jillar

Great post @SecondChanceSailor, and congratulations on 4 years quit!

jillar Quit Date: May 29, 2016 Posted January 18, 2021 Imagine if we were characters in a video game and cigarettes are our opponents. The object of the game is to be the sole survivor, the winner of the grand prize- A LIFE TIME FREE FROM DAMAGE! Like a lot of video games you get three lives, in our game they're called relapses. Each relapse causes your character to become weaker and weaker from the effects of smoking and your opponent seems to be winning. So you fight a little harder but still not hard enough and you use another of your relapses. Now you're down to your last life, you've used all your relapses and should you fail this time its game over. That's how all of us should think about smoking. None of us know who among us will get a smoking related illness and some of us already have one or more. And some of us paid the ultimate price with our lives.... Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/15037-game-over/

@Penguin, it is! When I bought my home years ago I decided no smoking inside and boy am I glad I did. My garage though was covered in nicotine residue. Yuck! My parents house in Florida was horrible. They both smoked in the enclosed air conditioned house and the nicotine was everywhere. Even through the ducts! We actually had to throw most of their stuff away because no one at the estate sale wanted nicotine soaked stuff and there was just too much for us to try to clean before the sale. Even the house saold for a reduced price because of it..............

@Penguin, there's no rule against it and if they're smoking related you can post right on the main board. All others should be posted either in Social or Off the Record.

Yes @Penguin,these were instructions for our quit train tickers but they stopped working after the last update. I left the instructions up just in the hopes we would get them back once the code is updated so thank you for posting the tickerfactory directions

Congratulations on 7 years free @notsmokinjo, I hope you stick around for a while because we miss you when you're gone! Have a great day my friend

Congratulations on 13 months quit @Penguin!

Welcome aboard @Penguin, congratulations on your awesome quit, and thanks for wanting to support others choosing to take their life back I'm in California and our smoking laws are probably the strictest in America. There's no smoking literally everywhere including parks and open spaces, pretty much anywhere people congregate. I'd start with a petition. You can also write your representative, id start at the county level, and share your concerns. Good luck and keep us posted

Fluffyyellowduck Quit Date: 27/12/2020 Posted December 15, 2020 I keep around a lot of index cards because I have ADHD and I forget things. I'm very flippity and kind of all over the place, so I keep them in my pocket to help me get through the day and remember what I need to do. I'm using 1-2 of these index cards to write down a plan for when something comes up because things will always come up. I was wondering if you guys could help me come up with ideas that I might not have thought of. This is all I have so far. Instead of smoking I will ... Boredom Python course Crochet Cleaning Sudoku Solitaire Sadness ????????I have nothing????????? Anger Workout Pray/Read Bible Vent Write Oral Cravings Carrots/Celery Drink lemon water Brush teeth Cup of black tea If I'm invited or offered... Remember NOPE Journal Feeling Anxious Breathing exercises Stretches After a Meal Brush teeth Reward After Hard Work ....? Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/14848-instead-of-smoking-i-will-need-help/

@QuittingGirl, I used my JAC a.k.a. jillars air cigarette and it still did the trick I will tell you though that I kept having my couple beers a day but not in the garage where I also smoked. I stayed inside with my JAC at the ready

Happy year and a half @QuittingGirl, you've come so far from where you started, you should be super proud of yourself

@Eeyore, its so good to hear from you! I hope you're doing well and stay around a while. We have a really good Post a Song thread that's only missing some eeyore picks

Congratulations @Genecanuck, you're doing great and thank you for all your support and comraderie

