BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking

Subject: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:44 PM

I've just smoked my last cigarette and now I'm going to clear the ashtrays freshen the house and go to bed

In the morning I will wake up a non - smoker

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: mousethief
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:47 PM

Way to go, Nutty! You can do it!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:49 PM

me again --
I've just found out why the threads keep posting themselves

If you hit the TAB key instead of Caps - the damn thing posts

See I'm getting ratty already and I've only been a non- smoker for five minutes

YOUR SUPPORT WOULD BE APPRECIATED

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Allan C.
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 05:57 PM

Quitting is, at the end of the day, a promise to yourself. You are the one who is betrayed if you fail to keep the promise - nobody else. It is up to you.

You have the strength to do this. Do it.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: DonMeixner
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:02 PM

Nutty,

Quitting smoking was harder than learning to yodel. I would suggest that you keep a supply of grapes around to help you with the craves. They helped me and they get rid of ashtray mouth in the AM better than crest and a bottle of scope. Plus you get fiber too.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Morticia
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:04 PM

Let me know how you get on Nutty, I am an expert in 'quitting' in that I've read everything, tried everything and haven't managed it yet.....I'm rooting for you, girl!!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Bardford
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:08 PM

Nutty,
Good for you. Quitting is one of the most difficult things to do, but once done, the rewards are many. I quit about 8 years ago after a 17 year habit. My process was simple in concept, hard (at first)in practice: I just kept putting off my next smoke. I've been procrastinating for 8 years now. After a while, I began to consider myself a non-smoker. Keep with it. You will get through this. Obviously you've made the decision. That's probably the biggest obstacle. People who don't want to quit, likely won't, so you're off to a positive start. Best of luck.
Bardford
pink of lung and phlegm-free

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:08 PM

Yeah, I'm with Morty. Its easy to stop. I've done it thousands of times.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:12 PM

Well, they told me that I quit smoking, my love life would improve. I believed 'em, and quit smoking in 1994. I'm waiting for "them" to keep "their" part of the bargain....
-Joe Offer, still hopeful-

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: John Routledge
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:23 PM

Nutty

I stopped twice - 30yrs ago for 5yrs and again 22yrs ago to date.

THE DIFFERENCE. First time I considered myself a smoker who had been forced to stop. This time I spent 3 months persuading myself I was a non-smoker before stopping.

The secret is believing that you are a non-smoker. I needed this concept to give myself support.

Good Luck in your efforts GB

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:32 PM

Try acupuncture. I did over 8 yrs ago. Halfheartedly---one visit only. Never have I had a desire for a cigarette since. I had smoked for 40 yrs over a pack a day.

The acupuncturist does not know how it works, and it does not for everyone, but for me it did.

Good luck.

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:34 PM

Good luck ~~~~

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Llanfair
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:35 PM

The patches are quite good, if you find the longing for a ciggy hard to deal with, I used the middle strength ones for 2 weeks, and the little ones for a couple of days after that.
I found that sucking a lolly whilst driving helped, the long-lasting ones like chuppa-chups. I have my coffee in the morning whilst checking mudcat, instead of smoking.
My name is Bron and I am a nicotine addict. I love the smell of someone else smoking, but I no longer have to go to work to support my habit. I stopped on January 1st 1999.
On January 1st 2001, I will stop eating so much and get more excersise!!!
Cheers, Bron.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 06:47 PM

I smoked for more than 25 years before I quit 22 years ago. In those years, I had "quit", using will power, five times. The longest I ever went was five days and I was angry/paranoid/weepy/miserable the whole time. What eventually helped me the most was what one brother told me. He told me to not even bother to try quitting until I was ready. And when I'm ready, he said, it will be do-able.

The day came when I realized that I didn't want to be a smoker any more (I still wanted to smoke!) and that the fact it would be hard to do had nothing to do with it- I didn't want to be a smoker any more.

So, on a Wednesday I started telling people that I was quitting on Sunday- and I let myself smoke as much as I liked that week.

Then like you, on Sunday night I threw my remaining packs in the stove, washed the ashtrays and put them in the cupboard, except for one or two for visitors, and went to bed.

It was MUCH easier than before. I knew it was just a matter of time before I didn't crave it as badly. And it was- although for years I occasionally dreamt that I lit a cigarette and was so upset in the dream, because it meant that I had to quit again. I did take a lot more unplanned walks and I also didn't linger over my cup of coffee. And I drank LOTS of water.

The one thing I learned clearly: All those other times that I 'quit', when I had put an unopened pack in my drawer "just in case"? I know now that that meant that deep inside I knew I wasn't going to quit. This time I knew I was.

Congratulations on quitting. It remains the one thing I am proudest of.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: NightWing
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 07:00 PM

Good for you, Nutty! I'm working that way, too. Trying to taper some to make it easier when I get off them for good.

One thing I've been told is a successful tactic is to tell your friends and let them help you, especially in giving you encouragement when it's hard and reward when you hold off.

Good luck!!!

BB,
NightWing

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 09:43 PM

On Saturday the 16th, I quit four years ago, after smoking for 47 years. The love of my life (at the time) helped with positive reinforcement. She is gone, and I still dont smoke. Now, will power alone will not do it! You MUST be ready to quit. After a week or so, there will be no nicotine in your system, but, the desire to smoke is still in your head, and will be for some time. Whenever you want to smoke, get your mind on something else immediatly!! I cant stress that enough...it's a bitch of an addiction and I sympathize with you.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 10:01 PM

Way to go Nutty. I just talked to me brother who quit nine months ago and he was amazed to discover the joy of simply taking in a deep breath and feeling that it was clean. It sounds like you're serious about quitting and that's great because it means that is possible. Many people using different methods have quit completely.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: richlmo
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 10:07 PM

I wish you the best of luck. I have just come from the Intensive Care Unit of a nearby hospital where my mother in law is probably going to die in the next few days from her 40+ years of Camels. I quit after 28 years of 2 packs a day 5 years ago,the day I had my heart attack. You are doing the best thing you could possibly do for you and your loved ones. Sugarless gum is my new addiction. Hang in there. You won't be sorry.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Dec 00 - 10:38 PM

