i was just thinking this morning that there are a handful of other maladies i have experienced in the last year from smoking that i forgot to mention in my "reasons to quit" post. when you are a smoker, i think you tend to push aside a lot of little health problems, but now i'm beginning to go back and remember quite a few issues i've had over the years.
red eyes: i've definitely developed red, irritated eyes from smoking. to be completely honest, i think i've been an eye-drop addict for at least 3 or 4 years now. the problem is that you can't use eye drops every single day because they eventually stop working and can even make your eyes worse over a period of time. so i have developed a rationing practice where i save the drops for nights out with friends, special occasions, etc. if i am out drinking and smoking, i can feel my eyes drying up and turning beet-red as the night progresses and i often sneak to the bathroom to apply more drops.
pounding in my ear: at one point this year i began to hear a loud pounding in my left ear - it was the sound of my heart! it was so loud that it actually would keep me up at night. i looked online and found that many other people have also experienced this. there are a number of reasons why it can happen, but now that i look back on it i really think in my case it was probably smoking. cigarettes can increase your blood pressure, which i'm sure could have caused the pounding sensation. remarkably enough, i ended up flying on a plane to visit relatives for the holidays and the pressure change reduced my pounding substantially. i still hear it a little sometimes, but it is slowly and steadily going away now that i've quit smoking.
insomnia: i've wrestled with insomnia for a few years and always thought that it was due to the stress i was under. i've been through a great deal of financial strain in the last couple years, losing a house and a business, and also dealing with a 2-year-old who doesn't sleep very well and often wakes up in the middle of the night for water or hugs. i never thought it had anything to do with my smoking habit until i quit. the other day i was startled when i woke up in the morning and couldn't remember what happened during the night! what a great feeling. sleeping better has also improved my function during the day - i'm more efficient with my work and feel less groggy and disconnected.
dizziness: this is by far the worst symptom of my smoking habit and the one that i deny the most. i have had so many dizzy spells over the last two years that it has become almost like a monthly or weekly occurrence. usually the bouts of dizziness come when i have a cold, or after a night of heavy smoking, but either way i know that they are respiratory related. the worst part is that when i have one, my adrenaline kicks in a little and makes me feel panicked, which in turn increases the feeling of faintness. i've had one while getting my hair cut, while at breakfast with my family, and even while driving the car. i don't ever want to feel that way again, and i sincerely hope that smoking removes this horrible malady from my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment