Minnesota No Smoking

Tomorrow is the first day of Minnesota going smoke free in all public places. It should be interesting. In some of the bigger cities they have been smoke free in a lot of places already. I think where it is going to be interesting is the small town bars. Where that is the only place people go to relax and get together.
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No smoking changes that take place

You have all heard this but one more time. Check this
According to the American Cancer Society, these are the changes that take place in you body when you stop smoking:

WITHIN 20 MINUTES
* Body temperature of feet and hands increases to normal
* Pulse rate drops to normal rate
* Blood pressure drops to normal
AFTER 12 HOURS
* Pulse rate slows/skin temperature increases to normal
* Oxygen in blood increases to normal
* Carbon Monoxide level in blood drops to normal
AFTER 24 HOURS
* Nerve endings start re-growing
* Ability to smell and taste is enhanced
AFTER 72 HOURS
* Bronchial tubes relax, make breathing easier
* Lung capacity increases
WITHIN 2 WEEKS TO 3 MONTHS
* Circulation improves, walking becomes easier because stamina and vigor have improved
* Lung function increases up to 30%
1 TO 9 MONTHS
* Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decreases
* Cilia re-grow in lungs, increasing ability to handle mucous, clean the lungs and reduce infection
* Body's overall energy increases
1 YEAR
* Risk of heart disease decreases 90%
* Heart will have returned to nearly normal
10-15 YEARS
* Risk of lung cancer will be roughly the same as if you had never smoked
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Smoking Drug Withdrawal

For a detailed explanation of this at whyfiles.org These brain slices show levels of the "killjoy" enzyme MAO B in the brains of two people. The non-smoker at the top has plenty of MAO B, but the smoker at bottom has much less -- a sign that something in cigarette smoke is destroying MAO B, allowing the pleasure chemical dopamine to tell the body it likes smoking and wants to continue.
What all this information says is of the 4000 or more chemicals in cigarette smoke there is something else other than nicotine that makes withdrawal even harder and something might be needed to lessen the shock of drug withdrawal. Idefinitely believe that is what is working for me.
Tags: quit smoking stop smoking nicotine patch quit smoking aides Equate

1951 Goofy no smoking cartoon

This 1951 Disney no smoking cartoon didn't do much to impress on young minds they should not smoke. If I remember correctly Walt Disney used to start The Disneyland TV show smoking. Quite normal at the time.

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Chantix Works on My Head

No nicotine patch since last Wednesday but I am still using the Chantix pill twice a day. So here I am, the habit part of my addiction is broken. I can go to the bathroom with out a cigarette, eat no cigarette after etc.
For those who have never had this addiction it's at least for me and I think a lot of people not a matter of will power but a multiple level addiction. The Chantix works on my head and the nicotine patch the habit and eased the cutting down of the nicotine.
Eliminating the ingestion of the other chemicals one gets when smoking is a bigger thing than many realize. As a user of other delivery systems of getting nicotine. Like the chew, it's is not the same, I found myself having a bandit in my mouth while I was smoking........ I'm working on a post of all the different things I've tried to take care of the oral fix I need.
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Final Smoking Days

I had been thinking about my birthday coming up on September 2, making me 62 years old. I've been feeling slower and slower. Usually buying cigarettes a carton at a time. To insure I wouldn't run out. I had been taking Chantix for 2 months and was still smoking. I bought just one pack.
A couple of months ago I had boughten some 'Equate' nicotine transdermal system patches. I got them at Walmart for $25 being $5 cheaper than anywhere else. The Nicoderm brand costing $39 for the same thing. But that is a whole nother post.
Anyway that night I put on a 21mg nicotine patch and had 2 cigarettes, the next day, new patch and that night I had 2 more cigarettes. The next day September 1, my birthday I had 3 cigarettes late at night. I knew this could not go on. So the next day, I did not have any cigarettes. Still on Chantix and a patch. I found myself getting the cold sweats. They would go away. As a couple of days went on. I kept the same patch on for 2 days then 3 days before switching when I would be getting the heavy cold sweats and now tremors. After a week I switched to the 14 mg patch. I did the same pattern, new patch for 2 days then keeping the same patch on for for 2 days. The cold sweats would come back.
On the 17th I put a new patch on, during this process in the middle of the night on three different nights I was awoken with what I call shaking tremors, a uncontrollable twitching. I carry stress on my left side. Thats where the tremors would appear. On the 20th I took that patch off and have been just using the Chantix.
Oh, I had been keeping these patches on by putting masking tape over the patch as I found they did not stick that well. After a day or so.
I'd like to hear how other people have gone through this process.
Tags: quit smoking stop smoking Nicoderm quit smoking aides Equate

Getting Started Smoking

Look closely at these. Back when I was a kid in the early 1960's bubble gum and candy branded cigarette packs like these sold for a nickel, anyone could buy a pack of real cigarettes for 24 cents. I wasn't big on the bubble gum ones but I would buy the candy ones.
How did you get started smoking ?
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Thinking of Stopping Smoking

Until I get my act together I'll be rambling on about how I quit this time and the past. I've been thinking about quitting smoking again for a long time years and years. The nicotine devil drug always has prevailed. My last quit was about 9 years ago. It was not a pure quit. I had stopped smoking but still used the Bandits. That was for a year. The good thing was I wasn't getting all the extra chemicals provided by the cigarettes. Any way I started in again.
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The beginning of My smoking quit

THE BEGINNING OF THE END
I was a 2 1/2 to 3 pack a day smoker for the last 30 years and 1 pack or more for 20 years before that. When not smoking in the last 10 years I used 'bandits' the little pouches of tobacco used in the mouth like a chew.
This blog is going to relate my smoking life from when I was about 12 years old ' borrowing' unknown to her' Winston cigarettes from my mother to now 50 years later.
September 2-2007 was the first day of my final quit !! of smoking, chewing.
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