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BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.

McGrath of Harlow 28 Oct 99 - 08:34 PM
katlaughing 28 Oct 99 - 08:34 PM
Cricket In Canyon Lake, TX 28 Oct 99 - 08:18 PM
jon a 28 Oct 99 - 06:34 PM
Tiger 28 Oct 99 - 05:23 PM
Melodeon 28 Oct 99 - 05:18 PM
kendall 18 Oct 99 - 11:50 AM
Boston Bill 17 Oct 99 - 12:40 PM
Melbert 16 Oct 99 - 01:28 PM
Roger in Baltimore 15 Oct 99 - 07:28 PM
gaffer 15 Oct 99 - 02:25 PM
BobLusk 14 Oct 99 - 11:24 PM
gaffer 14 Oct 99 - 09:27 PM
Another Quitter 14 Oct 99 - 02:46 PM
kendall 11 Oct 99 - 01:40 PM
Hooked agin. 11 Oct 99 - 12:31 PM
Mudjack 10 Oct 99 - 01:38 PM
Mark Clark 09 Oct 99 - 11:52 PM
katlaughing 09 Oct 99 - 08:12 PM
kendall 09 Oct 99 - 06:18 PM
annamill 08 Oct 99 - 08:36 PM
Magpie 08 Oct 99 - 05:07 PM
Melodeon 08 Oct 99 - 04:42 PM
Steve Latimer 08 Oct 99 - 11:14 AM
Allan C. 05 Oct 99 - 08:06 AM
Lonesome EJ 05 Oct 99 - 12:09 AM
Roger in Baltimore 04 Oct 99 - 09:23 PM
_gargoyle 04 Oct 99 - 07:37 PM
_gargoyle 04 Oct 99 - 07:20 PM
44Remington 04 Oct 99 - 07:03 PM
Llanfair 04 Oct 99 - 06:05 PM
Magpie 04 Oct 99 - 05:26 PM
Jon Freeman 04 Oct 99 - 03:23 PM
Jak 04 Oct 99 - 03:20 PM
Melodeon 04 Oct 99 - 03:15 PM
Bert 04 Oct 99 - 02:31 PM
Neil Lowe 04 Oct 99 - 02:27 PM
annamill 04 Oct 99 - 12:54 PM
Roger the skiffler 04 Oct 99 - 11:57 AM
Andy 04 Oct 99 - 08:33 AM
Neil Lowe 04 Oct 99 - 08:19 AM
FionaN 04 Oct 99 - 07:33 AM
NSC 04 Oct 99 - 04:23 AM
Sourdough 04 Oct 99 - 03:50 AM
DonMeixner 03 Oct 99 - 11:29 PM
Joe Offer 03 Oct 99 - 11:22 PM
WyoWoman 03 Oct 99 - 11:07 PM
Barry Finn 03 Oct 99 - 10:43 PM
JedMarum 03 Oct 99 - 10:39 PM
Mudjack 03 Oct 99 - 10:18 PM

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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 08:34 PM

Keep away from paces where people are smoking? Couldn't do that, that's where the best music is.

When I'm asked if I mind someone lighting up I tend to say, "OK by me, it's the only way I get to smoke". Mind you it makes your clothes stink when you get home after a night playing in a smoky pub.

As Boston Bill said a couple of posts ago, there are different levels of addiction. You need to find people with the same level of addiction as yourself when it comes to getting advice. And that doesn't mean the same level of smoking necessarily. You can have a strong habit with quite low consumption, or a weak habit with quite high consumption.

For me it just happened that after smoking on and off for 20 or so years I stopped doing it without any problem. Stopped it for Lent, and stayed off it, because I knew it was unhealthy, and my son had started to tell me off for it. ("Mum - Dad's smoking again - AND IT'S TOBACCO).

If I ever feel like smoking on holiday at a festival say, I do it, and then stop when I've finished the packet. I never defined myself as a smoker, and I never define myself as a non-smoker. This DOESN'T mean I've got a strong will, it just means I was lucky enough to have a very low level of addiction.

