Giving up the fags

[jitagawn]

:)

[Fiery Jack]

I've got a journalist mate back in the UK who was a heroin addict in his 20s, a 24-hour fall-down drunk in his 30s, and a heavy smoker until a couple of years ago (he's 47 now). Interestingly, he told me that, of the 3 addictions, smoking was the hardest to quit, closely followed by booze. He claimed that heroin was a cakewalk compared to the other two fuckers.

 

He reckoned that the fact that, unlike fags and booze, the fact that every cunt you meet in the pub isn't whacked out of his skull on heroin and it isn't openly on sale to the public on any high street (unless you live in certain parts of the UK ), had a lot to do with kicking heroin and not falling off the wagon once aboard it being relatively straightforward.

 

Don't know if that's the general medical opinion or whatnot, but that's what he said.

 

Speaking as an alcoholic, the hardest thing about staying off booze long-time is the fact that it's so prevalent everywhere you look ? cats all around you or on telly doing it all the time and looking like they're having a ball, whereas you know that if you have "just the one" then you're back on the slippery slide to fucked-up-ville. I suppose it's the same with snouts.

 

Good luck, anyway, chief.

 

jack

[chuckwoww]

I have a friend in the UK who's trying to quit. He says the other people in the pub won't let him! They keep forcing fags on him he says to try and break him. You'd think if they were his mates they'd help him right? Wrong. ::

[Fidel]

Well, I'm just over two weeks in and so far, so good...

 

About the guys mates preventing him from giving up... I've experienced that before but in Ireland now you have to leave the pub to smoke... makes it much less tempting..

[aussiejohn]

Hi, 2 weeks off, good on you,but dont think the worst is over yet.Hell I still get cravings and I quit 18 months ago. I havent taken a puff since then but old habits aint easy to kick. My friends were understanding at that time and there was only positive encouragement towards me. The "one day at a time" principle,borrowed from another discipline, is one that I believe works,no matter what the objective! Keep off of them and hope for the best. All The Best......... Aussiejohn

[BelgianBoy]

So Fidel ?

 

Does the car, the clothes, the coach now start to smell of cold tabacco ????

Have you started to regain more taste as well and use less salt ????

 

Moving more to compensate for the additional snack ?

 

When I quit over 4 years ago, the worst was getting into the car, jeeeez that smelled for so many more months !!!!!

 

BB

[Fidel]

Well, I kind of built myself up... or down to giving up. I stopped smoking inside and cut down to a few a day so the lingering smell isn't too bad.

 

One thing I have noticed is the stench of cigarettes from smokers.... I rarely noticed it before.. I no longer find it tempting...

 

The effect of the smoking ban in Ireland is amazing. It has extended from the workplace, bars, restaurants etc to most people's homes. Very few people will smoke indoors at all now..

 

I haven't really started to compensate with snacks... thank god... I'm trying to just drink lots of water instead.

[bushpilot]

For 28 years I was a pack a day smoker. (camel straights and gauloises)

I battled it for years. I've been off them now for over ten years.

I used nicorette the last time I stopped and a couple of techniques mentally to trick myself.

One was to try a see yourself as a non smoker.

the other was to tell myself that I was only giving up one single cigarette: the first one.

 

I also realized that tobacco is the most addictive substance known to mankind. To presume I was strong enough to master the most addictive substance is slightly arrogant hence the idea that I was only not smoking that one cigarette: the first one. That puts it into a perspective where anyone can do it. Anyone can refrain from smoking one cigarette.

 

BTW I did have occasional cravings for the five years of not smoking, after 5 years the cravings vanished one day after a particularly strong bout of cravings in Paris where everyone seemed to smoke like chimneys.(oh how I loved smoking a gauloise and drinking a coffee or a beer)

 

Also noted that I don't use the word quit in relating to stopping smoking.

I think it's extremely difficult if not impossible to "quit" but it is possible to not smoke that first cigarette on a daily basis.

[radioman]

I guess this might pull this one back up the list again but maybe no bad thing.

 

How's it going Fidel? Think I'm a bit ahead of you and I'm still clean. No way I am ever going back to the smokes. I don't have a problem with being where people smoke but I just don't do it anymore. One thing a friend told me was to try and do the sort of things that you couldn't or at least don't tend to do whilst smoking, eating is the obvious one but plenty of others. Sex is a great alternative, except for the ciggy after so forget about the afters and have another go round. After a few months I can definitely say you'll be more than capable.

 

Cheers,

M.

[-.-.-]

I am also interested to know how it is going?

 

No shame if you fell off the wagon....just means you will have to try again.