Let's mourn all the fine people who killed themselves with tobacco

[PurityOfEssence]

It can't be said enough. So very many people have died from this stuff, and we must be supportive of our friends who want to quit and not sanctimonious to others when we have.

Edward R. Murrow
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Humphrey Bogart
Jack Benny
Lucille Ball
Yul Brenner
Lon Chaney
Sigmund Freud
Steve McQueen
Robert Mitchum
George Peppard
Rod Serling
Graham Chapman
Ed Sullivan

The list goes on and on. Quit.

[Borgnine]

1. All of my friends are smokers.

I really wish they'd quit, especially when a high-profile death like Jennings reminds me of how fatal it can be.

[pitohui]

58. peter jennings was 67

not a convincing argument against the evil weed

nonsmokers have much harder deaths, i've had family members suffering from dementia for a decade-plus before they croak

makes me wonder if they should have smoked or if i should

tobacco supposedly can reduce or delay symptoms of parkinsons or alzheimers

i no longer tell anyone to quit, i feel bad i was so militant when younger


you just never know

[dissent1977]

61. You are much more likely to die from smoking than you are from...

Parkinsons or alzheimers. Now if you already have one of those diseases then it MAY be a different story, but I don't know the science behind that. I can tell you though that no credible doctor would recommend smoking as a preventive measure to either of these diseases. There is a wealth of scientific information to prove to absolute certainty that smoking kills, and anyone who suggests otherwise is just plain wrong. And 67 is a pretty young age to die, especially for someone like Jennings who was very wealthy and thus had access to the best medical care.

[pitohui]

62. that is demonstrably untrue

i have zero chance of dying from smoking, i don't smoke

lots of folk in my family have died of dementia and brain disease tho

after age 85 even w. no genetic or risk factors there is a 50 % chance you will have dementia, yeah, you, me, all of us


67 is not young, it is a reasonable time to go and there is some chance you go w. brain intact so people can remember you with affection instead of anguish

you say: And 67 is a pretty young age to die, especially for someone like Jennings who was very wealthy and thus had access to the best medical care.


and this is an argument not to smoke how?

yes, they do torment the wealthy by keeping them alive longer w.out a brain, if they'd do it to their saint reagan, they'd do it to any of us, one of my relatives was hospitalized for dementia for over 20 yrs before she finally passed, 20 yrs of not knowing where you were or why you were imprisoned there in a bed or how to use the bathroom properly

jennings had a good life, i'd rather focus on his life and his message of achievement than make it about an anti-tobacco ad

[dissent1977]

63. I was referring to smokers...

If you smoke you ARE more likely to die from that than you are from alzheimers. And even if you don't smoke if you are around second hand smoke alot you are at risk.

I am sure that Peter Jenning's doctor would be the first to tell you that he would have lived longer had he not been a smoker. He died of lung cancer, not alzheimers.

[PunkPop]

65. 67 is young.

Argue all you want about the appropriateness of the thread, but don't try to tell me 67 is a "reasonable time to go". 67 is young.

And I'm only 41.

I bet there are a few DUers a lot closer to 67 who aren't so ready "to go".

[KLF44]

2. Walt Disney

also.

[PurityOfEssence]

40. Well, I was talking about good people...

...but yes, that and alcohol got him.

[Touchdown]

44. Oh' enough!

Look, whatever personal malfunctions Disney had, such as an FBI informant, and an anti-union prick (who knows if his anti-semitism has been proven?), he brought millions of children, and their children, and their children joy with his tales, stories and characters.

The man accomplished a lot, despite his many flaws. Those shouldn't diminish the good and wonder he inspired others to create as children. He was also one of the first high profile advocates for nature preserves, solar and wind energy, and mass transit.

[jillan]

3. that is pretty harsh words to a smoker

and keep saying it, okay?? until it sinks into my thick, addicted head!!!:smoke:
Yep - I'm one of the stupid ones.

[Biased Liberal Media]

5. We bought the patch and intended on quitting this past week

but my daughter ended up extremely sick and the stress got to both of us (sick as in ER sick). In any case, we're giving it a go starting tomorrow and hoping it'll work.

