Thinking About Giving Up Cigarettes? Doc Velocity Just Had a Stroke...

google: tienchi notoginseng stroke

google: capsicum stroke

google: yucca smoking

also here:

www.regenerativenutrition.com...

Glad you're still with us Doc... and glad you're looking to burn your candle with a little less Velocity.


Sri

I don't say much around here, but regardless I'm glad to hear you recovered without and serious complications.

Out of curiosity if you don;t mind the inquiry, was it a public or private hospital that rendered such fast and capable treatment? (And which hospital if you don't mind telling us?)

Thank you for sharing your story... you are married to an amazing person...thank goodness she recognized what was happening and got you to the hospital ASAP!!

Unfortunately...Im a smoker...but gosh darn it I LOVE smoking!! The sad part is Im 47 and started smoking when I was 35 ( having beers with smokers eventually led me to smoke while drinkning beer...and then I was just smokin' all the time). Whats crazy is that before when I was a non smoker - I HATED smoking...it used to piss me off to be around smokers. Now Im one of those rude smokers who doesnt care who it pisses off...man what difference a decade makes.

Anyone have suggestions of what worked to quit? Now Im afraid to quit b/c when my husband quit he gained 50 pounds. I do not want to gain weight!!

reply to post by Doc Velocity


S&F!

Smoker here!, trying to quit....!!!!. ahhhh!!!!
Easier said than done, I thought I had it under controlled. yeah right.
Mind playing lots of tricks. :O
Eek!

We'll see.

reply to post by Doc Velocity


Hey Doc my wife started smoking again yesterday after many months of struggling with being a non-smoker. She had come so far done so well and it had all been her own decision.

The catalyst was deciding that I had breathed too hard, laughed too loudly as I played with my dog or that I had moved in the wrong way. In any case she detonated like a bomb and decided that she was going to become a ravening tyrant looking to liberate my heart from my chest with a rusty spoon.

My reaction was to tell her to be objective here, to see that her totally over the top behaviour is due to the lack of nicotine in the brain that is causing her anger and her rage but she just would not get it or even entertain the idea - so I took my dog out for a walk.

I come back to find that not only has she bought a pack of cigarettes but has smoked two and is now deflated emotionally, is full of apologies and feels really guilty for being so horrible for no reason whatsoever other than I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I pointed out to her as the headache came on that the reason she had decided all those months ago to quit smoking in the first place was because she had been suffering relentless and regular migraines and cluster headaches that seemed to be linked to her cigarette use.

She had not suffered one single headache once she had stopped ingesting nicotine - not once had it afflicted her.

Our teenage daughter had been in tears as she had worried about losing her mother to a stroke or heart attack and in comforting our daughter she had decided to quit smoking - and if I could help her do this.

I mentioned this all this morning as she puffed on a cigarette (outside) and I was told that life is for living and every one dies. I told her that when one see’s a truck coming, flying a flag labelled stroke it is not a normal response to shrug and just stand there with the excuse that everyone dies and that life is for living. Such excuses are for the hopelessly addicted and if that addicted person welcomes that truck with welcome arms then all is truly lost.

My wife has a headache now which may or may not grow into something worse and I have to admit to feeling somewhat culpable for walking out during her tirade with my dog. Had I stayed to try and help her objectify her rage then perhaps she would not be a smoker today? She had done so well, come so far and had even reached the point where I could smell the toxins leaving her pores.

This world is so filled with traps that brings misery and a slow death via long term addiction that it is so sad to think that the tobacco industry continues to thrive and that the young in looking to grow up faster than they should or need, take to puffing on that which withers the body and subverts the mind over time.

Round one to the cigarette today but the war continues - we just lost a battle that is all 

Hey Doc,

I am so happy to hear that you recovered fully after your stroke. I think you are extremely lucky that you even retained the ability to connect the behavior of typing with the behavior of thinking after your stroke. I really appreciate reading your descriptive process and historical account of experiencing the stroke as well as your medical care.

I've been smoking about a pack a day for the past 4 years, with a couple months of quitting mixed in. Your story is a wake up call. I remember that when I first started smoking, I had to work really hard to enjoy it. I anticipate having to work even harder to stop it. Thanks for providing further evidence that we as smokers are not immune to the long term health effects, even though the addiction to nicotine convinces us falsely that we are immortal.

Been an off and on smoker. But I do rarely smoke and when I do it is a cigar. I won't ever give that up. Glad you survived the stroke. Also what could of prevented it is exercise. I have known one baseball player who smokes and works out and that is Kaz Matsui. He is the only baseball player that can smoke a cig and do drills. Funny to watch.

I'll be 34 in Sep, but when I was 30, I had a heart attack brought on by smoking. My symptoms were very strange, I was sitting at the computer when all of the sudden I started sweating, and the amount of sweat was insane I was literally dripping all the sudden. My throat tightened up and it felt as if I could not swallow. I was in a voice chat with friends from game I play and they couldn't understand me and it scared them pretty bad.

I went to stand up because I was getting nauseous and both legs went out from under me. I was able to crawl to phone at this time since I realized this is bad. I called 911 but she couldn't make out what I was saying.

Thankfully tracing my call the paramedics finally show up and bust open my door. Big guy and a really small woman, the guy was asking me questions if I did drugs, etc I couldnt really answer him I just grunted and tried to nod no. The woman finally got this little machine hooked up and asked me how old I was I finally was able to say 30, she couldn't really believe it, she said I was having a heart attack and they put nitro glycerin under my tongue and told me to chew an aspirin. Then started IV's

When at the hospital they did a heart catheter and put 2 stints in my chest to reopen the artery. The heart attack was mild but caused mild damage to the left bottom of my heart which now with scar tissue I have grade 1 diastolic dysfunction.

