blonde poker forum

I was watching a player enjoy a cigarette at Notts last night, and although I haven’t smoked for five years, I could have murdered one

I was a terrible smoker, I started when I was about 13, and by the time I was 20 I was on 30 plus a day, by the time I gave up I was on approx 60 a day (I don’t know the exact figure because by that time I couldn’t afford to buy ready made's and was rolling my own)

I had tried many times in the past to give up, all without success, life didn’t seem worth living without a fag. If I was worried, I had a smoke, if I was enjoying something, I enjoyed it more if I smoked, a cup of tea wasn’t the same without a cigarette, It was getting to the stage where I only had sex so that I could enjoy the cigarette after

I got those leaflets that tell you how to stop, first you have to find out what kind of smoker you are, i.e. social, habitual, pleasure, anxiety etc, I was all of them. I used to smoke my last one just before bed, and my first one before I got my pants on

I knew it was killing me, but I didn’t know just how bad I felt until I gave up and started to feel better

I stopped smoking five minutes at a time, it was the only way I could do it, I couldn’t face the thought of never having another cigarette, so I would just not have one for the next five minuets, somehow, I still haven’t had one 

I used one of those nicotine inhalers to help me, and I still keep the end bit of it and use it as a kind of comforter


I will never be one of those ‘Holier than thou’ ex smokers, I know how hard it is to stop and what’s more, I might fall off the wagon myself tomorrow, but I am interested, who among you smoke, why/when did you start, have you tried to give up, did you fail, did you succeed, will you try again, or have you given up giving up?

is that what you have in your mouth at the table? At broadway for that sat i couldn't figure out what the f it was.

I have sworn to give up before i'm thirty, seemed a mile off a year ago and now it is 2 weeks away i am shitting it.

i gave up smoking on 31st June last year... i was smoking 40+ a day and was constantly coughing and wheezing .. I had been smoking since i was 14 and that made 26 years of not one day going by without a smoke... since giving up, my health improved dramatically... no more mornings where the first half hour of waking was spent coughing my guts up , no more getting out of breath when i walked to the shop...absolute bliss.... Then came this years trip to Vegas and ... yes i started smoking again :(  i hate myself for starting again, every time i light one up i feel ashamed .... the cough has already returned ..... but i WILL give up again, its just a matter of feeling that the time is right for me .

   in fact Im gonna use this thread to make a pledge ..... sunday will be my last day of smoking, from monday when i wake up i will QUIT.

MONDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2005 is the day i stop.

I had my first ciggie when I was 12. It was big to smoke, see.....

Used to light up in th little toilet we had, then when questioned I'd deny I had a cigarette. What a terrible liar I was - the loo must have stunk!

I have given up 3 times, at the behest of the Lady of the Moment.

Lately, I just have no desire to quit.

I must say, I think all cardrooms should be non-smoking though. But if I CAN smoke, I will.

I've never really smoked and never had an urge to. In fact, I find the thought of a cigarette in my mouth completely off-putting.

The air in the notts card room last night reached an all time high for haze! - it was quite sickly at one point.  The air conditioning in that room really isn't good enough to allow 12 hours of smoking by 60 odd smokers. - its just awful,really awful.  If i want a break to go for a pee i get up and go to the loo, i'm sure the smokers could get up and have a fag outside if they really needed one. - works at grosvenors and other casinos so why not do it at Notts.!????????

What do you prefer im your mouth then snoopy?

Who's up for the let's stop smoking thread?

Total honesty, if you break you break, fair enough but we could all try at the same time.

The first non smoking forum on the net, that would be something!!!

Greg is right.

If you recall, we had a poll, & 90% of folks said they'd prefer the card-rooms to be non-smoking.

So we asked Notts to ban smoking.

It's called giving the customers what they don't want.

Our pleas fell on stony ground. I guess they will leave it until they are forced to ban it by legislation.

I bite my fingernails to a physically painful low, so I guess that's my substitute

I wonder if they will introduce legislation to prevent customers from starving to death

I felt really sorry for margaret last night, with the best will in the world theres no way she can serve 100 people

Disgraceful

Agreed! - your expected to tip about £30 of your winnings when you may only get 2 cups of tea - I'm not tight but at that price i'll bring a flask!!

I believe Margaret "prefers" to work alone, so that she earns more by way of gratuities.

Hi all -

Would be up for this non-smoking-poker forum thingy... and was also thinking about going from Monday 12th (as it's my birthday on 9/11). So if you're up for it, Kev, or anyone else, I reckon that would be good. Having this forum nagging me when I sit at my PC should help stop that ashtray from filling up without me noticing...

Hi Red,

Quite ironic this post coming up today, as I was going to post something along these very lines yesterday, asking if anyone had any helpful hints.

I started smoking when I was 13, and continued until I was 21 when I gave up to try for my first child, I too used the "just not having one right now" method, and it worked a dream for me that time. Unfortunately I started again when going through a very messy divorce and I never seemed to have a "good enough" reason to pack it in again.

Well all that has recently changed, having a boyfriend that is a non smoker has forced the issue to be raised once more, and of course he can argue the point better than the kids!  As of the 8th August I have been trying to stop once again with very little success, the "not right now" just isn't working this time, I have tried the patches and tbh, for me they were terrible!!! I wanted to smoke more whilst wearing the damn things than without. I'm now going through chewing gum like it's going out of fashion, and I fall off the wagon on a daily basis and it is only ever for the odd 1/4 of a cig.

The strange thing is, I actually really dislike smoky places, detest the smell of the smoke and the smell of stale smoke on your clothes, and I agree that Notts card room is unbearable, but at the same time I am finding it a huge struggle this time, no matter how much I dislike the horrible habit.

Jane xx

If thats true then the management are even more to blame for letting it happen

and its the only casino Ive ever seen where you cant eat (not even a sandwich) in the bar or on the gaming floor

the more waitresses on the more they get tips because players like me tip them for each cup of tea each glass of water each coke, then they get tips from the prize pool

if the service during the comp is poor i recomend the players not leaving a tip out of the winnings

I'm made to feel guilty everytime I ask for a drink or some food in the Gala. I usually get a huff followed by a, 'I'm rushed off my feet here! I'll get back to you.' - rarely do.

Hi Jane, (now there's a lovely name, I have four daughters and couldnt persuade Mrs Red to call any of them Jane)

IMHO you can't do it for someone else, you have to do it for you, never mind what tikay says, I think the pressure of stopping for someone else makes it worse, and I think eventually you resent it and rebell

Yours faithfully
Auntie RED

Ok, I'm up for giving it a try.

I've been wanting to give up for ages, but it is seriously difficult. But after sitting next to junior last night, I really felt like a leper smoking -  given he's a sound fella I was trying to vacuum the smoke away with his fan, I wasn't really enjoying them, and this morning my clothes reaked and my throat kills.

So along with Kev i'm giving the Monday 12th pledge to quit -  if anyone see's me next week, words of encouragement please  ;)

i smoked at the age of 14 when i joined the army cadets i quit after i broke my neck while i was in the german hospital and didnt start again for about 18 months i then started smoking and got heavier and heavier untill i was smoking 60 a day which worked out at £100+ a week i use this money for paying for my trips away to play poker now i have quit only problem is everytime i go away for a trip i have a smoke to enjoy the luxury of the trip

as soon as i get to aberdeen airport i give the smokes to the traffic warden outside untill the next trip away

Ahh, THAT solves a mystery. When Ironside has a ciggie at a Casino, I have never seen someone enjoy the experience so much. NOW it makes sense!

you see i hate this sort of dicussion cuz it always turns into a "i hate it when casino's/pubs/restaurants etc. allow smoking it affects my health blah blah blah"
point 1, junior air con is for chilling the air not extracting smoke ;D
point 2, if they had decent extraction you wouldn't notice the smoke (trust me i designed these systems for 9 years)
I as you might guess do smoke, i have no intention of stopping cuz i don't want to.
Believe it or not i HATE people blowing smoke at me it drives me nuts but all this secondary smoking malarchy doesn't wash with me.
Ian

I smoke and I think Gala should stop smoking in there card rooms.
As Junior said its shocking, the air is so bad.  I can't see anything being done locally.

www.galagroup.co.uk  Just post  a message on the Contact us page


Gala group head office is 1/2 a mile from the casino. They may send  someone to have a look.
I'm sure there Senior Managers would be horrified to see the conditions there staff have to work in.

