[K^2]

QUOTE (El_Diablo @ Wednesday, Apr 18 2012, 00:48)

just because you have to die of something doesn't mean it's "bullsh*t" to warn people of how bad cigarettes are.

It is if the reasons are bullsh*t. Warning people over something that's bad for them with bullsh*t reasons is worse than not warning at all.

[Waddy]

QUOTE (Butters 2011 @ Tuesday, Apr 17 2012, 23:44)

So, the recent budget saw a 37p increase on cigs in the UK, and this finally forced me into wanting to give up smoking for good. Recently, I've been staying with family and ran out of money, thus resulting in me not being able to afford a pack of cigs, so thought this would be the best time to actually try it out and see if I could give it up for good. So far, I'm on my 6th day without having anything to smoke, with the use of some Nicorette gum that I chew when I feel the cravings coming on, and it's helped a lot. The only worry I have is that I will actually end up getting addicted to the gum, and then having to quit the gum on top of quitting smoking. Basically, have any of you lot also given up smoking at any point, even if it wasn't for good, and if so, how did you do it? Was it through willpower alone, or was their an aid that was used to overcome your addiction? Also, anyone else notice that you get really vivid dreams whilst going through the withdrawal?

I smoked 40 a day for many years, I had a bet with my missus that I could easily quit for a week and she said I couldnt. So I did. I had the intention just to start again after the week but then thought why after I didnt smoke for a week, may as well give up. So I did.
Do i feel better for it? Not really. Do i feel it financially? No, because the money just gets spent on other things anyway. Even after 6/7 years of not smoke I still crave sometimes.
I am now a pretty bad ex smoker, I cannot stand people smoking anywhere near me.

[finn4life]

I would advise against gum i know many who get addicted to the gum.
I myself have never smoked because it tastes like ass and has no real effect unless you are addicted, and even then the effect is what you would feel like all the time if you didn't smoke.

My Father however did smoke and my Grandfather, my Grandfather has a number of health problems, and he quit smoking about 30 years ago because it wasn't helping, at 58 he had major heart problems and had bypass surgery, he is now 78.
My Father has quit, he forgot to smoke a couple days (SOmehow) and then he went to the doc, got some tablets (Expensive yes) and has since quit.
That was on his second attempt though, the first attempt he gave up, he decided 'f*ck it im gonna die one day and i have lived long enough' (48 at the time) and 4 years later i suppose he decided he wanted to make a change, since when he hits 58 there is a high chance of him having major heart problems just like my grandfather and great grandfather and despite what he says i think he would rather not die 6 years, i would also rather he not die.

@K^2 you are right, quitting smoking doesn't add 10 years, it's just a manipulation of statistics, like my maths teacher said 'Never trust a statistician' but there are health benefits, particularly if you are young and you wish to feel younger for longer.
Nothing wrong with someone quitting something, regardless of whether smoking is as bad as they say it is or not quitting can only be a good thing.

@Waddy, you are right on the fact the money you spend on quitting simply goes elsewhere, but maybe that's towards a nice meal every week or other smaller luxuries which you may not have if you did not quit smoking.

[Butters 2011]

QUOTE (finn4life @ Wednesday, Apr 18 2012, 08:02)

@K^2 you are right, quitting smoking doesn't add 10 years, it's just a manipulation of statistics, like my maths teacher said 'Never trust a statistician' but there are health benefits, particularly if you are young and you wish to feel younger for longer. Nothing wrong with someone quitting something, regardless of whether smoking is as bad as they say it is or not quitting can only be a good thing.

I don't buy into all this sh*t about smoking killing you and sh*t like that, simply for the reasons that have already been stated in this topic; life kills you as it is, and there are hundreds of other things out there that will kill me a lot quicker than puffing on a cigarette. For me, quitting smoking is something I've wanted to do for a while now, simply because it's something that I deem unnecesary to do. The benefits I've already gained from quitting is the fact that my blood flow has vastly improved...I was born with bad circulation, and smoking just made it so much worse.

[K^2]

QUOTE (finn4life @ Wednesday, Apr 18 2012, 04:02)

but there are health benefits, particularly if you are young and you wish to feel younger for longer. Nothing wrong with someone quitting something, regardless of whether smoking is as bad as they say it is or not quitting can only be a good thing.