You've got my support. I haven't had to walk in those moccasins but I know it's tough. We're on your side. Keep us tuned in to how you are doing. Remember, if you slip up and have one it doesn't have to be the end of your efforts but it will make it harder to keep your determination in place.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Jimmy C
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 12:50 AM

Good luck to you. I quit 12 years ago after smoking for 30 years. I just challenged myself and found it quite easy, I lost the constant craving after 2 weeks and graduallt it went away all together, and now hate the smell of tobacco. I did not need the patch, chewing gum (which is another thing I hate) or anything else., However, temptations did arise early on when I would be out having a few drinks with friends and some of them would smoke and offer me one etc,that was a real test. Don't give in, eat lots of fruit and most of all try not to think about quitting.
Get your mind on other topics, like counting your steps while walking, reading licence plate numbers, try to identify the make and model of cars etc. Keep your mind away from tobacco. Drink water, chew toothpicks, anything to keep you off them. If I can do anybody can because I really enjoyed a smoke. Keep at it and you will succeed. Again good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Banjer
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 06:45 AM

My quitting came about not for reasons of health, but because I did some simple math. I statrted smoking at age 14. I woke up one morning 25 years later and realized I had but one cigarrette and no money to get more until I got paid teo days later. Laying in bed trying to figure out how to raise the price of a pack of butts ($1.65 at the time) It suddenly dawned on me how much I was sending up in smoke. Each payday I would buy a carton for my wife and myself. We would both run out by the middle of the following week. I would then buy another carton to get us through till the following Friday. 3 cartons each week times $11.00 (carton price = $33.00 x 52 weeks = $1,716!

At that time I was heavy into HAM radio and I needed some pieces of rather expensive equipment. I realized that If I quit sending money up in smoke I could buy what I needed with no problem. I informed the missus of my decision, told her if she wanted to continue to smoke she would have to start buying her own and it has been thus ever since. I am able to spend money on things that I want and have something to show for it, while she continues to blow smoke.

What I guess I'm rambling on about is try to think of something you REALLY want, like maybe a new instrument, or maybe even to be able to travel some, or anything....and promise yourself you will have these things. That will help build your will power to quit. I admit those first few days were rough after 25 years of lighting up, but If I did it, I'll bet you can too! I have been smoke free for 12 years now! Good Luck to ya!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 06:53 AM

As a non-smoker brought up in a smoke-filled household I wish you all the best. Both my mother and my wife's father died of smoking-related illnesses after much suffering. My parents gave up when my father retired but in my mother's case the damage had been done. My father is still alive at 84 (luckily, still pretty fit though prone to coughs and colds) but regrets the wasted money he spent on cigarettes over 5O years. " I could have bought a house" he always says.
My wife smoked a little when I first met her, switched to little cigars but gave up altogether to avoid the regular winter bronchitis she was prone to (it worked)
RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Kernow John
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 01:21 PM

Nutty
Hang in there. I started like Banjer at the age of 14 but didn't give up till I was 53. One day I just decided I needed a new computer and the only way I could afford it was to kick the habit.
My doctor asked how I did it so I told him the truth SMARTIES he didn't believe me till the lady in the village shop told him it was true but she also told him how I kicked the Smartie habit. I used to empty the tube on the shop counter and take out one colour and throw them away. I got rid of a colour a month the the Smartie habit was licked as well.
I really am willing this for you Nutty as I know how much better I feel and how my family also appreciate it.
KJ

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 01:28 PM

I did not quit out of willpower, and there is little I admire more in a person than quitting cigarettes on purpose! I only quit because I developed an allergy to tobacco; I actually kept smoking for nearly a year after that, despite the immediate nausea/headache, because of how much I liked SMOKING. But I've seen my sisters quit out of willpower, and watch my Mom still smoke her 5 packs a day... and here is a trick they learned: It is the same muscles that light cigarettes as a) answer the phone b) write letters c) sit at your desk d) etc. That is, it isn't that when writing letters you are TEMPTED to smoke, it's that writing letters INVOLVED smoking for so long that the association is too hard to get around. So the advice is, expect to have your life completely turned around for a while. Expect not to be able to write letters, answer the phone, or do your normal things that you used to do with a cig - AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO MIND! It's OK to be all pissy because you can't write letters without reaching for the cigs! You have years of un-learning to go through. I quit smoking in 1978, mind you, and I still, to this day, have trouble with certain actions and situations making me crave having a cigarette. I just laugh at myself now, can you believe it, 22 years later and I still want a cigarette sometimes! But in my case, were I to try to have one I'd get soooooooo sick... which again is why I admire so very very much people who aren't allergic and STILL STOP SMOKING! You go, Nutty! We're all pulling for you! Except maybe Spaw, who's probably doing something else for you!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 01:29 PM

From someone who's quit before....if this is your first time, it will be your easiest.... It gets progressively harder each time you try to quit, my experience. Then again each person is different, so the successful method varies from person to person. The patch is popular, but in my mind I don't think it would work for me, therefore I would have less success than someone who was enthused about this method.

The first four times were cold turkey, and they didn't work out too well, although I did stay nicotine free for a whole year once. The last time was gradual reduction, and I've been off smokes for 8 yrs. I got it down to 5 ciggies a day, and on the night before I quit I finished a half-pack and went to bed. That was it, except for dealing with all the cravings. Each day gets a little easier, though for me I didn't stop craving them until about a year later. That seems rather daunting to most people, and perhaps other ex-smokers would verify my experience. I think that's why it's so hard to stay nicotine free. If you can make it a year, you can probably live the rest of your life relatively easily without cigarettes.

I, like another poster, used to dream about them. I'd dream I lit one in my sleep, forgot I had a cigarette in my hand and put my arm under the pillow. Then I would wake with a start, thinking I'd caught the bed on fire. The subconscious mind is a weird universe. Still, I could taste them in my dream, smell the smoke, detailed and vividly. That should give some indication as to the power of the addiction. Heroin addicts have better luck kicking heroin than cigarettes, even though the physical hold heroin has on the body is far stronger than the hold nicotine has. So, theoretically, if you can successfully kick nicotine, then you should be able to overcome just about any addiction, or at the very least you've proven to yourself that you have a formidable amount of willpower.

Sometimes that willpower comes from outside of yourself. The turning point for me - the moment of clarity when I knew I had to give those killers up - came when my 3 yr old son sidled up to me with a crayon cradled between his fingers, sucking on it in reverent imitation of his dear old dad. I owe him.

