Don't Smoke !
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Ah that is bad indeed waking up coughing, do you go through a pack a day? Personally I share your habit:
I started 3-4 years back, smoked for a year (half a pack a day) then decided after a year well this will be the end of that, so it was, got a major headache for 2 days but that is all the withdrawl I had.
A few years later I picked it up again and am now smoking 5-8 sigarettes a day avarage, which also means that on some days when I go clubbing or so I go through a whole pack and sometimes don't smoke for 3-4 days without any problem.
I have never experienced much problem with quiting, my advice get something else to take your mind of smoking, I started chewing gum like mad went through 1 pack a day. Good for your teeth too. I think if you want to quit you can, it is all about willpower. Just like wall climbing, when your muscles just don't want to go anymore you just dont have the strength, you can often can climb that extra wall on willpower to build up that extra strenght, your muscles will hurt like hell the next morning but you can do it.
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Yeah, I know. Willpower it is all about (well, I do have willpower - I already quitted like about 3 or 4 times!
)Unfortunately I smoke even more than a pack a day - sometimes when partying and all even about two! I guess I could smoke a lotr less because when I'm with my girlfriend (who is not only a nonsmoker but is allergic to it) I can stand smoking for long hours without that very bad wish to light up.
Maybe being with her just strengthens my willpower... -
I used to be a 20 a day man, until 27 April 2007 - I've been a smoker for 10 years (since I was 24, don't know why I ever started). I just decided that I didn't want to smoke anymore as I didn't enjoy it much anymore. Cold turkey, it's not easy, but I think to quit smoking you have to WANT to stop, not because someone is putting pressure on you to do so.
I must admit, it has been difficult at times, but I'm keeping to my decision.
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That's a recent quit; good luck to it!
As for the "external pressure" - she is not pressing at all. I just decided not to smoke when she's there because - well, because...
And it is not that hard if I do that with pleasure. -
Mike,
Sorry to bring it up, but are we to assume you fell off the (non-smoking) wagon then? I must admit I'd forgotten until now that you stopped. As Twain said "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." I gave up probably 20 times (half-arsed, usually hungover attempts) and 5 times "for proper". The last time I gave up (which was nearly 5 years ago) it was easy and I haven't smoked since, but I've no idea why I found it easy that time. The previous 4 times were bloody difficult- I reckon there's no point trying to stop if you're not 100% sick of smoking. The right time to stop will come along and then you won't believe how hard the other times were.
Jackson
Jackson Barkess
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Just noticed this old topic!
Nay! I have not kicked the addiction yet. I probably will have to some day but like (was it) St Augustus that said, Please God ..... but not today.
I have some observations and ideas that I would like to share with fellow smokers. Be warned some are strange!
I have noticed that while in bed, even if I stay in there late in the morning or even close to noon, I NEVER have an urge to smoke even with a packet of cigs on the bedside table within easy reach! As soon as I get up I get the urge to light up with a coffee.
I wonder if other smokers have this tendency?
I also notice that I tend to smoke quite a lot while working on the computer. However if I am doing a job that demands a lot of concentration I will light up quite a lot of cigs BUT often just take one 'pull' at the start and just one at the end of the cig! Quite wasteful as far as money goes but less inhaling involved. I think I must associate cigs with a reward thing!
This is the odd one! I've often asked heavy smokers if they were breast feed as babies. I was not as I was born in 1950 and for some reason at the time bottle feeding was the popular way. I have found that many of the guys that were not breast feed are heavy smokers. I often wonder if smoking has in some strange way become a substitute for not being breast feed. The two actions have a lot in common if one thinks about it!
I have often played around with the idea of 40 cig packs. The packs would be the same approx. size as existing 20 packs but the cigs (at both ends of the pack) would only be half the size of normal cigs. I don't think cig manufactures would be interested as it would (I think) lower consumption but it would help smokers from a financial point of view. I also feel they do less smoking as half the 'pleasure' is the 'light up' and 'first pull'
I have a friend that succeeded in kicking the addiction (note I do NOT call it a habit) by sucking on those small lolly pops, Kojak style. Okay he looked a bit odd but he said if definitely helped him to have something in his mouth that he could also take out and 'twiddle' in his fingers!
As I said some strange observations and ideas. I'd like to hear other smokers thoughts.
Mike
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@unknownuser said:
I have noticed that while in bed, even if I stay in there late in the morning or even close to noon, I NEVER have an urge to smoke even with a packet of cigs on the bedside table within easy reach! As soon as I get up I get the urge to light up with a coffee.
Exactly.
@unknownuser said:
I also notice that I tend to smoke quite a lot while working on the computer. However if I am doing a job that demands a lot of concentration I will light up quite a lot of cigs BUT often just take one 'pull' at the start and just one at the end of the cig! Quite wasteful as far as money goes but less inhaling involved. I think I must associate cigs with a reward thing!
The same here...
