Poll... curious about how many CPAP users smoke.

[SleepyRose]

Quit smoking 4 years ago and would still give my right arm for a cigarette.I dont know why it grabs you like that and wont let go but for Gods sake, if you dont smoke dont start.

[dieselgal]

IzzyB, I wanted to respond to your post with a couple of observations I have had around my office. I can understand what you say about scents bothering you because I have a very sensitive nose, eyes and lungs. Unfortunately the smoking sometimes starts the vicious circle at work.
We have a couple of guys that work in my department that smoke and even though they cannot smoke in the building, they smoke outside the door then come in with it clinging to hair. clothes etc. Sometimes that smell is horrible and very overpowering. Then what happens is someone else comes into the room and says WOW this place stinks of cigarette and they whip out a trusty can of some deoderizer and blast away. Then I can't breathe for TWO reasons. Do you think your co worker might be overdoing the scents to cover your cigarette odor? Maybe the two of you can work something out if you talk it out calmly.
I also have a boss that smokes and since he doesn't want to smell like a cigarrette he over doses on the men's cologne and that sometimes makes me gag!
Like I stated before I use to smoke and never gave a thought to my poor husband non smoking husband. He use to tell me that kissing me was like "licking an ashtray" and I still didn't quit until I got to the point of not being able to breath at night. Now that I don't smoke I realize how I use to smell to others but I also realize how perfumes can be over powering so I don't over do those either.
It also didn't keep me thin. I still managed to be a chunk when I was smoking.
Anyway, ain't life grand? We don't need others to kill us because we are so intent on killing ourselves.

[KSMike]

Four years ago (I was 42), my Mom - who had just endured double knee replacement surgery (the old way, not the non-invasive thing) and gotten through the bulk of the physical therapy work - was told she had stage IV lung cancer. We had lost Dad to a heart attack the year before (his funeral was the week before her knee surgery), so I became her primary caregiver and moral support, in addition to taking care of my own job and family with 3 kids.

They gave her 12-18 months; we got 4 1/2. Watching someone you love a great deal spend 4 1/2 months dying is not something I would wish on anyone.

Yes, she was a lifelong smoker. No, I've never smoked and I still don't preach to smokers. In fact, it's been said that smokers are the last fun group on Earth, and I tend to agree. I simply say this: if there's anyone on this planet who loves you, please consider quitting.

[nanuke]

I was up to 2 packs of cigarettes and a few pipes a day before I quit 32 years ago. I will indulge in a cigar perhaps once a year, if that much. When asked by a doctor if I smoke I relate the aforementioned information. They usually reply "non-smoker."

[kopoloff]

I know that this isn't a scientifically validated study, but looks to me like smoking and apnea are not really connected. 100% of us are CPAP users, and 58% are non-smokers.

Can we blame something else - global warming, widespread use of pesticides, diesel fumes, my parents, the President?

K

[Fredman]

Kopoloff, I say blame the water...it's the water. Sea Water, Sewer Water, Distilled, bottled, Ionized...bah it's all bad for you! Use water and you will get Sleep Apnea!

Kopoloff, on the cruise thread resurrected (not by me) someone was talking about Norovirus and washing hands. On my cruise ship and on my bottle of hand sanitizer it stated that it was not necessarily effective in killing Norovirus. Thoughts? Do I dare ask..whoops its out there. I am sure there is lots of opinions on this one..maybe we should let this die with the CPAP Users and Smokers question!

Ah its all good fun!

[TenmaNeko]

I tried cigarettes and really didn't like them. I smoked cigars once in while in high school and a meerschaum pipe in college. Now, I only occasionally smoke a hookah. And a clove cigarette perhaps 3 times a year.

I enjoy the flavor

[SleepyT]

watching my grandfather die a slow and suffocating death from lung cancer kinda cured me from ever wanting to smoke cigarettes. i was only 12, but i still remember the look in his eyes. he looked completely trapped.

my only addictions are chapstick and coffee.

[jnk]

. . . my only addictions are chapstick and coffee. . . .

"Psst! Hey! You! SleepyT! [looks around shifty-eyed] Wanna buy some of this special coffee-flavored, caffeine-infused chapstick? [pulls one from hooded-sweat-shirt pocket] I can give you the first tube for free. Come on. Everybody's wearing it."

My dad was once a smoker and had a rough time quitting. I've never been tempted to try it, myself. Never put one to my lips. But many of my relatives are smokers, and, oddly, smoke doesn't seem to bother my allergies.

[SleepyT]

jnk wrote:

"Psst! Hey! You! SleepyT! [looks around shifty-eyed] Wanna buy some of this special coffee-flavored, caffeine-infused chapstick? [pulls one from hooded-sweat-shirt pocket] I can give you the first tube for free. Come on. Everybody's wearing it."

Dude! If you could get me some of that...whoa! Wouldn't that be great! Almost as good as coffee mocha ice cream! Funny man!

[timbalionguy]

My parents both smoked-- in the house, in the car, everywhere. Absolutely drove me nuts. To me, the smell of a half-eaten deer rotting in the hot sun is pleasant compared to cigarette smoke. And cigar smoke is worse. (I do like the smell of good pipe tobacco, but would never smoke that, either.)

My dad quit smoking when he had to have his carotid aretries cleaned out. My mon quit when they had to remove a tumor on her thyroid gland. And that was a day to rejoice. My sister smoked very briefly. And my brother still smokes (He's 43, I'm 48).

On the father's side, all the males we have records of died of strokes until my grandfather, who was the first one to have the carotid artery surgery. He and my dad both died of multiple cancers. I am the first male in that bloodline to have never smoked. It will be interesting to see if I will ever need carotid artery surgery. I think though that I would rather be 'taken out' by a stroke than slowly die in agony with things growing out of my face.

My dad had been smoke-free for 19 years when the lung cancer hit. They got it under control to the point where they said it was basically cured. But a few months later, it suddenly returned with a vengeance. He was dead within two horrible months.

[Muse-Inc]

Smoked for about 10 yrs. Quit in '75 when a family member developed adult-onset asthma.

[BonnieG]

Just ran across this topic & thought I'd chime in. I do NOT smoke, although I tried in junior high school. I just never liked the smell. I have severe allergies & asthma, so I cannot tolerate any smoke whatsoever. I don't look down on smokers, I just can't be around smoke because it sets off asthma attacks. My mother smoked & she died with cancer 12 years ago. She got mouth cancer & had to have part of her jaw bone removed & had a titanium jaw inserted. She lived about 13 months after being diagnosed. I was her caretaker & saw her suffer & eventually she had to have a trach tube in order to breath. I hope I never see anything that devastating again. My boys had to see "Granny" at her sickest & I hope they never have to see anything like that again. Sorry to be so vivid, but some don't realize the consequences of tobacco use...any type of tobacco.

[rosiefrosie]

I use to smoke ( 2 packs/day, yikes! ) but have been quit for 3 1/2 years now. Now I've turned into one of those people I use to despise when I smoked....... If I could reach my back I would pat it. Rested gal you smoke? I did not expect that.

[Guest]

I am a serial quitter who can't stay quit.
I was diagnose with COPD 3 1/2 years ago but the insanity of the addiction seems to always win.