BS: Missing smoking

Subject: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 07:21 AM

I've given up for 3 years, and I'm proud of myself for that.

However, for the last couple of months I've really (and I mean really) wanted a cigarette. I know I can't, and I won't, but the urge is tricky.

Whoever said that it would get easier is dead wrong...

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,eerehs
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 08:06 AM

gave up just after my son was born - he is 25 now - but there are still the odd time when i feel that urge to light up - i think it is like being "a recovering alcoholic" always there just buried deep inside and then every now and then something happens that triggers the urge - a really nice meal and a good bottle of wine -for me its the smell of a swan vesta match when it has just been struck and used to light a cig!!!! its strange the different triggers for different people!
just don't give in because if you do you never know if you will be able to stop again!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 08:17 AM

34 years stopped. 50 a day. Never get the urge to smoke anymore.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 08:31 AM

I applaud you for managing to stop, Ed, and I sympathize with the struggle to start again.

I have an idea. Get a piggy bank and write on it the name of a really nice instrument or music book you want. When you feel the urge for a cigarette, put the cost of a pack into the jar. This will reward you for abstaining.

Arthur, you say you stopped 34 years ago. HOw long did it take for the urge to disappear?

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 08:33 AM

Was smoking 30-35 a day and stopped in 1991... never craved one since...... at the risk of the usual anti-Christian attack... I stopped very soon after I became Christian and having prayed for the craving to be taken away... it was!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 08:42 AM

I quit 14 years ago after 47 years of enjoying that poison. I get an urge to smoke from time to time but it's never strong enough to make me do it, and what works for me is getting my mind on something else. That is the ONLY thing that has worked from day one.If you dwell on it I guarantee you will smoke.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 09:02 AM

leeneia
I took me about 2 years to be able to resist the urge. It was a struggle until then.
After that, I made the odd comment like "A nice cigar would go down well with this coffee and brandy", but never wanted one.
I guess it's mind over matter/strong will.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 09:13 AM

Kendall nailed it for me as well.

I quit by just knowing that "Urges Pass" and going on with whatever I was doing. If I tried the substitution methods as I had done so many times before, I always wound up thinking, "I'm chewing gum (or whatever) instead of a cigarette." All that did was remind me that I wanted a cigarette.

If I get the urge, I KNOW that urges pass so I just keep on with whatever it is I'm doing. I get very few urges anymore.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Amos
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 09:45 AM

I handled it (missing smoking) by starting to smoke again.

So in due course (weasel-talk) I have to gothrough the whole routine again.

I can't think about that today....I'll think about that tomorrow, as a famous American philosopheresse once said.



A

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 09:48 AM

I stopped around 1972 or so - just stopped one day because I woke up and couldn't bear the thought of a cigarette. I've never felt the urge for one ever again.

It's my own belief, for what it's worth, that there is a genetic predisposition in some people, towards drugs like nicotine or alcohol - or whatever - which makes it much harder for them to stop. Whether this has any truth or not, I don't know - just a guess on my part.

But anyway - good luck to you if you can resist the urge to smoke!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 09:54 AM

Thanks everyone.

I thought that the urge had passed, but it decided to come visiting again. I guess I just have to close the curtains, lock the door and pretend that I'm out.

I'll use catspaw's "I KNOW that urges pass" as my mantra

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Bobert
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 09:57 AM

First of all, you really don't want a cigarette... You are just obsessin' on the idea of wanting a cigarette... I mean, if you've gone 3 years then you certainly are no longer a "smoker" so here's what you need to do... Find somethin' else to obsess over... You know, something that doesn't make yer breath smell like the cat box and something that ain't harmfull...

B~ (25 years and counting since my last cigarette...)

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: olddude
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 10:02 AM

I am struggling with it right now ... still fighting the demon and it is no fun at all ... having a smoke has always been my "break" time, the time for myself ... it is like losing a friend even though in my head I know how bad it is ... crazy huh ...

No fun but I will beat it ...

