O.T. Reformed or secret smokers help!!!!

hmartley · Post by **hmartley** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:34 am

My Dad quit cigars & pipes cold turkey because he was promised a computer if he could do it. He never looked back, and now has a garage full of happy computer gear.

Promise yourself that whistle of your dreams. You'll even have the breath to use it. Best of luck!!

Heather M.

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:56 am

i pack in smoking a year ago, i smoked roll-ups.

i built down my smoking habits gradually.
so i started counting my pulls, first i did seven pulls in a row,
without taking a breath of fresh air in between

i did this whenever i felt the urge for a fag,
and there was a big cloud of smoke all 'round me whenever i did this,
you could barely see me

then after a while i felt like i did one pull to many,
so i only gave it six pulls, all the way down to one and nil.
it was a two year plan, i never felt like smoking again after all this

kga26 · Post by **kga26** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:39 pm

Gosh, what inspiration, I just tried to quit so many times...... I don't smoke as a habit anymore, but..... what toasty said really touched me, I wouldn't put a gun to my head, so why do I do this thing? The worst of it is that I am as happy as a piggy in the proverbial with my life , great kids, fine house, live in the most beautifull area of the U.K. good friends, job I really enjoy that pays well (ish), loadsa freedom, but still I smoke!!!! Going to renegotiate my work contract tommorow, (comes up once a year) loads of plans, projections, intelligent questions, weeks of work, nervous as hell, smoked a rollup! What a disaster! Failed again!

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:45 pm

My own father gave up when we as children wouldn't go near him when he got in from work because he smelled so bad. My mother wouldn't let him smoke in the house. He felt rejected..it worked.

My grandmother suddenly woke up to seeing the stupidity of saving those "Green Shield Stamps" for years to buy something she could have otherwise afforded in weeks.

My OH gave up cigs and cigars overnight in 1986 as I told him that I wouldn't kiss an ashtray and I'd divorce him on the spot if he ever took it up again (OK, that bit came later!).

Smoking around children shouldn't be allowed. My teenagers are so fed up with their very young friends already addicted to something they can neither afford or understand and thinking themselves cool too.

Best of luck with quitting. You have children, you owe it to them. If it's a stress reliever you need, carry a whistle at all times - it works.

Trisha

Edited for ambiguity.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:52 pm

I don't smoke, but I do seem to recall a similar thread on the board where someone mentioned a book that they purchased that really did the trick for them. Of course, I have no real recollection of the thread, nor the name of the book, nor the identity of the person who posted the information.

Am I crazy or was there such a post at one time?- OK, I am crazy, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a post.

All the Best, Tom

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 1:37 pm

TomB wrote:I don't smoke, but I do seem to recall a similar thread on the board where someone mentioned a book that they purchased that really did the trick for them. Of course, I have no real recollection of the thread, nor the name of the book, nor the identity of the person who posted the information.

Am I crazy or was there such a post at one time?- OK, I am crazy, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a post.

All the Best, Tom

Your memory is just fine. (By which I don't mean to imply that you aren't crazy, so please don't take it that way.)

That was probably me, talking about Quit Smoking Painlessly, which I mention on the Web page that I put up a link to earlier in this thread.
(There! That should confuse everybody.

)

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 1:59 pm

Darwin wrote:
TomB wrote:I don't smoke, but I do seem to recall a similar thread on the board where someone mentioned a book that they purchased that really did the trick for them. Of course, I have no real recollection of the thread, nor the name of the book, nor the identity of the person who posted the information.

Am I crazy or was there such a post at one time?- OK, I am crazy, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a post.

All the Best, Tom
Your memory is just fine. (By which I don't mean to imply that you aren't crazy, so please don't take it that way.)

That was probably me, talking about Quit Smoking Painlessly, which I mention on the Web page that I put up a link to earlier in this thread.

(There! That should confuse everybody. )

Doh! Not only do I have a good memory and am crazy, but I'm also a fool- trying to recall something that is discussed one page earlier.

Anyway, thanks Mike, because I think I'm going to send my brother that link. He is in his mid-50's, diabetic, two heart attacks, moderately overweight and yep, still smokes. He also has two small children. He's a pretty smart guy and knows down deep what it is doing to him, but of course it's not just a matter of knowing, it's an addiction. Says he is quitting, but this might help.

The technique you described can pretty much be used for a multitude of situations, and many folks swear by the self-hypnosis thing for relaxation. Funny enough, I'm reading about that myself- not for smoking.

All the Best, Tom

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 3:24 pm

Work at a VFW bingo place for a while. Everybody there lights one up and lets it burn in the ash tray. The second hand smoke and the stench of my clothing each weekend was a major push toward me tossing mine in file 13 for good.

I can't stand to be within 5 feet of the stench of a recent cigarette smoker now, and everything is too sweet or salty unless I cook it myself..