The power of nicotine can't be taken lightly. Respect the hold this drug has on you, because you'll always be a nicotine addict. If I'm ever diagnosed with terminal cancer and only a few weeks or months to live, the first thing I'll probably do is go out and buy a carton of my old brand. In the way some people are at once fascinated and repulsed by a gruesome car wreck, you have to stand in awe of the absolute control a chemical can have over one's behavior.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: DougR
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 01:39 PM

You've REALLY got to want to quit for it to work. I hope you REALL do!

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Rowana (at work)
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 02:15 PM

Great decision, Nutty. I quit two years ago this Sunday. I approached it as a life-style change. The new me was going to be a non-smoking me. Truthfully, I was growing bored with the inconvenience - always having to go outside in rain, snow, etc. I knew I'd need help in the beginning. My doctor wrote me a prescription for Welbutrin. (spelling may be wrong) It's a non-habit-forming antidepressant. Continued to smoke as I took it as this is how it works. After the third week I simply stopped smoking. NO CRAVINGS. I took the pills for three additional weeks then stopped them. Don't have the desire to smoke; partially because that's the old me. It's not always easy to quit. Good luck to you!

Rowana

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 03:02 PM

I'm convinced that the only way I could quit was to get my depression under control. The two were related. Just to show you that it is all in your head, most of the time, I dont think of smoking. But, when I get to talking about it, or thinking while writing about it..I want to smoke! You MUST get it off your mind or you are sunk..guaranteed! Now, whenever I hear someone say they enjoy smoking, I'm apt to say "Yeah..sure..and denial is more than just a river in Africa" The fact is..we smoke to avoid the discomfort of NOT smoking. We go through withdrawal symptoms between cigarettes, and, the craving will go away even if you DONT smoke. So..find out WHY you smoke, and deal with that rather than trying to focus on the symptom itself.The psychological reason is far stronger than the physical craving. Thats why the desire lasts long after the crap is out of your body.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Gypsy
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 06:55 PM

I think that it is tobacco companies that put out the propaganda as to how hard it is to quit. It's not...just don't do it. When you think you want a smoke, tell yourself that you don't HAVE to do that anymore, with the emphasis on HAVE. I smoked two to three packs a day for over 20 years, and when i stopped, i stopped. no craving. The craving is only physical for 3 days, then it is medically gone. It is the programing of the head that you need to work on. You will have absolutely no problem with this. And with cigarettes running upwards of 4$ a pack, that will help for your incentive! All the best!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 07:19 PM

I gave up, using patches,even tho' I was going through a very stressy time, I lasted 8 months and when the apparent stress ended, I started again. Dumb and dumber,dumb to have started and dumber to have started again once I had quit.I can't stand the smell of it, I have asthma and a pain in my chest, and still I smoke. I've got a pack of patches in my bag (for 6 months)and have written down the name welbutrin, I don't want to smoke but it gives me a break.

Maybe I'm trying to commit suicide but don't have the guts and want "something" to take the decision for me?

good luck to those you who can.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 07:41 PM

You will quit when your time comes.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 07:42 PM

You will quit when your time comes.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 07:57 PM

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement
I have to admit to getting help in the form of Zyban but as I am diabetic , the grapes, lollipops, even the sugar free products ( as i'm allergic to sacharine ) are out of bounds - except as very occasional treats

Day1 has ended - it's been pretty hard ..... my dogs would tell you just how hard...........but I got through and will face Day2 as it comes

This contact is very important so I'll let people know how it goes

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 09:00 PM

Congratulations, Nutty, on going through Day One. It's a very important day.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 14 Dec 00 - 11:03 PM

Concentrate on the positive...dont give the desire to smoke the power to make you knuckle under. We are with you all the way.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 01:53 AM

Well done nutty. I gave up despite being the weakest willed person I know!

In my day, in our part of the north east, if you didn't smoke by the time you were 13 you'd get beaten up. Some peer pressure!

It still gives me a real kick to know that I am a non-smoker and I still give myself a mental pat on the back. Worth it? - I should say so!! And I gave up 24 years ago.

It sounds like you know you're in control of your own life decisions now so that will make the mental side much easier than for those who approach it half-heartedly.

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Morticia
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 05:27 AM

Still cheering for you Nutty.....can you hear? Go Nutty, Go Nutty, GO,Go, Go!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 08:02 AM

If I'd known you were in the audience last night I would have offered some words of encouragement during the concert. Keep up the good efforts.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Dani
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 08:09 AM

It's about the hardest thing I ever did. It took many, many tries. It's been over five years now, and still I know if I smoke even one, all the hard work would be for naught.

Like so many other things, if you haven't experienced the addiction, you can't understand how stupid it makes you.

But having just begun to experience my body as healthy and strong after wasting the body I was blessed with, I can tell you that it's worth it in the end. You will heal, and in ways you didn't even know needed to!

Dani

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 08:10 AM

Excellent Nutty!. Keep at it. We're behind you all the way.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 10:13 AM

Just got back from the Diabetic Clinic

The blood sugar is fine

The cholesterol is fine

The blood pressure is excellent

all I need to crack is the smoking

In weak moments I've been coming on line and reading your comments -- they are really helping -- Day 2 progressing OK (SO FAR)

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Chance, Fortunato
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 10:59 AM

You can do it. I'll tell you how. Now and forever when you are confronted with cigarettes (in thought or reality) simply DON'T TOUCH THEM. Don't pick them up. You can feel whatever you need to feel, say what ever you need to say. JUST DON'T PICK THEM UP. You can control your hands and your arms. You do it all the time. You keep your hands to yourself, don't you?

Oh and if you love a pint at the pub don't go for two weeks (harder than giving up the cancer sticks).

I did it 4 years ago. Oh by the way. Smoking scars the inside of your blood vessals. Then plac builds up on the scar. Pretty soon the blood can't get through. This is a bad thing for your heart (not to mention those who love you and depend on you).

How do I know? It happened to me and, later, my closest friend. He didn't listen when I told him. I hope you do.

Just don't ever touch another @#$%ing cigarette.

with hope and support, Chance

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 11:06 AM

GO, Nutty, Go! I'll check in every day to cheer you on! More often if it will help!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 01:41 PM

Think about how much better you will smell....