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 10:18 AM

I know what you mean. Damn. I know what all of you mean. A cigarette was my break, my reward for a job well done, my crutch if I was hungry and food wasn't available, my bit of flavor after food, my calm-er when I was fidgety, all that and much more.

And yet although I still wanted to smoke, I didn't want to be a smoker anymore. So I quit, almost 33 years ago. It is just about the only thing in my life that I am consistently proud of- because no one can do it for you. You have to walk it by yourself...

Once in a while after all these years when I pass by a smoker outdoors, the smoke smells good to me. Never indoors or in close quarters though; it chokes me up.

After I quit, I told people that if I became terminally ill from some other cause, I would take up smoking again until the end. But I have definitely changed my mind; why in the world would I want to smell like that again! lol

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: jacqui.c
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 11:24 AM

Last time I gave up I had real withdrawal symptoms - stomach cramps were the worst. Since I never want to go through that again, no more smoking. I smoked my last cigarette on January 1 1983. It took a couple of years for the craving to go away but now, just the thought makes me cringe.

Good luck in staying off it - just think about how horrible the smoke would taste after so long and how lightheaded it would make you feel.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 11:36 AM

just think about...how lightheaded it would make you feel.

I quite like feeling lightheaded! But thanks for the support

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 11:41 AM

I am at a loss how anyone can crave for something so disgusting and antisocial.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 11:47 AM

Insert your own addiction in there, Bonzo. Chances are it is no more appetizing.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 12:07 PM

Perhaps a little historical perspective might serve you here, B3l. Go back as little as ten years or twenty years, and smoking was still the norm. Go back to the 1940s/1960s and everyone smoked - on film, on TV, in the pubs, streets, cinemas, restaurants, etc. Go back to the 1920s and you'll read that doctors were recommending people to smoke as being "good for you".

Many people who are trying to stop now - or who have stopped - probably started to smoke many, many years ago, when it wasn't always considered "disgusting and antisocial". A little charity - whether Christian or un-Christian - is always nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: olddude
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 12:11 PM

When I was a kid you were the oddball if you didn't smoke ... very few did not. It is easy for others to throw rocks isn't it ... usually what they do in other areas is far worse. At least us smokers who are considerate of others only hurt ourselves. You won't see me smoking around another person ever ... only by myself outside someplace.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 12:41 PM

"I am at a loss how anyone can crave for something so disgusting and antisocial."

Bonzo, stick to the subject of the thread - this is about smoking, not the conservative party! :-) :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Amos
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 12:42 PM

Bonzo:: Walk a mile in his mocassins, dude.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 01:17 PM

Ed - yes the craving does come back and back again and unexpectedly. Every time it does, (if this is a possibility) go brush your teeth very slowly. It helps.

GeorgianSilver - what ever works for any person works. If praying and faith did it for you, then more power to you.

Sometimes people post without thinking. A lot of us do it. Lets not turn this thread into an attack on B3L. We are here to encourage Ed.

      
    
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Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,999
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 02:37 PM

Congratulations to you Guest,Ed.

I have no words of wisdom to add. I see that the erudite and the simple have both put in their two cents and anything I could say would just detract from your attestation that you`ve been smokeless for three years. Bravo.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Morticia
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 03:01 PM

Hi Ed, we walked some of this giving up cigarettes path together if I recall right? It's five or six years for me now. I get the occasional craving too especially as we now have a smoker living with us but I don't think I will give in... as Jacqui said, I wouldn't want to go through giving up again. Just think what we went through, you wouldn't want it to be for nothing, would you?

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 04:24 PM

As a non-smoker who cringes at my memories of the times when almost everyone smoked..(I grew up in a house filled with smoke).. I truly appreciate the changes and hope that EVERYONE will find the will power to quit.

Just imagine if they just discovered tobacco recently and someone was trying to market cigarettes for the first time... the FDA (in the US) would ban it so fast......

