# Smokers/ex-smokers: Why did you start? Do you regret it?



## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

Basically the title.. People who smoke or used to smoke, what made you start? What made you keep smoking (were you addicted)? Do you wish you had never picked up that first cigarette? 

I kind of need some kind of outlet right now.. life's not going well  I'd rather have my lungs half dead in ten years than keep feeling so bad everyday.


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## Claudia87 (Aug 19, 2013)

I started smoking because I was a stupid 14 year old, and was trying to emulate my equally stupid older sister. I really don't think it goes much deeper than that. :b I finally quit 2 years ago. What a pain in the ***!


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. Was it the chemical addiction that kept you smoking so long?


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## Claudia87 (Aug 19, 2013)

CoastalSprite said:


> Thanks for the reply. Was it the chemical addiction that kept you smoking so long?


I'm sure that was part of it. I think it was also the lifestyle I was living for a while and the people I was surrounded by. I was an addict and alcoholic for a lot of the time I was smoking. I got clean, and 7 months later I quit smoking


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

Claudia87 said:


> I'm sure that was part of it. I think it was also the lifestyle I was living for a while and the people I was surrounded by. I was an addict and alcoholic for a lot of the time I was smoking. I got clean, and 7 months later I quit smoking


Props on all of that- it took a lot of strength and frustration I'm sure. A lot of people aren't able to.


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## gnomealone (Feb 3, 2013)

A friend threw me a pack one evening while we were hanging out. He was one of those people who could smoke for a while then quit cold turkey. 27 years later smokes are $13 a pack, not $2.75 and I'm hooked probably til I die. Don't start, you'll regret it. And aren't you a nurse? That could get a 
little uncomfortable in the workplace....Besides, Torts will have your 'nucks
winning soon and you'll need all your cash for playoff tickets.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Yes smoker 
Yes regret it 
Yes addicted 
Have been a smoker for a long time longer than being a no smoker 
I really enjoy having a smoke 
Yes it's time to quit but I do make excuses not to and when preparing myself to stop I smoke twice as much 
Have tried many times before and have been able to kick many othe bad habits but can't seem to quit these bloody cigarettes 
The longest I quit for was 2 weeks once 
Arrrrrrrrr I hate being a smoker but its just another line to the list of things I hate about myself


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## housebunny (Oct 22, 2010)

Grog said:


> Pls let me know what you really think I appreciate brutal honesty


Somethin's splittin outcher back.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Devil inside


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

gnomealone said:


> A friend threw me a pack one evening while we were hanging out. He was one of those people who could smoke for a while then quit cold turkey. 27 years later smokes are $13 a pack, not $2.75 and I'm hooked probably til I die. Don't start, you'll regret it. And aren't you a nurse? That could get a
> little uncomfortable in the workplace....Besides, Torts will have your 'nucks
> winning soon and you'll need all your cash for playoff tickets.


:lol Thanks hun your post made me chuckle. Playoffs eh? I'm not going to shell $300 for a seat in the nosebleeds to see the Nucks get their asses handed to them. For Torts throwing a fit maybe, but _that's_ not guaranteed... :b

People who work in health care take drugs, smoke, are obese, are anorexic, have unprotected sex, are depressed, kill themselves, etc. I don't have much else of a reprieve.

If you don't mind me asking, why are you continuing to smoke if you regret starting it? What's its benefit to you?


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

Grog said:


> Yes smoker
> Yes regret it
> Yes addicted
> Have been a smoker for a long time longer than being a no smoker
> ...


What made you start? What makes it hard to quit?


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

CoastalSprite said:


> What made you start? What makes it hard to quit?


I started like most when I was young ( back then I was popular and had lots of friends of all different ages and groups )
And hade a smoke which was offered to me ( coughed it up which too is normal)
Every one I knew smoked so it was normal to be a smoker my first job I had an ashtray on my desk it was normal 
So what I'm saying at the time it was normal to be a smoker that I guess is why I started , every one did and at the time I was a sheep not old enough to be an individual ( didn't know who I was )

I'm not to sure why it is so hard to quit I've had some pretty bad addictions , alcohols,drugs (all) gambling etc an have been able to quit them with the occasional relapse but cigarets is different again ( especially because there are no effects from smoking no gains of a high or low or a windfall )