Regards

M

   

I wish I hadn't read this thread... i feel guilty now. I'm gunna have to go have a fag to make myself feel better i think...

Hello,

Never thought this would come up on a poker forum, but I'm glad it did.

About 5 years ago I started my many attempts to quit smoking.  I was so determined that I decided to setup a website to keep a diary of my quit.  Unfortunately after many failed attempts I am smoking again, but as always I will be quitting soon.  The site morphed from my personal diary to a forum for others to share their quitting experiences and to help people on the road to a smoke free life.

If anyone is interested, the site is still going, and we have several successfull quitters who would be willing to give people advice.  I haven't been visiting or posting on the site as much recently, since I haven't attempted a quit for some time, but others still post.

If you want to quit, give it a try.  -- http://www.ex-smokers.com (http://www.ex-smokers.com)

Cheers,

Eoan

I smoke and have no intention of stopping at the moment, as most of my friends were smoking .at 16 I felt left out and gave it a go, I hated it, but forced myself to smoke by eating chewing or sucking mints everytime I had one, it worked a treat I was then addicted.

The only time I have managed to stop smoking is when I was pregnant, the thought of one made me sick.

I thought the flight to Vegas would be a killer, but I found I never craved for one until we got outside the airport terminal and that was it.

I smoke about 20 a day but I can smoke more if Im playing online, or even when the phone rings I reach straight for a cigarette.

I for one dont mind if cardrooms are non smoking, I tend not to smoke that many while playing live.

Good luck to those who are going to stop, I hope you can do it.

Ang xx

I am a smoker and agree that smoking should be banned from card rooms, in fact all enclosed spaces. At first I was dead against the smoking ban over here in Ireland but I have to say it is beginning to work and there are a lot of good beeer gardens now, pity about the weather  ;D. No one could believe I was a smoker when I started at 17 because until then I constantly used to give out about anyone smoking. So why do I smoke? I started when I was out drinking and have tried to stop many times, nicotine patches, gum, brute force and nothing seems to workl. The longest I gave up for was when I was seriously ill a few years ago and as soon as I was better and in a pub I fell off the wagon again. I would love to join you all on Sept 12th but I know that I can't do it at the moment.

Again i look back and see i may have come across differently as intended. ;D
I am all for a smoking ban in card rooms, in fact i went to starcity where you are allowed to smoke in the card room if you're stood up ??? and hated it, but the suggestion that i should leave the building if i want a fag really grates with me.
At some point in the very near future smoking is gonna be banned in all public places (Birmingham council has already started this process) it's inevitable, the scare mongers are winning the war cuz smokers have become the minority.
I have tried quitting in the past and all it taught me was that i really don't want to!
I went to a hypnotherapist a few years ago, went thru the whole routine (a friend and i), we were there for around 2 and a half hours listening to whale music whilst relaxing in a big chair. To test if it worked we went to the pub for a beer afterwards (cuz you always want a fag in the pub) and neither of us had one!
So we say our goodbyes and go our seperate ways and it turns out both of us had a fag as soon as we were out of eyeshot of one another ;D
Oh well £75 down the drain lol
Ian

To all those who are intending to give up imminently, post how it's going. When you need help etc, ask. I'm sure tikay will sticky for you

On another non-poker forum I use one guy gave up on 1st January this year, and is still going.

The posts on that thread are 687 and counting as he's updated, and people encouraged etc

Good luck

i am 21 and have been smoking since the age of 15, what i have realised is that heavy smokers don't actually realise if they need one or not.
I smoke about 20 a day but when sitting down on the setee for a 6-8 hour session i need a 40 deck for my piece of mind.
   When at a non smoking cardroom i feel it is bad etiquette for a player to look at his cards and leave them, effectively passing out of turn so they can go for a quick ciggie, but i also don't like the blokes with the fans the size of a windmill, blowing cold air everywhere.
There has to be a happy medium.  But on the other note if people are that opposed to smoking card rooms like notts or sheffield, they shouldn't turn up. And vise versa for the Grosvenors. However the breaks in the grosvenor tourneys give smokers the chance for a ciggie, as well as the option to go for one whenever you want.

I personaly feel that Smoking should be banned from all u.k cardrooms. This may even help existing smokers stop, as if you can go up to 8 hours without a fag in pressure times at the poker table, you can go without a fag full stop. Maybe someone can bring this issue up at the Grosvenor meeting.

Just had my 1st ciggy of the day and it was great. I don't know how the f**k i am going to give up.

sorry Chesney! - didn't mean to make you feel bad - i just prefer to have the smoke blowing away from me - hence the fan!
good luck giving up, it is for the best!
and now your retired from the pop charts and you've had your mole surgically removed smoking just aint so cool now!

My ex read the Alan Carr book about giving up smoking & stopped, this was when she didn't really want to give up - started reading the book because I'd bought it & by the end hated smoking. She became a real anti-smoking nazi for a while as well. then we broke up & she started again.

Never smoked tobacco, but when we broke up I started the herbal pipes again  ;)

On that note - this giving up is for tobacco only, the 'erb is sacred.

Yeah, i meant extraction, its all the same to me, i'm not much of an engineer! - perhaps you should contact mr nightfly and arrange a date for going down to notts to get their system fixed then.  I could barely see the table next to me for the smoke. What happens when the flop is no longer visible?!! - slight exageration but it really is foggy in  there.

smoked from aged 12 to 29. started trying to give up at 26. managed anywhere between an hour and a month but always back on.  I finally cracked it through a combination of patches an plenty of exersize. I spent a year training hard for a black belt grading which, quite simply would have been impossible smoking. I gradually felt my health, fitness and lung capacity increase the longer I went without smoking. When I was desperate for a fag I'd press on the patch as if to squeeze extra nicotine through the skin. deep breaths help too. part of the relaxation you get from smoking is from the deep breaths you're taking, rather than just from the drug. most of all talking about it helps. you need to tell people how well you're doing and how bad you feel. the first month is the hardest but once you've got to the point you're counting in months rather than days you're about there.

to those giving up, good luck
to those with no intention of giving up, shame, hope you change your mind.

I managed 3 months once. Although I decided to reward myself with a cigerette and i was back where i started!

I started at the age of 15, but stopped and started throughout the next 21 years - biggest stops were actually whilst I was expecting and after my last I didn't start again for 2 years, until I started seeing a smoker and that made me start again.  (Yes baby, it's all your fault!!!)  lol

I know I have to stop again, and it has been on my mind a lot recently.  I have even gone as far as buying the Paul McKenna "Quit Smoking" CD, it sat in it's wrapper for a few weeks, only opened it to copy it for someone, and it is now sat back in my CD rack screaming at me to listen to it.

I WILL stop again.  Just as yet having got my head around it.  I was hoping that another pregnancy would help me to stop, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon.  We are due to go on holiday in the last week of October, so I'm planning on giving it a stab after I have smoked the duty free I bring home.  lmao

Good luck to all you guys that are about to try, if any of you want a copy of that CD, just PM me.

Trace
xx

Careful Adam's gonna get ya

I started smoking at the age of about 18 but never usually more than 5 a day unless i used to go out in the evening and then it was more like 20. I gave up on so many occassions only to start again so in the end i decided to "give up" giving up. Then on April 27th 2001 at 6pm i was walking home from work having a cigarette when i got a phone call from my mum asking could i go round which i did. When i got there she was upset and told me to sit down, she then went on to tell me that the "cold" she'd had for the last 3 weeks had been diagnosed as lung cancer and she had between 6-9 months to live. She made me promise there and then that i would never smoke again. She started smoking when she was my age but gave up in her late 20's as she couldnt afford to bring me and my brother up on her own and smoke.

When she told me i too was in my late 20's and I've never even felt the urge to smoke since.

I knew when i smoked that it was bad for me but never had enough will power to stop - it took something unthinkable to give me the will power.

Good luck to all those trying to give up.