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: skipy
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 07:19 PM

Stopped for 11 years once! But will never stop again until it kills me, I may have given up eventually but now that my human righs are infringed I WILL NOT!
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Beer
Date: 14 Jul 10 - 08:05 PM

Had my last new years eve of 2001.
The only time that I really miss it is when I'm by a camp fire after a good plate of beans and home made bread. I crack a cold one and look to have something else in my other hand.
All the best to you Guest, Ed.
Ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Allan C.
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 06:17 AM

It was September 6, 1978, the day before my then-wife's birthday. I hadn't found anything to give her as a gift. She'd been after me to quit smoking and so I decided that this would be the gift. In my workshop I created a tiny, velvet-lined casket in which I placed my last Marlboro. I drove a tiny wooden "stake" through the place where one might imagine a heart. Then I painted a tiny drop of blood dripping from the stake. This was the gift.

I somehow managed to remain smokeless for the next two decades, lapsing only when fishing with my Marlboro-smoking fishing buddy. (I rationalized that it kept the mosquitoes away.) This illustrates what I came to realize over time: From the time I "quit" I have been "blessed" with the ability to smoke at times with impunity. I have smoked for a few months at a time and have still been able to simply "walk away". My heart goes out to those for whom quitting has been such a struggle.

Another discovery was that I was a "social smoker". You've heard of social drinkers - well, it is sorta like that. When I used to hang out at a coffee shop with my daughter, Kelly, I always smoked with her. Most folks who knew me during my stay in England knew that I smoked; but I really believe it was mostly because I was virtually surrounded by others who smoked.

That said, I haven't had a smoke since late 2004 and am highly unlikely to ever smoke again. Do I miss it? Yes, at times - especially when I catch a whiff of a passing Marlboro. (Other brands don't create any similar reaction which really does make me wonder what they put in those things!)

This is a rather long-winded way to get to what I really wanted to say. Yes, the cravings do continue even though they do fade by a lot over the years. Just hang in there and the cravings will pass.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 07:30 AM

Taking the Park & Ride out of Norwich last week I mused how once upon a time such stifling heat on the upper deck would have been exacerbated by fag smoke. Difficult to imagine it now somehow; although our favourite folk club meets in a pub which locks its doors at 11.30 and the smokers in the bar are free to light up. First thing we do when get in is put our clothes in the washing machine!

Breaks my heart to see old heroes forced to smoke in the cold outside the Ex-Servicemen's club though, although the smokers clustering around other doorways can be a bit of a pain. As an ex-smoker I might sympathise, but once I met a chap on a National Express coach from London to Durham who took me as a kindred spirit on account of the packet of Drum in my top pocket. Back then you could only get Drum off the boat as it were, so this was a badge of a serious smoker. However, whilst 7 or so hours without a fag were no bother to a lightweight such as myself, to my friend it was a purgatory he was unwilling to endure. So, seeking to by-pass the smoke alarms in the coach toilets he would inhale whilst kneeling over the toilet - and exhale with his head in the bowl as he flushed. He was very proud of this discovery, but it made me realise that I couldn't really be that much of a smoker if I wasn't prepared to endure the stench of a National Express chemical toilet awash with a day's worth of exrement just so I might savour my precious snout.

I gave up a few months later in August 2000 and, some ten years on, have not once faltered in my resolve, although I do eat rather a lot by way of compensation - all good stuff mark you, just rather too much of it - thus I am, as a consequence, somewhat overweight, though I am working on it...

I miss smoking as part of our culture; I miss smoking as personal ritual - the Job papers, the Swan Vestas, the Drum or GV. I miss smoking whilst working, I miss smoking whilst drinking - indeed, when I gave up I went for 5 whole years without darkening the doors of a pub (or folk club) so strong were the associations.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: DonMeixner
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 09:05 AM

I quit when they were $1.00 in machines. Hardest thing I have ever done. The urges go away for many, not all, and the temptation takes time as well.

Like when I'm in the glow of a Coleman lamps on a cool April night fishing for Bullhead (Hornpout in New England) or Lake Trout. I'll sip on a cup of coffee with a shot or two of iron in it. Thats when a smoke seems most tempting. BUt at $9.84 a pack for Salem Lights I can easily resist.

