[restoration]

Hi I tried smoking for the first time today... And I am guility enough to say I kind of enjoyed it in a way I found it interesting, got a sort of buzz from it and liked the taste sort of... I obviously know smoking is bad for me can people here just tell me their experiences of smoking, what they like/what they don't like? What they find benefits them from smoking

I found it very confusing as I have always been anti smoking.

[Otkem]

For me it's more of a release when I'm stressed. On a good day I'll have about 3, whereas on a bad day I'll have about 30.

[kiss_me_now9]

I always find I get lightheaded and nauseous when I smoke - not matter what. I don't bother with it any more.

[restoration]

(Original post by Otkem)
For me it's more of a release when I'm stressed. On a good day I'll have about 3, whereas on a bad day I'll have about 30.

I see Thanks everyone so far for your responses.... If any of you don't mind how would you describe craving a cigarette? Psychologically and physically, I want to see how I manage to be honest.

[Rish7]

On the couple of occasions I have smoked, I just get a really nasty cough so I don't bother. Phlegm in the morning is never nice, especially when it's avoidable. Not worth the trouble, although I am all for trying things once to experience what it's like.

[Wilfred Little]

It sounds kinda weird but I have fond memories of the first time I smoked cigarettes.

I remember always looking at the packets of cigarettes in the house my parents would have and being intensely intrigued as to what it would be like to smoke one despite being very anti-smoking, but was terrified of cancer so didn't try one for years until my curiosity eventually got the better of me when I was 12. One of the older boys in my area was smoking one when we were out in the streets one night and I asked to try it and had one puff. I remember walking into my house after feeling really grown up.

A few days later a boy from school gave me a cigarette during dinner time and I couldn't wait to get home to smoke it in my bedroom. Once inside I opened the window and crouched down, leaning outside and puffed away until it was finished. The nicotine rush was so bad the numbers on my digital clock radio were wobbling when I looked at them and I felt sick. I just lay there for a good 20 minutes amazed.

Then I would pinch them out of my parents' boxes and smoke half and give the older boys who I hung around with half. At that age I wasn't intimidated by authority any more and would roam around the school corridors during lessons if I felt like it and would often end up outside of the school buildings by the playing field, stood behind a curved wall after bumping into many a fellow "skiver" and we would share a cigarette there. It became my regular smoking spot whenever I left my lessons. It felt exciting hiding from teachers behind the wall and trying not to get caught smoking. The only time I ever got caught was when I was walking through the corridors during lessons smoking a cigarette some boys gave me who came in from another school to mess around (big trouble makers).

Walking to school in year 9 with the older boy from the next road (who is still a friend now), being at that stage where you're rebellious, smoking a cigarette on the way, was very exciting and I know what the OP means when he says he enjoyed trying a cigarette.

So yeah, lots of great smoking memories but after smoking from 12-18 the novelty wore off quickly and I quit. The rare times I've smoked a single cigarette since after months of being a non-smoker, the exact taste and buzz from when I first smoked a cigarette always comes back and I feel quite nostalgic.

[Bagration]

Haha I still remember my first sober cigarette. Richmond, leaning out my bedroom window and I thought "OH, so this is why people smoke!" Of course before that I'd tried smoking at parties because I was curious and thought "If so many of my friends do it, it must have some positives."

Be careful what you get into. That was coming on five years ago and I smoke a pack a day now. You'll find that some doors are closed to you as a smoker... but some are opened.

(Original post by restoration)
I see Thanks everyone so far for your responses.... If any of you don't mind how would you describe craving a cigarette? Psychologically and physically, I want to see how I manage to be honest.

It's basically like being really hungry; that's how I'd describe it.

[Wilfred Little]

(Original post by Bagration)
Haha I still remember my first sober cigarette. Richmond, leaning out my bedroom window and I thought "OH, so this is why people smoke!" Of course before that I'd tried smoking at parties because I was curious and thought "If so many of my friends do it, it must have some positives."

Be careful what you get into. That was coming on five years ago and I smoke a pack a day now. You'll find that some doors are closed to you as a smoker... but some are opened.

I remember them well. £1.99 for a pack of 10 Richmond Superkings.

Sovereign were the cigarettes of choice for most kids back then though. 10 fags now is bordering on £4, crazy prices.

[cryptic-clues]

Well, I have smoked for almost half my life now, and I am not very old. In the early years, it was a sign of being a rebel, of thinking contrary to popular perception, of being carefree and brave, of being untied and free in all ways, of wishing away troubles in smoke (there is a popular film song in India along the same lines as well)! And I enjoyed it, with friends, teachers, bosses, co-workers, girl friends and other women.

From that, it kept on growing until I was smoking 20 on a good day and close to 40 on a bad (stressful, when the world is unyielding and people unkind) one. And then one day, I collapsed and ended in the intensive care because the blood oxygen had dropped very low. I am also an asthmatic, by the way!

