Kia Ora...[My apologies to Admin for the last inappropriate topic I posted]

Well, we are told again and again that smoking is bad for us, and for those on HRT it's meant to greatly reduce its effects ...

Plus if you're planning on having surgery, most surgeon stress how important it is not to smoke or at lease give it up for a while both before and after surgery...

But it would seem some transitioners still smoke and have no intention of giving up...

I started to smoke when I was around 12[not with my parents permission], gave up a year later, started again when I was 19...I finally gave up when I took up jogging in my late twenties..But I did for a brief spell take it up again [in my early forties] when I had given up on life, however this was for around 6 months, then I stopped again, and have no intention of ever starting again...

How about you, are you a smoker or have you given up or have never smoked?

Metta Zenda

I still struggle with that monkey.  I am currently trying real hard to stop.  But it has nothing really to do with HRT.  I simple can't breath properly.  The rest is just a plus.

If you smoke, STOP NOW.  By any means.  If you don't, never start.  Smoking is not cool.  Smoking is stupid.  And deadly.

Smoking Kills, period.

I'm at the stage where I too had no alternative but to stop.

I have to say, I did quite enjoy it and the cravings don't seem to ever go away. At one point, I might even have been a defender.

The best thing I can say about smoking is, Easy to start, really difficult to stop.

Quote from: Janet Lynn on May 13, 2011, 09:14:40 PM
I still struggle with that monkey.  I am currently trying real hard to stop.  But it has nothing really to do with HRT.  I simple can't breath properly.  The rest is just a plus.

If you smoke, STOP NOW.  By any means.  If you don't, never start.  Smoking is not cool.  Smoking is stupid.  And deadly.

Smoking Kills, period.

For once, I have to agree with a moderator.

Goodness ashley you slow down girl :p

actually most the time mods are being verry helpful in a difficult job and they are only human like us all

yes smoking and hrt not such a clever mixture i would think

i never started to smoke, but the doctor who prescribed me my hrt says smoking and being on estrogen are a risk for heart disease. also notice that smoking ages you. as a mtf, i would rather spend my money on makeup.

I use to be a pack a day smoker before starting HRT but started cutting down on it a few years ago... Hopefully I'll quit completely in the near future... I have tried to quit several times... A pack of 20 cig.s will last me about 3-4 days now... That's ruffly 5-6 cig.s a day 

Growing up around 4 packs of secondhand smoke a day led to underdeveloped lungs that, thankfully, precluded my desire to ever light up.  Unfortunately, it also precluded my ability to do a great many things I might otherwise enjoy but don't have the lung health to do.

Kia Ora,

  The hardest thing for most people when trying to give up smoking, is what to do with their hands...In a social environment, like a bar or at a party or the likes, smokers are so use to having a smoke in one hand and a glass in the other, both hands being occupied...It's a "habit" that can be very hard to break...

Even if one doesn't drink alcohol or socialise as such, just having coffee or tea first thing in the morning and or during the day the same thing happens, "what to do with the hands"...The trick is either to break the hand habit cold turkey by sharing the cup/glass holding with both your hands [become an ambidextrous vessel holder] , or to substitute the cigarette for something else like a pen or another small object that can occupy the smoke hand whilst drinking and or in conversation...

Just think how much money one could save if they gave up smoking...At the moment all one is doing is burning it... Your money's just going up in smoke! Work it out...

If you spend $20 or $40 a week or more on smokes, how much could you save if you quit? Or even just cut back ?

Every little bit helps towards ones transition...

Metta Zenda

Quote from: Janet Lynn on May 13, 2011, 09:14:40 PM
I still struggle with that monkey.  I am currently trying real hard to stop.

I'm weirdly glad I'm not the only one in the last category.  I'm also VERY glad the first category is the overwhelming favorite.  It's great to see how it's become very un-cool among the young crowd.  None of my 3 kids ever started, and they're 19, 24 and 27, so it's very unlikely that they will start.  I have my good days and my bad days.  Currently going through about 3 packs (of 25) a week.  GOT to quit!!

You say it's unpopular with the younger generation I'm more or less the only consistent non-smoker amoungt my friends.
I also grew up begin surrounded by second hand smoke and I'm about as polarized against it at you can get. But I'm the only one.

I'm gonna invent a virus that kills the tobacco plant.

I took up smoking when I was in my teens, to be guyish . I gave up about 25 yrs ago. Cold turkey from a pack a day. Took a week. No problems or cravings and totally hate the smell. But I am very sympathetic it is a terrible habit to get rid of. In my job I see bronchial washouts, you can tell the smokers, if you could see the crap in your lungs you would stop now.  They are disgusting.

Cindy

I grew up amongst the family who basically smoked and from around 10 years old I got bronchitis and I think at that time I also got asthma.  I saw what smoking did to my grandfather during my teenage years and mid twenties and eventually he died from emphysema.  In addition I once saw images of what a lung looked like with tar in them.

So as a result, these are some of the reasons  why I have never had an inclination to smoke ever and I'm glad.  Funny enough nearly all my family members gave up smoking many years ago.

Kind regards
Sarah B