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Ok, ex smoker here. Been itching to talk about this some, and now is the time! I got started in the military. Flat out, smokers got more breaks and some cons

Ok, ex smoker here. Been itching to talk about this some, and now is the time! I got started in the military. Flat out, smokers got more breaks and some considerations that others didn't, and so yeah. Light 'em up! And I was in during the late 80's when smoking was basically everywhere. Smoked for many years, and was on strong cigarettes. Very hard to quit, and I tried a few times. The impact was noticable later in life, I was easily winded and had some minor league emphysema beginning. Not good. I had by chance mostly tried a vape. And it sort of worked, but did not deliver the levels I needed. Nicotine salt does. I did one vape on that formulation, and that was it. No more smokes. Some years later, my recovery has been dramatic! Some basic damage is not going to heal, but most everything else has and I feel great! Can do what I should be doing too. And the benefits continue to accrue. Coughed up bits of tar for a long time. On another whim, I did inversion, and gakked out a ton of the stuff. Recommended, if you've got clogged up lungs. Just make sure you've got a spotter and someone to assist you in the process. I needed that due to the exertion. Moving on... Vapes are seriously good harm reduction, assuming someone is using gear that isn't damaging somehow. There is a lot of crap out there. Sadly, rather than regulate it all and maximize the benefit, the pressure to get rid of vaping altogether is winning out here in the US. Too bad JUUL was run so badly. Their core mission is a good one, and tons of people are going to benefit very significantly. Nicotine itself isn't that big of a deal. It's a stimulant and is addictive like similar compounds are. What really maxxes out it's addictive nature is the inhalation delivery method. Taking it orally, for example, isn't quite the same thing, unless the method is intended to pass through the skin, like chew does. Nicotine is not cancerous. The real danger in smoking is tar & particulates damaging the lungs, and cancer caused by the tons of byproducts of the combustion chemistry. The nicotine comes along for the ride and again, by itself isn't such a big deal.