Now tea or coffee, that would be a problem. And as for beer...

(And don't blame poor old Walter Raleigh - he did bring back potatoes as well. A shame he imported the wrong smoking mixture.)


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 08:34 PM

Cricket is right, Melo. Be proud, be very proud and keep it up for yourself and those who love you. MY ex-brother in law died the same way and left a very angry young teen son behind as well as two sad daughters, one of whom has a son who will never know his granddad. It was very hard for all involved. I also have a friend back East whose mother died that way and whose father is now living with the disease, while on oxygen.

Keep up the good work!

kat


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Cricket In Canyon Lake, TX
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 08:18 PM

Melodean; I am a non-smoker, but I can tell you that giving up smoking was the best gift my mother ever gave us as a family. Although she died because she had emphasima (SP?) and that limited her to about 4% capcity in one lung and 10% in the other for a total of 14 out of 200, she did not smoke for the last fifteen years of her life. Please think about your family at the end of the big picture. It was the most stressful and depressing situation I have ever had to endure. Best wishes. Other care about you and are thinking of you.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: jon a
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 06:34 PM

I have not smoked a cigarette for 9 months or so, but I still do not admit to myself that I have given up, I am just choosing not to smoke the next cigarette yet, it is a competition with myself to see how long I can wait, the longer I wait the more of a win for me.... And I HATE to lose!!

Good Luck

Jon


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Tiger
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 05:23 PM

Viv.....You're the boss, now.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Melodeon
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 05:18 PM

Annap said that if you do something for 28 days then it is a habit. Well I have not had a cigarette for 28 days now. I still feel that I want one but I really feel so good about not smoking that I will not start again. Thank you all for your support and encouragement.I will let you know in about 5 months time how I am feeling. Will probably have to start a new thread called Help am trying to lose weight.

Viv


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: kendall
Date: 18 Oct 99 - 11:50 AM

Call on your higher power too, that also helps


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Boston Bill
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 12:40 PM

There are diff. levels of addiction. You must adjust accordingly by having the desire to quit and by studying yourself. Interview 3 people whom you respect and have quit. Understand what they did and how it worked for them. G'luck. Boston Bill worked for me


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Melbert
Date: 16 Oct 99 - 01:28 PM

They do say that smoking is a nipple substitute.

Try going back to the real thing!


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 15 Oct 99 - 07:28 PM

Melodeon,

Eight days it significant!! Everyday you lay your head down on the pillow at night smoke-free is significant. I hope you will find some ways to reward yourself for your early success more frequently than semi-annually. Keep your goals short term. Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step and every step is important.

Roger in Baltimore


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Subject: Lyr Add: TOBACCO'S BUT AN INDIAN WEED
From: gaffer
Date: 15 Oct 99 - 02:25 PM

Just to show that folkies have covered the topic in the past. It has been attributed to the same King James the 1st and 6th that shortened the aforementioned Raleigh - this I doubt but he did publish a "Counterblaste against Tobacco" so he may at least have wished he had been the author!

Tobacco's but an Indian weed,
Grows green at morn, cut down at eve.
It shows our decay;
We are but clay;
Think of this, when you smoke tobacco.

The pipe that is so lily-white,
Wherein so many take delight,
Gone with a touch;
Man's life is such;
Think on this, when you smoke tobacco.

The pipe that is so foul within,
Shews how the soul is stained with sin;
It doth require
The purging fire.
Think on this, when you smoke tobacco.

The ashes that are left behind,
Do serve to put us all in mind,
That unto dust,
Return we must.
Think on this, when you smoke tobacco.

The smoke that doth so high ascend,
Shews that our life must have an end;
The vapour's gone;
Man's life is done.
Think on this, when you smoke tobacco.

PS keep at it!