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Dec 00 - 01:50 PM

One warning, Nutty: your sense of smell may become overwhelming! It happened to me. I had read that smoking can destroy your sense of smell and I was curious about mine.

Well. My olfactory senses became so acute that I literally had to avoid certain areas. For instance, the candle section of a store, or someone else's dead ashtray or, once, outside a seafood place at the coast where they were baiting crab pots- that one literally made me retch all the way into the restaurant. If I'd been alone, I'd have made a hasty retreat. But once I was away from the offending odor I was fine.

In the midst of your feelings of deprivation- one of the recurring images I had was of sitting down with a cigarette to celebrate having stopped smoking- take note of the changes that are occurring in your body. Maybe thinking of it as a science project would help.

And there will be lots of changes. Guaranteed.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 03:53 PM

I'm reaching the end of Day 3 - amazing - the evening is the most difficult time and I can get really ratty but otherwise I'm managing much better than I thought I would

Taking one day at a time and counting the money in my purse is helping

I really want to succeed this time
I've tried so many times and failed - then hated myself for failing
I'll keep you posted

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 04:16 PM

Some people will say- and do- the dumbest things. I had been smoke free for three weeks when I went to the doc because of an unrelated matter. While he was testing my reflexes on my knees with his little hammer, I told him proudly that I had quit smoking.

He said, Oh, how long ago? I said, Three weeks. He said, Ha! Then you can't really say yet that you've quit. I was seriously tempted to kick him somewhere in the crutch of the matter, but since then I've realized that all he demonstrated was that he himself hadn't yet been able to quit.

I knew a heavy-smoking woman with a bad heart condition who told people that her doctor said that quitting smoking would be too much of a shock to her system- and she never did. Even on oxygen, she unplugged the machine in order to have a cigarette. And she died.

I don't believe for a minute that the doctor told her that- after all, we all stop smoking somewhere in a 24 hour day, even if just for a few hours. I believe that within 24 hours your heart and lungs will start lightening up- they won't believe their luck!

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Hollowfox
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 04:50 PM

Keep at it, Nutty! I've heard many smokers agree that their smoking is part of one or more behavior patterns, like lighting up after a meal, just as you wake up, etc. so it might help to slightly change your various routines. Somebody said they check Mudcat at breakfast instead of lighting up (talk about substituting one addiction for another), and I'll bet there are non-electric substitutions out there somewhere. (Remember all those old cheesy movie scenes where the main characters start to smooch, and the scene changes to them smoking cigarettes in bed? Can't you just imagine one of them leaping to relax at the computer instead)
As for a non-caloric oral substitute, it's an old camping trick to suck on a button when you're hungry or thirsty. Toothpicks and matchsticks may be more common, but people can see them, and they splinter if you grind your teeth.
Best of luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 08:29 PM

o.k. then Nutty I'm joining you on jan.1st

I've got my patches, am psyching myself up,I've done it before I CAN do it again.

'caters keep checking in nutty (I) need your help.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 08:37 PM

I'm just checking in to get a progress report. Hang in there! This is really worth it!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 08:43 PM

That doctor should be dis .. whatever they do to doctors!Today is my 4th anniversary for quitting. I never thought I could do it, but, I found the secret and it worked. The patch only prolongs the agony, because you are still getting the nicotine. It is an expensive crutch. Hang in there, and remember...keep you mind off smoking! this is absolutly vital!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 11:26 PM

Please remember, It's just like recovery from any other drug. The first one does all the damage. Also, start a gratitude list.

I can make it all the way up the steps.

It's 3 days till payday and I'm not counting my remaining $$$ in terms of how many packs I can buy between now and then.

Food's starting to taste better.



You get the idea. God willing, New Years will make 6 years for me, a day at a time. I hope you make it. I hope next yearr you're offering support to someone else who's quitting.

Good luch and God bless.
Rich

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 16 Dec 00 - 11:38 PM

Great to hear Nutty. Keep going. Another one to add to the gratitude list; your sex life improves.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 03:56 AM

If I ever considered starting smoking again, the thought of smelling as bad as smokers do would be thing to stop me doing it. Just think, nutty, you're becoming a smell-free zone!!!

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 09:08 AM

I quit smoking when I was 13. I took two puffs and I quit! :-D

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 09:31 AM

Stop smoking immediately! before you burst into flames..lol Dave (quit 14 years ago)

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 03:06 PM

Along about now, nutty, your enthusiasm for quitting may be lagging. The adrenalin has slacked off, meaning your motivation drops. Just remember, THIS TOO SHALL PASS. Soon steady, pleased satisfaction will take the place of the adrenalin.

Keep in mind that your body doesn't NEED any of the things it learned to adapt to in the years of smoking.

Good luck.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 03:24 PM

Day 4 has been a bad day but I'm told that's normal as there is no nicotine left in my body now

The advisers say things should improve from now on - just hope I can get a good nights sleep. I was awake at about 4am last night.

Thanks to you though I'm positive and quietly optomistic

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Gypsy
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 05:55 PM

Check out the American CAncer Website...had clipped on my fridge years ago, the blow by blow healing that your body goes thru when you quit. It is actually as soon as 8 hours for some body parts. In 5 years, you have half the risk for heart disease. In ten years, it will be the same as if you had never smoked. Can't remember some of the more short term healings. Smoking is an amazing thing. You think of your lungs, but it screws up things you've never considered. Like the discs in your spine. Can cause back pain, degeneration of the jawbone, tooth decay, bad skin, impotence, loss of vision, ear infections. And that is just what i can think of off the top of my head. Now you are on the easy side...physical addiction is over. Remind yourself that smoking is merely a habit, that you intend to replace with the habit of NON smoking. Lots of substitutes available, play music, walk, work out, and of course the best one....sex!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 09:17 PM

That's it Gyspy! Substitute sex for smoking, go transatlantic, and you can still have a "Quick fag round the corner."

Keep at it Nutty! 4 days and still going at it.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Dave Wynn
Date: 17 Dec 00 - 09:28 PM

A couple of my Beagle mates managed to do it......they died....! Spot. (who was and now isn't a smoker trying to mix reality with humour).