I'm yet to quit so so I can't really answer why it hard to quit maybe in that question holds the answer


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## newusernamethatdoesntexi (Jun 15, 2013)

I remember when I was in high school I wanted to get addicted because I was tired of everyone thinking I was a goody goody and I had a lot of stress and anxiety to keep my grades up and find a job. Anyway, I threw a party and a few of the kids there were smoking, so in my drunken stupor I smoked a few. A few weeks later I bought a pack, for some stupid reason. I smoked for about 2-3 years after that and despite trying to quit multiple times, could not. I later switched to using Swedish snus, a type of smokeless tobacco, for about another two years or so. That was much easier to quit and now I've totally quit all tobacco. I will occasionally smoke if I am around people and have been drinking, but I really don't even like it anymore. It always gave me a sore throat and never made me feel any less anxious or depressed. In place of cigarettes, I now chew gum like crazy. That for some odd reason does lower my anxiety. Please don't take up smoking!


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## gnomealone (Feb 3, 2013)

CoastalSprite said:


> :l
> 
> If you don't mind me asking, why are you continuing to smoke if you regret starting it? What's its benefit to you?


 There really isn't any benefit, but the few times I've tried to quit I've 
gotten very very depressed. Even with the patch, even with days of positive
progress,I eventually hit this wall of blackness. Not use to that. I'm more of a
"functional" depressive. 
I'm no Dr. Doolittle, but smoking is also my own personal "push me-pullme"
in the sense that it allows me to interact with other smokers(albeit for a very
short time) and at the same time it repels the non-smokers. I do alright in short social interactions(usually) so maybe it fulfills some of that need, yet
protects me from feeling overwhelmed by people. Weird thinking. 
As for hockey....I really haven't a clue who is going to do well this year but
you might as well have hope. My Habs could be good or lousy. Last year I thought the Oilers were going to have a breakthrough and.....not so much. At
least you can be guaranteed some entertainment from Tortorella(sp.?) and Noel in Winnipeg. Well, keep the faith and try not to start smoking. Apart
from hockey teams you seem to make good decisions:troll:lol


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## Ender (Aug 5, 2012)

I started smoking at the bus stop when I was in eighth grade because I wanted to fit in and all the other guys were doing it. I was addicted, I have a very addictive personality. Yes I wish I never started although I did make friends at the bus stop so maybe it was for the best.

The SA made it harder to quit because I felt like I stood out less. Instead of why is that weird guy standing over there I was at least doing something.

I quit in 2002 it was very difficult I took a week off work played video games and ate junk food all week.

I still miss it if I only had a few days to live the first thing I would do is buy a carton of smokes.


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## meganmila (Jul 25, 2011)

I've never smoked, but did have one puff one time, but am I the only one that loves the look of the smoke coming out of the mouths? I dunno if I am making sense. Kissing a smoker is gross I admit but there is something about the smoke. I even think when people smoke Meth the smoke is so beautiful. 


Ok, I'm weird.


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## Patriot (Oct 14, 2011)

i started cause i wanted something to take my mind off the bad things going on at the time


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

gnomealone said:


> There really isn't any benefit, but the few times I've tried to quit I've
> gotten very very depressed. Even with the patch, even with days of positive
> progress,I eventually hit this wall of blackness. Not use to that. I'm more of a
> "functional" depressive.
> ...


"Functional depressive" is a good way to put it. I think I could be described as such, to a point. And I've reached that point some months ago but it's only now all coming to a front, and in quite a dramatic fashion. It's like suddenly being a severely dehydrated person in a sand dune. Even if the closest source of water is filled with mud and bugs, any relief is relief.

Unfortunately Torts made a commitment to reform his public image :wife No good soundbites so far, but I hope with the oncoming season, more melodramas will develop :lol

And good decisions haha.. Thanks for your kind words. But every decision I make these days have been wrong.

I still miss it if I only had a few days to live the first thing I would do is buy a carton of smokes.[/QUOTE]

I'd try heroin. Apparently it's as powerful as an orgasm.. :b



meganmila said:


> I've never smoked, but did have one puff one time, but am I the only one that loves the look of the smoke coming out of the mouths? I dunno if I am making sense. Kissing a smoker is gross I admit but there is something about the smoke. I even think when people smoke Meth the smoke is so beautiful.


