Reply to: How do I stop smoking?

[realityhack]

As you asked - http://www.sindhtoday.net/health/89864.htm

Thanking yew kindly sir.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Oh bollocks.

AJP - linky?

As you asked - http://www.sindhtoday.net/health/89864.htm

[realityhack]

Oh bollocks.

AJP - linky?

[AlfredJPruffock]

Caveat Emptor for those who may be thinking of using nicotine replacement prodcuts :


Nicotine chewing gum, lozenges and inhalers designed to help people to give up smoking may have the potential to cause cancer, research has suggested.

Scientists have discovered a link between mouth cancer and exposure to nicotine, which may indicate that using oral nicotine replacement therapies for long periods could contribute to a raised risk of the disease. A study funded by the Medical Research Council, led by Muy-Teck Teh, of Queen Mary, University of London, has found that the effects of a genetic mutation that is common in mouth cancer can be worsened by nicotine in the levels that are typically found in smoking cessation products.

The results raise the prospect that nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco, may be more carcinogenic than had previously been appreciated. “Although we acknowledge the importance of encouraging people to quit smoking, our research suggests nicotine found in lozenges and chewing gums may increase the risk of mouth cancer,” Dr Teh said. “Smoking is of course far more dangerous, and people who are using nicotine replacement to give up should continue to use it and consult their GPs if they are concerned. The important message is not to overuse it, and to follow advice on the packet.”

Most nicotine replacement products have labels advising people to cut down after three months of use and to stop completely after six months.

[Old Greg]

I had the fairly obvious revelation that it was about choices. I could choose to have a cigarette, or buy cigarettes, or I could choose not to. It may be a hard choice that you have to make frequently, but it is still a choice. You as an individual are greater than the cravings created in your brain.

For the last two years, I have usually chosen not to have a cigarette, but I still have maybe 10 a year.

Also, I found that smoking in response to a craving generated a sense of self-loathing that I could replicate by posting on CUK, which created a feeling that I could associate with smoking. The cravings have gone now, so I don't post here as often.

[Francko]

My last fag was 22nd December 1989. I still miss it. Very best of luck.

Were you celebrating the Romanian government fall?

http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/s...ecember_22.php

[BrilloPad]

My last fag was 22nd December 1989. I still miss it. Very best of luck.

[Archangel]

Ok folks, top tips here please. I'm sick of it. Last time I tried I was an absolute nightmare to be around (apparently).

What's worked for you?
Do you still get cravings?
What's keeping you stopped?
Did you set a date and do it?
Did you plan, and/or cut down gradually?
Did you just stop on impulse one day? If so, what was it that gave you such resolve?
Did you make it public and thus put pressure on yourself, or quit quietly?


Thanks in advance.

I used Zyban prescribed by the doctor, 5 years ago
Yes, mild cravings a couple of times a week
I hate smoking, its pointless, expensive and wrecks your health, all smokers know this, but are addicts
Yes, when you start on Zyban you quit after two weeks
With Zyban yiou just lose the urge to smoke, so its a gradual thing over two weeks
n/a
My wife and friends knew, but work collegues notices I was wired due to the drug.


Good luck

[ThomasSoerensen]

Ok folks, top tips here please. I'm sick of it. Last time I tried I was an absolute nightmare to be around (apparently).

What's worked for you?
Do you still get cravings?
What's keeping you stopped?
Did you set a date and do it?
Did you plan, and/or cut down gradually?
Did you just stop on impulse one day? If so, what was it that gave you such resolve?
Did you make it public and thus put pressure on yourself, or quit quietly?


Thanks in advance.

A show of bloody mindedness is required.

[shoes]

Forget books and gum and patches. Just stop. It's that simple. If you really wanted to you would have stopped already. The reason you haven't is that you don't actually want to. If you did you would have.

Do you want to stop?

Then stop. Done. You are now a non-smoker.

[Gonzo]

Cheers for the responses so far.