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Crazy Eddie
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 01:18 AM

Hi Nutty,
How is it going?
I smoked for 20 years or so, & quit about 3 years ago (with patches).
One thing that helped me was immediate reward.
On the day I quit, I went to a music shop & made a list of 5 CDs that I really wanted. When my not-smoking had saved the price of a CD, I went & got it that very day. This got me to about 20 days. At that point I started saving for a holiday!
The step-by-step list of changes to the body, mentioned above is also good as it make you feel that you don't want to turn back having got that far.
It really does get easier with time. Nowadays I very rarely get an urge to smoke, & when I do it is quite mild, and easy to ignore.
However, my determination never to smoke again is stronger than ever.
KEEP GOING! You may feel miserable at times, but there will also be times when you feel really good. There is a real sense of achievement when you can look back & think "I haven't smoked for a whole week" "Whole month" etc. Keep us informed of how it is going. Luck, Eddie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 04:58 AM

There have been a few instances where people have said your sex life imporves if you quit smoking. Maybe I should take it up just so I could give it up and get a better sex life... Hell anything would be an improvement and that would make me happy.

Hang in there, Nutty. They made a good point about smelling better. I can tell when someone talks to me how long it has been since they smoked. I can tell, on walking into a house, whether they are a smoker or not. Many years ago I had a girlfriend who smoked. I can still remember the taste of her kisses. Ugh!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Crowhugger
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 05:37 AM

Congratulations, Nutty, you're doing great!

CH, who isn't ready yet to do the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Morticia
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 07:36 AM

Still rooting for you Nutty, I'm so proud of you!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Dikrob
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 08:40 AM

I read of a Doctor who smoked and also had lung cancer. A fellow doctor was amazed when he found his colleague smoking while awaiting chemotherapy. I knew that I, as a smoker, would have been doing exactly as the smoking doctor was doing. When I realized that this was making sense to me, I decided to quit and did quit.

Thinking of all the completely irrational things that I had done as a smoker and knowing that I would be free to not make those decisions again was what gave me strength to quit a three pack a d habit of 36 years.

Hang in there. Dikrob

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 08:52 AM

Nutty, I reckon you've cracked it - you'll still need lots of effort though and you can still feel justly proud of yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back from me.

I like the thought of substituting sex for smoking but I don't reckon I could manage twenty a day.

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 10:08 AM

I commend you for giving up smoking. You are not only doing a service to yourself but creating a smoke-free environment for others. Smoking is one of those addictions that enables the smoker to share his affliction with those who don't have or need it.

Hang in there, you are doing good.

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: CarolC
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 03:47 PM

okthen, if you are trying to commit suicide with cigarettes, there is an excellent chance you will be successful.

It's pretty much a sure bet that smoking caused the heart attack that killed my mother on Thanksgiving (she was 70 years old). She was very careful about her fat and cholesterol intake, and she was very active. But she was a lifelong smoker. If the heart attack hadn't killed her, she probably would have had a long, painful death from emphysema (which she was already showing signs of), or lung cancer.

Good luck nutty. I hope you succeed.

Best wishes,

Carol

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 03:56 PM

Dikrob, I can relate to that! In the beginning of being hooked I would check to see if I had a pretty full pack when I left home. Later, I would put in an extra pack 'just in case'. By the time I quit, I had as many as 3 extra packs in my purse 'just in case'.

When I was 20 years old and waiting for my last two checks to come from the job I had quit I ran out of money for groceries and lived for a little more than a week on Ritz crackers and a bag of marshmallows. But I had plenty of cigarettes...

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 05:16 PM

I hear you all out there and I am aware of all the problems

I've tried so hard to give up before via hypnosis, acupuncture , gum , patches ,inhaler etc. and none of it worked

I now have no nicotine left in my body - I find that hard to believe - what I'm fighting now are the psychological effects of the addiction but today ( Day 5 ) has been much better. no bad side-effects or cravings.
I hope it's all 'up' from here.

I love the sex substitution theory, Terry, and once would have considered it a challenge but nowadays I know my limits.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: mousethief
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 05:21 PM

Sex substitution is a great idea. I hope to work up to a pack a day.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Gypsy
Date: 18 Dec 00 - 10:47 PM

Tis the season to be jolly! And a pack of sex a day, keeps the addiction away! Way to go Nutty! You're doing great!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,DAVE G.
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 01:03 AM

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,DAVE G
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 01:06 AM

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 01:06 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Rationalist
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 05:03 PM

Hey, Nutty, this may not be too distant from the traditional songs after all. I know of at least two people who noticed within days how much better they could sing.

Has anybody noticed how many people on TV hospital-dramas, supposedly with medical knowledge, are being portrayed slipping out for a smoke. Nutty, you're part of the resistance to a vile conspiracy. Keep up the good work!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Clifton53
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 05:23 PM

Move over Nutty, I'm joining you. Been a smoker for years and am now trying to kick, as all 3 of my brothers have done before me. Hang in there.

Clifton53

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: BigDaddy
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 06:08 PM

nutty, you might want to check my response to the "Bronchitis" thread. As I said there, maybe if we all started calling it "nicotine addiction" instead of smoking, it might increase our consciousness of what it's all about. It's too easy to shrug and act embarrassed and say things like, 'yeah, I'm I smoker," and do nothing to change. I've known a number of heroin and cocaine addicts who were in recovery from those substances who still "couldn't" quit nicotine. Most of them would tell you it's as tough an addiction as they'd ver encountered. Best of luck. You're not alone.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 06:21 PM

I feel so fortunate to have so many people rooting for me

I've reached the end of Day 6 and am feeling much more positive now . I'm also starving , I 've wanted to eat all day today but have resisted the temptation

I agree whole heartedly with Rationalists comments and have always hated the way the Government have encouraged society to outlaw smokers while fleecing us for tax

I say us as I am not yet viewing myself as a non-smoker but I'm getting there

If anyone out there , like Clifton , is trying to give up as well and feel they need a buddy - send me a PM I'll be only too pleased to help

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Oversoul
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 09:14 PM

I quit two weeks ago yesterday. Booze seems to help, buying new CDs, and playing new stuff on my instruments. Just breaking the sequence, see? Walking around town I can smell the houses of smokers, a sweet and sickening stench! Wanna fight? I am more obnoxious than ever, but I know this is the right path. The thought of dragging around an oxygen tank on my stalks through town finally got to me. I play better, and with a new intensity-you will to! Believe it! I am a string player, but just to celibrate I bought an ocarina, a good investment.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 09:56 PM

Clifton, all 4 of my brothers quit before I did! I'm a hardheaded woman, I've been told. Later I said, See how softheaded I'm getting?