Congratulations @joe on your awesome quit! I hope you celebrate today

Sazerac Quit Date: October 23, 2013, A Good Day to be Free. Posted March 4, 2020 It's not just secondhand smoke that is dangerous. Thirdhand smoke can be, too by Sandee LaMotte, CNN Wed March 4, 2020 You can tell the dude sitting next to you in the movie theater is a smoker or vaper; you can smell it on his clothes. But since he's not lighting up and puffing smoke your way, it's OK, right? Not at all. A new study out of Yale University says thirdhand smoke -- the tobacco contaminants that adhere to walls, bedding, carpet and other surfaces until a room smells like an ashtray -- can actually cling to a smoker's body and clothes as well. Despite new regulations, FDA still fails to protect youth from e-cigarette epidemic, American Lung Association says Those potentially toxic chemicals, including nicotine, can then be released into environments where smoking has never occurred, like your movie theater, according to the study. Even more disturbing: The study found those chemical exposure levels could be the equivalent of between one and 10 cigarettes by the end of the movie. "People are substantial carriers of thirdhand smoke contaminants to other environments," said study author Drew Gentner, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, may be the first to show that people can transmit nicotine and other potentially toxic chemicals via their clothing after smoking, he said. More than 6 million US middle and high schoolers used tobacco products in 2019, report says "That was the unique part of this study," Gentner continued. "We were surprised by the wide array of hazardous volatile organic compounds that were off-gassing from the audience -- including some that are known to be known carcinogens in people, such as benzene and formaldehyde." What is 'thirdhand smoke'? Thirdhand "smoke" isn't actually smoke at all. It's the residue of nicotine and other chemicals in tobacco, some of which are toxic, that remain long after active smoking is over. Some of these chemicals stick to surfaces, and others attach to dust particles. Still others often penetrate deep into wallboard, drapes and upholstery. As the compounds linger, they may react with oxidants or other particles in the room's atmosphere. The chemical reactions can create potentially harmful byproducts that can become airborne. Science has known about this type of environmental pollution for years, sparking the creation of smoking and non-smoking rooms at hotels, restaurants and the like. But thirdhand smoke has also been found in environments which were not known to be contaminated by smokers, which led researchers to ask how that could happen. To find out, Gentner and some of his PhD students set up an experiment in a movie theater that had not allowed smoking for more than 15 years. They supplied fresh air into the theater, making sure that no smoking or other contaminants entered the space. Sophisticated equipment measured airborne particles before and after moviegoers arrived. Right away, they saw a huge spike in levels of hazardous chemicals. As people came into the theater, the concentrations went up, and then decreased over time, Gentner said. "But they didn't completely disappear after the audience left," he added. "In many cases, the persistent contamination was observable the following day in the unoccupied theater." The testing continued over a four-day period across different movie genres. Perhaps not surprisingly, levels of nicotine and other chemicals were lower in the G-rated movies geared toward kids. "Despite cases where we had audiences of over 200 people for some of the G-rated movies, he pollutants were much larger for R-rated films, even with smaller audiences," Gentner said. Those movies would likely draw older audiences that might be more likely to smoke." Dangerous exposure? Despite declines in smoking in some developed nations, there are still over a billion smokers worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Smokers may be at greater risk of depression and schizophrenia, study finds "That billion smokers contribute to about 880,000 deaths from secondhand smoke," said Dr. Jagat Narula, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City who researches the health impact of smoking. I call it a form of murder." Learning about the Yale study's findings on the level of off-gassing from human bodies and clothing was not surprising, said Narula, who was not involved in the study. "But it is disturbing," he said. "Numerous reports have shown that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. 1 in 3 teens breathe secondhand e-cigarette vapors, new research says "If future research replicates these findings on thirdhand smoke, it means that smokers could potentially still do harm even if the act of smoking took place in a different space." And it's not just smoking tobacco cigarettes. In America, vaping is growing in popularity, enticing younger and younger age groups. The study wasn't set up to study vaping, Gentner said, and researchers didn't find any of the compounds known to come from vaping emissions other than nicotine. Still, he said, levels of nicotine were high. Therefore, it's possible that vapers could also be the source of some of the nicotine found by the analysis. "Nicotine from e-cigarettes could have also been transported by people and off-gassed in the theater, or this could be occurring in other places where people enter after vaping," Gentner said. Clarity will come with additional research, Narula said. In the meantime, "the concentration of toxic organic compounds off-gassed by smokers cannot be seen as insignificant." "If the findings hold true, the implication is that essentially we are going to need to make everything smoke-free," Narula said. "And the only way that you will be able to do that is nothing short of banning smoking everywhere." Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/13622-third-hand-smoke/

Congratulations @sgt.barney!