Smoking causes premature ageing.. U only have to look At Tikay for proof.. He's only 25

Yes, but where he comes from, you can't breath the air unless you filter it through a fag

I'm "experimenting" with the idea of giving up at the moment, by trying to resist some of the key times I tend to need a ciggy - went from 7.15 am till lunchtime yesterday without one and hit some bad traffic jams on the way home today, normally a cue to light up, but managed to resist.  Scotland goes non smoking in public places next year, so I might as well jump before I'm pushed  :D

I'm going for it too. Convinced the guy I work with to give up and the smoking flat mate of mine is giving up too... should be easy I reckon.

Everyone going for it on the 12th then? (monday)

List your names if you are.

I'm starting today... but if I fail i'll start quitting again on the 12th!!  ;D

new medical report released recently. smokers are twice as likely to go blind in old age. difficult to play poker when your blind......

and i really would give the Mckenna cd a go, he uses anchoring techniques which are probably the best way to give up smoking.

i would join the "give up smoking on the twelfth" drive, but unfortunately thats the same day i start on my new (and first) career as an accountant, which is going to be stressful enough. So unfortunately i'm going to continue sucking on my cancer sticks for a while at least.....

hmmmm, statistics...........does that mean you're twice as likely not to go blind?
or
90% fat free............does that mean 10% fat?

I once did a little research on smoking in order to create a 'smoking policy' at work. One statistic went like this:-

From a sample of 100,000 people how many have cancer?
Say (for arguments sake) it's 10,000 or 10%
How many of them smoke?
Say it's 5,000
Now you can say 50% of people who smoke will get cancer, when actually it's 5%.
This is how some early stats were used.

Wasn't it Bob Mortimer who said "67.3% of all statistics are made up"

BTW I banned smoking throughout the entire site ;)
Ian

old medical report released ages ago, smokers are more likely to die in old age.

I'd say that was all the motivation u need.

Gl to all the quitters. I sincerely hope you succeed.  :)

I've smoked since I was young. I swore that after uni I would stop smoking. I knew it'd be a struggle as I'd tried to give up a million times before.

In case anyone hasn't noticed I'm a Liverpool fan and on the night of the Champions League final I went through 20 in the first half. Knowing we'd never win it I swore in front of a room full of mates I'd give up for life if we won it that night. (Well at 3 - 0 down to the best team in the comp it was a pretty safe stake!)

I'm sure everyone knows Liverpool won that night. It was hard but after such an unbelievable game I felt I had to quit. The hardest time has been when playing cards. I've had the odd one here and there (usually when drunk) but generally I've stuck to it.

I smoked from 16/17 until 2 weeks before my 30th birthday.  I remember my dad had told me he'd been a heavy smoked but had given up by the time he was 30, so I wanted to do the same.  I'd had a bad smokers cough and sore throat for about a month and a half and mid way through what was to be my last cig I simply stubbed it out and have never had another one since in nearly 4 years. 

So, how did I do it?  Well, I convinced myself that I had already caught throat cancer so I went into a state of extreme worry about that for the next week or so.  Being so worried about that meant I had no time to even think about missing cigarettes.  A week later I went to the doctor and told him about my worries and having examined me he said my throat looked normal and it was highly unlikely I had cancer.

He also informed me that it only takes 72 hours for the physcial addiction to nictotine to go away, beyond that its just about habit forming behaviour. I'd missed all the physical aches and pains of giving up due to the cancer worry and as I'm not a big drinker I simply stayed away from the pub for a month or so to let the habit forming bit go away too.

My advice to anyone trying to give up is don't use patches, gum or an inhaler - the nicotine bit goes away quickly, but if you keep topping yourself up with nicotine you're not really giving up. Put yourself through 3 days of hell, or like me, convince yourself that your going to die and you won't notice it.

Its not really that hard to give up - thats just an excuse used by people with no will power.

smokers more likely to die in old age Snoopy?..... prefer that to dying young.... :-)

and i havent a clue about the actual report and how the stats were compiled, just relaying what i just heard on the news

This is all going a bit Bill Hicks....

"Non-smokers die every day. Sleep tight! I know you've employed some kind of eternal life fantasy because you've chosen not to smoke. Let me be the first to pop that bubble and send you hurtling back to reality - because you're dead too. And you know what doctors say? "Shit, if only you'd smoked - we'd have the technology to help you. It's you people dying from nothing who are screwed". I've got all sorts of neat shit waiting for me - oxygen tent, iron lung...it's like going to Tandy."

 :D

Love Bill Hicks (or loved).
Smoking is not an addiction at all, it's quite simply an habit.
It was one explained to me like this:-
An addict is someone that cannot go without something for a certain period of time, i.e. a heroin addict cannot sleep for more than a few hours at a time without waking with the craving.
A smoker will smoke , i dunno 1 every half hour all day and then go to bed for 8 hours and not need a cigarette.
Ian

your friend failed to take into consideration the various physiological changes within the brain during sleep

those members of gamblers anonymous will be able to sleep easy tonight though...

Smoking Kills

good point.  :)

so does fox hunting

It's easy to stop smoking. I've done it dozens of times.

so does hanging frogs :)

Now THAT'S funny ;D ;D

I can't stand Paul McKenna. a fraud, theive all you like off him and let him fall into obscurity ;)

NO SMOKING!

I started smoking at 14 and i gave up 2.5 years ago (24yo). i was just sick of smoking, the price, not being fit and healthy, basically feeling like i am a slave to cigarettes. I read a book called, How to stop smoking, by Allen Carr which is an excellent book and i just stopped! i chewed through 2 packet of chewing gum a day for over a year and now i only chew gum when i want to and not as a subsitute for smoking. :)I have put on around 3 stone!!! as i had to stop sports at the same time as i stopped smoking due to having an op on my foot.  I never want to smoke again and every person who does smoke, doesnt do it for enjoyment but because they are addicted!

    Well smoking, hmm, i began at a young age as i expect most did, about 12 or so, and i can still remember the very first proper drag and taking it all back too, man i was coughing me guts up some. Never stopped me though, however i did stop a couple of times but started again due to boredom would ya believe, and mebbie a little bit of stress.
               But in my defence, i am a healthy smoker, more so than most i reckon, as i used to commit 3 night a week of my time, teaching kick-boxing to juniors back in Skegness where i used to live, so i had to be fit for that........not cause it was kick-boxing, nah thats the easy bit, but 25+ kids running havoc whilst ya tried to stop young Billy thumping Thomas wrong, or Lisa about to beat up James, etc etc you get the picture, man that was hard work:)

                   Gimmie a game of poker anyday now mind you.:)
                    Hope ya liked that short epic:)

I have attempted to give up today.

Have already been on the verge of breaking, my concentration span is about 1 second, i'm confused over simple problems and my arms feel funny.

Four hours in and i'm a mess!!!!!

This is hard. >:(

Today is the day people are giving up innit?  Please let us know how you are doing so early on.

This is a very interesting topic for me at the moment.  I gave up a year and a half ago at my first attempt after smoking for 15 years and eventually (thanks to online poker explosion) reaching 40 a day ish!  I too read Alan Carr's "Easy way to stop smoking" and it was the best book i had ever read.  I totally 100% agree with the concept of NO nicotine replacement therapy.  It seams insane to think that you are giving up a very powerful drug but you are delaying the agony by still giving yourself the drug!!  Yes you will go through withdrawal but only initially then the rest is ALL pyscological.  I cant stress enough how much it is in your head rather than an addiction.  

Ok it wasnt a walk in the park, but what the hell is when you are trying to break a habit that you have had longer than you have been alive!  I didnt turn into this holer than though preacher either but the proudness i felt that i was no longer a slave to something that has so many overwhelming negatives was imense.  I think that is all you need to find, the biggest factor that makes WANT to be non-smoker.  Mine was that no longer was a stupid stick that has no business existing telling me what to do!! I cannot be controlled in any other aspect of my life so why let a cigarette do it.

WOW that needed to get off my chest!!  Now i will let you all know that i now feel like the biggest failure on the planet that indeed one month ago i started smoking again.  Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhh!!  The worst thing is there was no underlying moment or reason or stress or any of those usual excuses for starting again.  I just did.   Alcohol was involved but i had gone so many months drinking and not smoking that i sickens me to think about it.  

I thought ok i've had one, if i could stick to one only when i go out then i'm laughing! No chance.  I waited till i went out the next week then i had 2, then the next week 5 then i was only going out just to smoke not to socialise and they i gave up trying to be smart.  Back on 20 a day (bit more last night thanks to Tikay  ;D)

So sorry for the essay but thats where i am now and am shitting myself that the next time i give up will be 10 times harder just for the pyscoligical effect in my brain that i am already a loser!!

Good luck everyone if you do it guys PLEASE do it for life!  I dont think serial giving up is as powerfull.  But i WILL do it again..........one day..........when my duty free run out.....blah blah blah blah
x

GGOD LUCK EVERYBODY

I gave up nearly 2 years ago, I have had the odd one or two in the meantime, no more than say 10.

I can now taste my food and am not choking and coughing.

Day 1

Cigerrette Count: 2

Whoops.

As soon as this pack is over, i will do it. Promise.

good luck everyone who's giving it a go.

I've switched to Menthol for the rest of this week
I will set the Target day for next Monday
I am going to give the patches a go and I've got some spray that goes up your nose
I've also downloaded a Mp3 stop smoking thing

I hope I can stop because I really dont enjoy smoking anymore, but after
23 years of smoking its not easy

     Summit else too about smoking which i found, i never ever had a smokers cough, and i believe it was for 2 reasons.
                      1st reason was i always stuck to the same brand of smoke, maybe on the odd occasion i would have one of some one elses like at work or summit, but i would stick to the same brand, and did so for almost 20 years
                              But my point is, when peeps gave up, did you just decide there and then, or plan it like for new years eve? coz all i did was say, right, Tina <wife> if i have any fags left after tonight, remind me i am quittin tomorrow.
Incase i forgot, and i did stop, not 1 smoke for 18 months, but i did get a smokers cough, for the first time ever, i got a cough, after about 10 days of stoppin, ofc its shifting all the muck i expect at the time, so stands to reason, but hey, good luck all those quittin:)

Ok IM UP FOR IT.

I started smoking when i was 11, made me look tough. when i was 19 i quit for 2 years  (went to a party,someone gave me a puff of a joint, and by 3am i was on the old B&H like i'd never stopped)

9 days ago i was on 1 pack a day, but decided to cut down, I just brought pack number 5 today. and after reading this post wish i had'nt. so lets see the names of the quiter's

I'M IN

GL ALL

Just finished my last one. So that's it. I'm going for it.

DAY 1 6.30 - no cigarettes. However 2 arguments with mrs jammer, and i just kicked my pc. not fun so far.

I tried smoking during school years. Probably due to curiosity and peer pressure.

I smoked on and off during my early working years as I could now afford to do all those naughty things like drinking beer and enjoying the compulsory cig with it.

I have remained the occasional social smoker for many years. I can go periods of many months without a cigarrette, or even years, but I find that when I am sitting in a pub or with friends and we are drinking a lot, I have to have a cig.

I only smoke regularly now because of poker. If I don't play poker, I am very likely not smoking either. If i'm sitting in a smoky atmosphere I may as well enjoy a smoke! Well, thats what I tell myself. I dont frequent pubs often, if at all and I rarely drink. I enjoy a smoke with a game of cards or during a stressful day of work when a cigarette break with a colleague times nicely with "mr angry project manager is just about to come shout at me".

I once gave up smoking, drinking, poker and sex.

Worst ten minutes of my life

I have volontarily given up smoking and drinking, only poker left now

i fell over last night playing a sattelite and just grabbed one out of habit and was smoking it before i realised.

I am completely obnoxious and can't do anything of any use.

Thats the only one though. Anybody else keeping the faith?

 >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Finished my last one last night and haven't had one since.

Cigerrette Count: Zero

Coffee Count: Several Hundred Thousand

Nice job, Phil.

I appear to have given up winning at poker.....does that count????

 >:(

A week on...

hows everyone going?

Well I did the worst. After 21 months I started again.

I have made it 1 week with a grand total of zero cigarettes.

Its not been easy, not easy at all. In fact its been a bloody stressful week - Its tough after meals, its tough at the pub, and its damn tough at the poker room.

Many thanks to those who have supported me so far (malc excepted for offering me fags last night)- it sounds gay but it really does help, and now I've done the week, the next aim is a fortnight, then a month. Anyone who has buckled - it isn't easy, it really isn't given that its as addictive as Heroin (this is about my 5th attempt, but this time i'm focused), so don't throw in the towel - set another date in a couple of weeks. You'll have my full support, and everyone else on here I'm sure  ;)

That's excellent.wd.

The first 3 weeks are the toughest, read Allen Carr'seasy way to stop smoking make sure you have plenty of chewing gum!!! ;D ;D

My grandparents have come up to visit for the last week and and a bit have been smoking in the house every morning and evening(for various reasons they're allowed).

For the duration of the stay I have been suffering from a sore nose and throat and also a bit of tight chest; and i've been avoiding them whilst they've been smoking. I went away for the weekend and felt fine, came back home on sunday and within 30 minutes felt like crap again.

It's certainly taken away my desire to spend any amount of time in a smoky cardroom anyway.

Well done to all those giving; I wish you the best of luck.

Took me absolutely ages to find this!!

At 7am this morning I had what I hope is to be my last ciggy...

Nicotine patch is secured on my thigh.

Up to now I have been fine and not really craved one, even though I have that "I need a ciggy taste" in the back of my mouth.  The hardest thing about this for me, is not having an excuse to get out of the office for ten mins 2 or 3 times a day.

So here we go......


P.S.   How did the rest of you do?

good luck

I think Jammer is the only one who cracked it. was still off them a wekk ago when I talked top him about it.

I know Phil didnt make it

I have smoked since I was 18 - I give up easily when Im pregnant - dont even want to smoke then.  But straight after giving birth to each of my children I have started smoking again.  I tried to give up this year - I cant :(.  I keep saying I will when I have less stress - my excuse...  I am a light smoker really - max 10 a day.  I know I need to give up, and also know it affects my game when I play live (watching the clock).  I just cant give up :(. Do the patches work?

This patch is keeping me going fine at the moment.

Ask me again tomorrow though, it may be a completely different story!!!

i had been smoking for 20 odd years and had tried several times to give up (including hypnotherapy). a poker friend in Belfast gave me a book by Alan Carr on how to stop smoking , which i though sounded good ( based on how it succeeded in stopping him from smoking) but reading never really appealed to me and also my nicotine addiction allowed me to twist my own mind into not reading it just in case it worked . It allows you to continue smoking as you read and there is a "final cigarette" chapter at the end . I was shrewd enough to read all bar the last chapter and then put the book away so i could continue smoking like a good un . I then went on holiday with my family to Spain and after much verbal encouragement , particularly from my 6 year old son who asked me to stop smoking so i didnt die , i decided to read the final chapter , which i did and i have not had another cigarette since .
The main thing with the book is that it educates the reader as to the myths of being a smoker . all that information was known to me but i kept thinking as i read , 2 oh yes , i never thought about it like that before" and it worked . Using will power to stop smoking is very difficult because this method requires you to deny yourself something that you think you want . The book trys to enable you to not want the cigareete in the first place. Which may sound pedantic but think of it like this .
IF you are walking down the street and you do not want to cross the road , how much will power does it take for you to not cross the road. Virtually none i would guess is the answer . Simlilarly, if you can convince yourself that you do not want a cigarette ( by whatever method) in the first place then you need little will power to not have one . or so the thoery goes , but it worked for me and i am stubborn lazy and selfish so it must work also for nicer people.

i failed after 3 weeks. i gave up on new years eve. going to re group and try again. GL Trace.

I've heard that book recommended on other forums when this topic has been discussed - always good reports.

so much so that I'm interested in reading the book and I don't even smoke.

Hi Paul. How did hitting runner-up at the Blonde Bash compare to some of your other honours? Still smiling?

VERY well said mr Jack.  I also read Allan Carr's book and stopped for 18 months.  It really is an inspiring book into changing your mindset about smoking.  I met a guy on Monday night who smokes 100 / 120 fags a DAY.  I cannot imagine how he can smoke so many but he says he wants to give up because he couldnt breathe or sleep properly anymore!!  I talked about the book (not for the first time) and tried my best to convince him to read it but i'm not confident he will take the advice. 

After all that  - i did start again after 18 months (explained more in previous post in this thread), and am ready to stop again.  I have had a goal for quite day for a couple of months now and this will be the day when my business is sold!  It is in its early stages at the moment, but the day i hand over the keys to the new owners, i will light the longest cigarette out there and that will be my last and final cigarette EVER.  There! i have written this down instead of just saying it so i will hold myself to it.

Bloody good luck Chili.  These patches seem to do the trick.

I've still not had a ciggy since 7am.  Only at one point today did I really really want one and that was when my stress levels went through the roof, there are none in the house, and I sat and thought what is the point of going and buying some when you've had this patch on all day and lasted this long.  That taste is still at the back of my mouth, but I can and do ignore it.

Every now and then automatic pilot takes over and I go to reach for them and then realise I can't, that's a bit of a downer.  I love smoking, I don't want to quit, but I have to.  £35 a week is just too much money for me to burn!

So up to now I am proud of myself, tomorrow morning will be the real test as it was the first thing I did EVERY morning when my alarm went off or my eyes opened.  My house seems to smell fresher already.

T
xx

Ok, I am possibly not the best person to give advice on stopping smoking, but I will tell you of a technique which may help. I am not a smoker, but I recently read two of Paul Mckenna's books on hypnosis. I love these type of books and read anything about mental training I can get my hands on writen by him.

In Paul Mckenna's most recent book " Instant Cofidence" he outlines a technique which has been proven to help combat phobias, addictions and irrational fears. This technique is called -Thought Field Therapy. If you have seen any of Paul Mckenna's recent series on Sky1, he demonstrates this skill on his subjects. It basically involves tapping on pressure points throughtout the face, hands and under the arms while re-prolgramming the mind.

I know that Mckenna has written many books which cover all sorts of hypnosis related issues. I am sure he has written one aimed at quitting smoking. If you have an image of Paul Mckenna as a showman who only performs on stage and makes people do silly things, think again. He is recognized as one of Britians leading hynotists( Probably the world) and he also has a PHD in Psychology.

You should be able to pick up a book by Mckenna for around £10 in most good book stores( all these come with a free CD ). Look for these titles, "instant confidence", " change your life in 7 days"," I can think you thin", " The hypnotic world of Paul Mckenna" and also look for his CD and Audio materials. I have seen a Paul Mckenna quit smoking CD/DVD in bargain books.

This guy is amazing. When I read his books, I don't have any particular issues which I feel I need to deal with. I am relaxed and fairly balanced. However I can't help smiling to myself and thinking " this guy really know his stuff". It is like watching Phil Ivey or Gus Hansen play. Seeing someone who has a great ability perform his/her skill is an honour to wittness. Paul Mckenna has this sort of talent. I wish I had taken psychology at Uni instead of History. He is a true expert on the mind. Really consider getting your hands on one of these books above. Although some may not deal directly with the issue of smoking. They will equip you with the ability to conquer your unwanted smoking habit.

Run a search on Amazon Uk and read the reviews of titles above. Then get you hands on one of these.

Sark..good luck.

Never smoked once dont intend to, only one in gfamily that don't being around it from a young age has done that!

coming second in the blonde bash was great though i would have loved to have won it . Then again no disgrace to be beaten by a great player like Simon

getting back to smoking . The Alan carr book should be ( or something similar) forced reading for all school children then i think a lot less would start smoking in the first place.
As far as patches are concerned this is a difficult way to stop because it effectively satisfies the nicotine addiction by another method rather than addressing the addiction itself . Not to say they dont work but, there are now people who no longer smoke but are addicted to the patches . It is the nicotine that is the main problem.


anyone going to brighton this weekend ?

I'm pretty sure Tikay's going.

Rendez-Vous isn't it?

Sark

My girlfriend stopped smoking after attending a Paul McKenna seminar so I thought he was really cool too. IMO many hypnotherapists can get a person who truely wants to give up smoking to do so. It's not very hard at all. If you go a bit further though into as you say phobias, addictions etc then again IMHO Paul McKenna goes about it in completely the wrong way. As you say you are relaxed and balanced and from that POV I can understand how what P McK does is interesting. If you really did have a phobia though, would it not perhaps make more sense to find out what actually caused it and deal with that rather than just blowing it out of your mind only for the underlieing cause which has not been treated create another symptom.

I fear that I am thread hijacking here but if you are interested in this sort of thing I would recommend reading the 2 David Lesser books which can be found on this website. Helen Lesser is, I truely believe, the best hypnotherapist in the world.

http://www.aqch.org/ (http://www.aqch.org/)

Thanks for the link mate. I see what you are saying about Paul Mckenna's ideas. However, I know alot of people who have suffered pretty intense phobias find comfort in his teachings. Anyway, I appreciate the link, I will look at it tonight.

good luck trace - One piece of advice if you are using the patches - make sure you have enough the night before the next day if you know what I mean. It sounds obvious, but you dont want to be trawling round tesco at 6am like a smack addict then it makes sense.

I gave up 5 years ago - and promptly took up smoking cigars. the bigger the better. My missus jokes that I am the only person who gave up an expensive habit at took up a more expensive one.

I do now occasionally enjoy a cigarette, like if I am away for a weekend (away from her indoors :) ), so maybe I have failed , but I go months between smokes sometimes so I know it doesnt control me....

Thanks for all your support and good wishes guys and gals!

Last night was a very trying time for me, but I managed not to succumb and run out to the shop for a pack of 20.  I even resisted the urge to ring my mate and beg some off her.

I have the Paul McKenna Stop Smoking Now CD, the first half of it is absolute rubbish, cos he talks about remembering the reasons why you want to give up, well I don't want to, I have to, so that doesn't quite work for me.  The second part of the CD is good as it takes you into a very relaxed state and then goes with the subliminal messages.  First time I listened to it, I "woke" up after the CD had finished and promptly lit up a cig, so I don't think it helped that time.  *lol*  But I love the relaxed state those type of CD's put you into, so will give it another go.

Laz, I've got my patches free on the NHS, and I'm not too worried about getting addicted to them, in the past when I have given up smoking I have done it through sheer willpower and because I WANTED to and HAD to, completely different to my reasons now.  Once I stop reaching for them and I get rid of this "need a hit now" taste in the back of my mouth, I'll stop with the patches.

I started smoking When i was 10 but not full time, when i got to the age of 14 i was smoking weed (ganja) so after i'd finished that i'd have like 10 fags left in which case i wasnt going to use them, or i'd give them to the foster boy which started to get on my nerves coz i knew he was smoking my money :D so i started smoking all of them myself, it went from like 5 a day being 10 to about 10 a day plus joints :/ anyway it all started from there an now im 21 smoking between 20 to 40 a day, not good....I realy need to quit now coz im at the point were i'll take a drag an heave (if thats how you spell it) but i carry on no matter what, its a good job i dont smoke ready made because i would probably be on 40 to 60 a day (well im capable)....i tried to quit twice and both times lasted about half an hour, once i had them nicotine chewing gums and wass smoking while they was in my mouth :D also with the patches, i would forget they was there an spark up another....Help :(

Any advice would be nice, dont want to hear about patches tho, its just 1 of them things....

I still haven't had one!

Maybe I should of started a blog lol

The cravings still come and go mostly after I have eaten.  I find
that rubbing or pressing the patch helps a little.

I haven't been to work today and yesterday, I dont know if I have a cold
or if it is all the yuck starting to clear from my system, but I've been feeling lousy.

I would really like to try without the patches, but don't want to push my luck.

I hope no-one minds me keep resurrecting this thread.

T
xx

 ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

just keep with the patches. Follow the course all the way thru, dont think in a few weeks "I dont need these patches anymore"....

Stick to it Trace, Don't try without the patches just yet, plenty of time for that later

GOOD LUCK!

The patches make me feel like a bit of a fraud.

Ok so I'm not putting a ciggie in my mouth anymore, but
I've still got nicotine coursing through my body.

I'm also a little bit disappointed with myself for not going
cold turkey as I have done in the past, but then again I was
pregnant those times.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

I WILL stick it out.