I think it looks kind of sexy, especially when the person (man or woman) also has dark circles under their eyes and is sort of frowning. Kind of a sophisticated tired look.



Patriot said:


> i started cause i wanted something to take my mind off the bad things going on at the time


Did it work?
-

Thanks for sharing your stories everyone. I appreciate it.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

My latest attempt. # 654657387699000

This involves a simple technique I've thought of 

Every time a want a smoke I'm now only having a few drags then putting it out 
I'm relighting the same smoke for my next few drags which doesn't taste as good hope fully this attempt might work


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## nrelax11 (Jun 9, 2013)

First smoked after buying a fake stog when I was 16. I was with my girlfriend and friends. One of my friends actually smoked and had a cigarette. I took a hit of his cigarette and blew it out to mess with my gf. The fake stog didn't have enough smoke. I just really liked the taste and then the tobacco high. I was a skater kid so it kind of went hand and hand. I usually only smoked at parties but eventually a little more. It got worse because I became addicted to opiates and like with alcohol, they went well together. I just quit smoking two months ago, which was actually very easy because I had to for surgery. I feel so much betyer now and my weightlifting and muscle gains have increases greatly after quitting. Also, oct. 16 is my one year anniversary of being clean from opiates  don't even think about it anymore.


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## monotonous (Feb 1, 2013)

i started when i was 19 i think, thought it's a cool thing to do, never really addicted but never really quit either, as life kept stressing me out


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## Makiz (Dec 31, 2012)

Started smoking because my friends did, sad but literally that was it. Forced to quit about 3 years or so ago due to lung issues but happy to be smoke free.


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## Terranaut (Jul 11, 2013)

I started at age 15 (1970) for all the usual reasons kids started smoking back them. It was naughty, my parents did it, Humphrey Bogart looked cool doing it, other kids in high school who wanted a James Dean persona did it, and, I got to like it very quickly. I stopped in February of 1986 after 16 years and had been struggling to quit for years because I realized it was killing me and it was so integrated into my routines--and I started so young--I forgot how to live without it. I used to also smoke lots of other things at the same time so it was worrying me that at age 30, I was already starting to decline. 

I finally managed to stop but it took an entire life style change where smoking wasn't part of it yet. I had a "live-in" g/f who I broke up with--every time we had an argument, I'd rush for a cigarette. She moved out finally so I didn't have that source of tension. I also got a different job where I had to speak in public and I wanted to change my image to suit the picture. So I exercised and dieted and kept from smoking and wound up losing over 100 lbs. The combination of ceasing smoking and losing all that weight and having the new job and being able to wear normal size clothes made me feel like I just got younger by ten years. It was the beginning of the best time of my life. I never smoked again and hate the idea of it.

All you people who are struggling to stop, when you have the urge and are trying to fight it, just think of some tobacco executive driving a Mercedes convertible having the time of his life not caring one with that his fortune is being made on the suffering and death of people--people's parents, people's siblings, people's friends. Then throw that pack of cigarettes in the trash and don't look back.


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## AnotherGuy (Aug 5, 2013)

CoastalSprite said:


> Basically the title.. People who smoke or used to smoke, what made you start? What made you keep smoking (were you addicted)? Do you wish you had never picked up that first cigarette?
> 
> I kind of need some kind of outlet right now.. life's not going well  I'd rather have my lungs half dead in ten years than keep feeling so bad everyday.


Funny thing is that in ever started smoking until after I turned 20. And I started out of stress of working at this factory where I earned a leadership position in less than a year. I spent 4 years there. THEE exact day I quit the job was the day I never picked up a cigarette again. Sometimes something can trigger your urge to smoke and as soon as that condition is changed the urge goes away.

I still have a cigar once in a while, but it's more of a hobby thing I do when I sit and reminisce with my dad.


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## DenizenOfDespair (Aug 13, 2012)

I first started after I received the news my cousin was murdered. I was drinking later that night and smoked with a friend. I managed to quit a year later for two years but back in 2011 I started again due to letting my issues and the stress I was feeling overwhelm me. I'm working on quitting again soon.