Hi @DFINALJ, good to see you back and still on your awesome quit!

Congratulations @johnny5 on a decade quit my friend, what a huge milestone Thank you for sticking around and supporting everyone for all these years. I hope you celebrate today!

Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/6987-very-good-video/

@Genecanuck, that's not my story. It's stzr500's story.

stzr500 Quit Date: 02/24/2017 Posted March 10, 2018 Hello, I just want to start off stating that Feb 24th was my first year smoke free. I just want to give a bit of insight on how things went and are still going. This may be a bit in length but to totally understand it has to be, sorry. I came home that night on the 24th after I said goodbye to my daughter whom was off to rehab for her own addiction. I said if she can do it so can I even after 30 years of smoking. Putting these down is nothing compared to what she was about to go through with her opioid addiction. She is now 21 just starting life. Get into that later. Anyway the first three days were out of this world. Can't really explain them but very nausea and little to no sleep. To be honest I really can't remember all of it because i think it was so horrible my brain just won't let me go back there but visions have me so scared I will never pick up a nicotine product again. Then came the end of the week and onto week two...pretty smooth feeling better and now getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Week three was it...anxiety anxiety anxiety like my world just caved in on me. It was to the point of what they call derealisation where nothing seemed real to me. I only ever had it happen to me once before when I got high with marijuana with my cousin. Thank God it ended after my high ended. Anyway guess what this time it didn't....here we go full blown panic..omg ...what am I going to do I can't handle this feeling, I'm going crazy this cannot be happening to me. Why won't it stop ...did I do permanent brain damage from smoking cigarettes all these years...so on and so on my brain was in full overdrive. You name the most horrible sensations I could feel and trust me I felt them. I need to call the doctor I need to do something...then I thought what's the worse thats going to happen..I may pass out and shit then I won't need to worry cause I will be out like a light. Guess what I wasn't blessed with that pleasure ...as soon as it would get close to that point it would back off. This went on for weeks. I went to counseling and it was what I figured and what the doc said anxiety at it's worse, whats going on. Here's where it gets good. To start off my quit was never planned, just shot from the hip and did it. Along with the anxiety came the complete opposite depression so bad it dropped me to my knees in tears at times. NO JOKE. Never have I felt so empty inside and lost. To start it all off I lost my mother 4 1/2 years ago and never really dealt with it. When she passed from liver cancer I grieved and had lots of smokes. Two weeks after she passed I settled the estate with smokes. 3 months later we bought a new home. Another month later I was promoted to be an Engineer for my job. Smokes like a chimney for that cause if I didn't pass I was out of a job. I passed by the way thank God. Anyway shortly after that I remember bringing the train to a stop at a red signal and having a panic attack. WTH is wrong with me I though....smoking that's it I quit. The very next day was the day and the day our daughter got her help. Through counseling and talking with others here is how it is for me. I did everything with a cigarette from the time I was 17 to 47. I mean everything ...sorry about this but after sex was the best one even better than the one with coffee in the morning. Drinking, socializing,sadness,stress...I did everything with a cigarette it was my best friend and my biggest crutch. See I am not a casual smoker or a smoker who smokes just because it makes them feel good, I am a smoker who smoked because everything in my life revolved arround smoking and I had to have it. Smokes cured me of everything...I would say FK it and light one up. Now I put them away and my world just came crashing down upon me like I never in my life experienced. Also my wife had an affair during all this because I was never home always working and just not paying attention to her. Talk about the final blow. This happened May of last year for a month and a half it went on. I found out confronted the both of them and about kicked her ass to the curb and bought a pack of smokes. I packed them and opened them and took one out. Looked at myself and said really, really ..fk this. Put it back in the pack and gave them to my wife and told her she may need these more than me at this point in time. So lets review...mother passed away....never really mourned her loss because it was to painful put many other things first. Promotion at my job. Wife affair and daughter hooked on heroin all in the past 2 years of my mother passing. Summary.....when I put the smoked down I was literally hit by everything I ignored and pushed to the side and hid with a cigarette. Here it is a year later and I will say things are better on the home front. Wife and I worked things out. She is my best friend and I pushed her away like a fool. Daughter, well she is back in detox as of yesterday and will try it all over again. This is just the tip of things in my life. What I really am trying to say is everyones quit is unique and personal. Be true to yourself you are a lot braver that what you think you are. You will walk through the gates of hell on your quit there is no doubt about it but just remember you will come out on top. I am not going crazy nor did I do permanent brain damage from smoking..lmao. What I did do was close responses to normal dopamine that take time to heal and recover. All addicts do this thats why its an addiction. I still have bouts of depression and anxiety. I am learning a whole new lifestyle. Think about it you are literaley changing your lifestyle without nicotine and its scary but it can be fun sometime. I like waking up and smelling my wifes perfume that wore off on the pillow rather than stinky smoke that wore off my hair. For those who read this thank you for taking the time to read it..I let out a bunch of personal things in my life but if you can't speak the real, then there is no sense in saying anything. I cannot give a time frame on when you should feel better from quitting but I feel fantastic at times and other times physically great but still an emotional train wreck. Hills and valleys but one day it will level out, because you will achieve goals and set a new future that you can look back upon without a cigarette. I won't say good luck because it's not about luck...IT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR WILL. My family is why !! Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/9913-my-storyhope-it-helps/