T
xx

Believe it or not, the nicotine won't harm you, it's the other 500+  poisons in cicgarette smoke that you have to worry about

Still not had one but...

horror of horrors


realised about 10 mins ago that I forgot to put a patch on
this morning

I'm now a little worried that I'm going to get EXTREMELY
tetchy later on.

Any advice anyone???

Can't go home at lunch as have got a meeting...

you need to get some patches, pronto. Even if you have to pay for them, weigh up the cost against a packet of fags a day for the next 40 years....

I've got 4 full packs at home, I'm not going out and buying anymore.

If push comes to shove I will leave early tonight.

I know for definite I won't go out and have a ciggie,
I more concerned about getting snappy with my
colleagues.

use today to test yourself. when you get cravings take REALLY deep breaths and remind yourself the patches are at home and you'll have one on at teatime.

If you can get through today without a patch and without a smoke think how good you'll feel about yourself.

Good luck

Cheers Adam.

I've found a better substitute for the DEEP Breaths   it's called CHOCOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTEEEEEEEEEE....

lol

Chocolate!
 :redcard:

Don't fall in to the trap of "since I stopped smoking I have put on so much weight", try fruit or carrots. I know it's not as much fun but better for you.
Lecture over, good luck with kicking the habit.
 :)up

WTG Trace  :respect:.  How many days has it been now?

The chocolate was to keep me going due to forgetting the patch  lol   I actually coped quite well, but have put a box in my bag just in case it ever happens again.  lol


Suze - It'll be two weeks ago tomorrow morning.  Had my last one at 7am.  I am finding it relatively easy, just every now and then I get a strong craving for one and that drives me mad and I start rubbing my patch like crazy lol

Biggest test is coming up on Saturday, I'm out with the girls, but my willpower is strong and even though I was planning on getting absolutely plastered, I've decided not too, cos I know I will think sod it when pissed and have one.

I really really do recommend the patches.

They say after 12 days something you have had to do with unease becomes a habit.so you're there really. Just have to enjoy the habit now........Good luck. I gave up when I was aged 21 and have never regretted it - I hate smelling smoke on people now and I definitely would never kiss a smoker.

Keep going!!!!

Tracey

I don't smoke  :-*

This thread sounds like my mum.

Your mum wants to snog Dingdell?

I havnt read the total thread so it may have been mentioned previously.  THE EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING BY ALLEN CARR WORKED FOR ME.  I was as bad as red dog mentions in regards to fags.  I have retrieved dog ends from the bins in my house and lit them even though the other rubbish had made them a bit damp and smelly, your self respect cant get much lower than at that point.  Thats what an evil habit smoking is.  The book I mention above saved my life, I higly reccomend it, it is the Doyle Brunsons supersystem of self help books.

A truly great book. It worked for me too.

Allright, I'm getting it. Cough, cough-wheeze.

I hope Amazon take a long time to deliver it, because I f#*@ing love fags.

Now and again Im prone to the odd cig, but I can take it or leave it, never get any cravings or anything. Sometimes it would be the only thing to get you through a shift at the Casino. God knows we're not allowed to drink!!! Guess I'm lucky. Simple fact is.... I enjoy smoking now and again and I'd like to decide for myself what to do and not be told what to do. Bill Hicks had it right...

"I smoke, if this bothers anyone, I recommend you looking around the world in which we live and... shutting your ******* mouth."

"Non-smokers die every day. Sleep tight! I know you've employed some kind of.... eternal life fantasy because you've chosen not to smoke. Let me be the first to pop that bubble and send you hurtling back to reality – because .........  you're dead too. And you know what the doctors say: '****, if only you'd smoked – we'd have the technology to help you. It's you people dying from nothing who are screwed."

Offensive? Maybe. Hilarious? Definitely!!! True? Undeniably.

Gotta love him.

I don't think so thankyou very much. Let's not get silly.

PMSL

Thank God that wasn't another "coffee moment".

Talking of Allen Carr's book, a colleague has two chapters left to read and so has conveniently but the book down for now.  It's her birthday on Monday and she has asked her mum to buy her some nicotene patches.  lol   We will see how she gets on.

Hopefully I have started a new trend within the department.

message to Tank

You say you enjoy fags, you dont m8.  well you do but you dont  :D  Put it this way:

If you have a new pair of shoes and they are tight and give you blisters YOU ENJOY the moment you get home and take them off, but the crazy thing is YOU DIDNT HAVE TO PUT THEM ON  this is one of the fundamental themes of the book and that was one of a high number of examples.

Having read your threads you are obviously a bright guy, you will easiliy grasp the ideas in the book.  Cant say the same for the person mentioned in the previous post as nicotine patches as also mentioned in the book are fighting poison with poison and will not work under the EASY WAY method.

At the end of the day, if whatever method you choose suits you and works - does it really matter?

I've gone cold turkey in the past when I've given up, but I have on both of those occasions been 30 weeks pregnant, so had a bloody good reason to.

This time however, I didn't want to pack up, I had to as I was spending £35 a week on ciggies, and being £3k in debt, smoking seemed selfish.  On top of this my dog, whom I love dearly, is now on medication till the end of his days (he's 16 this year), which was going to cost me £15 every two weeks.  So when weighing it up, my dog is more important to me than smoking is.

If the patches work for me, which currently they are doing, yesterday was hard only because I have got into the habit of rubbing the darn thing when I feel an urge coming on, then I will keep on using them.  I dont fancy being on them for the full course, but if it works I will.

T
xx

Well done Trace, you can feel proud of yourself  :)up :)up

I tried giving up last week and went 2 days without a cig - but it was all I could think about...  I rationalised that I smoke less than 5 a day, that I smoke outside, and cost isnt an issue as I only smoke rollies.  Im just not ready to give up yet :(  but im in awe at you Trace...

Trace

I didnt mean you I meant your friend, if she is reading the book and considering using patches then she is either not reading it or not understanding it.

If the patches are working for you then good luck the book is not the be all and end all just another method, you do what works for you and well done for being brave enough to give it a go.

Just a footnote though !

The 'easyway' method done properly means that you never have those moments where you reallly fancy a fag.  Right at the beggining of this thread RED DOG mentions that he really fancied a smoke, this is typical (apparently) of the willpower method of giving up, where you do actually feel as though you are giving up something as opposed to just stopping an awful addiction.

Irrespective of your chosen method I reccomend giving this book a read it has some real good common sense stuff in it.  I hope I dont sound preachy or condescending its just that I consider quitting the weed one of the biggest achievements of my life and anything I can do to help others to achieve the same I am happy to do.


good luck

Hi Lancy

I doubt very much that my colleague will kick the habit.  The fact that she is dragging her heels in finishing it gives me a fair idea that she won't.

I may just go and buy this book at lunchtime, at least it may keep me offline for a while too.  lol

Thanks for the tip.


Zelda

Don't be in awe of me, please!  There are people out there in the big wide world that deserve it more than I do.  I think all it boils down to at the end of the day is a reason to stop.  Like I said previously I didn't want to stop - I had to.

T
xx

Just had a look on Amazon for the price of this book - but there are two and I dont know which one to get?

Anyone help please?



EDIT:  It's ok I sussed it.

So this book is some form of aversion therapy I'm guessing. Fun and games, I'm look forward to it. (lies)

Good luck quitting Trace. It's really easy, I've given up 100 times.

If you are using patches, I recommend looking into buying some surgical tape from the pharmacy. Last time I tried to quit, the patches worked for me, but they fell off every time I became....excited.

It eventually pissed me off so much as to make me stop the patches and rediscover how God intended us to recieve our Nicotene, via Marloro Lights.

One day I saw a chicky in a laundrette, she was wearing the patch with surgical tape securing it in place. She could now indulge in whatever activity she chose, without having to worry about her patch falling off.

"Fantastic idea" I remember thinking, before going home and completely forgetting all about it.

Once again, slowly and in English please................     rotflmfao   j/k

On a more serious note - I think you should lay off the Marlboro Lights they seem to be doing strange things to you...   lol

Some more Bill Hicks.... brilliance!!

