Smoking And Hiv

[TigerMilner]

Ok, Poptronic, you said let you know when I was ready to quit smoking again.  I am.  Today is day one.  I'm using the patches.  I tried last week and failed but I'm determined to be a non-smoker again.  Anyone else want to join? 

 

Here are some good reasons I found today while reading up on smoking as it relates to those with HIV.  Last time I quit I didn't have to think about this, but now it is a real concern.

 

http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/staying-healthy-with-hiv-aids/taking-care-of-yourself/smoking-tobacco-use/

 

 

[Breedhole4thickpole]

You can do it!!! I was a three - four pack a day smoker at one time. The last cigarette I smoked was June 1st 2007 and I have not touched one since!! Pulling for you to be successful Tiger!!

[wood]

Keep at it!! 

 

Smoking is awful for you no matter how you slice it, but in people with HIV (or any other chronic condition) for that matter, the effects are amplified.  Additionally the sooner you quit, the lower the risk of other possible health complications.  Stay off it, and use the electronic ones if you need a fix.  

 

 Even if smoking doesn't kill you, it almost always severely degrades your quality of life the older you get.  I know quite a few smokers anywhere from their late 20's to their 90's (my great aunt still smokes a carton a week of marlboro reds at 92), and almost all of them have breathing issues or get cold's often etc.  its just not worth it.  If you don't do it for yourself, do it for you kids.      

[TigerMilner]

Actually, Wood, it was the worry it was causing my son that made me decide it was time.  I only started back smoking this summer after 5 years without a cigarette.  I don't kno why I decided to start again.  No logic at all.  I quit once for nine years.  I just have to remember that there is no such thing as having just one for me.  But thanks for the support. 

 

Poptronic?  Are you going to join me?  It was your challenge.

Edited November 18, 2014 by TigerMilner

[Bttm2go]

Hope you make it. My brother stopped smoking after thirty years. It's hard but you can do it.

[bearbandit]

Last smoked 6 July 2003. Was on three and a half packs a day. Cut it down to two packs a day for a year and got so bored at watching the clock for when it was time I was allowed to have another that I set a date a couple of weeks away when our houseguest would be moving on (both he and my partner were heavy smokers). I told everyone I was stopping (nothing like the threat of egg on your face to help the resolve) and spent a months cigarette money on software I'd been wanting for a long time.

At 23.40 on 6 June 2003 I stood in the back garden and had my last cigarette, throwing the butt into the mutant rhubarb patch over the path (we never did figure out what those plants were). Cleaned out my bedroom ashtray and went to bed. It takes the receptors in your brain about 72 hours to get used to the idea that they ain't getting any more nicotine. After that, it's physical habit.

Be active: don't slump in front of the TV. Go out and get fucked instead. Drink more than usual quantities of fruit juice (though if you're in HIV medication avoid grapefruit juice because of possible interactions). When the cravings get too much, promise yourself you can have one in twenty minutes, and go and do something. I worked on a "jam yesterday, jam tomorrow" system: all those unfulfilled promises.

 

I found that a lot of my triggers for smoking were around having something to do with my hands: I actually tried writing things by hand instead of on the PC. Make notes of when you get a craving and what you can do to sidestep it. If you need something to put in your mouth and there isn't a dick around, go for low calorie soft drinks or plain water. Chewing gum helps too in this respect.

 

Our houseguest stayed on an extra week and it was only on the day he left that he realised I hadn't had a fag all week. My partner started a two month stint in hospital "for tests" about six weeks later. Even though the friend who drove me daily to the hospital was a heavy smoker and John came close to death a couple of times, I managed not to smoke.

 

Forget about patches: you really don't need them. All you're doing is giving the money you would have given to the tobacco industry to the pharmaceutical industry instead.

 

If I have one regret about stopping smoking (it was medically necessary: my lung capacity is about 70% of what it should be), it's that I daren't get into cigarsex again (did I mention that along with my seventy a day there'd be a few cigars every week?). Much as I'd love to I'm afraid I have to leave that to fantasy and DVDs...