Davecoje, anger and sorrow were part of my reaction too. I really wanted someone- anyone! to blame. But the enemy was us...

nutty, you should be just about at the giggly stage as you begin to realize that you really have DONE it. :) :) :)

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: bflat
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 10:16 PM

Five years ago tomorrow, I entered the hospital without the ability to breathe and walk twenty-five feet. I had come down with a virulant pneumonia. I had been smoking for less than three years. The smoking contributed to my vulnerability to develop a respirtory illness. Upon my recovery, my pulmonary doctor advised me that I was nearly a goner. Never needed to hear anything further. Haven't smoked since and don't miss it. That feeling of near suffocation will remain with me the balance of my life. Now I enjoy a variety of physical activities without a discernable effect from that illness. Do yourself a HUGE favor and never light up again. You'll breathe freer.

bflat

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: richlmo
Date: 19 Dec 00 - 10:54 PM

Good going, Nutty, I left you a Good Luck on the 13th , after my visit to the ICU where my mother in law was a patient. I said was, she died on the 15th. You have really done well! It gets easier from here.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Dec 00 - 01:17 PM

Ah- the pause that REFRESHes!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Dec 00 - 01:45 PM

Some of us get addicted to it, some don't. I was lucky, smoked on and off for about 20 years, than packed it in, no problem. Just stopped.

On occasion I'd had a smoke since then, maybe three or four in a year, and never felt the least inclination to get back into doing it as a regular thing.

It's not a question of me having willpower. I just didn't have the addiction. And I think there are people who are probably the same way, but they get a bit overwhelmed by assuming it's going to be a big deal giving up, and they keep smoking. (And I know for a lot of people it really is a big deal and an uphill struggle, and good luck.)

One thing that surprises me is that so few people seem to think of sticking with the nicotine, but dumping the smoking. I don't mean gum and patches and all that modern high tech stuff, but the version of tobacco that used to be far far more popular than smoking - snuff. (I've tried that on the odd occasion - mind, you get some funny looks...)

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 02:36 AM

Ewww McGrath, a man and his little paper cup with its brown, nauseating contents into which he periodically (discreetly, he thinks) expectorates is not someone I'm comfortable sitting next to. Keep the cigarettes!

Or, am I thinking of chewing tobacco? I don't think I've been around a snuff taker, although I've seen it in the movies: a little dip into the nostril followed by the dainty sneeze... Charming.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 07:29 AM

Still checking on progress, Nutty. How's it going?

Snuff, dip, chew, are all the same things, I think. When I was in the Navy there was a Second Class Petty Officer who chewed tobacco. He used to spit into the bilges until we rebelled aginst going down there to clean and work. Then he started with that disgusting little paper cup of nauseating brown sludge. Otherwise he was an all right guy.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 11:39 AM

Nutty: I wish you the best of luck in quitting. I stopped almost eight years ago. I ran out and kept driving instead of stopping at the store to buy more. If you're past the nicotine stage the hardest part is finding something to occupy your hands. Take it a day at a time. After almost eight years, there are still days when I have to tell myself that I will not have a cigarette. Thankfully these are few and far between. But it is a very pervasive addiction. I know you'll beat this monster. Kindest reguards, Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 01:26 PM

Knitting is a useful thing to do with your hands, so is flipping worry beads around and around. Congratulations for doing what you've done Nutty. You won't regret it.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 04:50 PM

So- how's it going? nutty? Are you beginning to feel proud of yourself? Not everyone can do it, you know.

Nightwing? How's the tapering off going? Tapering off didn't work for me- it just made each one taste extra good!

okthen? Are you still waiting for January 1st? How about getting the system nicotine free before then- because after that is when the real work begins.

Clifton? How is it going? Tell yourself- and your brothers- that you're going to cope with it better than they did!

Davecoje? Are you feeling a little less belligerent by now? My friends let me get away with it for awhile but before long I had to pull in my horns- reminding myself that not a one of them had anything to do with my starting the silly habit in the first place.

Good luck to you all. I feel for you.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 05:45 PM

Ebbie

I can't deal with "the stress before Christmas"and give up completely, but I think I've cut down. My daughter has bought me a pack of patches as my present.I'm actually looking forward to Jan. 1st.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Clifton53
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 06:21 PM

I have cut down severely Ebbie, because of the coughing fits. I'm pretty determined though, gotta do it this time. Thanks for all your good wishes folks.

Clifton

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Dec 00 - 06:38 PM

Clifton, three of my brothers quit because they wanted to. The fourth one quit because he had to- every time he lit up, he went into coughing spasms. It is now 25 years later- he is 68- and he has emphysema with one lung that keeps collapsing and he has had to check into the hospital any number of times the last few years. As of two weeks ago, he is in a nursing facility.

I attended a stop-smoking clinic several times before I quit. In one of them the doctor said, "Dying by lung cancer is a kind death compared with dying from emphysema." The problem is that one can breathe in but cannot expel the air. (Quiet, Spaw!) That accounts for the barrel-chested look so many smokers get.

That brother had smoked 3 and 4 packs of Luckies (HA!) a day for 30 years. It was not until 7 months after he quit smoking that I stopped- I knew that if he could survive quitting, so could I.

Sorry about the horror stories- would you believe that this is the first time that I have preached about it? But it's true.

Good luck to you all.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Sergio Alguim
Date: 22 Dec 00 - 03:07 PM

I agree with Davecoje: "Just breaking the sequence "

Dont sit down and wait for the smoke-hunger. DO something! Do something NEW! I know smokers sometimes FORGET (!) to smoke, because they are so busy and they are thinking about other things.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 22 Dec 00 - 04:45 PM

Nutty: It's all sound advice. The tapering off didn't work for me. As I told you I had to make a clean break. I was a bastard for about the first month and then I mellowed out. You can do this! Give 'em hell and may the tobacco companies bugger off. Merry Christmas all, Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 22 Dec 00 - 06:47 PM

I'm coming to the end of Day 8 and doing very well. It's not actually the cigarettes that I'm craving for - it's food -- I'm absolutely starving all the time -- I know that if I'm not careful I'll just substitute one addiction for another

Preparing for a family Christmas is keeping me busy and at least this year I won't have to stand on the back step in order to smoke

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: R!
Date: 22 Dec 00 - 10:08 PM

Hello, Nutty. Checking back to read of your progress. Besides improved overall health, your skin and eyes will look much brighter. Give it a couple of months and people will remark that you "look different somehow, don't know what it is but ..." With my newly reclaimed tastebuds I found water so refreshing. That was one of my replacements. I won't discuss the chocolate chip cookies. Continued success. YOU WILL WIN.