"Tell you, the worst kind of non-smokers' the kind where you're smokin' and they just walk up to you and start coughin' ... [starts coughing affectedly] I always say, '****, you're lucky you don't smoke. Thats's some cough you got there, dude. I'm smoking, you're coughing. Wow.' That's kind of cruel, man. Going up to a smoker and coughing. S***! Do you go up to crippled people dancing too, you f***s? 'Hey, Mr. Wheelchair. What's your problem? Come on ironside, race ya!'"

That book is GOOD!

I only bought it yesterday lunchtime and I think I have 4 chapters
left to read. 

You never know when I've finished it I may just be brave
enough to remove the patches!   lol

I do indeed recommend it for anyone who wants to have a
stab at giving up.

Hi guys and gals

I would just like to announce that I guess I am officially a

NON SMOKER

Due to a horrible throat infection i to am a non smoker at the moment, hope to carry it on when cured.

Nice one Trace you should be proud of yourself.

Well done Trace.

You are stronger than me.

Now if you can just kick that scag habit you'll be set  :)up

Well done Trace - one of the girls at my place is now a 'natural non smoker'. She used to tell herself a million times a day,and after 6 weeks she doesn't want a cigarette. She loves her new life and has started training for the race for life.

It is soooo worth it - good luck!

I may be having a  :blonde:  but WTF is scag?

Not had a ciggy since 26 Jan - food tastes so much better

BUT  my God do you smokers STINK!!!   lmfao


Thank you Ace2M, Tracey and Tank (I think)

Ace2M I hope you can stay off them and wish you luck and also a speedy recovery.

Scag is slang for heroin.

Only messin though, well pwoud really.  :respect: :respect:

Do they still sell deep fried heroin in Glasgow?  ;scarymoment;

Well done Trace, I'm proud of ya.

Fank you very much Nem. xxx

I can quite honestly say as well that I am happy to sit with a bunch of smokers and not want one.

I am no better off financially tho.  lol

Well Done Trace!!!  ;tightend; ;applause;

I would love to give up once and for all, I've done it for a period of 5 years in the past but foolishly started again. But, now that the kids nag me about it, and Flushie is constantly on my case about it too, I feel it really is time to give it some serious effort.

Was it the patches that worked for you in the end? I can't remember you saying that you used anything else.

Jane xx

not sure if people are aware of this but luton grovesnor os moving to a new location around the turn of the year
the new casino will be hosing a 200 seater card room and the whole building will be non smoking from day 1

Thanks Jane.

I used the patches for two weeks.  That's all I needed.  I felt a fraud not smoking but still having nicotine in my system, so I stopped putting them on. For those two weeks I used them, when I got a craving I rubbed the patch, probably didn't really do anything, but had a nice placebo effect for me!  lol

I also read Allen Carr's book, good read.  Don't know if it really helped me or not because I had effectively already stopped smoking when I read it.

I'm actually still stunned at how easy I found it to stop, it must have been due to the patches.  If you get your prescriptions free, get them off the doctors.  I've got 4 or 5 boxes upstairs that I got and then decided not to use.

I suppose I should sell them, or something.

Go for it and good luck.

Hello,

I've been on the patches, day 17 now and pretty good.

If you want to use them, you should be able to get 4 weeks worth for the cost of an NHS prescription by visiting your chemist. No need to pay the £18 per week. I was about to pay and the chemist told me I could go on the programme through them, without having to go to my GP. So I pay £6.65 for 4 weeks, over 12 weeks this is nearly a £200 saving. ;)

Good luck,

Eoan

It's a really good idea.

Although the patches are much cheaper than fags, the cost still puts many off.

Which chemist?

 ;karabiner; ;letsparty; ;karabiner; ;letsparty;

 ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

Call me crazy.....why do people find it so hard? It really isnt.

 >:( :tikay: ;technophobe; :redcard: ;yellowcard; ;tk;

FLUSHY...you're crazy  :)

What most of you don't know is that Flushy, in his much younger days, used to be a 100 a day man!

Packets that is!!!

lol

You mean 100 men a day ;)

I gave up when I met the wife, a non smoking American whos line was "Sex or cigs". 

Safe to say I gave up instantly and not had one since.

How does she feel about that?????

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

I would ahve packed her bags so fast

That's because you're a gentleman bundle.

I mighta had her do the packing herself.

In Glasgow, it's most of the Chemists, it's done as part of an NHS Programme, try your local chemist, they usually have a sign on the door about the NHS Quit Smoking Programme.

I have to go back once a week for my next supply, but apart from that it's no hassle at all. On my way to work I pop into the chemist and pick up the next supply. After my 4th week I pay for the next 4. Choose whatever one is easier to get to.

NHS Smoking Helpline

Helpline: 7 days 7.00am-11.00pm

Provides confidential information and support for people who want to give up smoking. Callers can obtain a range of appropriate information including leaflets, details on local smoking cessation services and local specialist advisors.
Referral: Self


Address
http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/ (http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/)

Contacts
Helpline : 0800 169 0 169

my fiancee's uncle came back from a 2 week course with Paul Mckenna about a month ago, and has started using the techniques he was taught to help people with phoebias, or bad habits. I have bit my nails ever since I can remember and after 4 sessions with him I haven't even thought about it. If anyone would have said the same a while ago that I wouldnt be biting my nails, I would have laughed at them . He is helping his next door neighbour to quit smoking, and has found a class way of doing this. He is a big loud american, who is as straight as they come.

He has put this idea into his head about how people in the uk call cigarettes FAGS. He will tell this guy ''do you like taking fags in your mouth'' ''do you take fags all day, all long'' etc etc - this american has literally stopped instantly as he doesn't wanna be associated with Fags, homosexuals etc.

He seriously is getting loads of people asking him to help, if anyone wants some help PM me . Tikay if this is considered spam by all means take it off

Nope, that's not Spam smithy, anything that helps peeps give up the filthy habit must be good.

Fortunately, I've never smoked.

 :o
   


Regards

M

I had to restart this thread as I am getting to the end of my tether.

I will not start smoking again, I refuse to after this amount of time but....

I've put on so much weight I am continually uncomfortable, my clothes dont fit,
I'm hot all the time, I can't afford to buy any bigger clothes (not while people owe
me money).  I can't bend or twist like I used to, in fact my bloody double chin stops
me from.....   ermm  no never mind.  lol

If I sit on a chair and lift my foot up onto it to say cut my toe nails I get pains in my tummy
and more often than not end up with cramp somewhere on my person.

My back has recently come out in spots that just won't clear up, I keep putting this
down to my body getting rid of the toxins, but it's been 4 months now FFS.

Why do I feel worse now than I EVER did when smoking?

How long after stopping smoking can you expect to feel like crap for?

I packed up smoking two previous times in my life, the weight gain wasn't a
problem cos I was pregnant anyway and so didn't notice (if you know what I mean).
In fact I generally felt like crap when pregnant, so never attributed any of what I
felt to the packing up smoking.

Will I EVER feel (and look) like I did prior to stopping smoking again?

I feel like a bloody weeble...


RANT OVER!

Seems simple enough, get knocked up again, problem solved.

 rotflmfao rotflmfao

Yes well, I was hoping, but it seems not to be.

Ermmm not to combat the feeling like crap btw, but cos I wants another bairn.  lol

Rather have a cigarette  ;goodvevil;

Sorry that was me not Davey  :D

Ang x x

LMFAO

I put on a load of weight when I stopped smoking too, it's easy to get into the habit of eating crap instead of having a fag. For the past 2/3 years I have just sat in front of a computer putting on weight.

You need to start exercising imo. I started running a few weeks ago. When i started I jogged slower than I can walk for 4 minutes and almost collapsed, but it's amazing how quickly your body gets used to it and you start to get fitter and fitter. After about a week of slowly running further and further I started to enjoy little bits of each run. What I do is run very slowly for 3 or 4 minutes untill I get tired then walk for a bit then start running slowly again and it's like your body says OK I'm used to this now and for a short space of time you can pick up the pace and you just feel like you're been blown down the road by the wind or something. It's a pretty good buzz. I guess this is what people call second wind?