[SeattleGirl]

6. Me too

But I'm working on breaking the habit -- already down to less than half of what I was smoking. I used to work in durg and alcohol treatment and I've had heroin and cocaine addicts tell me (after they cleaned up) that quitting smoking was harder than quitting the hard drugs!

[dissent1977]

64. The doctors say that too...

Tobacco is one of the most addictive drugs available on the market today. More so than crack, meth, or heroin. Although at the same time there are many millions of people who have successfully quit so don't let that fact discourage you too much. You can succeed if you really work at it, and I wish you the best of luck in doing so.

[October]

77. I wish you well...please quit

When my mom was 60, she had a stroke. She was a big-time smoker, sickening, really. The only reason she no longer smokes is because she was in a coma, on oxygen, etc., after the stroke and forgot how. (Plus, she wouldn't have been allowed to smoke.) She ended up in 3 or 4 hospitals in one year.

A year and a half has passed...and she's doing better, but will never be the same. She lost her ability to read and write. She doesn't remember everything, but a lot has come back. She's also half paralyzed and in a wheelchair and nursing home probably for life.

Don't smoke.

Her brother -- smoked non-filtered cigarettes, and he lost a kidney to cancer at age 58.

Don't smoke.

Peace.

[PowerToThePeople]

4. Add me

well, maybe booze will be my undoing. But, I'll just have to see which kills me first, alcohol or tobacco products- or just random event.

[nookiemonster]

36. Me too. Here's for "random events"! LOL

eom

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Sammy Davis Jr.

:(

Johnny Carson :(

[Bluebear]

10. Nat King Cole. Leonard Bernstein. Desi Arnaz. Tallulah Bankhead.

Dmitri Shostakovich. Sarah Vaughan. Dick York. Mary Wells. :(

[Spirochete]

57. John Wayne

Betty Grable, Chuck Connors...

[Eloriel]

59. Johnny Carson

and his death hit me HARD -- not because it was smoking-related, but just because I grew up with him and he represented so much of what my whole life has been.

I did, however, spend some time thinking about how he died -- emphysema. It must have been horrible. Fortunately, by that time I was already quit myself.

[Erika]

8. I lost 2 of my relatives to lung cancer

One at the age of 60 and the other one at 62. Neither had ever smoked. None of their family members smoked. I am not defending smoking but we need to look at other factors also in these deaths.

[JDPriestly]

38. I believe 90% of lung cancer deaths are due to smoking.

[MalibuChloe]

43. This is what I don't understand about Peter's lung cancer...

He quit for TWENTY years, had a relapse during 9/11 and got lung cancer???

So that twenty years of being smoke free was meaningless????? You would think his lungs would have been repaired to a fairly high degree.

I have been smoke free since January 1 (of this year). What if I experience a tragedy of some sort and relapse? This time without smoking will have meant nothing?

I don't get it!

:shrug:

[JDPriestly]

52. Smoking is the greatest swindle of our time.

You get the illusion of a feeling of wellbeing while you are hurting yourself, sometimes permanently. It follows that tobacco companies are the biggest swindlers of our time.

[PurityOfEssence]

39. Andy Kaufman didn't smoke either...

And, of course, Eubie Blake smoked from the age of 8 until after 100 and did just fine.

Still...

[jojo54]

9. I've tried to quit several times, but no luck.

If anybody has any ideas, I'd sure appreciate them. Don't want my grandkids growing up watching me smoke.

[Bluebear]

11. Commit lozenges did it for me

Got me over the "axe murderer" phase.

[jojo54]

15. I'd thought about trying them. Now, I definately will. Thx! n/t

[OzarkDem]

73. Nicorette gum did it for me

16 years ago. The trick was that I only used the gum when I really, really, had a bad craving. It made nicotine withdrawal go more quickly. Started with about 2 a day, then down to 1 every few days, then none (but I always kept a pack of the gum in the cabinet, just in case of emergencies, threw it away after a couple of years)

To anyone trying to quit, stop drinking alcohol or anything else that prompts a craving. I eventually went back to drinking beer or wine occasionally, after a few months. It took about a year or two to not want a cig when I took a sip of beer.

You will continue to miss cigarettes for a few years afterward, not strong, but it takes a long time to go away. Don't let anyone leave cigarettes in your house - if a guest leaves some accidentally, throw them away immediately.