cma 4y ago
> The real danger in smoking is tar & particulates damaging the lungs, and cancer caused by the tons of byproducts of the combustion chemistry. The nicotine comes along for the ride and again, by itself isn't such a big deal. With no combustion, tobacco causes mouth cancer all the time. It is simply cancerous (though nicotine isn't). I'm sure tar etc. makes it worse, but something else is bad in tobacco.
loonster 4y ago
What do you mean by inversion?
- ddingus 4y ago
  Being upside down! Literally. Then have someone whack on my back while I cough out crap. It was basic, and a bit of a whim. Came up during discussion, and the gear to do it was right there, so... we did it. Some crap came out, and I felt better. Maybe doing that is bad. I don't know and can't edit now that I think more about it. But, it worked great for me.
  - maxerickson 4y ago
    I have no idea if they would be similar, but mechanical techniques to help expel mucus are important in treating cystic fibrosis.
    - ddingus 4y ago
      Interesting! I bet it is similar in the basic idea of getting the gunk out. How it gets out is likely best left up to experts. What I noted was that feeling when one takes a deep breath did not extend down as far as it normally would. And repeated ones would dislodge some gunk, and often I would gak that up. When I inverted, I had someone lightly pummel my back, open heel of the hand, just thump, thump, thadathump! Just a rapid rhythm while I took my lungs to their extremes, full inhale, full exhale, then cough and gak it out. And I used a cycle. Get rested, feeling good, then invert, work the process and when something shakes loose, there is a lot of coughing, and one can't really do that upside down without getting a major league headache, so I had my spotter rotate me head up and I would work the gunk, until it came out, or I reached a steady state where it's just not happening. Rest, repeat. Took about an hour. And the aftermath was a few days of sudden gakking stuff up too. It's like everything got shook loose, and often hunks of tar and other mucus would come up and out. Other times it would just be a fit of coughing and then nothing. What I did notice near immediately after doing all this was a deep breath triggered that feeling much lower. There were areas doing air exchange without so much crap in the way. Combustible cigarettes near immediately inflame lung tissue, blood pressure goes up and a whole lot of other things happen. Over time, our response to all that becomes more aggrevated and our ability to recover is reduced due to wear and tear with no effective rest. Like say someone gets too much smoke during some fire or other. It's bad, but when they are away from all that, they are getting normal air and the body processes can do what they do and they heal. Some damage is done of course, and the healing is less than perfect, but the outcome is often good, unless someone crosses some line or other, like near death type crossing. After I quit, I noticed improvements in a week. And sometimes little regressions, like after intense exercise. Coughing up chunks of this and that got me to thinking the body is probably responding in those areas and maybe that strain on it all inhibits the healing that would otherwise happen. In the end, all I know is an hour spent working the problem got a bunch of crap out of my lungs that really didn't need to be there. Perhaps the body would absorb it, or it ends up coming out over time, or I think the more likely scenario is it's just there and the body deals with it. Nothing hurt, and there was no blood. It honestly felt like clearing out like what might happen after a particularly bad flu or pneumonia. It has been years now, and I still feel improvement every summer. Some of that is just our normal healing and re-invigoration that happens when one gets outdoors for an extended time. And that's most of it. But, each year the peak lasts longer. I get through more of a less active winter before feeling like I really need some sun, good air, and exercise. Speaking of which... There is a lot of rain where I live and our outings are delayed. Mrs and I both feel it big time! Hoping for more of a summer to happen soon, or we might just have to take a bigger trip and go somewhere we can get after all this anyway. We just love our spot. Have been going since we were married.
pclark 4y ago
It was pretty inspiring seeing combustible cigarette smokers switch to Juul and having a much much healthier (and less smelly!) lifestyle. Great to hear that you're off combustible cigarettes :) You can easily ween down the nicotine from 5% to 3% to 1.5% over a time period too.
- ddingus 4y ago
  I am doing that, but given the controversy surrounding JUUL, and the braindead US banning flavors, I moved off the platform quickly. Today, I use a nicotine salt formulation on par with the best of JUUL, minus the accellerants. On those: The good part is those actually do matter when it comes to smokers switching off combustion. Psychologically, the impact is there and similar enough to not trigger anxieties that inhibit quitting. Fair enough. The bad part is those make a JUUL absolutely fucking great to a non smoker and particularly younger smoker. Young people will grab one and drain the pod in an hour copping a major league buzz on par with what they can get with combustion cigarettes! In my view, this should have been partitioned in some way, harder to get and easier to keep out of young hands. Once someone is vaping, the accellerants are unnecessary given reputable gear and a salt formulation.
  - adultSwim 4y ago
    What do you mean by accelerants in JUUL?
    - ddingus 4y ago
      JUUL vapes contain (a) chemical(s) that increase the bioavailability of nicotine over what a nicotine salt compound already does when compared to free base nicotine. Basically, small amounts of this additive increase the amount of nicotine absorbed as well as reduce the time to absorb, which brings a vape closer to what a combustible cigarette can deliver. I am struggling to remember my source for that info. If it comes to me, I will drop it here.
      - adultSwim 4y ago
tmountain 4y ago
Not medical advice, just an anecdote. Regarding helping your lungs recover _after_ quitting smoking. I can't recommend this highly enough. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JWTRA5I?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JWTRA5I?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_... I quit smoking years ago and have always felt some residual effects. After a few months of breathing exercises with a muscle oxygen trainer, I've noticed a night and day difference. I spent a few weeks coughing stuff up, my blood pressure has improved, as has my cardio performance on measured performance equipment like the Peloton. Again, this is just my personal experience, but it might be worth a look if you're working towards a long term recovery.
- sydthrowaway 4y ago
  Wait.. could this be the key to improve my fitness without endless running?!
  - tmountain 4y ago
    It’s probably the best <$50 purchase I have spent. It has made a noticeable improvement to my health with less than 10 minutes invested per day. I would think of it as a supplementary regimen that will improve a core part of your fitness (vascular health), but not a substitute for high intensity exercise.
    - ddingus 4y ago
      I am gonna get one and use it with my current (arguably not as intense as it should be) exercise regimen. Very interesting how such a simple thing can add right up over time. Thanks again.
- ddingus 4y ago
  That thing is cool! Thanks for the pointer to it.

cma 4y ago

> The real danger in smoking is tar & particulates damaging the lungs, and cancer caused by the tons of byproducts of the combustion chemistry. The nicotine comes along for the ride and again, by itself isn't such a big deal. With no combustion, tobacco causes mouth cancer all the time. It is simply cancerous (though nicotine isn't). I'm sure tar etc. makes it worse, but something else is bad in tobacco.

loonster 4y ago

What do you mean by inversion?