Congratulations @Hope2Nope, on your awesome eight year quit! I love celebrating another year quit with a fellow Butt Kicker! Have a great day...

I remember feeling the same way Gene but then reminded myself that I CAN smoke I just choose not to. I choose not to stink of stale smoke, I choose not to throw away my hard earned money, I choose not to ne an addict. Then if the craving was still strong I would use my air cigarette to trick my mind into thinking it was getting the real thing and that worked EVERY time ☺

Boo Quit Date: March 9, 2016 Posted July 20, 2017 Quitting smoking...it's what every smoker desires. We've already established that the act of quitting is dead simple. You simply refrain from putting cigarettes in your mouth and lighting them on fire. And repeat. The benefits of quitting are many: freedom, improved health, more money in your pocket, etc. The benefits do not end there. In fact, the benefits only begin there. The process, while simple, is a bold action; a step in the right direction. You commit to leave the rut of comfort behind to begin a journey of self improvement. The process can strip you bare emotionally. It sounds harsh, but has a real upside. The process will force you to deal with things that have been swept under the rug. You will have to remove your head from the sand and face the truth. The process will force you to confront the bullstuff that you have tried to pass off as gospel truth. The truth will set you free, but it will make you uncomfortable for a while. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Addiction is a link in a chain, a chain of self-destructive behavior and self-defeating thoughts. You break that link and the chain that holds you back weakens. Hold on, that's when life starts to get interesting. Potential becomes reality. Confidence begets confidence. Strength begets strength. The process, one that begins with a singular purpose and commitment, sets off a series of ripples that will eventually impact every facet of your life. If you sit back and meekly accept that you are a hopeless addict, what else will you simply accept in life? If you decide you deserve better and boldly commit to the process, what other bold actions to improve your lot in life will you take on? Trust the process. Embrace the challenge. Enjoy the ride. Link to original post: https://www.quittrain.com/topic/8878-the-ripple-effect/

Happy anniversary @Sazerac, its good to see you Thank you for the update and your words of wisdom and support. It really sounds like you're living your best life