 

Wish all quitters the best of luck... If I can do it, you can!

[TigerMilner]

Day two, it still sucks.  So do I come to think of it, lol.  I am noticing I am craving sucking dick.  I forget how much I love to swallow a man's load since I usually start out sucking dick but usually get bent over and fucked, so I rearely get to swallow a load.  I want to suck some dick today. 

[wood]

Day two, it still sucks.  So do I come to think of it, lol.  I am noticing I am craving sucking dick.  I forget how much I love to swallow a man's load since I usually start out sucking dick but usually get bent over and fucked, so I rearely get to swallow a load.  I want to suck some dick today. 

Keep at it, and keep yourself really busy in the mean time.  

 

IIRC after 72 hours without nicotine, the physical part of the withdrawal is over, and its all mental after that.  That doesn't make it necessarily easier, but at least its not a physical craving.  

 

Its also good that you are doing this on your own accord, and want to quit.  I have a good friend who is 30, and really unhealthy.  He smokes a pack a day, drinks a handle of liquor every three days, and had a diet that consists solely of processed foods.  I tried intervening before with him, and it was no use.  We didn't talk for about three years.   

[wood]

Last smoked 6 July 2003. Was on three and a half packs a day. Cut it down to two packs a day for a year and got so bored at watching the clock for when it was time I was allowed to have another that I set a date a couple of weeks away when our houseguest would be moving on (both he and my partner were heavy smokers). I told everyone I was stopping (nothing like the threat of egg on your face to help the resolve) and spent a months cigarette money on software I'd been wanting for a long time.

 

If I have one regret about stopping smoking (it was medically necessary: my lung capacity is about 70% of what it should be),

Damn! thats a lot of ciggies!! 

 

With that said I guess in the 80's and 90's when people were dying of AIDS, cigarette smoking didnt really seem like a big deal.  if you are going to die anyway, why not smoke.  

 

My aforementioned great aunt who is 92 and still smokes is kind of crazy.  Her husband died over 30 years ago from lung cancer.  At that point she knew she needed to do something, so she switched to filters.  I did some quick math and estimated she has smoked about 1.1 million cigarettes in her lifetime.  

[TigerMilner]

I've ditched the patches. They were irritating my skin.  Day four.  It wasn't too bad.  I will be a non smoker again! 

[bearbandit]

With that said I guess in the 80's and 90's when people were dying of AIDS, cigarette smoking didnt really seem like a big deal.  if you are going to die anyway, why not smoke.  

 

People are still dying of aids, admittedly not in the numbers we saw in the eighties and nineties, but the ARVs are not a cure. Never forget that. If I came off my ARVs I doubt I'd last a year.

Two conversations: one with a nurse when visiting a friend who clearly wasn't going to last the day: "should he be smoking in his condition?" "Well, it's not as thought it's going to do long term damage..."

And a neighbour: "Should you be smoking with what you've got?" "I've got aids: you expect me to be worried about lung cancer?"...

Fact is that stopping smoking is among the best decisions you can make for your health, and yes, some HIV-related conditions are exacerbated by smoking, whether you're on treatment or not.

[cumslut23]

You can do it! Keep us updated. For me the hard times are being drunk and horny...

[TigerMilner]

Day Six, and a Saturday night.  I've made it through.  I'm finding the use of an electronic cigarette is better than the patches or nicotine gum for those times when I want to snap someones head off or cave in and buy a pack of cigarettes.  They don't feel like smoking a cigarette so I'm not worried about becoming addicted to them.  In fact, they feel a lot like smoking crystal meth, which an addiction I'd rather leave alone.  Anyway, I'm not smoking Today.

[Bottomhole]

Great job TigerMilner! Hope it gets easier for you. 

[bearbandit]

Keep going (or rather not going), Tiger! If I could make it through the fog of smoke I lived in, so can you!