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Better To Be Choking Than Keep Smoking!

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I am pretty sure that all the smokers remember their first time – their first cigarette, that is! I think I speak for everyone when I say that the first time you smoke, you find it really disgusting, it makes you choke and cough and splutter, and you feel very nauseous ! So why do so many continue with it? That is indeed the question.

Speaking for myself, it definitely made me feel quite ill when I had my first cigarette at the age of 14. I was on a school trip to France, on an exchange visit staying with a French family, who had a girl of around my age. The French at that time were a nation of very heavy smokers (and I don't think very much has changed there!) They also smoked extremely strong cigarettes like Gauloises, which are really disgusting in their smell (even more so than normal cigarettes, I mean). The family I was staying with were all moderate smokers, and their daughter was smoked quite heavily, despite being only about 15. I had never smoked at the time and thought I never would, but I was out with Claire, my French friend, one day and some of her friends, and someone offered me a cigarette. This had happened a few times before, and I had always refused, but this time I accepted, just out of curiosity really. It was horrible: I was coughing and spluttering for ages and felt sick and faint. I couldn't understand why anyone would do that for pleasure, and it put me off, for a few years at least!

As I have described in a previous blog, I then stupidly started smoking for real, as you might say, at the age of 20, and really only because I was working with a lot of human chimneys, so I came under their corrupting influence!! At first I still coughed a lot and didn't enjoy it, it took a long time for those physical reactions to go away.

I am fairly certain that is the case with everyone: that the initial response to inhaling a lot of burning toxic chemicals, all the coughing, choking and nausea, is the natural one, the one everyone should have, but we ignore that, we "persevere", if you like (I am not sure that is the right choice of verb!), and once the physical symptoms have subsided, we get hooked. If only people could stick with their immediate physical reaction, what their body is telling them, they would never get to the point of being addicted to it.

I was never a heavy smoker and never addicted, but it was habit-forming with me, nonetheless, and obviously I wish now I had never smoked at all. At least I have been smoke-free for about 6 years now though, so hopefully I can try to live the rest of my life in future as healthily as possible.

Hope you enjoyed this blog, and I appreciate your votes and comments.

 

Visit to the Hospital

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All I can think of right now is the fact that my grandpa has been admitted into the hospital, again.

The doctors don't know anything for sure yet, but I'm so scared. And, when I pulled up Breathing Happy, all I could think about was the hospital and the faces of the people in the Emergency Room. Faces muted with worry and pain and "what if."

Have you ever been in a hospital? They try to make it as pristine and welcoming as they can, but there's still this underlying pressure of illness and pain that ways down every movement, every word. Especially if you're visiting a loved one, or if you're the one being checked in.

I have an image of smoking related death statistics with this post. I chose that particular one because it doesn't only involve the smoker.

The next time that you get the urge to light up, think of who you could be putting in the hospital. Maybe it'll be you. Maybe it'll be somebody that you love--your husband, wife, child, parents, best friend.

Take care of yourself and the people you care about. I believe in you.

What Could Possibly Happen in the Bedroom?

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Are you the type that wants to quit, but you just don’t have that ‘reason’ that gives you the needed push to finally quit? How about this: smoking decreases your desire and ability to perform in the bedroom, especially for men. As a matter of fact, erectile dysfunction can be related to the nasty products in your routine ‘fresh air’ roll-ups. (more…)

Controversy Over Vaping

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The electric cigarette was produced in 2003 by a Chinese druggist named Hon Lik. It went on the Chinese market in 2004 and then marketed elsewhere in 2005 by Golden Dragon Holdings. The product is traded through private companies but the base is Electronic Cigarette Association.

No electric cigarette company is endorsed by any healthy organization. They are banned in several countries including Canada.

The product is made up of a battery, a cartridge and a atomizer that vaporizes the liquid. These cigarettes cost less than actual cigarettes. A starter kit can run you $50 and flavor cartridges about $12. They come in several flavors such as chocolate, mint and orange that may even attract children to use these.

Though the e-cigs do not produce the tar and carbon monoxide of regular tobacco cigarettes a user may actually have an even stronger addiction to the nicotine than they may have had before. This is due to the solution of nicotine and propylene glycol used in the electric cigarette. It is basically a battery operated nicotine dispenser. And remember nicotine can cause heart problems. The other ingredient is Diethylene Glycol which is a anti-freeze component and is toxic to humans.

Also contained in these cigarettes is Tetramethylpyrazine. This a Chinese drug used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in China. Found to induce relaxation in rats.

And if the e-cigarette breaks the user can be exposed to cancer causing compounds.

There is not a lot known about the long term effects of this product. But if you turn to this product to help you in stopping smoking regular cigarettes you may find you have an even stronger addiction to nicotine. So what have you lost and what have you gained?

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Social Smoker? My Experiences With Smoking

When I was twelve years old I remember my older cousin Mike talking me into sneaking into my grandfather's bedroom and taking a pack of his Salem cigarettes off his bureau. I did it and we went back behind the garage to smoke one of these menthol cigarettes, Can you imagine your first experience in cigarette smoking being a menthol?

When I was a teenager many of my friends smoked and I occasionally smoked. Not often though.

But when I was working at the telephone company years later and a group of us went out on Wedsnesday nighs I would partake of a cigarette. For some reason if the group around me was smoking I could counteract the annoyance of the smoke by smoking myself. So when the five or six around me lit up, so would I.

My daughter occasionally went to the smoke shop down town for some specialty smokes and I would get me a pack of Swisser Sweets. They had a nice mellow and sweet flavor. I actually liked to smoke them. In the Summer I would set out under the tree in the front yard and have a Swisser Sweet. But one day the flavor seemed to change and they just didn't taste good anymore. I threw the pack away and never had another. What happened? I really don't know.

I have never had any effects from smoking. No shortness of breath, or anything. I guess I was just a social smoker and when I was around people who smoked, I felt a need to too. I don't like the smoke or the smell, and haven't smoked in probably fifteen years or more. I am glad I was never addicted, and only wish it was this easy for others. My daughter smokes and I wish I could get her to quit. My granddaughter does too.

Social smokers? Peer pressure? What is it?