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## Evo1114 (Dec 9, 2012)

I used to hang out in the dorms drinking with some friends, and some of my friends would go down and have smokes throughout the night. I'd go down with them. Sometimes I'd be offered one and I'd turn it down, but gradually I'd join them more and more and I just got addicted. Of course I regret it. Quitting wasn't very fun.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Siverah said:


> Hi everyone in this forum. Well, I just want to share my story, hope this won't bother you.
> 
> 2 years ago, I was a former alcoholic. It started when my workmates invited me to have a drink after work. Well, I often joined them. I don't want the taste of alcohol but as time goes by, I felt that I loved the feeling of being drunk and I want to drink more. And then, every other day we go to a bar and drink after work, until I notice that I even when I'm alone I'm having fun drinking alcohol. It's almost 12 am and I'm still not done drinking this what they call "ALCOHOLIC".
> 
> ...


What has this got to do with smoking ?


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## CeilingStarer (Dec 29, 2009)

I smoked for 2 years at university... only moderately. Fancied myself as a bit of a rockstar, so it just went hand-in-hand with boozing and going to shows etc.

I quit purely because of future health concerns. If this wasn't an issue, I'd still smoke. Loved it. Oh gawd, imagining the smell of a freshly opened pack is making my mouth water now.


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## Carded1940 (Jan 11, 2014)

Basically, I started smoking in my high school days due to the influence of some friends who are already smoking. They told me that those guys that don’t smoke are not real men. And it began to plant in my mind that smoking is cool especially for those guys who are in the process of growing up. But I never imagine the risk that I could be if I continually do this kind of habit.


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## Charmander (Sep 5, 2012)

Out of boredom/wanting to look cool. I got 'addicted' in a sense fairly quickly but at the time I was too anxious to buy any over the counter so I eventually lost interest. I'm glad that I was never properly addicted to it.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

I don't smoke anymore but I smoked for a long time. Really, I only quit smoking because I quit working and my mother complained about the smell, about buying them and so on and I got tired of listening to it.

I started smoking because I wanted to. I liked the smell of cigarette smoke so I kept sneaking packs from my aunt or anyone who smoked.

I wouldn't regret it unless it gave me cancer and I guess I quit in time (though it might pop up someday). I enjoyed smoking so I don't regret it. It was hard to quit so I guess you could say I was addicted but I really didn't want to quit either.


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## Terranaut (Jul 11, 2013)

I started messing around with tobacco as a kid because it seemed it must be good if everyone is doing it (which they were in the late 60's). But I didn't like the taste. When I went to high school I started smoking cigs and it fast became a habit. I stopped at 30 (1986) and every once in a while still have dreams where I'm smoking and I wonder in them how and when did I let this terrible thing happen again. Waking up to find out it's a dream is good. Most adults smoked around me when I was a kid. They all stopped or it stopped them.


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## TheRob (Dec 30, 2006)

My grandmother lived with us when I was a kid. She smoked. I'm surprised I never started. I'm so accustomed to the smell of it, and so many people I know are longtime smokers.


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## Lipizzan (May 31, 2013)

started a couple months ago, pretty much due to uni stress and other stuff. I don't regret it yet, although i could already feel the effects on my breathing (which has never been good due to second hand smoke pretty much all my life, I think) very soon after starting. I'd like to quit someday, but damn the first smoke of the day is just phenomenal.


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## pete24 (Oct 13, 2010)

At school. Was just 14. A good friend was getting into nightclub lifestyle. He went to clubs on weekends and smoked and drank alcohol.

I thought that was really cool and in a way he was quite a bad influence on me. He got me into smoking. Then because I didn't look old enough to be served cigarettes in shops he would get them for me but would make me pay stupid prices (£9 for a pack of 20 that would only cost £4.80)... Some friend eh

Before I kicked the habit I went through depression and realised I have social anxiety. As people are aware and statistics have found, people suffering with depression are more likely to smoke. Plus when in public and my SA is at its worst, making and smoking a cigarette greatly helps.

I do regret getting into it and I just wish I never let myself be influenced by that school friend but at the same time it greatly helps me when i'm out in public


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## Elleire (Jul 24, 2011)

I started smoking at 15. My mother did, and I always wanted to try it, so I did. I ended up getting addicted. I only quit a couple months ago. Of course I wish I never started; thousands of dollars, and a couple black lungs later...


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## hdth (Jun 12, 2013)

started at 16, I liked the way it relieved stress that buzz you get from smoking. I smoke off and on now never really got addicted to it.


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