ddingus 4y ago
Being upside down! Literally. Then have someone whack on my back while I cough out crap. It was basic, and a bit of a whim. Came up during discussion, and the gear to do it was right there, so... we did it. Some crap came out, and I felt better. Maybe doing that is bad. I don't know and can't edit now that I think more about it. But, it worked great for me.
- maxerickson 4y ago
  I have no idea if they would be similar, but mechanical techniques to help expel mucus are important in treating cystic fibrosis.
  - ddingus 4y ago
    Interesting! I bet it is similar in the basic idea of getting the gunk out. How it gets out is likely best left up to experts. What I noted was that feeling when one takes a deep breath did not extend down as far as it normally would. And repeated ones would dislodge some gunk, and often I would gak that up. When I inverted, I had someone lightly pummel my back, open heel of the hand, just thump, thump, thadathump! Just a rapid rhythm while I took my lungs to their extremes, full inhale, full exhale, then cough and gak it out. And I used a cycle. Get rested, feeling good, then invert, work the process and when something shakes loose, there is a lot of coughing, and one can't really do that upside down without getting a major league headache, so I had my spotter rotate me head up and I would work the gunk, until it came out, or I reached a steady state where it's just not happening. Rest, repeat. Took about an hour. And the aftermath was a few days of sudden gakking stuff up too. It's like everything got shook loose, and often hunks of tar and other mucus would come up and out. Other times it would just be a fit of coughing and then nothing. What I did notice near immediately after doing all this was a deep breath triggered that feeling much lower. There were areas doing air exchange without so much crap in the way. Combustible cigarettes near immediately inflame lung tissue, blood pressure goes up and a whole lot of other things happen. Over time, our response to all that becomes more aggrevated and our ability to recover is reduced due to wear and tear with no effective rest. Like say someone gets too much smoke during some fire or other. It's bad, but when they are away from all that, they are getting normal air and the body processes can do what they do and they heal. Some damage is done of course, and the healing is less than perfect, but the outcome is often good, unless someone crosses some line or other, like near death type crossing. After I quit, I noticed improvements in a week. And sometimes little regressions, like after intense exercise. Coughing up chunks of this and that got me to thinking the body is probably responding in those areas and maybe that strain on it all inhibits the healing that would otherwise happen. In the end, all I know is an hour spent working the problem got a bunch of crap out of my lungs that really didn't need to be there. Perhaps the body would absorb it, or it ends up coming out over time, or I think the more likely scenario is it's just there and the body deals with it. Nothing hurt, and there was no blood. It honestly felt like clearing out like what might happen after a particularly bad flu or pneumonia. It has been years now, and I still feel improvement every summer. Some of that is just our normal healing and re-invigoration that happens when one gets outdoors for an extended time. And that's most of it. But, each year the peak lasts longer. I get through more of a less active winter before feeling like I really need some sun, good air, and exercise. Speaking of which... There is a lot of rain where I live and our outings are delayed. Mrs and I both feel it big time! Hoping for more of a summer to happen soon, or we might just have to take a bigger trip and go somewhere we can get after all this anyway. We just love our spot. Have been going since we were married.

pclark 4y ago

It was pretty inspiring seeing combustible cigarette smokers switch to Juul and having a much much healthier (and less smelly!) lifestyle. Great to hear that you're off combustible cigarettes :) You can easily ween down the nicotine from 5% to 3% to 1.5% over a time period too.

ddingus 4y ago
I am doing that, but given the controversy surrounding JUUL, and the braindead US banning flavors, I moved off the platform quickly. Today, I use a nicotine salt formulation on par with the best of JUUL, minus the accellerants. On those: The good part is those actually do matter when it comes to smokers switching off combustion. Psychologically, the impact is there and similar enough to not trigger anxieties that inhibit quitting. Fair enough. The bad part is those make a JUUL absolutely fucking great to a non smoker and particularly younger smoker. Young people will grab one and drain the pod in an hour copping a major league buzz on par with what they can get with combustion cigarettes! In my view, this should have been partitioned in some way, harder to get and easier to keep out of young hands. Once someone is vaping, the accellerants are unnecessary given reputable gear and a salt formulation.
- adultSwim 4y ago
  What do you mean by accelerants in JUUL?
  - ddingus 4y ago
    JUUL vapes contain (a) chemical(s) that increase the bioavailability of nicotine over what a nicotine salt compound already does when compared to free base nicotine. Basically, small amounts of this additive increase the amount of nicotine absorbed as well as reduce the time to absorb, which brings a vape closer to what a combustible cigarette can deliver. I am struggling to remember my source for that info. If it comes to me, I will drop it here.
    - adultSwim 4y ago

tmountain 4y ago

Not medical advice, just an anecdote. Regarding helping your lungs recover _after_ quitting smoking. I can't recommend this highly enough. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JWTRA5I?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JWTRA5I?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_... I quit smoking years ago and have always felt some residual effects. After a few months of breathing exercises with a muscle oxygen trainer, I've noticed a night and day difference. I spent a few weeks coughing stuff up, my blood pressure has improved, as has my cardio performance on measured performance equipment like the Peloton. Again, this is just my personal experience, but it might be worth a look if you're working towards a long term recovery.

sydthrowaway 4y ago
Wait.. could this be the key to improve my fitness without endless running?!
- tmountain 4y ago
  It’s probably the best <$50 purchase I have spent. It has made a noticeable improvement to my health with less than 10 minutes invested per day. I would think of it as a supplementary regimen that will improve a core part of your fitness (vascular health), but not a substitute for high intensity exercise.
  - ddingus 4y ago
    I am gonna get one and use it with my current (arguably not as intense as it should be) exercise regimen. Very interesting how such a simple thing can add right up over time. Thanks again.
ddingus 4y ago
That thing is cool! Thanks for the pointer to it.