i just started quitting smoking. Today at 11 noon it was my second 24 hours without a cigarette. I am 39 and have been smoking since i was 13. I didnt smoke a lot as a young teenager but was almost to a pack a day by my early 20's. The last time i went 24 hours or more without a cigarette was when i was in bootcamp when i was 19, otherwise i havent been 24 hours without a cigarette for 20 years. Recently i started having a bunch of health problems after being relatively healthy - i guess it was just luck since i didnt take the best care of myself and on top of that i smoked. what happened is that back in december (it is now march 2004) i got cellulitus on my left leg. Took antibiotics and it healed. A couple of weeks later i got it again on my left buttock and also treated that with antibiotics, before that one was healed another small on started right near that one but i took another course of antibiotics and it never got really bad. A few weeks went by and then i got another on on my right side in that area below the buttocks thats not quite on your hip or thigh. That one was a bad one and i took antibitoics for it. that one had barely healed and two more flared up. one right near the one on my right side and another on my left buttock. these weren't progressing as fast as the worst ones i had and i called my dr and she begged me to not take anymore antibiotics because she said too many can cause some kind of bad thing to happen in your digestive system or your colon or something. anyway these two havent been getting much worst so i havent taken the antibiotics even tho i am scared because cellulitus can get into bone and blood and kill you or so i have heard throughout all this i have also had the flu or flu like symptoms twice when i havent had a flu in over 17 years i had an ear infection and an inflammation of the eye from something hitting it this last time i had the flu i had a fever of 101 for 4 days and right after that the 4th cellulitus started on my right hip i also developed a small cough with hardly anything coming up but lots of wet sounds when i tried to breath deep i also found out recently that my uterus is so full of fibroids that it is the same size it would be if i was 3 months pregnant and have been having a lot of pain with menstruation and mild cramps pretty much constantly i just visited a womens center last week and they want to give me a hysterectomy since i wanted a tubal ligation anyway they told me my cough was probably something called smokers cough and it can become chronic i am scared to death right now because i feel like something is really wrong with me so for many reasons i decided to give up smoking i asked my boyfriend to help me buy the 21 mg patches and slapped one on and now i have been almost 52 hours without a cig an indian healer who is a friend of a friend recommended i start drinking turmeric and applying it to the cellulitus and i went online and read about it and found out it also has awesome antioxidant properties so right now i am going to start drinking a teaspoon of powdered turmeric in a cup of milk twice a day and also have been taking hot sit baths in it i am a recovering alcoholic - 15 years sober as of this month 2004 and i just sat and thought about what i want and what i am doing - my brain says dont quit smoking now there is too much stress but when isnt there stress? yeah the patch is helping - i hardly crave at all but now and then i get hit hard with a craving anyway - well since i am wearing the patch i know its not a real chemical craving it is just my brain and habit yeah a cig would be really comforting for me right now no doubt but will it fix anything? no just like drinking never did so i havent set any goals for myself i dont even care i just want to try to quit smoking one day at a time cuz every day without a cig is a day without a cig but i can say one thing for sure my sense of smell has already improved i use my empty dry cat food bags for trash by my computer and emptied my ashtrays in it and i have sat here with it for 4 years and it never bothered me - today as i was reading these forums i had to take it outside - it smelled so bad my taste buds are already better- everything i am eating tastes richer and fuller - i dont know how to explain it even and even better i tried to take a deep breath earlier today because i still have a little gurgle in my lungs but no coughing and i was expecting a lot more stuff to be coming up then what is so i took a deep breath to try to make myself cough up and as i sucked in it kept going and going - i guess i never realized how shallow i have been breathing all these years i was almost frightened by how deep a breath i sucked in i am hoping and praying that quitting smoking will help my body have a chance to start repairing itself and for my immune system to be able to start fighting back with all these problems i also wanted to quit smoking because if i am going to have surgery to take out my uterus i want my body to be as healthy as it can be one thing i know is that i didnt really want to quit smoking and i dont think i ever would - i kept waiting and waiting and finally with all this happening i just realized that waiting any longer is going to kill me and i dont want to die i just started a new relationship with a guy who is younger then me - even tho i never liked younger men but i am convinced he is my soul mate and i dont want him to have to deal with me and a bunch of health problems or me dying young and i certainly dont want him taking in my second hand smoke then dying from lung cancer anyway pray for me if you believe and if you dont believe pray anyway cuz psychology is finding now that beleif in something greater then yourself is almost critical to emotional health i also threw away all my ashtrays cuz in the past i kept them in case i started again but screw that and i have gotten rid of anything that smells like smoking or tobacco and aired out the house because those are triggers i am also going to avoid ppl who smoke for a while also another thing thats good about the patch is in order for me to have a cig i have to take the patch off and wait a few hours so i dont have a heartattack and right now a cigarette isnt worth suffering in withdrawal for, for 4 to 5 hours so the patch helps slow you down i am planning on doing the entire step down program tho i may try the lowest patches first after the two weeks of these sorry for the long post and if you are trying to quit smoking go read about turmeric - it doesnt taste that bad and i am a real wimp when it comes to bad taste and also i think you can now get it in pill form good luck to all of you trying to quit - just do it - and use anything you need is what i say - i am eating anything i want i rather gain ten pounds then die of lung cancer or emphysema

