Nate, you must have a 261 beating in you! I had one last year and the 216 never missed a beat! What was the first thing i did after that? Went out to my truck and enjoyed a cigarette! Did i say how much i enjoyed that cigarette?
Darn medical doctors!!! Okay, they saved my life four years ago when I had a heart attack at 43 years old, but they can be a real PITA too. Turns out they did not call my ins. co. until Monday to get approval for the test. Naturally, the ins. co. computers were down so I had to reschedule for the 19th. Had two stents put in a branch artery 4 years ago. Had a heart attack while meditating at the beach to clear my stress from a crazy (really) wife that was beating me and my kids. she still refuses to go to court mandated therapy and the custody hearings start May 7th. Looking forward to this as I have a VERY good shot of getting my kids full time. Never was out of shape to begin with and cholesterol was good and BP was good, too. Bad family history and tons of stress made me blow an acute clot. Not to mention the cigs Now I run 7-10 miles 3-5 days a week. Just quit the cigs again (man is it tough). Just read an article in the NY times on Sunday about heart attack lessons learned and ignored and I don't want to be one of those poor suckers that didn't get the big idea after heart attack number one. REsting heart rate is 49 beats per minute, but I have been naughty. smoked too much and didn't go for the test for TWO YEARS. Bad. Will let y'all know how it turns out next week. Andy
Life Stresses.. I hear you loud & clear Andy ! Like to eat myownself , stopped smoking 20 + year ago but still and all... Being active is prolly the best thing . I used to date a Psych-B*tch lady , L.A. folks will remember when I made the Daily news in an article about spousal abuse , I was the victim (I don't think beating up 5' women is the thing to do) so it was wierd for a while there... This too shall pass Andy , excersise and good diet , you'll hopefully be with us for years to come... I had my 1st heart attack this past january , from a jerkoff boss @ work stressing me nearly to death
Andy, look into a new drug called "Chantix" to help you stop smoking. I've got 2 unfilled 'scripts for that. It's supposed to block the nicotine receptors in the brain making you not feel the urge. I quit for 5 years "cold turkey" in '84 then picked them up again in '89 (while going through a nasty divorce). Someone asked me one day "why did you start back?" I simply said "Well I gave up one bad habit so I thought I'd pick up another one in it's place!"
Ken, Did the Chantix thing. Made me so sick to my stomach I could not function. Toughed it out for a month but couldn't stand being green all day long. Doing good right now. NO cigs for four days. Hoping I can stay that way. Andy
Keep it up! Way to go Andy! When I quit, I chewed the hell outta gum! (You should see my jaw "mussels" now!) ...or is that muscles... Anyway, I liked to look at other people who smoked when I quit. I always tried to marvel at how that little thing could so control a life. It took mine for a 20 year, two pack-a-day ride. Been through with them for 12 years now. I just cold turked it. Actually, GUM became my next crutch, but it was far easier to quit. Can any of us smokers remeber why we started in the first place? I'll never forget my reason. I didn't think I was good enough "as-is" so to be cool, I started gagging down smoke. Boy- that shade of green I turned must have made me look SO cool! That's one of those things I'd do over if given a chance... You can do it Andy- the only smoke I want to see from you is...
Andy,Thanks for the heads up! I almost got that perscription filled the other day. Guess i'll just do it cold turkey like i did last time!
I know that mine wasn't tobacco but I got into some far worse things and I quit cold turkey. I am a strong believer that my faith and strong determination got me out of the situation that I was in. I know that some on here can back me up on this. I'm not trying to preach at anybody, but give it a shot and you'll be amaized at what God will do for you.
Hey man, I'm proud of you! I know exactly what you're talking about! We grew up within 60 miles of one another, a generation apart of course, but drugs in W. Tennessee and W. Kentucky were and still are rampid. Most of my "friends" in hs and college have seen the inside of most jails from Carroll Co., Tn to north of Hardin Co., Ky. It's a sad commentary. We make mistakes in life and only the truly intelligent ones overcome and learn from them! Looking forward to meeting you soon, face to face. Only 3 weeks away, bro. Better start eating your "Wheaties" because i'm primed!
When my buddy died just here while back it was a huge wake up call to hear about all of my "close friends" from high school that either have been in jail or are in jail for drug use, sell, or whatever. It's a sad thing to think that they could have done anything else with their lives and that's what they chose to stay with. I was just telling Tab earlier that you'll be in town in a couple of weeks. We were looking at our schedules and trying to plan ahead for different things and I saw on the calender that you were coming to Tn soon. Can't wait to get together and hang out for a bit.
Quitting Yep , quitting is a b*tch allright . I stopped cold turkey some years back and yes , I still get the urge . Sad thing about the dope situation , I lost pretty much ALL my childhood freinds due to dope , of course some were just too stoned to see there was a car (bullet, axe,knife,whatever) coming directly at them , Police report says died of gunshot , I say dope killed them . I know you can do this Andy , we're all pulling for you to quit!