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: BobLusk
Date: 14 Oct 99 - 11:24 PM

Great responses from everyone. It's so nice to see so much support for someone trying to stop. I smoked for 30 years and spent the last 12 trying to quit. Now I run stop smoking groups as part of my job as a mental health counselor. Nicotine Anonymous is a great group - Worldwide fellowship - there are meetings in most areas. Go to http://nicotine-anonymous.org/ Good luck - you can do it. Just keep trying 1 day at a time.

Bob Lusk


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: gaffer
Date: 14 Oct 99 - 09:27 PM

Piss on the packet - they taste worse and are buggers to light! I wish you luck

PS the only tobacconist's shop in our town closed a couple of years ago and it's now a town with more music shops than tobacconists. Central Government here has been quite supportive to non-smoking in the past - they beheaded Sir Walter Raleigh


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Another Quitter
Date: 14 Oct 99 - 02:46 PM

I'm only at the 28 hour stage myself but this is the second time I've quit (I stopped for 3 years and have been smoking again for just over a year).

Redefining yourself helps, using the money for something else helps and I find that phoning round your friends and screaming at each one for a short period of time means that your less likely to alienate any one friend.

Good Luck and don't look back.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: kendall
Date: 11 Oct 99 - 01:40 PM

Excellent point about redefining yourself as a non smoker. I'm proud to say, my old "backward" state of Maine has banned ALL smoking in restaurants. Of course, this does not apply to pubs, bars, and other upholstered sewers.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Hooked agin.
Date: 11 Oct 99 - 12:31 PM


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Mudjack
Date: 10 Oct 99 - 01:38 PM

We must keep in mind a price to pay for being an EX SMOKER. EX SMOKER'S are first class complainers about being around other smokers. Like Kendall says, you will be jocking around to be upwind from other smokers or catch yourself fanning with waving arms to break up clouds of smoke. The reward is when you go to a restruant and they ask, "Smoking or non-smoking", and you with pride say," NON-SMOKING Plleease...."The down side is after you've been seated, you find you are right next to where the smoking section starts and there you sit, sucking up someone elses nasty exhaled stinch. My gawd, I'm glad when I smoked, my old smoke never offended anyone.(HAR HAR)
Mudjack


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Mark Clark
Date: 09 Oct 99 - 11:52 PM

I agree with McKnees; you must reinvent yourself as a non-smoker and then believe it. I did that twenty-seven years ago and it stuck. If you are a smoker trying to quit, you'll always be conflicted. You'll find yourself wondering each day whether you can make it without a smoke. You'll think of it as a slow process and allow yourself occasional infractions. If you decide you are a non-smoker there is no more conflict. Now the question is... are you self-defining or are you defined by others?

Good luck, your life depends on this.

- Mark


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Oct 99 - 08:12 PM

Kendall, thank you. That means there is still hope for Rog and I know he has some amount of depression going on, so...you've given me more to think about and possibly help him with, when he is ready.

kat


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: kendall
Date: 09 Oct 99 - 06:18 PM

I smoked for 47 years. No one was ever more addicted than I. What worked for me was getting my depression under control, because that was the real reason I was smoking. People who say they "Enjoy smoking" are full of shit.. they smoke to avoid the discomfort of NOT smoking. Big difference!! I quit three years ago, and I now have to stay up wind of smokers because they STINK!! God, to think I used to smell like that....I still want to smoke sometimes, but, not enough to do it.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: annamill
Date: 08 Oct 99 - 08:36 PM

I read somewhere that if you do anything for 28 days straight, it becomes a habit, good or bad. Please tell up how you're doing in a month.

Luck, annap


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Magpie
Date: 08 Oct 99 - 05:07 PM

In the mean time, KEEP IT UP MELODEON!!!!!

Remember that smoking does absolutely nothing for you! It only relieves withdrawal pangs. By now, your body will be more or less rid of nicotine, and if you feel the odd pang, it is all in your head. Don't EVER envy smokers when they light up. Pity them!They are the ones still trapped in that evil circle. YOU are the one to be envied!!!!!!

I'm proud of you!