Like I said, smoking is typically correlated with a bunch of other things you do or don't do that reduce your life span. Of course, not smoking will still be better than smoking, and quitting is a good idea regardless. But you really should be looking at a whole lot of other things that you can also improve. Then you can, indeed, remain young and healthy longer.

[methods]

I started smoking to try and impress a girl when I was 15 and slowly the habit started. Used to be really bad when I went to uni and just bailed on lectures and hung outside rolling ciggies from my tobaccy pouch all day but now I really only smoke when I drink, and I'm trying to cut down on that as well. It all comes down to mind games because at first you'll stop for a week and go 'well I've made it this far I may as well reward myself' then you'll fall back into old habits.

Good luck man!

[JoeyLeone25]

I'd say go for it mate. I was a ten-a-dayer for around six years until 2am on January 1st 2012. New Year Resolution? No. I genuinely enjoyed smoking and I wanted to enjoy it on Christmas and New Year. But, I've been training BJJ for the last eighteen months and I wanted my game to improve. I've lost a considerable amount of weight, but smoking was still having an impact on my cardio so I decided to quit.

Starting around half-way through last year, every couple of weeks or so I started to drop a cigarette off my daily intake. By Christmas I was down to around three (maximum four) cigarettes a day. Once quitting came around it was like, err, well, nothing, it was easy. Because I'd already cut my intake down the only slight obstacle was finding things to fill those ten/fifteen segments with, where I would've been smoking with doing something else.

For me this worked perfectly, however I know a friend how tried this (he was also a ten-a-dayer) and he simply couldn't cut his intake down (one week he'd smoke eight a day, and the next due to stress from work he'd be back to ten). But no matter how you do it, I commend you for trying it.

[GrandTheftAuto101]

QUOTE (oksa8 @ Tuesday, Apr 17 2012, 23:02)

I would recommend e-cigarettes. I myself have tried several times to quit smoking during this year, but no success as I was only relying on my power of will. It didn't work, so my friend sold me his e-cigarette for 20€ with few cartridges, and so far the eighth day and haven't smoked a single cigarette. I guess I just had to get rid of the social addiction, and now I've almost gotten out of the habit of smoking; no need of smoking e-cigarette, even though I smoked first cartridge within the first day... (Worth of 20-30 cigarettes.) Hopefully you'll also get rid of smoking, and any non-smoker: Don't start.

then you'd get addicted to e cigs

[Butters 2011]

QUOTE (GrandTheftAuto101 @ Wednesday, Apr 18 2012, 18:54)

QUOTE (oksa8 @ Tuesday, Apr 17 2012, 23:02) I would recommend e-cigarettes. I myself have tried several times to quit smoking during this year, but no success as I was only relying on my power of will. It didn't work, so my friend sold me his e-cigarette for 20€ with few cartridges, and so far the eighth day and haven't smoked a single cigarette. I guess I just had to get rid of the social addiction, and now I've almost gotten out of the habit of smoking; no need of smoking e-cigarette, even though I smoked first cartridge within the first day... (Worth of 20-30 cigarettes.) Hopefully you'll also get rid of smoking, and any non-smoker: Don't start. then you'd get addicted to e cigs

I highly doubt it, since there is nothing in these cigarettes. It's just a substitute for your hand and mouth.

Someone was talking about this on FB earlier today, and they said that they simply quit by saying, "I'm not a smoker", rather than "I don't want a cig". They had been trying Champix for many months, but once they were off it, they noticed the withdrawals kicked back in and went straight back to smoking...pointless really.

All I'm bothered about is that I'm getting rather addicted to this gum now. Been 7 days since I last smoked though.

[Viperman]

Hats off to anyone that has quit. It ain't easy.

I tend to smoke 5 a day at work. Other than a social smoke of weed at the weekends I don't smoke outside of my work, even quitting that is hard.

So yeah, well done

[Claude4Catalina]

I work with my Dad, who gave up some 20 years ago, maybe more...so I said I wont smoke around him, he gave up once he started a family so if I'm going to do it, its only fair that I dont do it around him. same with Mum, she gave up January last year after being 40 a day and advised me not to start...me being the ignorant teen didnt listen. but one thing with not smoking at work/around the house has made me appreciate smoking a lot more, it does feel like a de-stresser, yeah that is probably a placebo affect but it feels good after work in the same way having a pint feels good after a hard weeks work, or back when I got myself hooked on energy drink, it felt as good as when I cracked open a can of caffiene flavoured anti freeze.

good luck to any one quitting, I've seen how hard it can be but I assure it'll be worth it in the end.