D

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 09:27 AM

skipy, you have a God given right to kill yourself. But, have you considered the people who care for you?

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Amos
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 09:41 AM

Sedayne, that was fine improv indeed.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 10:48 AM

I had not really smoked for 15 years - I say not really because I would have the occasional one and laught it off. Never really got the urge again but about 2 years ago - when working shifts - the urge came back strong and I started smoking the odd small cigar. That of course led to more until the odd cigar had turned into 10 a day and cigarettes whan I couldn't get may favourites.

Until a few months ago. I decided I wasn't really enjoying it and came across this website. Now, I am very cynical about psycho-babble but I read this and a lot really rang true. And I have neither smoked nor wanted to since.

Do whatever works for you, Ed. But take as much help as you like:-)

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 10:52 AM

BTW - skipy - I don't want to sound harsh but not being able to smoke in pubs is NOT an infringement of human rights. Calling it so demeans all the people who have to suffer real hardship. Please stop whinging.

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 02:04 PM

Most people don't smoke. I dare say most of those who don't smoke don't want to breathe someone else's toxic fumes. Majority rules in most places.
When I enter a store and there is some inconsiderate ape sucking on a cancer stick and I have to pass through his cloud of poison I resent it. And, if there is a sign that plainly says NO Smoking within so many feet of the entrance I will mention it.If said ape doesn't like that he can discuss it with the cop I call.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Amos
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 02:10 PM

Jeeze, Skipper, remind me not to try and blow smoke up your ass! :D



A

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 02:11 PM

In a bus shelter the other day a man was sitting there smoking a cigarette. I waited, hoping that my throat would get used to it but it didn't, so I said mildly, You know,Juneau has an ordinance against smoking in shelters. You're supposed to be ten feet from here.

He mumbled, I was here first.

I said, It's the law.

He got up and stalked away. (Hi, Skipy! I admit that if I were a smoker today I would be in an eternal uproar. Where are the days when we assumed that 'Hey, I'm a smoker. I smoke. Deal with it.')

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Bill D
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 04:27 PM

If I remember correctly, there were only two instances in my life where I told someone "If you do that again, I'll punch you!"....both times were when they intentionally blew smoke in my face. Since I was known as a pretty calm, mild-mannered guy, it got their attention.

That has been over 35 years ago.....although I have had, a few times, to do as Ebbie did and warn someone about the rules, or that their smoke was blowing MY way.

At one time, I simply avoided places where there was much smoking going on, but once the evidence about the dangers was clear and we heard how tobacco companies had hidden the real data, I became MUCH more militant about MY rights.
   These days is is a very rare instance when I even have to smell a cigarette.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: kendall
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 08:41 PM

Bill, I've heard of "telegraphing" a punch, but that beats all!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: GUEST,Patsy Warren
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 06:37 AM

I am still finding hard to completely give up because I do actually enjoy it especially after a day at work and in the evening when I have some quiet time to myself. However, I totally agree on the total ban of smoking in enclosed public places and also some outside dining areas and admit that I am feeling the benefits from this myself. When the introduction of the banning of smoking was imposed on buses a while back it was one of the best things introduced. At first smoking was designated just to one side of pub eateries as it was in the cinemas but it was just ridiculous because the smoke was drifting over to the otherside and reaching the non-smokers and families and was no benefit at all. Families can relax now in the knowledge that they can go out and eat as a family without the risk of breathing in someone elses smoke not to mention the improvement on the environment with the disposal of cigarette ends and ash. The only downside is that now the smell of tobacco and cigarette smoke is gone the odours from public conveniences can be easier to pick up especially the gents loo ho ho, (debate)). Whether I will give up totally I don't know, I will give it another try.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: kendall
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 08:33 AM

Patsy. I'll bet if you really examine why you smoke you will realize it is not because you like it, but rather because you want to relieve the discomfort of NOT smoking.
One can easily give up things they merely like; ice cream,Oreo cookies,chewing gum and there are no withdrawal symptoms.
However, if you have withdrawal symptoms for not smoking, you have an addiction and your body is in charge.