Good luck to all of you who try - its a worthy effort.

[SeattleGirl]

12. I've tried a number of times too

and am working on it again with some supplements and a hypnosis CD. As I noted above, I am now down to less than half of what I used to smoke. One of the things I do is every payday, I take out money equivalent to what I would spend on cigarettes for that pay period (and believe me, that hurts!), and put it in a can. At the end of the pay period, I take the money I did not spend on cigarettes and put it in my savings account. I turn 50 in October, and plan on going to Vegas, so that money will go toward that.

Just keep trying. I've heard it takes an average of 8 tries to break the habit. I've tried different things. I know that there is a smoking cessation forum on DU. You might check in there also. Good luck to us both and to anyone else who is working on quitting!

Edited for spelling.

[jojo54]

16. Thx for the thought on the smoking cessation forum SeattleGirl.

I'm going to check in there. At least I'll have others to bitch to when I need it.

[SeattleGirl]

20. Good luck!

B-)

[faithfulcitizen]

14. the patch and lots & lots of hard candy...

it gets a little bit easier everyday. I'm now at 9 months and counting...and I NEVER, EVER thought I could quit. Once I did, i realized how pissed I still was that those little things had such control over my entire life.

[jojo54]

19. I tried the patch. Didn't like it. One reason, it really didn't take my

cravings away. And it made me suffer from insomnia - gotta sleep!

I'm happy to hear that it worked for you though faithful. Keep it up and try not to get tempted again.

[faithfulcitizen]

23. thanks jojo...

they made me a bit jiterry too, so I used a really low dose and used it for a week. Then, i cut them in half, to ween off. They say not to cut them, but it worked for me. And I took them off about an hour or so before i went to sleep. Well, anyway...good luck to you! Keep the faith, you can do it! ;)

[etherealtruth]

45. Check this thread out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4283946

I had been considerring starting back up ... this sure is a reality check

[Ms. Clio]

54. I used the nicotine inhaler and took Welbutrin for about 5 months

Quit a twenty-five-year, 2-pack-a-day-habit, 6 and half years ago.

[laureloak]

76. Here's how I quit - and it was almost effortless.

All the work is in the planning.

1)First, I had to accept that "will power" doesn't matter but determination does. To build up my determination, I read everything I could get my hands on about the consequences of smoking and techniques to quit. I got a new legal pad and and made notes. I made lists of why I wanted to quit, what I liked about smoking, how much money I spent on smoking, etc. For a week or so I wrote down everything I could find or think of about my smoking habit and ideas for breaking it.

2)Next, I planned out my first day as a non-smoker in great detail. I gave much thought to what would encourage me and what would weaken my resolve. I'd tried to quit many times and I know what my thoughts would be so I wrote down the self-talk to use during weak times. I decided to spend the first day changing around the furniture in both my office and home. That would keep me moving, busy and it would help me to have a fresh start.

3)I purchased 24-hour nicotine patches-the strongest there is. I recommend the 24-hour patch because you take the old one off and slap the new one on without a window for possible cheating. I called the manufacturer and asked for stop smoking recommendations and got some good advice.

4)I set the date to quit. My plan was to smoke all the cigarettes I had the night before so I would be sick of the smoke. I made sure all cigarettes & butts were out of the house and car.

5) I got up on the chosen day, slapped on a patch, and went about rearranging furniture and cleaning. I was amazed that it worked so easily. Each day that I went without a cigarette compounded my resolve to quit. I was on the strong dosage for 1 week, the next strength for 2 weeks, and the lowest dosage for 1 week before I got off the patches entirely. Each time I went to a weaker patch I would get cravings but I never let myself toy with the idea of smoking another cigarette.

6) I began to think of myself as a non-smoker.

[AX10]

13. Tobacco manufacturers are TERRORISTS.

[SeattleGirl]

18. Yep

Given all the information on the truth about tobacco/nicotine they kept hidden for so many years (and there's probably still more that is hidden). When I started smoking, it was still "cool" and there were cigarette commercials on TV all the time. I was even told I could smoke up to 10 cigarettes a day while I was pregnant with my daughter (she's 25 now). I don't think any self respecting doctor would tell a pregnant woman that now. But back then, a lot of the info on how bad it was to smoke was just not common knowledge.