[ghost of delete key]

Patches. Total win.

Started the patch 6 weeks ago, and haven't looked back. It's amazing how much tobacco kills your sense of taste and smell... now I can smell a dirty ashtray from 50 yards, and it makes me want to vomit. I can't believe I spent all those years reeking of cigarettes and people could (largely) tolerate me

The nicotine withdrawal was always my stumbling block. That's why gum and lozenges never worked for me, it has the same temporal effect as a cigarette, and similarly reinforced the crave/fix habit cycle; only replacing a smoke with gum.

The patch works because it's constant, and you simply don't experience cravings as you're weaned from nicotine. It gives you ample opportunity to re-train yourself in your habits. The first weeks are hardest, because you immediately want to go out after a meal and light up, not because your craving, but out of sheer habit. But without the craving, it's very easy to simply do something else instead and break that habitual behavior.

[Butters 2011]

I tried using the patches some time ago, but quickly gave them up when I started with the gum. For me, I was still in that mood of craving cigarette, and the patch just didn't seem to cut it out well enough. They do a great job, yeah, but it's that physical replacement that I think's best, hence why I think the gum is working so much better for me. A lot of people put weight on when going through this phase, simply because the mouth is craving that ciggy, and gets replaced with food instead, but chewing gum stops this from happening aswell.

Walked past someone who had just smoked a ciggy the other day, and the smell was horrible. I've noticed how well my sense of my smell is these days, and also my sense of taste.

9 days without having anything to smoke now...now to quit the gum.

[RomansMoobs]

QUOTE (Chunkyman @ Tuesday, Apr 17 2012, 23:00)

No one likes a quitter. Instead, smoke twice as much and blow all of your smoke directly into a politician's (or baby's) face. Show them you aren't going to take this overtaxation BS.

I reported that for being too f*cking funny.

Isn't that a radio commercial on GTAIV? I heard it in the politician ad narrator.

[Pagelzilla]

I quit smoking last year around December. I started smoking when I was 16 (now 24) and was a pretty light smoker by some people's standards having 1 to 4 cigarettes a day depending on what I had to do. Quitting was something I had tried and failed to do a few times.

What gave me the will to quit for good this last time was getting sick. I had a sore throat for about a week and a half in which I didn't want to smoke because of how badly it hurt. After not having nicotine for that long I thought I'd try and keep it up. Aside from having the occasional smoke while drinking for the first few months, I'm now a non-smoker.

I'm finally to the point where I no longer even have cravings. The last time I tried to smoke after a night of drinking it made me sick.

So I guess my suggestion to you is to get strep throat

[Jake]

I've tried quitting a few times. Cold turkey and with e-cig. Never works out for me. I have anxiety issues, so when it flares, I crave a smoke. When I go on break at work, I need a smoke. When I have my morning coffee, I need a smoke. I've gone through days at work not smoking and just having one before and after work to see how I'd handle it. I didn't know what to do with myself. Sucks. I just need more will power to get it done at some point. But when sh*t hits the fan in life, I stop caring for a while because it's a crutch.

I smoke about half a pack a day on average.

[lil weasel]

Don't any of you Quit.
First we need the Tax Money.
Second we need the cadavers for medical research.
Third the Lawyers need the business.
Fourth the Cig companies need the Adverts. (Did you think all those 'Warnings' commericals were public safety. They are disguised adverts. got to keep the 'name' in the public view so the kids will be interested in 'Is it True?')

[trip]

Wow, I thought this topic would have been buried a bit deeper.

I'm bumping it to announce that I haven't had a cigarette since last Friday morning. Sure that may not sound like that big of a deal, but I have been smoking longer than most of the members here have been alive. Almost 30 years of a pack a day.

Oddly enough, I'm not finding it too difficult. I'm using nicotine gum to help, and it seems like the way to go for me. A few years ago I tried the patch, but I think I have more of the oral fixation habit to contend with - so the gum seems to be the key.

Thanks for listening

[cidamelo]

I've tried without success!! It's very hard!!

[trip]

QUOTE (cidamelo @ Sunday, Aug 26 2012, 18:11)

I've tried without success!! It's very hard!!

Oh I know. You know how bad I want a cigarette right now.