I've known a few people who smoked three packs a day but never got addicted. I've watched them burn up one after another and lay them in a smoldering ash tray so it seemed to me they were not really smoking at all!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: DonMeixner
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 08:53 AM

Patsy,

I couldn't have quit without the help of grapes and oranges. Something soothing in them that helped defeat the cravings.
Good luck, don't be concerned about failure, just keep trying.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Nick
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 11:04 AM

I gave up on December 16 1990 and have never smoked a cigarette since. My wife bought me Allen Carr's book which was more about breaking habits and associations which has always made it easy never to go back.

The only place I ever notice it is on holiday in Greece as it was an association that I never broke. Aware of it but have no urge to do it.

Recently stopped drinking after reading his book about drinking. It argues that there is no indication of any genetic disposition and I tend to agree with him.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Rog Peek
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 09:50 AM

I gave up in 1976. I was starting a new job, and figured it would help me stick with it if I started as a non smoker. By God though, it was hard! I sucked so many boiled sweets, that a ended up with a very ulcerated mouth. So, I went on the Rinstead Pastilles - well exceeded the recommended dose.

I craved a cigarette for a long time after that. What stopped me starting again? It was the memory of how hard it was to give up, never wanted to go through that again.

At the time, I swore that I'd start again when I retired, on the grounds that I'd probably be near enough to the end for the health issue not to matter. Don't think I ever will though.

Rog

P.S. I thgought for a moment there this was going to turn into another acrimonious 'smoker vs non-smoker' thread. Glad it didn't.

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: kendall
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 12:30 PM

It's not too late! hehehe

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 01:27 PM

As I get older and my asthma gets worse, I am more and more grateful for today's anti-smoking laws and the prevailing social attitude that made them possible. If smoking were still allowed in restaurants and pubs, I would never spend more than five minutes in a commercial dining establishment, and if the tide had not turned on accepting smoking in people's homes, I would have no social life at all.

Every smoker who kicks the habit makes my life just a bit better. So, Ed, from the bottom of my struggling lungs, thanks a million!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 01:38 PM

I'll join my voice to yours, Charmion. Thank you to all who quit!

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Jul 10 - 07:59 AM

I think that you need to have been made sick by smoking,in order to be able to refrain from it without the least discomfort,or "cravings" ,as I do today (although after a long struggle). I suffered for many years from hyperventilation and "panic attacks", but my life changed profoundly after I stopped smoking --must be 8?9? years ago ? I would never have believed anyone, including a doctor,who had suggested that smoking could be a causal factor of my "condition" (which,of course,it was ).
       Giving up was hard. I both felt,and knew,that smoking per se was dirty,unpleasant (especially for other, non-smoking people) and ,of course,expensive,but such was the addiction to Nicotine (which in its pure,liquid form will kill you in SECONDS ),and,to a lesser but still significant extent,the "ritual" associated with the habit,viz the lighter,the roller,the packet,the papers,the tips etc, as already discussed,that it was,for me,an ordeal that lasted for some years, and which I could only endure with the help of nicotine chewing-gum.
   After about five years on nicotine gum,then a couple more on ordinary gum (I was addicted to chewing by then !!), I finally reached a stage of normality,whereby I can say that my battle is won ,although my teeth are shot !! But my overall health is so much improved,that for me anyway,it's like a miracle !! And I never,ever,would go back to smoking,and I can't BEAR to be near anyone who is smoking, either !! And every time I look at a once-attractive 40-something woman (or man !) ,with a face as wrinkled as an 80 year old Bedouin,furtively sucking on their "fix" up an alley,or in a shop doorway,even in the cold or rain, I think "Thank God I'm not like that !!"

Subject: RE: BS: Missing smoking
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 18 Jul 10 - 10:39 AM

I quit smoking sixty-seven years ago.   I was thirteen at the time.

A friend and I "hooked" a four-cigarette sample pack, and we went down in the basement. He lit up, and smoked. Then I lit up, took two puffs, and quit.

I haven't had any urges to go back to smoking. See? It's easy!

Dave Oesterreich