Thread: 1st time over a decade I have gone 24 hours without a cigarette

Originally Posted by natalie8

With most prescription drugs, especially ones that are taken over a long period, if the patient wants to quit, they are told to not stop the drugs suddenly, but to wane down their dosage. This is because the shock that the body goes through has many dangerous symptoms.

I don't think that would apply to nicotine, but I am sure somebody will have an apocryphal tale to tell

Seriously Ent you sound like an INfomercial. Are you selling the stuff in Thailand?

Oh, and I do not believe for a second that quitting smoking is dangerous and will kill you. I wonder who owns the NIcorrette type of devices? Bir Pharma per chance? They want to tell you quitting is a night mare; they use the phrase Cold Turkey to make it sound as bad as heroine. The reason people are not able to stop with no devices to help them is because they actually do not want to.

The withdrawals feeling is like being a little peckish. That is it. Your brain tries to wrap you up in circles the more you think about it as it did with Storekeeper, but that's because he was cutting down and going all shift without smoking and then rewarding his body and mind with a smoke later. So the longer he stayed off them, his head was still looking forward to a smoke; expecting it to come and eventually he rewarded it.

It's easy to quit as long as you want to. Just stop obsessing about it and if you need to think about smoking, think about how much better life is as a non smoker.

It is also said that it helps to make your last experience a bad one, if possible. I myself got sick a couple of times from the combination of alcohol and nicotine.
I think that giving oneself a good fright also helps. This activates the emotional/subconscious part of the brain. Ways of doing this include looking at articles which describe the last stages of lung/throat/tongue cancer. Photos too, of people with tubes coming out of them.
The actor Yul Brynner died of smoking-related cancer and said he wished he'd never touched the bloody things (or words to that effect).

^ sames reason I can no longer drink Pernod, eat samosa's or visit Poipet.

same as you, my interest is in stopping people smoking the best way possible

my personal history has nothing to do with this thread

someone asked for advice, I gave it

well I would advise anyone who is reading this to take your advice with a large pinch of salt. If you were an ex smoker you would say so. As you refuse, we can assume you never have been a smoker or are still a smoker and therefore have no idea about the process of quitting.

Move along, and let the thread help others if they want real substantive advice.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

nothing can help you with that except your own strength of character

Plus having a real good case of the flu and not wanting to pick up a smoke after that. Believe that's the way I put 'em down back in the day...

It's even happening in Russia, of all places:

Russian politicians on Tuesday passed a bill banning smoking in public places, hoping to reduce the 400,000 smoking-related deaths each year in the country.
The bill passed 441-1 in the Duma. It must now be approved by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin.
The ban on lighting up in bars and restaurants, as well as many other public places, would go into effect June 1, although some businesses may be granted a year-long waiver in order to smooth the transition.
A tax increase on cigarettes is also anticipated, along with a rise in the minimum price for a pack, which can currently be purchased starting at one euro ($A1.31) .
Russia has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, with an estimated 44 million nicotine addicts - or about one-third of the population.


13 Feb 2013, 1:29 pm - Source: AAP
Russian parliament to ban public smoking | SBS World News

As for me, I'm holding up.

I don't necessarily think that the thread is "dead" if there are still people interested in it. I mean if it's going to die, it will die naturally. And if it is because the people that wanted to stop smoking ended up quitting--GOOD!

If you haven't smoked, then you don't understand the addiction. It is a strong one, and a hard one to overcome because cigarettes are legal and you can pick them up at the store at any time.

If you are a non-smoker, it's harder than you think. So if you are a non-smoker just saying "well just quit", it's rather insensitive. If it's coming from an ex smoker then it's coming from someone who's suffered through it too.

And storekeeper, keep it up. You got to crawl before you can run. Even if you've managed to cut down the number of cigarettes, good for you. You're making progress.

In my opinion, quitting smoking is a lot similar to quitting other addictive things. Some of us have been addicted to alcohol, some of us to other substances......probably the most notable being marijuana. Whether the addiction is physical, psychological or both, the process is similar. It involves our minds, and the most prominent thing we do when continuing the addiction (once it has been recognized) is RATIONALIZE continuing it. We make excuses to ourselves which seem quite reasonable.
The physical addiction just makes it worse. However the number of people who have been able to go cold turkey (and I agree that some people can not) goes to show the power of the mind.
It's this process of rationalization that I am interested in. I've recognized it in myself.

Actually the fact that you want to act all mysterious means that people should take you trail of differing advice with a large pinch of salt. Especially your "drink a glass of water" one.