Rowana

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: bflat
Date: 22 Dec 00 - 10:19 PM

I once owned a candy store and sold a fair amount of cinnamon flavored gum and candy to folks trying to kick the habit. There were many who claimed it was an excellent substitution. Give it a try.

bflat

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Oversoul
Date: 22 Dec 00 - 11:30 PM

Hey Nutty, a few pounds are much easier to lose than a tumor! I have been through this before, your normal appetites will return! Be patient! Smoking is awful, look for what is great in life...like making music! Do something new to celibrate, get an octave mandolin! Pan-pipes? Music can make this much easier.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Dec 00 - 01:59 AM

Another perk that not smoking has given me: I'm able to stand still as long as needed when I'm on a walk so I can watch live animals in their own habitat. In the past, within 10 minutes I needed a smoke- and there went any chance of sneaking up on an animal. Not to mention that I was odorous enough to advertise my presence to everything around.

Since I quit smoking I have been growled at by a nutria, barked at by a deer, have watched a deer busily feeding, flicking its tail, have stood at a pathside water puddle, watching a busy flock of small birds dipping and bathing and lifting and landing and chirping in their high sweet voices, have stood frozen close enough to a coyote in the forest to count the pointy hairs around his throat while he tried to ascertain whether I was something to fear, even had a black bear pop out of the brush within 7 feet of me and for a heartstopping moment we measured each other... and more. I treasure all of these experiences and they would never have happened if I were still smoking.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Dec 00 - 06:04 AM

There speaks a woman with no dog! (Sorry, it was an old complaint with my wife. "I never see any animals when I go for a walk." "That's because you always take the dog, dear." "I can't leave her home!" "[exasperation]"

All that is unimportant now. Nutty, you're doing fine but be careful. Davecoje said not to worry about substitution of food for nicotine. His normal appetites returned but you cannot be sure yours will.

A few pounds are NOT easier to lose than the cigarettes. Look at it this way. To quit smoking you stopped the cigarettes completely. You cannot go cold turkey from food. You have to keep eating. The problem is regulating something that is so central to your life. When you give up tobacco you are cutting yourself off completely from something that gave you pleasure. When you diet you have to regulate your food intake. You're always playing at the edge of your bad habits and never able to give them up completely.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 24 Dec 00 - 01:36 AM

And there speaks someone who "never had to walk in those moccasins" - (with all respect, could'nt resist).

The few pounds are MUCH MORE ACCEPTABLE than the cigarettes, please don't weaken in your resolve, eat and be happy. Comfort eating is much more widespread than is admitted and (without wanting to get involved in technical arguments!!!) is usually harmless in comparison to the original issue that caused it.

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 24 Dec 00 - 09:51 AM

Just checking in to see how things are going nutty and wish you well. Enjoy your Christmas dinner even more this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 24 Dec 00 - 06:29 PM

Christmas dinner is one of the hurdles I have to overcome
Spending any time with my mother is fraught with difficulty and she usually manages to insult everyone at the table at least once during the meal, although I have to admit that she did mellow slightly after she turned eighty -- old age took the edge of her more outrageous insults
Anyway wish me luck for tomorrow

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 24 Dec 00 - 07:53 PM

So you've got a typical North Eastern mother, so what's new?

Nutty, I wish you a Christmas to beat them all - you deserve it. What you have achieved so far is something VERY, VERY special - whatever you do, don't underrate yourself - you're in control now. Millions of people in the world can't get close to achieving what you have achieved and you've got a whole Mudcat behind you, so you can't let US down (even if you're tempted between main course and pud!!).

Stay good

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Dec 00 - 03:36 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 25 Dec 00 - 04:20 PM

Right on Big Daddy!

Unfortunately, Catters, Bush is thinking of appointing Tommy Thompson as Sec. of Health. He has worked with Phillip Morris and will probably attempt to limit the class action suits against tobacco. He may as well be pro-tobacco which nobody really needs.

I like the idea of calling it "nicotine addiction". Yeah!

Frank Hamilton

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: kendall
Date: 25 Dec 00 - 04:47 PM

Believe it or not..it does get easier! Another point of fact..it is not the smoker who smells bad, it is the residue of the the tobacco. I have a few friends who smoke, and, I cant bring myself to say "THEY" smell bad. One of the things that helped me quit was knowing that my clothes took on that odor whic is so off putting, but, it wasn't ME who smelled bad!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 26 Dec 00 - 12:08 PM

Today I would have killed for a cigarette but managed to resist
I know that after all the activity yesterday I just wanted to recreate that feeling of well being that I always associated with cigarettes
I'm still in there fighting though -- not ready to give in yet (if ever)

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 26 Dec 00 - 03:12 PM

Good for you nutty, not giving in now makes it easier to resist next time and the next and so on. Excellent work!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: R!
Date: 26 Dec 00 - 04:31 PM

Well done, Nutty. We're proud of you.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Dec 00 - 10:38 PM

I just got back from my Christmas trip and checked in to see how you are doing. Keep up the good work. You'll be much happier in the end.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 12:50 PM

The danger is that the novelty of the achievement wears off and you get weak moments. Don't let it!!

The achievement should NEVER be underestimated. I recommend you brag to people about it until they're sick of hearing you.

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Amos
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 01:12 PM

Snuff is a fine powder which is inhaled and makes you sneeze; chew is a gummy leaf which you treat like chiclets. Both are orful.

Nutty, a wise friend once pointed out that you only have to quit one cigarette (the one just ahead); but when you start, you are starting a trainload of them. That makes it a lot easier to not smoke.