Magpie


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Melodeon
Date: 08 Oct 99 - 04:42 PM

I'm still hanging in there. I wasn't going to give an update until I had gone without for a significant length of time. It is now 8 days and I'm feeling OK so far. My sense of smell has returned and now my incentive is that I never want to smell like the smokers I live and work with. Thanks again for all the advice and good wishes, I will refresh this thread again in six months time when I will feel that I have achieved something worthwhile.

Cheers, Melodeon


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 08 Oct 99 - 11:14 AM

Melodeon,

How are you making out?

I too packed it in about ten weeks ago with help of Zyban for a while. I have the odd difficult moment, but I keep reflecting on why I quit in the first place, which is that I want to see my young children graduate from University and be part of their adult life. I also want to be a positive role model for them and going around with a smoke hanging out of my mouth is not positive.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Allan C.
Date: 05 Oct 99 - 08:06 AM

I believe the key is in your attitude or resolve. The title of this thread seems to me to be an indicator. You must change your thinking to say: I am giving up smoking! Not just "trying". You CAN do it!

Allan C. (smoker for more than twenty years - former smoker for much longer)


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 05 Oct 99 - 12:09 AM

I quit as a New Year's Eve Resolution on Jan 1, 1980. I vowed never to again smoke a CIGARETTE - and for 2 or three years I allowed myself to smoke anything else I could get to burn: pipes, cigars, joints, grapevines, old tires. I didn't enjoy smoking anything but cigarettes (ok, occasionally I got a kick out of the joints), so it worked. I no longer crave a cig like I used to at "those magic times": after sex, after a good meal, with a beer, on a long drive, in the bathroom, when I'm depressed, when I'm feeling really good, under pressure, etc. Worst used to be when somebody would open a brand new, fresh, aromatic, toasty pack of Marlboros (my particular choice of poisons). Now I can be around smokers with more feelings of pity than envy, if I think about it at all.

Good Luck! You CAN do it.

LEJ


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 09:23 PM

And Melodeon, just for you, from Merle Travis, famous American bluegrass star, SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE THAT CIGARETTE!.

Big RiB


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: _gargoyle
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 07:37 PM

If you lack motivation:

Use this picture of a diseased lung as a "screen saver" or wallpaper on your computer for a daily reminder.Smoker's Lung


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: _gargoyle
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 07:20 PM

I have heard this attributed to Fatty Arbuckle.

Tobacco is an awful weed.....I like it!
It satisfies no normal need.....I LIKE it!
It makes you thin.... it makes you lean
It's the worst darn stuff ...I've EVER seen<
I LIKE IT!!!!


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: 44Remington
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 07:03 PM

Good luck. The key is resolve. Either you really want to quit or you don't. The first 24 hours is tough, the next less so, and so on. I smoked two packs of Camels (yes, real Camels, not the filtered ones) which made it easier. Someone walking past with a Winston didn't bother me at all. One thing for sure, you'll be glad you did it.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Llanfair
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 06:05 PM

My name is Bron, and I'm a nicotine addict. I stopped smoking Jan 1st this year, with the help of a couple of weeks of patches. My husband smokes, and I love the smell!!! but I won't start again. The money I've saved is going towards my early retirement at the end of November. Stopping smoking is giving me a life!!
Hwyl, Bron.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Magpie
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 05:26 PM

Four days as a non-smoker!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Keep in mind that when you're feeling restless, and you'd love a fag to calm you down, the nicotine won't do that, it'll only relieve the withdrawal pangs. Consider that maybe there's another reason for your restlessness. Go for a walk, take a shower, do the dishes,anything to get your mind onto another track. It is not wise, however, to stuff yourself with food or sweets. It'll only make you fat.

Keep up the good work, and yes, let us know how you're doing. Magpie


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 03:23 PM

I congratulate anybody that manages to quit smoking. I hav tried several times and failed. I have managed to battle against the craving on several occasions but I always seem to get withdrawal syptoms (terrible dizziness and a head that feels as if is about to explode). I have not tried for a few years but the last time I tried, I ended up on the sick for a week because of this.