Why would people be bored with your quitting smoking experiences as that is what the thread is about? It's not about about you ragging on Ent and others. It's not about anything other than people talking about giving up smoking. So why would your personal experiences of quitting be boring?

I haven't kicked the habit yet but I'm pretty damn happy about what I've accomplished so far just by waking up in the morning and not having a smoke until sometime after I get home from work.

I don't mind Dr Andy throwing in his 2 baht ... He's alright by me. I get a kick out of the posting style of just about everybody ... And I couldn't say that in the past. All this talk about banning or jailing posters for stalking and thread hijacking blows my mind ... Nobody can get under my skin unless I let them. Just scroll on by if you don't like something somebody posts.

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Actually the fact that you want to act all mysterious means that people should take you trail of differing advice with a large pinch of salt. Especially your "drink a glass of water" one. Why would people be bored with your quitting smoking experiences as that is what the thread is about? It's not about about you ragging on Ent and others. It's not about anything other than people talking about giving up smoking. So why would your personal experiences of quitting be boring?

because I have posted it before, nothing mysterious there

just for you, I smoked, I stopped, I never smoked again

as for the "water" post, that was just a little satirical although the author was serious

and I don't think a pinch of salt will stop anyone smoking, unless you have some research that proves it does?

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Actually the fact that you want to act all mysterious means that people should take you trail of differing advice with a large pinch of salt. Especially your "drink a glass of water" one. Why would people be bored with your quitting smoking experiences as that is what the thread is about? It's not about about you ragging on Ent and others. It's not about anything other than people talking about giving up smoking. So why would your personal experiences of quitting be boring?

because I have posted it before, nothing mysterious there

just for you, I smoked, I stopped, I never smoked again

as for the "water" post, that was just a little satirical although the author was serious

and I don't think a pinch of salt will stop anyone smoking, unless you have some research that proves it does?

Good - glad we agree then that the best way to stop smoking is to not smoke ever again

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

I don't mind Dr Andy throwing in his 2 baht

my posts were worth more than that

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

There is nothing worse as a non smoker than when in a restaurant your meal just gets served then some bloody chimney comes along sits down on the table upwind of you , buys only a coffee then stinks your meal out.

HOWEVER its a problem as I am sure they are enjoying their fag + coffee as I was my meal before they sparked up , we have to be tolerant of each others in a society ,, so I usually move upwind of them and drop me guts

Hate that when I'm trying to enjoy a meal also. Usually get a reaction when you say to the smoker; "Excuse me. Thanks for sharing the residue of your drug addiction. I don't mind you inhaling that stuff, but could you blow the residue somewhere else? I like a drink now and again. Urine is the residue of my pleasure, -would you like me to piss all over your clothes, hair, and food?"

Careful saying this to a German though..

Nowadays, most restaurants don't allow smoking, although they allow it in some outside areas

a big negative for the no smoking in cafes in London is that all the smokers now sit outside where I used to enjoy sitting and stink up the area

Originally Posted by kmart

"Excuse me. Thanks for sharing the residue of your drug addiction. I don't mind you inhaling that stuff, but could you blow the residue somewhere else? I like a drink now and again. Urine is the residue of my pleasure, -would you like me to piss all over your clothes, hair, and food?"

that is a bit long winded; you wouldn't even get to the end before being floored

as smokers get more and more marginalised, and cigarettes become less and less appealing, maybe the smokers out there will realise they are just dirty and selfish

that may help them think about giving up

Originally Posted by DrAndy

....the smokers out there will realise they are just dirty and selfish...

yeah...that's sort of what I mean about not understanding unless you've been an addict. I do admit that when I smoked I did stink, but I do have a more understanding and forgiving feeling towards smokers, present and past.

Originally Posted by Submaniac

Originally Posted by DrAndy

....the smokers out there will realise they are just dirty and selfish...

yeah...that's sort of what I mean about not understanding unless you've been an addict. I do admit that when I smoked I did stink, but I do have a more understanding and forgiving feeling towards smokers, present and past.

So, I am wrong about that?

smokers throwing their butts everwhere, thinking they are just small? even still lit - why do you think the verges of roads have the most fires?

smokers lighting up and spoiling others enjoyment of the environment? the stink of smoke polluting the fresh air, or even spoiling others enjoyment of their meals?

smokers making themselves sick so their families have to look after them?

yes, dirty and selfish

There are a few smokers who realise this and go out of their way to try not to make others suffer, but they are a minority, unfortunately