Keep up the great work! You're gonna be happy for the rest of your life about this.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 01:14 PM

My biggest problem was finding something new to reward myself with. I had always used a cigarette as a break in a chore, as a tool to while away a wait, to settle my nerves, to give me a moment to think before responding in a tense conversation, as an aid when in strange company, to stave off hunger... Without a cigarette, my hand was empty, my lips unemployed, and my spirit unsettled.

Does anyone have a suggestion that worked for you? You can only stay in a shower so long...

A year or so after I had quit, someone brought me a pack of pseudo cigarettes, made of citrus peel and sawdust, I think. I leaped on them but mostly to hold one in my hand. The taste was not to write home about.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Amos
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 01:50 PM

My uncle, god rest his soul, walked about for years with a pack containing one cigarette in his shirt pocket, just deferring it indefinitely. I doubt I could resist the temptation, myself! But it worked for him.

The pain of taking your attention off cigarettes and onto the real world (which they are always a convenient dodge against) is a big hurdle for some; I know one executive who to this day chews toothpicks and has a blob of plastic meant for hand-strengthening always handy -- he squeezes it and rolls it around at odd intervals. The combination seems to handle it for him. Maybe steel ball-bearings would do the trick? (Whoooo ate the STRAWBERRIES?).

I suspect that if you could bring yourself to constantly finding interest in the moment, forsaking all gimmicks except your own clear attention to the instant and those things and beings in it, that you could surmount the snare of habit. Not that I have managed it myself, yet. :>)

A

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Terry K
Date: 28 Dec 00 - 02:24 AM

Nutty, no doubt you're following the latest posts in your thread and we all hope it's helping. But the most powerful post of all is your own first one which started the thread - read it again, and again, and again....

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 28 Dec 00 - 09:59 AM

I have to go away for a few days Nutty, but I'll wish you well on your way before I go and check back on this when I get back. Your doing GOOD!

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 29 Dec 00 - 05:16 AM

How's it going Nutty?

You're an inspiration to me, keep checking in to let us know the pitfalls and triumphs.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 02:10 PM

As it's New Years Eve I thought that all you lovely people might like an update

I am nearing the end of DAY 18 and am now a non-smoker. I have friends staying with me who smoke and can't quite believe that I have no interest in joining them. tO ALL WHO ARE TODAY CONTEMPLATING MAKING NO SMOKING A RESOLUTION -- GO FOR IT AND GOOD LUCK

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Allan C.
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 02:46 PM

Best wishes to you, nutty. Keep up the good work. It is a real sign of recovery when you discover that you no longer find yourself reaching for the non-existent pack of cigs in your shirt pocket. I hope that happens soon for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 03:56 PM

Excellent news nutty! I'll lift a drink in your honour tonight. How are you doing okthen?

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 07:52 PM

Am 50 minutes into the new year, and no I've not had a ciggy,but I don't think this really counts as an achievement yet.

please keep on at me,and I'll keep you posted.I know it makes sense, but sense was never one of my strongpoints.

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Allan C.
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 08:18 PM

Go for it, okthen, (bill)! As you have said, you did it before; you can do it again - only this time you'll be quitting forever.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: JWR
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 08:44 PM

Nutty: I quit smoking seven years ago, and dumb little book called Meditations for Surviving Without Cigarettes by Esther manning helped a lot. Don't know why, but it did. Good Luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: Biskit
Date: 31 Dec 00 - 10:00 PM

Heyya Nutty, Partner,...I'm gonna give it to ya straight.Quitin' cigarettes SUCKS! but as time passes it seems to suck less They even stink now when other people are smokin'(most of the time)which I think is a good sign. didja ever hear the old saying,.."this too will pass" well it really will,it might not pass as quickly as you might like it to, but pass it will. Personally as a crutch I found that tootsie roll pops work best,don't bite them!!! the longer it is in your mouth the longer you're not thinkin' about cigarettes.You can do it!! If I can quit, ANYBODY can. I liked the first one I smoked, and I liked the last one I smoked. It's that out of breath, wheezin',coughin'spittin' feelin' like a mule kicked me in the chest, after smokin' for 32 years that I didn't like. Stick with it, it gets easier. But you can't play with it!!If you smoke even one, all the symptoms come back, and ya got to quit all over again. I guess it's one of those things that ya gotta want to do more than anything else.Good Luck,-Biskit-

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 01 Jan 01 - 06:47 AM

Now nearly 12 hours, but, 8 of them I was asleep.That first one in the morning (you know the one that makes you cough so hard it kick starts you into the reality of a new day?)I'm looking for a ritual to take the place of rolling a ciggy,so I shall probably be posting here on various topics, even tho' I know nothing about the subject and my reply will superfluous to the theme,(I shall probably become the original thread creep)

thinking of starting a seperate thread, also intending to get 'round to sending in a profile , 'photo etc.

will be in touch

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 01 Jan 01 - 11:06 AM

Go for it Bill - I'll be with you all the way

If you want to send me a PM at ant time , please feel free and yes please start your own thread -- mine has helped me so much

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: sophocleese
Date: 01 Jan 01 - 12:10 PM

Good for you bill. You saw how nutty managed and the difficulty he faced at times and you know its possible to get through that and feel a lot better. I'll keep checking to see how you and nutty are going.

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: okthen
Date: 02 Jan 01 - 06:45 AM

36 hours and 2 ciggies, this is not an unqualified success, these patches don't seem to working as well as they did first time 'round.Have had more success in avoiding alcohol which I know would weaken any resolve I have.

nutty, still free?

cheers

bill

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: nutty
Date: 02 Jan 01 - 12:51 PM

still in there - 21 smoke-free days but I have had some help with a drug named Zyban - you get it through your doctor

It's helped me in a way nothing else has and apart from the first few days I have been unbelievably calm
I've even had friends staying over New Year who are smokers and haven't been bothered at all
I just know that after 20years of trying to give up this is my best shot yet
I'M HANGING ON TO THE DREAM THAT THIS TIME I WILL SUCCEED

Subject: RE: BS: Help,I'm giving up smoking
From: GUEST,Steve
Date: 02 Jan 01 - 05:29 PM

Why? Because it is the fad or because you are tired of spending the money? I can't afford it so quit for the last couple of years - What I think would work better is about 20 sutures in my lips! Really - GO FOR IT - and I wish you the best!!