Jon


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Jak
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 03:20 PM

I gave up smoking 14 years ago after smoking 60 fags a day for years. It isn't easy and anyone who tell you it is is lying. You are now over the worst and all the nicotine has now left your body. Unfortunately your brain doesn't want to let you do something that has given pleasure for years and rebels. Your subconscious will try and persuade you that it's ok to have just one fag and this can pray on your feelings until you give in. I coped with all this by constantly telling myself that I hadn't really given up. I just chose not to smoke at that time although I could have a smoke later if I really wanted to. After a while the craving does go away although it will be a battle for a while and it's best to avoid the pub or other places where you are viewing others smoking. Best of luck and I really hope that you succeed. All your friends at Mudcat will be rooting for you. Let us know how you're getting on Cheers, Jak


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Melodeon
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 03:15 PM

Thankyou all for your good advice and good wishes. Four days now!! Without getting complacent I think I may just do it this time. It really does help to know that there are good people rooting for me. My motto now is "One day at a time"

Melodeon


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Bert
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 02:31 PM

Good for you 'odeon, you'll do it just fine.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Neil Lowe
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 02:27 PM

I am simply envious of people who quit smoking, but who can occasionally light up now and then. Their will power must be phenomenal. To me, that's the equivalent of a heroin junkie who can fire up once in a while without getting addicted all over again. Meself, I wouldn't be able to smoke, chew, ingest, dip, or otherwise partake of any tobacco product without falling helplessly into the clutches of my former loathesome and debilitating habit. Those who can keep it under control are far stronger humans beings than I, and I stand in utter amazement and awe of your inner fortitude.

Humbly, Neil


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: annamill
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 12:54 PM

Like so many have said, it's in the head. You can't be trying to give up smoking. It's a decision. You're just not going to smoke any more, period. I've been without for about 15 years now. One day, after I had my paycheck and paid some bills, I had $40 left. Back then cigs were ONLY $10 per carton and I was smoking 4 packs a day. A lot I know. That fateful day it was food for my family or cigs. I decided (very important word, decided) to give up smoking. I carried around a half pack with me for 5 weeks. They didn't have nicotine subs then, so I used carrots. I ate a lot of damn carrots. My jaws were sore from chewing carrots. I took them everywhere I went, even work. Especially work. I had dreams where I was sitting on my couch smoking a cigarette, then realize I wasn't suppose to be smoking.

I'll be honest, in my own case, I still want a cigarette now and then. Sometimes, especially if I've had a couple of drinks, I'll have one, but I can go months, sometimes years, in between those times. It's tough, but once you decide and you see how much better your life becomes (you can taste food, run up stairs, take deep breaths) it gets easier.

Good luck! If you're determined you will make it eventually so don't get discouraged if you fall off the wagon. Just get back on.

Love, annap


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Roger the skiffler
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 11:57 AM

I've never smoked but I grew up with 2 heavy smoking parents, my father started when he was about 11 and my mother at about 14. When my father retired at 65 (my mother would have been 70) they both gave up -cold turkey. My mother died after a couple of strokes, heart and leg ulcer problems, all smoking-related, at nearly 85. My father is 83 now and pretty healthy, so take heart, you CAN give up!
I don't know what 18 years of passive inhalation has done to me!


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Andy
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 08:33 AM

Well I'm going to put my two penneth in !

Ex 60 a day - As has been shown above it only works if you want it to ! It IS a mental position. The nicotine is addictive and you can only beat it if you want to health financial reasons or other don't matter as long as it is what YOU want to do.

I gave up 13 yrs ago when No1 daughter was born. She has never and will never see me smoke. Neither has No 2 or even some of my recent friends - I'm a nutter - I now SCUBA dive and Run marathons as well as 'Do' folk music (learning highland pipes at present).

Best of Luck. I found the first three months easy then the pain set in ! I'd happily start again tomorrow but I don't want to.