[AuntPatsy]

17. Death is inevitable you know, you can't beat it.

[Maru Kitteh]

30. But it does not have to be inevitably ugly or early

Have you watched anyone die from cigarettes? It is beyond hell.

[RandomKoolzip]

21. I quit smoking two packs of Marlboro 100's EVERY DAY for five years...

By doing it in steps. For a week, you cut down your daily intake by two cigarettes...the second week, by five. The third week, by seven, etc. etc.

This is how I did it. Cold turkey often brings recidivism.

[Journeyman]

22. I smoked 3 to 5 packs a day when I quit almost 20 years ago. . .

best thing I ever did for myself.

[skids]

31. Ghod. Well, I guess so.

3-5 packs a day? If I smoke 3 in a week that's heavy for me.

You must have felt sooooo much better after quitting from that high a usage.

[Journeyman]

82. It didn't have the immediate effect. . .

on my health that I received when I quit drinking, but each passing year I appreciate the overall health effect more and more. I see friends die of emphysema or succumb to lung cancer and I can only hope I quit early enough.

See my post two below to learn a bit more of my story.

[seabeyond]

33. i dont knwo how you could smoke three to five.

i have heard people say that, but wow, pack and a half is a lot for me. dont like, dont want it. but wow to 3-5. how old were you when you quit.

[Journeyman]

80. I was 31 years old when I quit smoking. . .

I smoked for 15 years.

I went through the Schick program -- aversion therapy using mild electrical shock. Must have had 10,000 jolts over 5 days.

Schick gave me a counter to keep track of my smokes the two weeks before I quit. That’s where I got the 3 to 5 pack quantity. It may have been partly influenced by nervousness, the uncertainty of a life without smokes. But in those days I set type in a room by myself, then wrote well into the night. So I smoked continuously, without restraint.

I also drank heavily in those days, and seemed to smoke even more the more inebriated I became. I quit while I was still drinking, which is a dangerous thing to do, ’cause you can get drunk and forget you quit.

Of all the vices I’ve taken up and put down over the years, smoking retains the greatest control over me. To this day -- almost 20 years later -- if I catch a whiff of smoke it either repulses or entices me. No matter which -- push or pull -- I have to leave right away for fear the attraction proves too strong or the nausea floors me.

Final note: A good friend of mine set me up with Schick. It had always been mañana when he tried to get me to quit, so one day he walked into my office and told me he’d signed me up for Schick and I had to be at such-and-such address in two days to start the program. It was the nicest thing anyone ever did for me with their clothes on.

[seabeyond]

83. thanks for your story journeyman

interesting. i have increased my smoking
a. on computer so much
b. want to quit. whenever i want to quit, i smoke more. odd.

but never could get that much. my worse would be closing on two packs a day. generally stick just over one.

that would be hard taking what your friend did. glad you took advantage and now can appreciate so. funny the clothes thing. like your humor

appreciate

[tjdee]

24. Thank you.....

Shah Rukh Khan is also a very heavy smoker.
(I know y'all don't know who he is, mostly---but I :loveya: him so and if he dies of lung cancer that would just not be cool with me.)

Please, please stop!

[AlleyCat123]

25. My father and mother

Dad at 71, from throat cancer, and Mom at 76, from breast cancer. Both were heavy smokers.

[Bluebear]

26. So very sorry for you. Welcome to DU though!

Wish it was better circumstances but we are glad your'e here!

[AlleyCat123]

84. Thank you for the welcome.

:)

[Maru Kitteh]

27. my dad too

I effin' hate the tobacco bastaards. I know how hard it is to quit.


BUT QUIT!

Do it for your family.

[helderheid]

28. I quit when I found out I was pregnant with my son. My husband was

supposed to with me. My son is 5 this month and we have a daughter who is almost 3. My husband is outside having a smoke as I type this. I really wish he'd quit. His father had lung cancer (survived) - I just don't know how to get through to him.

