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female
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anonymous
writes:i have smoked 6 or 7 cigerettes 3 in 1 go kinda 1 after another n then the n 3 or 4 after it seperate ..im only 13 and i wanna know how much harm i have caused to myself please be persific Reply to this Question
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (6 April 2008): im 13 too and i seriously need some help
i have been trying to stop my mum from smoking but i have been smoking behind her back...
i dont want to smoke but it calms me down
what shall i do?
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male
reader, Mr Ian +, writes (17 August 2006):
 looks like uve had a good few answers - and they all read the same message!! do stop because remember your body is still growing and this will reduce your intake of vitamins and other nutrients. You can easily get help from skool and/or family just dont give up - you can see the reaction and people obviously care about you...gd luck
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male
reader, maxsteel86 +, writes (14 August 2006):
 Smoking is so gross... It stinks worse than a Rhino's butt (or so I hear:-P) but really its the worst habit to pick up. Whats so fun about it anyway?
Well the risks I guess are the cancer thing. Thats pretty bad. Gross looking gums and teeth! Expect your kissing days to end by 25ish! That sick cough that makes people think you'd be better off dead...
And you'd most likely die in the 40-50 age bracket (the time when your investments start paying off!)
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male
reader, David Lewis +, writes (14 August 2006):
 Even at 15, you can still stop.
I smoked for 12 years and just stopped, no cutting down
I was smoking, put it out and never smoked again.
That was 8 years ago.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (14 August 2006): hun i am 15 now and i smock i started when was 13 i now smock 10 a day if i was 13 again i would stop
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female
reader, bonym +, writes (14 August 2006):
 Smoking is doing a hell of a lot of damage to your young body my dear so please do your very best to give up. You dont want lung cancer or cancer of the throat, its truly awful, my grandmother died as result of cancer of the throat yet she never even tried a cig, so you are 20 times more at risk for developing it in later life. Do your best sweetie to give up, for your own health.
Also you dont want dirty stained teeth, wrinkly skin when you are in your twenties, yellow hands, drawn in cheeks, of course not.
xXx
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female
reader, mwest  +, writes (14 August 2006):
Please stop smoking! You are doing damage to your lungs and down the road you will have health problems later in life. True story-I lost my grandmother suddenly a month ago because she had pneumonia that she couldn't fight because her lungs were so badly damaged from years of heavy smoking. She was also diagnosed with COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Its a disease when you have trouble breathing. My grandmother was very much active still and a month later I'm still having a hard time accepting that she is gone. Please, do yourself a favor, quick smoking. You don't need it, its not cool at all. You want to live a long, happy and healthy life and if you continue to smoke, your cutting your life span drastically. Think about it! Good Luck and I hope you make the right decision. Let me know!
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female
reader, DrPsych +, writes (14 August 2006):
 I worked on a smoking cessation project a couple of years ago for the NHS and the nurses tell me that smokers coming to the cessation clinics are younger and younger. You probably already know the long term risks like cancer and respiratory disorders - smokers age more rapidly than non-smokers and your gums get diseased more quickly (meaning you are toothless earlier than everyone else), not to mention your fertility. It really stuffs up your cardiovascular system and the majority of heart disease incidents are linked to smoking-related causes. I am writing a science paper on this right now - 120,000 people per year die prematurely of smoking-related causes in the UK and that is before you count the disabled and the sick. I used to smoke at your age and gave up a few years later when I realised how nasty it was, and it costs a fortune and when I had a pre-cancerous condition myself and my metabolic system had packed up and left home (I am on daily pills now for the rest of my life and I am sure smoking was a big factor)! My mother in law is a 60 a day girl and she ended up in hospital last year because the level of oxygen circulating around her body was dangerously low as smoking cigarettes affects oxygen flow - I am not being nasty but she looks about 15 years older than she is and you can smell her coming as she is like a portable ash tray. Once you are hooked it is murder to give up - nicotine is one of the most addictive substances in the world. You are smoking 3 in a row for that nicotine hit so have all the characteristics of an addict in the making rather than a social smoker (not that social smokers are any better!). YOu should set a quit date and stop now - if you really struggle then go and see your GP (they prescribe nicotine replacement therapies to teens these days in some places).
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reader, anonymous, writes (14 August 2006): Also I forgot to answer your last question -
If you stop right away, you probably won't have done any damage to your body, consider yourself lucky.
But, once you become a proper smoker, it will take 10 YEARS for the risk of lung cancer to half that of a smoker, AND, 15 YEARS for the risk of heart attack to go back to that of a none smoker. A long time, because you could easily get cancer within that time.
There is quite a famous man called Alan Carr, he smoked a lot but managed to stop. He wrote a book that helped 25 million people stop smoking, but recently he died of lung cancer. Imagine that? Giving up for 20 years but STILL dying from it? Give up now, whilst you can!
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reader, anonymous, writes (14 August 2006): Gone are the days when it is cool to smoke (trust me - because I am way cool). People will look at you smoking and feel really sorry for you, you'll hear them "tut" at you, it's not a good feeling!
This is because there is SO MUCH evidence against smoking, there are very few people who will argue that smoking doesn't directly lead to cancer (and Amethyst's list)
There are now more smokers giving up than starting, and if you live in the UK, by the time you reach 18 it will be banned in all public places, it won't even be legal to smoke at a bus stop!