On smoking... ready to go there again today. Man, the body wants to just smoke offhand and by nature and avoid trying not to something fierce. Day before yesterday it just went out of my mind for hours but that will not be so. There are NO meaningless ciggys. Michelle, I'm so glad you know someone who tried acupuncture with success. I had wondered about that. I think I will go after my trip, maybe before! I had a great acupuncturist that helped by back a lot but not enough to justify the unfortunate cost. Short-term issues I'd definitely try with him! Pete, you are 100% right, I know from my dad's experience with AA, and from how darned addicted I am. I don't think I can EVER handle one after I stop. Nicotineless, OK. OK for a long while anyway, I appease my addict brain. Msjam, Happy Happy Chantrix Dance! Oh, I'm hearing such good things about that drug; it is great to hear from an observer of a bad addict. Yes, my appointment with my doc is soon, and I'm definitely trying that. Thanks! vjcamp, Congratulations!!! It slipped up on me, too... hanging out with my club and punk friends and I guess we thought it was cool but not consciously. Eventually I couldn't NOT smoke in my parents house fighting with my BF on the phone. I was a goner after that. Senior year and now half my life!!! Susan, congratulations!! Hey, roses baby, always roses or decor. Right now it's more expensive to quit and there's something very wrong with that equation! I'm trying to be conscious of every cigarette, definitely, and remember all the bad. Foghorn, congrats on two counts!! Yeah, no 'just try one' for me... hey I thought when I started that I'd never get hooked!! April, 12...man! Congratulations!! I hadn't even thought of the fact that I will be so proud, but I will. Good motivator there. Thank you! Debra, so good to see you!! My Ex quit pretty easily, but he did not have nic fits like I get. Unfortunately, it's not just the gnawing craving but I literally get sleepy, confused, etc. I am trying to take the UK trip as the big step RE quitting. I don't know that I can go all the way, but I swear I will stop all but the most 'crucial' of cigarettes. I'm afraid to try more with all the work I have to do there :( Hopefully the Chantrix and change of locale will allow me to go farther... we'll have to see! Hoov and Sue, I am so sorry about your fathers. When my mother was in the hospital she asked me to quit smoking [she was dying of cancer but never smoked] and it pains me that I could not stop for her then. It is indescribable how strong a hold cigarettes can have, and I am so sorry that y'all had to be hurt so by that. It is a very sad thing, and infuriating that we smokers don't 'get' that when we smoke the first one. Cupshaped, Strength to you!!! If it helps, you can imagine a day, a YEAR [!!] without a cigarette, so you will succeed! Remember the bad, the hurting of folks and yourself... you are RIGHT THERE. Do they have Chantrix in Denmark? Worth a try! However you do it, keep it up and the best of luck!! Julie, good luck!!!!! What I have read about Chantrix, 'you ain't seen nothin' yet'. I hope so! One drag is excellent going in to it! Keep up the good work! Remember there are nicotine-free cigs out there, non-nicotine inhalers to drag on.... let me know if you need me to send you a couple; I'm stocking up!! Hopefully my QT watch comes today, the doc appt is soon, and I'm thinking of my UK trip as an exciting venture in many ways :)

I used the Chantix too! It was nothing next to a miracle. Chantix is a prescription drug (a pill) that your doctor can prescribe. A friend recommended it to me after she quit her habit of 30 + years. I started taking the Chantix pill and didn't even think about quitting smoking. I did smoke less without even thinking about it. On day 12 I was getting ready for bed and I realized, "hey, I didn't smoke at ALL today!" I can't tell you how great that felt. Each day after that I didn't smoke and it didn't seem like I was being deprived or white knuckeling it! I continued taking the pills for a few more weeks when I decided that I just wasn't going to smoke, pill or no pill anymore. It is now over 6 months for me. The prescription did cause me to have some really wacky dreams! It is a psychological drug, so I think if you are having depression or other mental issues it may not be for you. Someone commited suicide while on Chantix so they got a lot of bad publicity. But personally I feel that person PROBABLY had some underlying issues beforehand. I have recommeneded it to long time smokers without trying to be preachy (just because I'd like them to feel the power I feel by not being saddled by cigarettes!) Many of them said they would never put a prescription in their systerm to quit! Yet on a daily basis they are lighting up and putting known carcenogens into their body, so I figure they are just making an excuse. Ladyofdirt, if you are reading this and you still need a method to quit I would encourage you to try the Chantix. Best wishes to you!

gemini, I don't know if it was my question that got your goat, but mine was a genuine, out of curiosity, wanting to learn question. If you choose you can go back up and read it. So far nobody has responded to it. Briefly, my question is - other than perceived expense or desire for a litter, what is the reason a person would choose not to have their pet neutered? I'll answer it for myself in reverse. I choose to have my pets neutered because I don't want any litters, it is healthier for the pet, it is more happier for the pet, it makes living with the pet easier (not going through those heats of a female or frantic humping by the male). I believe it's ethically and healthwise the better choice. So that's why I choose to neuter my pets. I really, really am interested, without judgement, in hearing what factors people who choose not to neuter considered and what kept them on the "not neuter" page. "Because I choose not to" doesn't answer that question. Can anyone?