A XX


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Neil Lowe
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 08:19 AM

I used to carry a pocket of hard candy around to substitute...also chewed gum for about a year after I quit, this after four unsuccessful attempts. Then I got tired of sucking on candy and chewing gum, and gave those up as well. It seems that first year is the hardest. I used to dream about cigarettes; after seven years I don't do that anymore. One motivating factor is that after five years (or so I've heard) your lungs regain that healthy pink color they once had before being polluted with tar and smoke. That used to be my goal - to make it to the five year point. I've done that and now take it one day at a time, as a "recovered nicotine addict."

Some of the posts above reflect the power this drug has over peoples' lives. You will always be a nicotine addict - but be thankful what with all the other poisons out there to which you could've been addicted, nicotine didn't have the relatively immediate ruination and devastation on your life as other drugs.

I try to remain humble, so when my parents come to visit I set out an ashtray for them, and I don't admonish them for not smoking outside. I figure I can tolerate it for the few short hours they are in my house. And I joke with all my smoking friends, telling them I quit some years ago and would they please blow all their smoke in my face while I inhale deeply. Sometimes they accomodate me.

Good luck, Neil (reformed nicotine addict who is looking contemptuously at his third cup of coffee..... and wondering...hmmmm)


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: FionaN
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 07:33 AM

Good Luck!!

You just have to believe you are not a smoker, I found if someone offerd me a cigarette and I said 'Oh, no thanks...' they (and my lack of will power) could usually persuade me in the end. If however I said 'I don't smoke' it reinforced the 'non smoker' part of me...and I didn't give in to the craving (as much).

I have heard that it's not only the nicotine addiction but the 'actions' your body becomes used to that make it hard to stop, so I used to keep something in my hand to fiddle with - a bit like worry beads.

One year now almost completely smoke free (I've slipped off the wagon a couple of times - but didn't make it an excuse to start again) and I feel *so much* better. It's so good to be able to get to the top of a hill without gasping for air!.


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: NSC
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 04:23 AM

Ash Wednesday, which is before Easter, in Ireland is a National No Smoking day when everyone tries to do without for one day.

In 1990, I wanted to go to a festival in Wales which takes place annually at the end of April. I had no cash reserves and I decided that the only way I could get there was to quit smoking and save the cigarette money. So on Ash Wednesday 1990 I stopped smoking for the day and I opened a standing order to transfer the ciggy money to a deposit account.

By the end of April I had saved £160.00 which was more than enough to enable my visit to the festival. I kept going one day at a time since then. Yet I only stopped for one day really and I still get the odd fancy for smoke.

Health wise - it is great to be off them and keep it up. You can win. Incidentally i smoked 25 to 30 a day for about 25 years.

Good luck George


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Sourdough
Date: 04 Oct 99 - 03:50 AM

There are a lot of good suggestions in this thread.

I spent some time (while a smoker) designing a smoking cessation program for the American Cancer Society. I ended up being a non-smoker.

My suggestion is to pick up a copy of a book called "21 Days to Stop Smoking". It is keyed to each day of the first three weeks of giving up smoking. It deals with the issues of the first days that are different than those of later in the first month. For instance, around the first four or five days, many former smokers start to cough. They find it discouraging, especially f they haven't been coughing before. After all, they were giving up smoking for health reasons and now they are couhin. The book explains that the coughing is actually a good sign and why. It also helps a new non-smoker to deal with backsliding, a cigarette smoked at a time when temptation was just too much.

Good luck. It's tough but it's worth the effort for lots of reasons.

Sourdough


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: DonMeixner
Date: 03 Oct 99 - 11:29 PM

Hi Mel,

When I quit smoking, which was harder than learning to yodel, I found that flavor was a major issue with me. I started with substituting cinnamon chewing gum for Kool Menthols. I also hopped on the Schwinn and pedaled every night for 4 months. When things got hardest, I ate white seedless grapes which in my case killed the screaming crawlies. The other thing that helped in a very perverse way was I kept a new pack of Kools in the car. They were always there, still are in fact, 18 years and 4 cars later. That way I never had to bum them cause I just had to open the glove box. Knowing theywere there was enough for me. Having them meant I didn't need them.

