yes good job on quiting smoking!! and i had to do this bio project on TB in school once and the symptoms you are feeling are symptoms of TB. Who noes maybe you are contacting the disease again theres no way to be sure unless you go to the doctors and get a tuberculin test. Although if you knew you had TB at that young of an age you should've been more careful in making it worse, smoking is definetly not the cure

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I'm having some trouble quitting - any advice?

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There's some brilliant, concise and extremely helpful advice in this thread, so I won't add too much to that.


Tobacco (or rather nicotine) is one of the most addictive substances, other than hard drugs. Generally the best way to avoid catching the habit is not to start in the first place, but what with peer pressure, etc...

I had a friend who was a brilliant martial artist before he took to smoking - it ruined his martial arts career, destroyed his endurance, besides the other ill effects. It always saddened me to see this man who was once a top athlete getting out of breath when he ran for a bus.


Now, that was a bit off topic. To all those who kick the habit, congratulations - it's not at all an easy thing to do, and I admire you for it. However you've managed it - will-power, support groups, the help of friends - you have done something not at all easy to do and you have my most sincere and genuine admiration.

A small note: If you have a pain in the lungs or some discomfort when you breathe after you quit smoking, SEE YOUR DOCTOR. Quitting smoking has immediate benefits, but if a serious problem has already gotten started, it's not going to just go away. Play safe, see your doctor, see what he has to say, then act on it.

And take care, all.

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To Hagar, on quitting:
Hagar, why don't you put up a new thread in this section. Something like 'How do I quit smoking, please help' - it'll put your difficulties into focus and you'll get a lot of advice.

There are also some posts earlier in this thread by smokers who've quit - check them out, there's a lot of good advice there by people who've 'walked through the flame' so to speak, and won.

 

 

 

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actually, the original, healthy state of a person's lungs will never be restored fully once the person starts smoking. damage is done to the lungs and will continue if the person doesn't stop smoking. and to think you've become a chain smoker. complications will come out because of the excessive smoking.

i'm not putting a blame on you or anything, but you shouldn't expect a full recovery from just by stopping alone. you should start off by slowly removing your smoking lifestyle (because stopping instantly won't help, for it will just leave a person with withdrawal symptoms, thus making it worst than it already is). i know it's hard, but if you were able to cut off your habit (the chain smoking thing), then it would be easier, to say the least.

living a healthy lifestyle is possible even with such conditions as yours (i know you're from the same country as i am, because you mentioned jeepneys, and also based from your "local time" in your profile). avoiding places that are polluted will help. you could also bring a gas mask with you when you travel, or if not, you could just cover your mouth and nose with a handkerchief. try to incorporate exercise in your lifestyle, because exercise helps a person, especially in breathing, but you have to take precautionary measures, because exerting too much in your exercise will be harmful for your case. and lastly, go to the doctor. it will help A LOT.

if your mom says that smoking isn't good for you, then smoking isn't good for you. actually, smoking isn't good for anyone. i always ask friends and other people i encounter who smoke why they choose to smoke, what triggered the need and those sorts of stuff. i try to be as open-minded as possible so i won't get into a fight, because i personally hate it when people around me smoke. that's why i just try to ask them why do they smoke, or how it all started. i don't have a strong pair of lungs. i was born normal, didn't have any lung problems, nor do i smoke, but somehow, i have a difficulty in breathing and i usually cough a lot. ever since i was a child i was always checked by my doctor to determine the cause of the problem. x-rays say that everything's ok, but some doctors say that i was allergic. actually, until now, i don't know the real cause, but all i know is i'm glad that i don't smoke, and as far as i know, i'm not guilty and won't be worrying too much about my condition.

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Good, don't smoke - it kills

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I reuest or even beg all the smokers to quit smoking. I know you cannot stop smoking in a single day, but if you have the determination then you can be free of this addicition soon.

The reason why I say this is,
I've friend whose father was a smoker, a few years before he was diagonised for lung cancer. Now do you know guys how he is he cannot breath on his own, he needs an Oxygen Cylinder near him at all times.

Do you need this pityful state, you cannot be free you have to be confined within the walls of the hospital or ur home.

Please think on it.

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Good job on quitting smoking. I have so many people in my family that smoke. My Dad, Aunt, Grandma, and my Grandpa. They all tell me not to ever smoke cause it is a bad habit. In my head im thinking "you hypocrites" lol. Anyway my Grandma has tried to quit smoking like 5 times. Every time for a few months then she smoked more. I think one time she quit for almost a year. But anyway congrats. It is a good thing to quit. You save your money, better for you, and the friends and family around you dont have to worry about getting secondhand smoke.

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I agree with mbacarra. Donīt expect a total recovery or think that you will be an athlete now. Years of smoking cause years of damage to your organism, but itīs no so dramatic anyways. The same happens with alcohol, drugs or even bad diets. But is a real difficult thing to leave the habit of smoking so congratulations because youīll feel better than when you smoke. You will also save money and time and people wonīt have to run away when you light a cigarette. And they say your sexual life will be better too...

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first of all congrats on living that death stick, you would be glad that you stopped smoking in your future,smoking really makes your lungs go in a merry round trip and actually it crushes your lungs by making them vulnerable to a lot of diseases
Leaving smoking alone is no way going to guarantee you that you would be ready to live a healthy life from now on,but atleast you have stopped punching your lungs now.
Now you need to do some lung test which may reveal how hard the damage is,i am not a doctor but i know that there is some problems in the lungs of chain smokers which need to be rectified.
Do those test and maintain a good diet afterall and keep exercising ,it would atleast make half of your problem solve and as for your t.b. is concerned i think you people need to move out of such an area which gives bed smell all the time which may be really harmful to you,this smells might also contribute to your lungs problem furthur.
keep exercising...(though even i don't)

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I have a friend who is a surgeon, and he tells me a smokers lungs are actually 'black' from the accumulated debris, as opposed to healthy lungs.

The strange thing is if you look at books from say a hundred years ago, they have no idea at all that smoking is dangerous, to them a pipe gives a 'manly air' etc. Love the way books can sometimes let you look into the past - right, right, off-topic, I know, hehe.

I've got a few friends who are trying to ditch the habit, it's not at all easy. As I said in my earlier post, anyone who does is a hero in my opinion - a very strong person indeed.

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