I have the Allen Carr book, I have an unopened packet of Champix at home, I have gum, I have the reasons to quit - but I'm not looking forward to the experience. Last time I tried I was an utter b'stard to be around and felt gnarly for about 2 weeks. Also - I had 'brain fog' for a few days, couldn't really focus on anything, felt like I was stoned at it's worst.

Maybe I should read the book. Ironically I lent it to someone who actually read it and quit that day onwards (and is still on the wagon after 5 years).

If you are determined to stop but need to find away to overcome the foul moods that you will be in for a couple of weeks, I found the lozenges more effective than the gum although I can't think of a logical reason why that should be.

I would need to take a few a day at the start to keep the nicotine levels in my body up a little so that I could cope with ordinary situations like going to the supermarket without turning into a monster and demanding a divorce, but within a few days it gets easier to reduce them down to none.

I never tried the champix.

I have read the book and I couldn't help but get the feeling that I was being manipulated which automatically made me resist the message. The book won't improve your foul moods though - it encourages you to embrace them as being part of the quitting process.

Everybody is different though and different things will work for different people, but I recognise your description of the 'brain fog' and have found the nicotine lozenges to be the best way around that for me.

[Sockpuppet]

Ok folks, top tips here please. I'm sick of it. Last time I tried I was an absolute nightmare to be around (apparently).

Just get your mrs to withhold wifely duties if you have a puff. 1 fag = 1 week on the sofa.

You'll soon kick the habit

[Churchill]

Ok folks, top tips here please. I'm sick of it. Last time I tried I was an absolute nightmare to be around (apparently).

What's worked for you?
Do you still get cravings?
What's keeping you stopped?
Did you set a date and do it?
Did you plan, and/or cut down gradually?
Did you just stop on impulse one day? If so, what was it that gave you such resolve?
Did you make it public and thus put pressure on yourself, or quit quietly?


Thanks in advance.

It's simple, just understand that you've become addicted to a drug that is controlling your life. You're a bigger and better person to let that control your life. Take stock and sort it!

Simples!

[Jubber]

What's worked for you?
Cold Turkey
Do you still get cravings?
Physical - No, Mental - occasionally on the rare occasion I get angry
What's keeping you stopped?
Wisdom
Did you set a date and do it?
No - just thought one day ...this is stupid and stopped
Did you plan, and/or cut down gradually?
Nope - after quitting drinking I've learned that the only way to stop abusing a drug is to quit it totally.
Did you just stop on impulse one day? If so, what was it that gave you such resolve?
Yes - getting honest.
Did you make it public and thus put pressure on yourself, or quit quietly?
Quit quietly - but people did notice.

Go for it - smoking will do nothing but kill you.

[blacjac]

Cheers for the responses so far.

I have the Allen Carr book, I have an unopened packet of Champix at home, I have gum, I have the reasons to quit - but I'm not looking forward to the experience. Last time I tried I was an utter b'stard to be around and felt gnarly for about 2 weeks. Also - I had 'brain fog' for a few days, couldn't really focus on anything, felt like I was stoned at it's worst.

Maybe I should read the book. Ironically I lent it to someone who actually read it and quit that day onwards (and is still on the wagon after 5 years).

The thing that I most remember about the books is them helping me to realise that I was scared of not being a smoker.
Sounds really strange now, but every time I had tried to quit before, it wasn't the actual cravings that got me, it was the fear. I.e. fear of not being able to enjoy a pint without a cig, fear of getting angry and irritable, fear of not having fun with my mates as they all smoked, stuff like that.

Once I got my head round that, quitting was easy.


However......
After about 3 - 4 weeks I relapsed and bought some fags, smoked one and nearly threw up so threw the rest away.
This happened again about another 2 weeks later and that's when I knew I would never smoke again, I physically couldn't without feeling really ill.

Which is another point made in the book that clicked with me. Starting smoking as actually really hard for some people as your body rejects the poisons in the fags, it's only perseverence that gets your body tollerant to them. When I started smoking I actually threw up a few times from fags, but I was 17, all my mates smoked and my Dad said it I would never keep it up . Why put myself through that again?