[Maru Kitteh]

34. Sit down and write a future letter to him

Write a letter to him like you were sitting down to write in 13 years, when your son will be graduating from high school, only your husband can't be there, because he's dead. Talk about how hard it's been and how many times the boy really needed his father. Talk about the years you spent as a single mom and how tired you were trying to take care of everything by yourself. Tell him about the difficulties you've had since you got remarried, how his side of the family resented you moving on and what a challenge it's been for the kids to adjust to a new dad. Tell him you love your new husband, but you miss him and just wish he could have quit, how you would do anything to go back and make him understand how much it was going to hurt his family when he was gone.

[BikeWriter]

81. "Children whose parents smoke are more likely to smoke"

http://kidshealth.org/parent/managing_asthma/triggers/smoking_asthma.html

[City Lights]

29. My grandpa and my mom's cousin. eom

[Olney Blue]

32. My diabetic brother smokes...

my grandpa smoked while he was dying from emphysema...
my best friend smokes...

The epidemiologic link between smoking and disease is one of the strongest associations in medicine, but this knowledge alone cannot overcome the addiction. The desire to quit is the single most important step.

I wish you "quitters" the best!

[Princess Turandot]

35. I believe that McQueen died from mesothelioma..

a lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. (He worked briefly in the asbestos industry before acting, but it doesn't take much exposure to asbestos for a problem years later.) Smoking is believed by some researchers to increase the risk of mesothelioma for asbestos workers.

(My father, his 2 brothers and his father were all asbestos workers and all died from various cancers, one uncle at age 40. My father and the other brother died when they were 60. My dad did war related work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WW2.)

[bumblebee1]

37. Here's some more

my mother- lung cancer at age 35- I was three yrs old at the time of her death.

my maternal grandfather- emphysema

my father- heart attack

I lost both my grandfather and father in 1979.

[helderheid]

41. I am so sorry

That is a lot of loss.

[Lorien]

42. My Grandfather and Grandmother; Willis (Bill) and Eleanor

2002 and 2003. :cry:

[leetrisck]

46. And those who have died from alcohol

but not a damned soul wants to get rid of it.;

[marions ghost]

72. it is possible to use alcohol in moderation

it's much harder to only have a cigarette every once in awhile. A glass of wine they say is good for you. There is no amount of smoking that is good for you. Most if not all smokers are addicted.

No substance abuse can be defended but alcohol and smoking are not truly comparable.

[HughBeaumont]

47. Grandmother - age 49.

49 is no age to die. She didn't even get to live her life. Sad to say that a few younger members of my family learned NOTHING from her death.

And if that won't convince anyone NOT to contribute to this Repuke-run industry - this should.

It's no small wonder why I've never even TRIED smokeable products of any kind.

What, exactly, is the initial APPEAL anyway? Let's exclude the "coolness" factor of it all - what the hell makes a person want to start a habit that's just really bad smelling overall, unnecessarily costly, stains everything, pollutes like a sonofabitch and causes an assload of havoc to your body over a long period of time?

[msrbly]

48. My father survived lung cancer but most do not

It is a horribly ugly disease. When someone gets sick you want to blame something or someone. You can't really blame cigarettes because they, in and of themselves don't kill so that leaves you with the person who got sick. Now what if that person who gets lung cancer is your father and he has cancer because he smoked. When my father was diagnosed he had been smoke-free for about four yeas and he had a wife, three kids under the age of 24 in college and one still in high school. The guilt alone could have killed him if the chemo and radiation hadn't left him so incapacitated for 9 months. We know cigarettes cause cancer but never, never, never remind a person with lung cancer they are to blame for their illness. They already know.

[BiggJawn]

49. let's celebrate one who WONT die from Tobacco!

ME!
2 years and 5 months tobacco-free.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

50. My grandmother just quit at 78

She's been smoking since she was 15 years old. Smoking has been one of her ways to deal with the "nerves", which runs in her family -- IOW, anxiety and depression. No one's really sure why she quit: Maybe she realized she won't get to see her great-granddaughter grow up, or the toll it's had on her health (several precancerous lesions in her mouth, bronchitis, etc.) or on her loved ones (her dog has horrible allergies), or her social interactions (I've always hated to visit because the smell of the cigarettes inflames my sinuses in about 5 minutes). Maybe the decision was partly financial -- she was a housewife who lives on Social Security and food stamps.

In any case, I have never been so proud of her.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

51. Warren Zevon

And my dad too, 30 years ago, 8/10/05.