Smoking really is no longer socially encouraged - so stop!
I had been a smoker for almost 8 years! It all started by just having "a few" when I was at school. Your brain quickly associates smoking with everything it doesn't like doing, e.g. if you feel stressed - it tells you to smoke whenever you feel stressed. With you, your brain will change so that you will look forward to a cigarette on the way to school, between classes, when you go home from school. All the time when you're sat in class your be thinking "I can't wait to have a cigarette when this is over". When you think this - you are a drug addict.
Smoking is also said to be more addictive than crack cocaine (one of the strongest class-A drugs)
It also stains your teeth, your hands, it makes you STINK - no nice boy is ever going to want to kiss you, imagine not being liked because you smoke? Not a nice feeling! You might be a really nice person, but they won't care about that.
The chemical in smoke attaches itself to something in your blood so oxygen can't get round your body properly. This leads to your skin aging, and, eventually, to problems where you can can end up having your legs and arms chopped off because the body parts start to rot away.
Instead of smoking, take up something healthy, something exercise related. This will help stop you from being tempted.
I hope you can do it. Just picture yourself dying in hospital, coughing up blood and unable to talk, with your family around you crying wishing you didn't have to die in some much pain. Not a nice thought, is it?
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female
reader, Bev Conolly  +, writes (14 August 2006):
 If you want me to say that you've currently burnt away 11% of your lung capacity, or that you'll live 93.71 days less than if you didn't smoke, I can't.
What I can say is that every cigarette leaves a thin layer of toxic chemicals in your lungs, and that layer of "tar" doesn't *ever* go away. It sits there getting thicker and stickier. So next time you have a cigarette, blow some smoke on a clean window and visualise that condensation settling in your lungs!
You also should know that people who start smoking before the age of 18 usually (and that's 'wayyyy more than 50%) become lifelong smokers who can never quit. And lifelong smokers usually die from smoking-related illnesses and have much higher than average chance of strokes.
So, smoking --even a couple-- at 13 is about a thousand times worse than smoking none at all.
Furthermore, you can look forward to the skin of your hands turning yellow, your teeth turning yellow or brown, your breath stinking, your clothes reeking, losing your sense of taste, wheezing when you walk or jog, waking up needing a smoke before you even have a pee, and a habit that can cost you anything up to $100 A WEEK, depending on your level of addiction (in Australia, cigarettes are over $12 a packet).
Sounds like a plan? Not. I hope you're smarter than that.
Listen to those who are older than you, and who've been there. It's a nasty, expensive addiction. It doesn't make you look cultured, sophisticated or grown up. It makes you look frumpy and pathetic.
Don't smoke. It's dangerous and stupid, and anyone who's already a smoker will tell you so.
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reader, anonymous, writes (14 August 2006): I agree with Amethyst. Stop now before it's too late. I started smoking when I was 16. I'm now 22 and I am finding it extremly difficult to stop. when I started I always said I would quite before it becomes too much of a problem. But it gradually became a backround thing, something I did all the time and barely even noticed how much I was smoking. And all the while smoking got a stronger and stronger hold on me. I'm now looking at nicotine substitutes to help me quite and maybe even therapy. I'ts that bad and I am only a young man!
You know the energetic feeling of being able to run and jump and play sports or whatever. Be prepared to loose that if you continue smoking. You know the way a couple of nice deep breaths is sometimes all you need to calm you down, Say goodbye to that too and say hello to chest infections! Not being able to sleep because your coughing so much you feel you might vomit. Waking up in the morning with a burning desire for a smoke which untill satisfied means everything else has to wait! forget about being a nice person if you don't have that smoke! smoking ciggarettes is more addictive than heroin, cocaine, you name it! Thats a fact! I'ts both a mental and physical addiction and ones as bad as the other to kick. If you value your health, comfort and appearance than please do your future self a huge favour, stop now, And if thats not enough try this on for size, my doctor told me if I do not stop smoking by the time I am 25 I will die, yep die. Thats just me, some people smoke way into there old age, but the quality of there life is severly reduced by there poisoness drug addiction. I know this is forward but theres nothing nice about smoking. Best of luck I hope you make the right decision and have the strenght to go through with it.
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female
reader, Amethyst +, writes (14 August 2006):
 Stop while you still can! Smoking is a terrible habit, that will do nothing but harm you physically and financially. Smoking can eventually lead up to numerous things, such as:
~ Lung Cancer
~ Chronic Cough
~ Terrible teeth/breath/scent
~ Dulling of your taste buds
~ Mood swings (you get ill if you haven't had one in a while)
~ Less sexual pleasure once you start having sex
~ Mucus build up in the lungs/More mucus
And no matter what anyone says, smoking doesn't make you look any cooler, mature, or appealing. Actually, quite the opposite.
As for the six or seven, if that's all you've done and you're not going to continue, then you should be safe. It could affect you a little, like give you gravings or bad breath for a bit, but nothing as serious as listed above. (At least, not to my knowledge.) Just don't do it again, because you may think, "Oh well, if I only do that a few times every other month it won't hurt me." but you're wrong. You'll develop an addiction, and that's what hurts. Six or seven a month, becomes six or seven a week, then a day, then an hour. So stop while you can, and you'll be ok. Just don't go with the urge of lighting up another, it'll pass eventually, and you'll be glad that you didn't start!
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