With all the doctors' warnings, I promised never to touch it again. It has been four years since. And I haven't kept my promise. Though I smoke very cautiously now and for very specific reasons: to celebrate (very) good company, an achievement at the end of a hard week's hard work, anxiety bouts, stress and when I am trying to make sense of the world around me. I don't smoke every day, especially when I am feeling wheezy, and some days I smoke upto 5. So I guess it balances out!

But I am looking to start my PhD in England this October, and I wonder if what to do! You see, I will leave my wife and kid behind when I come to England. And in such times of loneliness and intellectual solitude, I tend to smoke more, and not less. I guess I will have my answers by this Christmas.

[Wilfred Little]

(Original post by cryptic-clues)
Well, I have smoked for almost half my life now, and I am not very old. In the early years, it was a sign of being a rebel, of thinking contrary to popular perception, of being carefree and brave, of being untied and free in all ways, of wishing away troubles in smoke (there is a popular film song in India along the same lines as well)! And I enjoyed it, with friends, teachers, bosses, co-workers, girl friends and other women.

From that, it kept on growing until I was smoking 20 on a good day and close to 40 on a bad (stressful, when the world is unyielding and people unkind) one. And then one day, I collapsed and ended in the intensive care because the blood oxygen had dropped very low. I am also an asthmatic, by the way!

With all the doctors' warnings, I promised never to touch it again. It has been four years since. And I haven't kept my promise. Though I smoke very cautiously now and for very specific reasons: to celebrate (very) good company, an achievement at the end of a hard week's hard work, anxiety bouts, stress and when I am trying to make sense of the world around me. I don't smoke every day, especially when I am feeling wheezy, and some days I smoke upto 5. So I guess it balances out!

But I am looking to start my PhD in England this October, and I wonder if what to do! You see, I will leave my wife and kid behind when I come to England. And in such times of loneliness and intellectual solitude, I tend to smoke more, and not less. I guess I will have my answers by this Christmas.

I asked a doctor about the risks of occasional smoking once, or smoking one cigarette daily and what it would do and he told me that it'd do nothing really.

If you know yourself it'll only ever be the occasional smoke then I see no reason (other than addiction) why you should deprive yourself of something you clearly enjoy, especially when there are much worse addictions out there such as alcohol.

I've smoked occasionally since quitting and I am ridden with guilt the day after so I don't enjoy it. Plus it makes it much harder for me to achieve my fitness goals.

[TheHyacinthGirl]

I enjoy cigarettes at the rate of about 2 a month. You don't have to take up smoking to enjoy them, as long as you don't go overboard.

[captainaesthetic]

Still haven't smoked a pure tobacco cigarette, I smoke weed often though.
Never saw the point of tobacco, it's expensive, undeniably bad for you, and you don't really get anything out of it.

[Megaross]

I smoke as a stress reliever and because of the taste of it.

Don't get into it, it's expensive and you lose a lot of lung capacity. I'd quit if I didn't enjoy it so much, I really do love smoking, I've set a date when I will quit, in a few years time. I set it about a year ago so it's sticking.

I'll only ever smoke golden virginia though, cigarettes are disgusting.
I did at one point smoke B&H black, and used to chain smoke quite literally all night at parties, went through 120 in one night.
Once you start smoking rollies though you realise they're superior in every way to cigarettes.

[isp]

Smoking is stupid.

[Alexander94]

I started smoking when I was too young and now I wish I could quit!! I hate standing in the cold, but I love the social side of it... and I hate not having one because it makes me have a rather short fuse.

[dothestrand]

I have cut down a lot recently through not having the funds. It's been a lot easier than I expected.

[Pen Island]

I've smoked a few times over the past few years but only when drunk - just to try it.
I personally don't like it. Doesn't taste nice, doesn't smell nice & I just couldn't find any plus points about it other than it means I'm not sat on my own in the pub when everyone goes outside for fag (I do most of the time, I'm the only one of my friends who doesn't smoke )

[SnoochToTheBooch]

(Original post by restoration)
I found it very confusing as I have always been anti smoking.

Well here's to experiencing things for yourself rather than just buying what you're told.

[Livzien]

(Original post by isp)
Smoking is stupid.

I was going to give you a +rep but I reached my limit. I just wanted to say I agree with you. :]

[nickster146]

me and my girlfriend both used to smoke quite a bit and after a year or so decided to stop. now ill have a few puffs at parties if someone offers me some, and on special occasions like a holiday ill buy a pack or two. for me that social element is the main thing i enjoy, nothing beats sharing a tipsy cig on the way home after a night out
tbh i think the addictiveness is over hyped (which is good cos it puts people off), as i found it fairly easy to go from a pack a week to not smoking for a whole year (17th birthday to 18th birthday) and now its just a casual thing.