Once in recovery the doctor spoke with me at length about stuff, and my cholesterol wasn't real high it was just passed normal getting to the medium level. But he explained that nicotine is a vascular constrictor and causes arteries to tighten and even a tiny amount of cholesterol in the wrong place at the wrong time plus nicotine the artery tightened and blocked and couldn't reopen on it's own.

He explained there is no safe nicotine, he told me frankly that media makes smoking out to be a huge lung problem which it is don't get me wrong, but the most dangerous part of nicotine is the vascular constriction it causes. And smoking causes way more strokes and heart attacks than it does lung cancer.

Of course that was my last night smoking and I've been smoke free for 4 years.

All these stories terrify me really ... Not just the things I do to my own body, but also the number of friends I have who smoke who I love dearly.

Some of my friends get really upset when someone tells them to stop smoking or tells them what could happen but still, I am tempted to forward this story onto them. Would it be appropriate? Probably not.

There but for the grace of God go I and all that. I don't know you that well, but pleased to know you made it through.

Thank you for sharing that. Your awareness and willingness to move in new directions is so powerful. I know someone who has had 4 strokes, the last one resulting in brain surgery. He's disabled and still smokes and drinks. You know WHY? Because he believes that his stroke was caused by an alien implant in his brain exploding. It's NOT his lifestyle. wOw! (not good)

reply to post by Doc Velocity


Hey Doc,

I work in intensive care as a nurse, and to me it sounds like you came out of this event rather lucky, all things considered. I do hope you haven't picked back up the bad habit of smoking you left at the hospital door. And, I wish you the best of health in the long run.

Take care of yourself, for your benefit, and for the happiness of your wife, Mary.

xxxx
Prax

Thank you for sharing an in-depth personal story. I'm so glad you're okay. I think I might share this with some of my family members.

After reading this I've decided I'm too young to smoke. Ill stick with the weed and leave the cigarettes alone.

Wow now that is similar to what happen to me about a week ago, only not with cigerettes. It was weird because i felt weird and out of toch with the world for a few hours. Very weird feeling. That was followed by a horrible night of the most evil sick thoughts ive ever imagined! Oh i prayed to god to make it stop,, i would think of my grandmother and then vision her dead and face fullof worms decaying underground. Children dead everywhere, dead animals.... The Evil on earth was exposed to me all at once and it was HORRIBLE! Imnot sure why it happen but i feel it is close to the end of Our days here. The devil is set lose tio roam the earth. And turning our backs to it isnt making anything nbetter. GOD BLESS YOU ALL>> Spend time with those you love. Time is not promised.

Originally posted by Doc Velocity

Originally posted by heyJude
Just one thing though, I think you used to many italicized words, it really got to me for some reason.

That's just the way I write, I write in HTML and BB code, the bold and italics commands are my means of adding inflection.

Glad I can still write. Period.

— Doc Velocity

The deal, as far as I can see with smoking is, it was never meant to be something you do daily or regularly. It was first used by indians and they wouldn't be puffing away like the way it's encouraged by all the addicted people out there.
If you're an occasional smoker and one who doesn't let it control him/her there's really not much to worry about.

reply to post by SmokeJaguar67


Your story here is actually choking me up a bit. I think it parodies so many others stories and pretty much sums it up as it is.

Should you have left? Sounds like if you hadn't, you may have had a domestic violence situation on your hands that would have led to even more problems. There is a lot to be said for recognizing when you need to walk away. You needed to, and should have. You have done all you can (it sounds like) to help the one you love with her addiction. Now it is time for HER to take control of herself...you can only do so much.

I'll send out a prayer for your family, that your wife finds the strength whithin HERSELF to do what she needs to do not only for her family but her own life. (perhaps if she consults a doctor about it, they can help her overcome the severe mood swings)

reply to post by Doc Velocity


Doc, thankfully you are alright. If your wife were not there to take charge would you have stayed on the bed, or would you have thought to call an ambulance for yourself? I wonder if I would be able to do that myself. Your letter should be a word to the wise. The very detailed sensations and information are so helpful to people who may not otherwise know what is happening to them. You might save a life, mine. A stroke is my biggest fear. Type A personality? And I have gotta quit smoking!

Take it easy.
Listen to your doctor and give that woman of yours a big hug.

Thanks for the story and good to hear you're ok and you were lucky enough to avoid anything serious happening.

I won't be quitting smoking however

WoW Doc,
Only just saw this post, so glad you seeked help so quickly, your lovely wife!

Relax and keep making a full recovery, excellent description of your most personal of life events.

Thank you. and those descriptions mentioned above show your nearly 100% already.

Kind Regards,

Elf

I have no idea how I missed this thread, I have literally just found it sitting on the bottom of the front page.

First off you are an arse!! that said, I am sitting here in bed, relaxing after a heavy week at work with tears streaming down my face! I have an overwhelming sense of compassion for you.

I am so pleased you managed to get so much help and support in such a short space of time, of course if you hadn't had the big wake up call you would still be smoking now. It takes these little things 'out of our control' to pop up,pick up and put us on a different course.

I wish you a speedy recovery and I hope that other members take heed from your words and stop the awful habit of polluting their bodies through smoking, cigarettes are the worlds biggest conspiracy and yet once the smoker is hooked,addicted and chained. It takes something like this to finally see it for themselves.

Peace

FSF