it was using nicotine patches - but I found that I got to comfortable on the patches if I stayed on 'em too long and then had huge withdrawal all over again at the next level down. So as soon as I found I could bear the withdrawal I dropped a level.

I have been off the fags for well over 20 years now. I still get the odd craving but these days they are just fleeting.

If you do have ME then your body has enough to struggle with, in my view, to have the added work of having nutrients stripped trying to detox from the fags.

Having said that - being very busy helped me give up. Trying to give up may be harder if you are not well enough to find ways to distract yourself.
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
in this case it 's definatelly safer..
So the British Government says, but they also say GET is beneficial for pwME.

@Avlin2 - yes, if you burn things, or do things like shove too much power through a coil with insufficient liquid to vapourise to cool it down, then formaldehyde, amongst other things, like molten plastic, can be produced. Several studies did exactly this, and were debunked, but the debunking never makes it into the papers. But I'm not here to promote (or defend) vaping, I'm merely saying it's an option.
 

notmyself

Senior Member
Messages
364
So the British Government says, but they also say GET is beneficial for pwME.

the best thing should be to quit entirelly..i quit benzo few years ago and stay clean..this can't be worse..so from tommorow i will try tapper to 10 cig a day..next week five ..till in 2 months nada! :)
 

perchance dreamer

Senior Member
Messages
1,691
I smoked a pack a day for many years and despaired of ever being able to quit. A lot of my success in finally stopping is that my boyfriend, now husband, agreed to quit with me. For me it was crucial to avoid being around smokers.

Another thing that helped was to keep my hands occupied. I learned a simple, basic crocheting stitch and crocheted yards of yarn that served no purpose other than to keep my hands busy. It helped tremendously.

Drinking a lot of water also helped with withdrawal symptoms, why, I don't know.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to exercise, I'd recommend it, as much you can. It helped occupy my time and made me feel as if I were really getting healthier.

Quitting smoking could be the best thing you ever do for your health.

Benefits I noticed were much improved stamina, the elimination of my smoker's cough, better immunity, and a boatload more cash.
 

notmyself

Senior Member
Messages
364
I smoked a pack a day for many years and despaired of ever being able to quit. A lot of my success in finally stopping is that my boyfriend, now husband, agreed to quit with me. For me it was crucial to avoid being around smokers.

Another thing that helped was to keep my hands occupied. I learned a simple, basic crocheting stitch and crocheted yards of yarn that served no purpose other than to keep my hands busy. It helped tremendously.

Drinking a lot of water also helped with withdrawal symptoms, why, I don't know.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to exercise, I'd recommend it, as much you can. It helped occupy my time and made me feel as if I were really getting healthier.

Quitting smoking could be the best thing you ever do for your health.

Benefits I noticed were much improved stamina, the elimination of my smoker's cough, better immunity, and a boatload more cash.
Sounds good! improve stamina is always welcomed :)
 

me/cfs 27931

Guest
Messages
1,294
Never smoked, although both my parents and siblings did (they've quit or died). That said, I just wanted to pop into this thread, because smoking is one of the things I've noticed is very different in ME/CFS vs. depression.

Smoking in ME/CFS patients is roughly 1/2 the general population, according to one study. While depression patients smoke at about 2X the rate of the general population, according to the CDC. That's a substantial difference between ME/CFS and depression populations (10.5% vs. 43%).

Another interesting note is that ME/CFS patients seem to quit smoking at a much higher rate than Multiple Sclerosis patients do, according to the same study. Why do most ME/CFS smokers quit smoking while most Multiple Sclerosis smokers continue smoking? I have no idea. However, over half of Multiple Sclerosis sufferers report depression (53% in a 2017 survey).