Couple die in apt fire in my town.

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Elderly Couple Die in Fire

That's the link to what happened in my mother's apartment complex the other night. The article doesn't mention that one of them was on oxygen and they always just turned the valve off to smoke instead of going outside, and had been doing it like that for quite a while. My daughters fiance heard the explosion over here, because he was up (that's right across the road from me) but my mother, who wakes up because she can hear me tiptoe to the bathroom when I spend the night over there, slept through the big BOOM.

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If your family was aware of this oxygen tank/smoking situation, you all must have been worried sick for your mother's safety!

The whole building could have been destroyed...you must be a nervous wreck!

Sylkat

My late mother-in-law had been a tobacco addict, which invariably had led to developing lung cancer. So overpowering was her addiction that she'd smoke, even with an oxygen tank in her house. Smelling smoke in her house one time, my wife and I had thought it was my idiot brother-in-law, who had been living with her, who had been the culprit. Then after she had passed away, and my wife and I were going through her things, we found her hidden stash of cigarettes. So great was her nicotine addiction that she just couldn't give up her smokes, even though it was cigarettes that were killing her, and could have resulted her dying in a fiery explosion.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

That's so sad. Our former downstairs neighbor was on oxygen, and fell asleep smoking in her chair. Just the chair smoldered, and everyone was evacuated safely( including the neighbor). I know addiction is a powerful thing, but she could have taken out the entire building if someone didn't notice the smoke in time.

It's not that unusual for smokers who are on O2 to take the O2 off and go outside to smoke. It's not good to do that, but they do. It's stupid to do it inside in the same room or house with oxygen. I smoke, and while it would be hard for me to quit on my own, if I have breathing problems from it, I'll quit. About 13 years ago I was dx'd with asthmatic bronchitis and quit for several years because I was worried about the breathing problems. After they got better, and I was unders tress, I started back. Quit a few times with Welbutrin, but always started back when I went off it. I'm going back on it soon because my depression is coming back, so I'll be quitting again. For a while, anyway.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

Good luck to you with that . I managed to quit for about four years, and started up again when I returned to work. Been struggling with it since.

My mom quit cold turkey so did my both my dads. My stepfather quit too late though...he developed COPD and chronic bronchitis and died 3 1/2 years ago. He quit when he developed lung problems, but that train was already set in motion. My mom smoked from the time she was 16-54 years old and her lungs are clear. She says she smoked but did not fully inhale, however my stepfather smoked unfiltered cigarettes and did inhale.

But as far as quitting,those I seen with the best success quit either 2 ways, cold turkey or tapered off but the drugs dont work. They made my mom really sick and did nothing for her addiction.

If you are not brave enough to quit cold turkey (the first 3 days is hell but after that the cravings are very short in duration...if you just hang on they will pass in less than 2 minutes), there is a method used by doctors that slowly removes 1 cig a week and you never really feel the nic fits.
What you do is get your self down to one pack a day, then every week remove 1 cigarette from each pack by breaking it. Example week 1, 20 per day, week 2..19 per day, week three, 18 per day...etc etc.
This is what they do for those with thyroid problems who cant handle sudden withdraw of nicatine

hope this helps, dont wait this you experience symptoms, when it comes to lung disease, like my father, quitting then is just too late.

Jojo

Well, the welbutrin is for my depression and a side effect of it is that I quit smoking, so the drugs help me. It's only when I stop taking it that I get the urge to start back. I've not started back when I don't need the antidepressant anymore, and other times I have started back right away.

The welbutrin makes cigs taste horrible to me. They make it like smoking with cotton mouth, but I don't get the nicotine withdrawals, only annoyance at the fact that I miss the habit, not the actual nicotine or the cig. It's stress that causes me to start back eventually, after I'm off the meds. I'm thinking of just staying on the meds for at least two or three years this time, to help with daily stress anyway. I need them.

I've quit cold turkey before and even though it's difficult to not climb a water tower with a sniper rifle for the first few days, I do ok after that. I've also just toughed it out and continued to smoke even though the meds made it unenjoyable, and after a week or so of that it goes back to normal. So there is only about a week of opportunity to stop smoking with the meds, and I usually take it. Starting back while I'm on the meds is difficult because it's still nasty for a week or so, but I've done it! I've also smoked one cigarette after months of not smoking while still on the meds, and it's nasty. I think that my body has to get used to both the welbutrin and the nicotine, then it adjusts and goes back to normal. However, smoking is not only bad for me, it's expensive. $3.32 a pack here! I smoke about two packs a day. So, I'm taking the opportunity while I have it with the meds that I need anyway, even if I didn't smoke I'd need the welbutrin and the lexapro right now.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

I'm sorry to hear about the death of the couple.

Just FYI, oxygen on it's own is not actually flammable or explosive, it merely provides the fuel for other things to burn more rapidly. It's pretty interesting, you can't light oxygen, but if you have something that's smoldering, oxygen will cause it to burst into flames. We've had some accidents at the shipyard near my house when welders have used unlit cutting torches to blow debris off their cotton coveralls, only to have them later burst into flames from the slightest spark. I'd imagine that a house fire involving an oxygen tank would be similar, what would have just been a smoldering slow fire would rapidly become a conflagration because of the accelerant effect of the O2. What you would not have though, is an "explosion", absent some other highly flammable material or gas.