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

Best wishes Doc, so glad you are doing well,

Your account of the episode was unlike any I have ever heard, amazing.

[edit on 093131p://bFriday2010 by Stormdancer777]

reply to post by Doc Velocity


Oh my. After JKrog08.... Jeez. The first gen ats users are going. please stay with us longer. You must. The youth need you if nothing else.

reply to post by Doc Velocity
Doc, I am glad you're okay. You're lucky to have a wife that was prepared, and recognized the symptoms. Take care of yourself.
To those of you who are still smoking, please know that a number of preventable illnesses are directly related to smoking. Stroke, Cardiac Disease, COPD, and lung cancer are just a few.
Thanks for sharing, Doc.

Please please please research Cayenne/hot pepper supplements and/or start eating hot peppers at least a couple times a day. The hotter the better. They will save you. Eat them now.

google.com...

Welcome to the club Doc. Sorry it had to happen to you. My experience (it's happened twice) was of first getting dizzy and disoriented then the nausea hit. Both times I had to empty my stomach. I never did go to the hospital but they said my pupils turned to pinpoints. I vaguely remember the experience. Oh, and yeah, I smoke too. Have since 1977. Bad Boys!
Best of luck to you Doc, I hope you can quit without too much stress. I'm looking to do the same. Do I really want to live forever? No, but I sure as hell don't feel like dying just yet!
Be well my friend

That was a great account, Doc. I'm glad you're still here to post.

Re giving up smoking, everyone's different. I hope it's easy for you, but if it's not, and you are still getting cravings in a few months time, and find your legs have carried you to the ciggie counter, don't be too surprised. It can happen.

And if you falter, pat yourself on the back for the time you've managed to stay smoke-free, and start again. Most people who give up have tried a few times before they succeed.


I had a stroke at 19, alone, pregnant, malnourished, and suffering from toxemia. But I know nothing of the actual stroke. I was living alone in a little old house on a steep hill, with a long set of stairs to the ground. I have vague memories of crawling around to get oats and water, which was all I had. Only one side worked, and I was not even wondering what I was doing like that at first.

Eventually I recovered enough to start thinking, and decided my baby would die if I didn't get better, so I pulled myself up and gradually taught myself to walk again. There were lots of dandelion leaves and wild fennel in the untended garden, and once I could climb down the stairs I started picking those to eat.

When I could walk a bit further I staggered into town to see a doctor, who didn't manage to work out what had happened, but prescribed a visit to him for a cup of tea every morning. (He knew I had no money to pay for visits.)

There were beautiful beaches nearby, (this was Manly, Sydney,) and I couldn't go back to work, so rather than stay home alone I spent my days at the beach. I'd always been shy of revealing myself on the beach, being teased for being a size 14, but now I'd gone to pieces physically and had a belly like a monster beach ball, I bought the only maternity bathers I could afford, with horizontal orange and purple stripes, and sunbathed.

To my perplexed delight, a local bunch of surfies sort of adopted me as a mascot and taught me to surf. The day my baby was due, (born 2 weeks later, 11lb 2 oz,) I did a hang'n 5.

Perhaps a few brain cells never repaired, but I don't miss them that much. The experience was worth it. I attribute the recovery to exercise, the kindness of strangers, fresh edible weeds, and having a lot of fun.

Fun is important. Never forget to find a way to enjoy life.

Wow, pretty intense experience...glad you got past it.

I think what is disturbing is that many of the initial symptoms sound very similar to a anxiety attack...and people whom suffer from panic attacks may find it difficult to figure out when its something more...well, until they start slurring their words anyhow. (or are panic attacks mini-strokes..hmm).

reply to post by Doc Velocity
Sorry to hear that you quit smoking(the way that you did)!

I have you in my wishes for a speedy recovery, it is good to see that you are as well as you are.

Now, I am going to try to quit(again), before I have to quit the way that you did.

I am going to give you a get-well flag now!

Best Wishes to you Doc, Really, after my last hospital visit, I quit the old Marlboro Reds in a box, been smoking since 1967.

Yup, The toughest habit I every had to give up. It's been 2 months and 2 weeks and 4 days now. I still use the patch, went from two patches aday to one patch now three weeks ago.

God Bless Your Wife For Being There For You, Doc. and God Bless You.

Good luck Doc;

Sometimes it is amazing how close things in
peoples lives resemble those of other people.

I tried to give up smoking for years, but was
not strong enough. Like yourself and countless
others I quit many times but never for long.

Last year, August 2nd, I had my heart attack.
Like you said, that "Golden Hour" is all important.
I had medical training but the symptoms were
not what I thought they would feel like.
Needless to say I waited too long and did
damage to my heart. I am only 42 years old.

We need to teach people without preaching
to them how to avoid these problems.


Edit for S & F. You received my very first
Flag!! (I think)

The good from all of this is I never even think
of cigarettes anymore.

[edit on 28-5-2010 by capgrup]

I am just continually surprised at the ocean waves of posters coming in automatically accepting the "it's caused by smoking" explanation which was never proven at all.

It was just an assumption. A guy almost died, and everyone assumed what the cause could be, and left it at that. Stop smoking.

Where are the tests that proved this?

So good science = just assuming things based on stuff you heard on TV or read in a magazine.

This is not a "agree to disagree situation".