Funny, but pipe and cigar smoke don't bother me and actually bring back a little craving even after 13 years.

greenspiderweb · Post by **greenspiderweb** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 3:46 pm

Hello KGA,
Don't let that slip of lighting up again bug you, you CAN quit. I did that on March 10, 2000, and I celebrate the day every year, and give thanks that I did it. I only smoked for 27 years! A pack to a pack and a half a day before I quit. I would sometimes go to bed and lay there feeling my chest ache from smoking too much. I also ended up with bronchitis about once a year, and that meant having to sleep sitting up, so I wouldn't be coughing my head off instead of sleeping. That gets old in a hurry!

I was going to the health food store to get vitamins to help combat the effects of smoking, when I realized, it would be a lot easier, cheaper, and make more sense just to cut it out, instead of compensating for it.
I did find two things there at the health food store that I believe helped me over some of the rough spots. One was called STOP IT smoking homeopathic tablets from Natra-Bio. At the time $4.75 for 48 tablets to be taken as needed(I kept the box). They are made from herbal ingredients. The other helpful thing was tea tree oil soaked toothpicks that you suck on whenever you feel like it. They help with the oral habit.

You can do this, but, it's not just quitting and that's it, there is definitely an addiction to the nicotine that needs to be broken, and these might help you do that. I tried the patch, the gum, a stop smoking seminar, cold turkey, and finally what I told you about that worked for me. I hope it does for you too. Good luck. Be determined, but have some of the help ready when you do, that's out there. Sometimes that's all you need to keep going and get you over that temporary hump or craving.
It feels so good, not to HAVE TO NEED a cigarette. You will see!

PS And keep that whistle in your mouth as much as possible! I didn't play whistle when I quit, but I think it might be good too.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:18 pm

TomB wrote:Doh! Not only do I have a good memory and am crazy, but I'm also a fool- trying to recall something that is discussed one page earlier.

Oh, no, this whole thing came up several months ago. That's probably the one you remembered.

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:30 pm

I quit smoking about 17 years ago after I got to 2 packs a day. After, I taught smoking cessation class for my employer, with the expected 25-40% success rate.

My personal method was using the gum, which dealt with the nicotine craving, and a TON of tricks, from ice water to deep breathing, but I still sweated, cried and shook for days.

Every time you quit, you're getting practice at what it takes. Please don't see it as failure. Its practice.

Once you're past the nicotine addiction (a few days is all that takes) you need to deal with the habit. That takes a few months. After you deal with the habit, you have to deal with your cockiness. Six months after, you cannot...CANNOT have just one and be done with it. Six years later maybe, but probably not. Once you think you have it beat, don't let your guard down.

Use every trick...do it all. Gum and lollipops, long walks, hot showers. Don't sit at the table after a meal. Stop drinking coffee for the time it takes to separate the two activities. Do whatever your prior experience has led you to believe will work.

And if you should have a cigarette, don't beat yourself up. Chalk it up to practice and quit again.

Best of luck!
Tyg

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:48 pm

Redwolf wrote:Oh mercy, I still have smoking dreams! I've smoked more in my dreams, I think, than I did the entire year before I quit. It's a bummer, because I keep waking up in a panic, thinking I fell asleep smoking (something I've always been very careful not to do) and wondering what I did with my cigarette!

Redwolf

Letting go.

Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

That easy!

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:09 pm

toasty wrote:
Redwolf wrote:Oh mercy, I still have smoking dreams! I've smoked more in my dreams, I think, than I did the entire year before I quit. It's a bummer, because I keep waking up in a panic, thinking I fell asleep smoking (something I've always been very careful not to do) and wondering what I did with my cigarette!

Redwolf
Letting go.

Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

That easy!

Sounds like you gave up one smoking addiction for another.

Redwolf

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:17 pm

After reading the many excellent suggestions it brings me back to item No One.

When you crave a ciggarette - take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

I could go on for hours about this and that, about Nicotine addiction ( a lie ), about Smoke the Toxin - because Tobbacco farmers put nasty pesticides on the poor innocent little trees and ...doncha know if you could just get one without all that chemical on it then you could safely smoke till you die at 100 years old etc etc etc.

I could talk about the damage you are doing to those who have to breathe your secondhand smoke, about how that's a Bio Toxin, about if you have uncurable flu, the bugs that transmit it come out of your lungs IN the smoke but cannot otherwise exit your body. I could talk for hours about these things and guess what

you could just as easily breathe AIR instead of SMOKE .

I also assert that soon you'll be looking forward to the delicious air that follows a rainstorm, and other things which will be revealed to you at a later time.

Right now your problem is to NOT breath smoke but instead to breathe air.

When that drug gets hold of you, G_d help anyone so carless as to light up in your space!

AIR is BETTER than SMOKE.

The HIGHS are BETTER than SMOKE.

AIR is FREE and SAFE.

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 6:28 pm

I've quit for about 2.5 years now. I used zyban. (wellbutrin). In fact I still take it.