[Lannes]

53. My Grandparents on my mother's side.

[ScreamingMeemie]

55. My aunt....who never told us she had lung cancer..not even her children.

We had no idea how she had died a week before Christmas last year...at only 59 years of age. Auntie Joyce had to have suffered so. It was in her lungs, liver and spine.

RIP Auntie Joyce...BUT...it's not so easy to ...Quit.

[PassingFair]

79. Its not too difficult if you don't mind ending up

FAT and SASSY, like me and Mr PassingFair!

Three years of roly=poly bliss. Actually, Mr. PassingFair still looks pretty svelte...

[tenshi816]

56. My mother, 3 days after her 65th birthday.

By the time she went into a coma about 5 days before her death, her cancer had spread from the lungs to her brain. A few days before finally losing consciousness, she no longer knew who I was (she thought I was a hospice nurse visiting the house and told me my scrambled eggs sucked), but she was still smoking, or trying to. Even at the very end of her life, my mother's cigarettes were still the uppermost thing in her mind.

Guess I'm bitter.

[Warren DeMontague]

60. My Dad. n/t

[ignatius 2]

66. My mom was raised on a tobacco farm in Kentucky and started

smoking when she was 15. She quit periodically throughout the years, but would always start again. She died of lung cancer at the age of 63.

She was a wonderful,sweet woman who raised 5 of us alone after dad flew the coop when I was 15.

I miss her every,single day, She might not have been famous,but she was a FINE human being and a devout democrat!!

I love you mom!

[Nikia]

67. My grandfather at age 71

A few months after his 50th wedding anniversary.
He awoke one morning to being barely able to move. My uncle helped my grandmother take him to the hospital. Tests showed that he recently had three heart attacks. He also had an aortic aneurysm. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks on blood thinners when the aneurysm started to rupture. They tried to do emergency surgery, but he died on the table.
He started smoking as a kid and nevery stopped. He was always the liberatarian especially in regards to himself. He stated that he smoked because he wanted to smoke. My grandmother tried to get him to stop. She cited friends who died of cancer. He said that he did not have cancer genes (no one in his family had gotten cancer). Her best friend's husband died of emphesema. He didn't think that he would die of that either. He did die prematurely though. Perhaps he accepted his death, but it was hard for us to accept.
We (his wife, his children, and granchildren) all miss him. WE wish that he could have been with us longer.

[Marquew]

68. I quit for 13 years....

Everyone around me smoked and in 2000 when my world started to crumble I broke down and had a cig. Maybe the biggest mistake of my life. I consider quitting now and wonder if its worth it. I get anxious thinking of our current govt situation and I dont know if quitting will do any good if they get their wish of armaggeddon. They are the worst form of hypocristian and ruin it for so many others.


mq

[ScreamingMeemie]

70. Welcome to DU, Marquew...and, as an ex smoker who has spent time

on a ventilator, it's worth it. Join me. It's tough, but well worth it in the end. :hug:

[GreenInNC]

69. my father

we are coming up on the third anniversery of my fathers death from lung cancer. He was 63 when he died. My son will never meet his grandfather because of my father's smoking.

[OzarkDem]

71. George Harrison n/t

[steve2470]

74. my maternal grandfather died of lung cancer when I was only 7 nt

[marions ghost]

75. Peter Jennings and my Mom would say

...this discussion is relevant.
My mother died with terrible emphysema, a relentlessly progressive disease. You know you've got it bad when you can't walk a block anymore, or shoot baskets with the kids. Mom was far too young and left many important things undone. When she was dying she would often say she was so sorry to have smoked, apologizing. I would always say, I know Mom, but you were addicted to a drug that is harder to beat than heroin. She was in the news business where everybody smoked. Meeting deadlines all the time can take a toll.

I'm encouraged by all these stories of people who quit and suggestions of how to quit by those who've done it. To those who just can't seem to do it, please don't beat up on yourself. It's a vicious addiction that you may need help to kick. But please keep trying.

[AzDar]

78. My Dad, at only 56 years of age (in 1994) . My heart is still broken...

Miss you, daddy..Rest in Peace, Mr. Jennings.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

85. my grandfather at 93 ...a 3 packer a day for 85 years