This is a "you believe things without proof", and "I require proof before I believe it" situation.

There are a thousand potential causes of something like this. Without extensive testing there is no way to determine exactly what was the source.

To blame smoking without having done extensive testing; is not scientific at all.

Wow...I don't know you but I'm all upset for you and hope you are okay. I quick smoking a little under a year ago cold turkey because my father died of cancer. YOU CAN DO IT!

Hey Doc,

Glad to see that you made it out in good shape, and with a bit more wisdom.

Your story, combined with my grandmother's hospital experience this past week helped to give me a little more faith towards our hospitals.

Here's to quitting smoking, not an easy task (tried cold turkey, had to ween myself off) but it is probably one of the smarter ones a person can do.

Originally posted by muzzleflash

To blame smoking without having done extensive testing; is not scientific at all.

I can't argue with that... but that being said, smoking certainly wouldn't have helped Docs stroke. Let's just all be thankful that Doc survived and leave the debates and negativity at the door for this particular thread!

IRM

I had to skim...over that...the idea of dying...cancer..stroke..hemerage...scares me so much, it paralizes me. I got the gist. Quit smoking 3 weeks ago. I'm 25. Death is my biggest fear yet I'm a recovering addict who spent 5 years of his life on enough pills and alcohol to kill a horse. Past 7 months just working out..jogging..eating right..and wouldn't you know it in about 21 days it turned into an easy fun lifestyle ... never felt or looked better...I used swedish snus to help me stop...I bought some of that "candy" american snus...then bought a few cans of the real swedish stuff (doesn't cause any sort o healt problems..really nifty)...after a week..just said...no more nicotine. Cravings are rough...yet okay... this is why paranormal stuff intrests me... plants.. the poppy...tobacco...coca... its amazing they can do that to the brain...just... ithats sort of their survival.. the poppy / tobacco get stronger and stronger..ensuring they will live and pass on their makeup...because humans will cultivate them...sort of their MO , I hope you feel better. Just walk away from them...eating a lot of veggies is easy..cut out fast food... fish is delicious and easy to cook... good luck buddy.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Got me worried for the future now
On my mum's side is stroke and on my dad's cancer and diabetes..

Hopefully they will be non existent by the 2040's :/

Greatly written story glad it didn't do any lasting damage

Originally posted by muzzleflash
I am just continually surprised at the ocean waves of posters coming in automatically accepting the "it's caused by smoking" explanation which was never proven at all.

It was just an assumption. A guy almost died, and everyone assumed what the cause could be, and left it at that. Stop smoking.

Totally agree/respect your stance and yet I knew a man who used to smoke cigars like they were cigarettes and he used to inhale them too.

I cannot remember the brand but after many years (decades) of this habit he suffered a stroke and a heart attack and he had tubes inserted into his lungs and they removed so much black/brown tar that it filled a large glass bottle.

Of course I was not there when this happened to him. I was there listening to his story as we sat on a ward, watching the rain coming down in sheets outside.

His arteries and veins were all furred up and I doubt he is alive today but at the time he was kicking himself for smoking and he was in no doubt that his very unhealthy way of smoking cigars had been the cause of his “double whammy”.

As a foot note he was the head at the time of his attack of the one of the largest charities in Scotland (names withheld).

*EDIT* Fixed spelling */EDIT*





[edit on 28-5-2010 by SmokeJaguar67]

I'm glad you're better now, best wishes to you in the future. :>

Hi Doc, Im glad to see your bobbing head again. I was wondering where that bobbing head was. I missed you.

I'm still new on here and I still forget the names but not the avatar pic's.

I'm so glad you're doing better!

Be aware you may have mood swings for a couple of months as a side effect of quitting smoking. For me, it was often but gradually decreased.

Without warning I would become irritated, yelling for a moment then I would cry because yelling like that was not in my character.

They would come without warning as I said.

When I quit, I went cold turkey. I was determined! The strangest thing was that I would dream of someone lightening up a cigarette in my presence.

You may not believe this but I actually controlled the dreams. I would not even allow second hand smoke around me in my dreams.

A few years later many things in my world begin to fall apart, to say the least. I found myself craving the comfort of a cigarette. Even dreaming of them and this time in my dreams....I could smell the smoke. I would wake up feeling very dirty.
Eventually I gave in and began smoking again after three years of quitting.

I did it before and I know I can do it again so maybe it's time to think hard on this quitting thing. LOL.

Stars and flag to you Doc and your wife

I don't think you'll pick them up again.
Your going to be just fine.

Just beware not to drop one bad habit for another.


Liberty

[edit on 28-5-2010 by sweetliberty]

Doc,
Wow!

What an experience!

Thank god you were able to get medical assistance as quickly as you did. And thank god that you and your wife were as 'prepared' as you were to deal with such a medical emergency. Time is crucial in such cases. All I can say is I very happy that things have worked out as they did -- it could have been so much worse.

I thank you Doc, your post has been a real eye-opener. I've been smoking -- on and off -- for the past few decades and, well, it's a foul, dirty habit that I've been struggling with for years. After reading about your experience, I have decided to stop smoking ....... NOW. TODAY. RIGHT NOW. COLD TURKEY.

Keep well Doc and please know that you have really inspired me to quit smoking cigarettes once and for all. Thank you Doc.