Last , Don't ever should upon your self. I should have quit before, I should never have started again. I shouldn't buy these now. Bad for the mental health in all things. Instead, if you grab a smoke and start again. Grab a grape and quit again when you can.

Good luck my friend.

Don


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Oct 99 - 11:22 PM

Well, I quit shortly after I got divorced. Somebody told me it would improve my love life.
It's been 5-1/2 years since I quit smoking. Can anybody tell me when I can expect to start seeing results?
-Joe Offer-


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: WyoWoman
Date: 03 Oct 99 - 11:07 PM

I agree with BK as for my primary means of quitting. I just refuse to give the tobacco companies both my money AND my health.

I also agree that you really only quit when you decide to quit -- now when you feel you should, or you really, really want to. I used hypnosis to quit at one point, and that was fairly successful. But the main thing is that I had just reached a point where I didn't want to be smelling and tasting bad all the time, and didn't want to make the tobacco companies any wealthier than they already are.

Start exercising, and that will make a difference. People often wait to start exercising until they've quit, and the opposite actually works better. You start exercising, just a tiny bit at a time. slowly build, then you'll find as a natural consequence, smoking doesn't add anything to your life or energy, so it's contradictory with the healthy stuff you're doing. But don't WAIT to get healthy until you stop smoking. Start doing the healthy stuff while you're smoking.

And resist the mistake of thinking because you smoked one cigarette you've fallen off the wagon and now have to go back to your former habit. It doesn't mean anything, just that you had a cigarette, and now you aren't going to have any more.

I still smoke occasionally -- about a pack a year -- and every time I do, it reinforces why I decided THAT wasn't something I wanted to do. Yuck.

WW


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Barry Finn
Date: 03 Oct 99 - 10:43 PM

Above it was said that smoking in the most addictive drug, believe it. It's close to being a best friend. It's always there when you need it, you've known it for years. It's sometimes the first thing you have when you wake & the last thing you have before sleep. You won't believe this. A couple of years ago I fell while working on a roof, I knew one leg was broken & was pretty sure the other one was too (it was), at the time I'd been only smoking on the porch & not inside the house. My thoughts were, I'm going to be in the hospital for awhile (can't smoke there) & when I do get home it's gonna be a while before it would be worth while to go back out on the porch to smoke so if thhis is gonna be the case I might as well take advantage of the situation & use this to quit, so with two broken legs I crawled over to where my smokes were & started smoking until the ambulance arrived. I started back up & quit just prior to my 2nd operation & with use of the patch (probably for the 3rd time) & It's been now close to 3 years. Good Luck. Barry


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: JedMarum
Date: 03 Oct 99 - 10:39 PM

Quit, Quit, Quit ... know that you can, determine that you want to, and believe that you will ... and it is done (I speak from my experience - it has been 15 years since I quit).

And teach yourself harmonica!


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Subject: RE: BS: HELP Am trying to give up smoking.
From: Mudjack
Date: 03 Oct 99 - 10:18 PM

Melodian, You have conquered the first obsticle in the fact you want to quit and GOOD FOR YOU. I quit several times meaning I thought I had quit, picking up that next smoke is a NO NO. These folks have all chimed in with good advise. I confess than when I took the nasty desire for cigarettes to church and requested prayer for kicking the habit, it worked and I hav'nt had that nagging feeling of thinking I was going to die if I coulnd'nt get my hands on a smoke.
Turning it over to a higher supreme power can't hurt. Another possibility is acupuncture. You can search that one out on the net. I hear the acupunture results are favorable. I still have Christian convictions but don't like to Bible thump or Holy Roll anyone into a frenzy. but it really did do the job and quickly.
Hang in there and try what ever it takes to quit, it's worth it and never pick up that "just one won't hurt anything" When you've quit, really quit by promissing yourself...Never again. Good Luck
Mudjack


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