@unknownuser said:
This is the odd one! I've often asked heavy smokers if they were breast feed as babies. I was not as I was born in 1950 and for some reason at the time bottle feeding was the popular way. I have found that many of the guys that were not breast feed are heavy smokers. I often wonder if smoking has in some strange way become a substitute for not being breast feed. The two actions have a lot in common if one thinks about it!
I don't know this one... I was breast fed but still smoke.
@unknownuser said:
I have often played around with the idea of 40 cig packs. The packs would be the same approx. size as existing 20 packs but the cigs (at both ends of the pack) would only be half the size of normal cigs. I don't think cig manufactures would be interested as it would (I think) lower consumption but it would help smokers from a financial point of view. I also feel they do less smoking as half the 'pleasure' is the 'light up' and 'first pull'
I used to have a history professor who smoked those non-filter cigarettes from a holder (is that the right word?) and since his doctor advised him to cut smoking down by atlest half, he started a weird habit to cut those cigarettes into half and inserting them into the holder that way. When finished with one half, he immediately lit up the other
@unknownuser said:
I have a friend that succeeded in kicking the addiction (note I do NOT call it a habit) by sucking on those small lolly pops, Kojak style. Okay he looked a bit odd but he said if definitely helped him to have something in his mouth that he could also take out and 'twiddle' in his fingers!
In the office (where we can only smoke at a designated area) I tend to chew gum. Bad "habit" also but helps me keep my smoking about hourly.
@Jackson;
Yeah, I know the feeling - tried to quit several times... -
That's pretty sad, Juju. This professor of mine (who not only me but almost everybody just loved) has died of cancer, too. Now we (all alumni who still remember him) started to "lobby" so that one of the big auditoria would be named after him.
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I tried smoking in bed (back when I still smoked) a few times, it just never appealed to me and was more effort (reaching for the ashtray, getting ash over yourself and on the bedding, etc.) than it was worth. What I did experience was that the later in the day I would light up my first ciggy, the fewer I would smoke - kinda makes sense hey? If I lit up after 11 AM the frequency of lighting up would be less than if I were to light up my first at say 7 AM. So not wonly was I smoking less, I was smoking less frequently. I based my program to quit on this. It does help to have a substetute around, but make sure it is helthy, like carrot stick, else you'll look like the Good Year blimp in next to no time.
Strange about the breast feeding thing. I too was bottle fed as I was born prematurely and as a result was quite weak and a little under developed. I think it could play a role, but I wouldn't consider it being anything more than somebody having a greater likelyhood of becoming a smoker because of it.
My dad (RIP) used to smoke 80 - 90 a day (on an average day, sometimes more). One evening my mom woke to him standing in front of an open window beating his chest gasping for air. She had asked him to quit plenty times before, but she didn't believe in nagging. Anyhows, she told him that he deserved the "reward" as he wouldn't quit. She applied some "tough love" and went on to tell him that she is looking forward to spending his money with another man. That hit home pretty well and he gave up smoking the very next day. Well, that was quite a few years ago as he died of cancer in 2001, she still misses him awefully (also hadn't remarried or been close with another man) and so do we, the children.
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There are two devils to defeat when quitting cigarettes, the addiction and the 'habit'. The addiction can be defeated after 3 weeks of quitting. I know this as the first and only time I ever quit about 8 years ago I found the addiction was eliminated after a short period of time BUT the 'habit' or comfort factor, whatever one calls it does not leave quickly if ever!
It seems that the nicotine itself is probably the least harmful element of cigarettes. Its the rest of the rubbish that does the most harm. I imagine if there was some way of gaining the nicotine without the rubbish it might be worth considering.
On a recent Web search I noticed Nicogel ( http://www.nicogel-uk.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=258&Itemid=46 ), it is a gel that is rubbed into ones hand thus delivering the nicotine hit! This is a new approach, similar to Nicorette, but different is so far that the user determines when they need / use the drug!
I am not keen on Nicorette as it continuously delivers nicotine into the system. The first products did this 24 hours a day however they have no introduced patches that dont deliver at night.
I have signed up for the free trial and will advise on results.
Mike
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I'd recommend Zyban, prescription medicine. Worked for me. It's subsidised by the goverment here in Australia. You've gotta make yourself do the whole course though, however unpleasant taking the drug might be.
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I'm a 1.5 to 2 pack a day smoker. I have tried several methods to quit. Cold Turkey, Cutting Down, Nicotine Patch, Nicotine Lozenge, Welbutrin, Bantrol, and probable others I can't think of right now.
The patch was the closest I've come to success and I'll likely start using it again. The only problem is, it gave me very weird dreams. The kind where you wake up really freaked out. I had to stop using them because the dreams were making me exhausted during the day. I could hardly stay awake to work. Next time, I think I'll take it off a couple of hours before bed. Maybe that way I can sleep and I'll just have to use willpower not to light up in the morning.
nomi
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