Yesterday I ran for 30 minutes with probably only about 10 minutes of walking (run a bit, walk a bit, run a bit etc). I never thought when I started that I would be able to do that in a million years. I really enjoy it, I still eat total crap yet I'm getting fitter and losing weight. Very cheap too, all you need is a pair of trainers :D

Maybe you could get one of your children to go out with you or something to motivate you those first few times.

perhaps you could start another thread and see who wants to take you on heads up

My eldest does jog most nights to keep his fitness levels up for his motocross and for his GCSE in PE.  I can't see him slowing down for me though.

I might start going for a walk every night when it cools down though, I guess that is better exercise than falling asleep in the chair! lol

Have a go at Swimming Trace, great alround exercise. I go regularly (even though I smoke), but its helped me cut back (its difficult to light up in the pool). Keep on giving up the fags. Good Luck.

Fantastic idea - I don't swim though!

Maybe I should just run up and down stairs ten times a day  lol

You could always come to my house for a couple of weeks Trace , running around after my lot would help the weight , but the stress would make you smoke again  ;goodvevil;

My lovely Sister joy gave up about the same time as you , but her bastard Husband left her after 17 years and she started again 2 weeks later   :(

She's also lost 1 1/2 stone in weight ( she was on a diet before the slimey toad left her ) all due to him leaving  ;goodvevil;

Char,

Quite a lot of bad stuff happened to me shortly after packing up, but no way was I going to start smoking again.

Not once whilst I was crying my eyes out night after night did I want to reach for one.  No way was I gonna let
the barstewards causing my misery grind me down so much that I started again.

I know that stress will stop me from eating and make me lose weight, but I really don't want to go to those extremes.

I went round to my mates tonight and told her I was feeling fat, fed up and frumpy, it must be something to do with the weather cos she was feeling same way (she had a baby 10 month ago). lol

Trace,

If you are capable of going through a stressful period and not start smoking again it shows you have strength of character.

As you said your body has to get rid of the toxins so it can recover and you will come out the other end healthier and wealthier.

Try to not let the weight gain get to you. If you can quit smoking then loosing weight when you are in the right frame of mind will be a walk in the park....no pun intended.

I wish I was as strong and could give up....maybe one day.

I  got introduced by a friend to "Allen Carr's easy way to stop smoking". This book was awesome, something truly different and something that works. No scares about health and all the usual bolx which makes no difference to smokers at all as they already know this. Its a great psychological way of looking at i.e. you have escaped smoking rather than given up etc.

For £6 this has to be the very best value book ever, can be a little tedious at times, but trust me read it thoroughly (you smoke while reading it) and i will be amazed if you dont escape from the smoking circle.

This is the best investment any smoker could ever make, the money saved and the life extension are truly incredible, all from a little £6 paperbook.

I've just finished this book, last night - after failing my last quit with the patches a few months ago, and stopping cold turkey on 9th September 2006. I bought the book yesterday. I can safely say I will not smoke again. An absolute gem of a book. Although I was on day 12 cold turkey, I still had feelings of dread. This book removes those feelings and helps you replace them with feelings of happiness. :) I strongly recommend getting this book if you want to stop smoking. Amazon are doing a deal on it at the moment, so even cheaper than normal.

Wish I'd read it 5 years ago!

There is a new book I heard advertised recently on a 'stop smoking ' radio phone in.   It deals with Thought Field Therapy ( The thingy demonstrated by people such as Paul Mckenna .... tapping... ) 

Leading psychologist's and smart medical type people  :D  say it is a breakthrough in treating addictions

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tapping-Healer-Within-Thought-field-Emotional/dp/0809298805

Hello,

I'm not sure about that book, is it related to smoking or just a general text.

I have tried many, many methods in the past and never have I felt so confident about a quit. I actually know I will never smoke again. It's hard to describe. Allen Carr's book installed that confidence in me.

I've been running ex-smokers.com for 5+ years now and not managed to stay off the cigarettes for longer than a few months and I've quit dozens of times, in those 5+ years, I've never been confident that I would never smoke again, I've simply hoped that eventually, if I got over all the cravings, I would not want to smoke.

This book takes away that requirement to hope, and instead instills in you a revelation that you will never smoke again, and when you feel like that, you will never smoke again. Instead of starting off your quit with a feeling of loss, you start off with a feeling of elation.

I know this works, I've tried it. :) For £5.39 what have you got to lose?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/0141026898/ref=sr_11_1/202-0726974-9517428?ie=UTF8

Cheers,

Eoan

I've ordered it, hope it helps as i am really struggling.

  ;iagree;  I read this book 5 months ago and haven't smoked a single cigarette since. I cant recommend this amazing book enough. ;mexicanwave; ;letsparty; ;mexicanwave;

I stopped with patches, and read this book two weeks in, felt so guilty about the patches after reading it I tore it off and haven't looked back since.

Fantastic book - definitely worth it.

Not had a ciggy since I packed up back in Jan!


ANDDDD more importantly - all the weight has gone, those of you that know me well, know the stress/misery I was put through a couple of months ago, and so know why the weight has gone.  But how weird that on 9th June I said stress would make me lose it and hey presto a month later - BAM!!  lol

Nice one, you won't regret it! Let us know what you think once you've read it. If you follow the instructions and read the full book I doubt you'll ever smoke again.

CelticGeezer and Trace, great to hear another success story, and good to know there are others out there using this method.

Just a quick update. I was out in the pub all night last night, got home about 4am and didn't smoke all night. There were plenty of people smoking around me, and they couldn't believe that I was so happy to be a non-smoker. Most times I've quit I have been about as miserable as you can possibly be and not much fun to be around. I've never felt so elated about being a non-smoker before. I would never have believed you could feel this good about quitting smoking, especially not from reading a book. I mean it's just a book right!

Cheers,

Eoan

Happy non-smoker.

bump

I dont know if its a good or a bad thing but I am able to only smoke when i am drinking. If i go out on the lash i will smoke 40 but then can quite happily not have a cig until the next time i am in the pub.
I kid myself that i am not doing myself any harm because of this but i am sure I probably am !!

I would like to quit but cant imagine not having a cig with my pint!!!
I might get that book though

Yep, that's part of the difficulty, not being able to imagine life without a cig. I was the same, although I smoked every day, not just in the pub, but there were certain combination cigarettes I didn't think I could live without. The one with the pint was one of them. I'll wait for your update after you've read the book. You'll easily imagine life without a cigarette after that.

Cheers,

Eoan

In the edition I read he talks about cigars and pipe smoking and does cover the just one more scenario. Go on, read it again, the fear of quitting will be gone by the end of the book.

Hi folks,

I received a PM asking if I still felt the same way about the book over a week after reading it.

Well, since reading it I haven't wanted a single puff, let alone have a puff. There have been nicotine cravings, but I haven't had any urge to fulfill them, and because of that, there has been no painful withdrawal.

I know I may be going on about it, but if you find something like this, you have to let others know about it.

If you are a smoker and quit after reading the book, you'll understand what I mean.

Cheers,

Eoan

Nemesis sent me the Allen Carr book, but I've yet to read it, & I'm not sure I will. But I am almost ready to quit smoking, I've had a stressful few weeks, have smoked way too much, & now I've got a horrendously bad chest. So the moment has just about arrived, I think.

When I diet, I keep a pack of my favourite bikkies with me at all times - it's my "go on, I dare you, are you weak or strong, can you resist?" method. And I shall do the same when I quit smoking - keep an open pack of Embassy with me all the time. And a lighter - the "threat" has to be real.

It's the "combination ciggie" - the one with a pint, or first in the morning, or after food, that troubles me. I always like a ciggie after humpy pumpy, so that could be a problem.

I'll let you know when I start. Or stop, as it were.

Hi tikay,

Don't bother with the keep the cigs handy quit, I've tried that before, with no success, I just light up pretty damn quickly.

YOu don't have to stop smoking whilst reading the book. So you won't feel like you are depriving yourself. In fact he encourages you not to stop while reading it, unless you have already stopped. Nemisis know's what he's doing ;)

The way to quit smoking is in your hands, all you have to do is read it for yourself.

Cheers,

Eoan

Well, I'm extremely grateful to Nem for the book, & you for your advice, but we are all different. Me, I rarely take on board good advice, I'm a bit cranky - but the "teaser" test will work for me, 100% certain. It never fails me when I diet, because it's a minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day challenge - "EAT ME" - "NOOOOOOO"!.

And the other trick I use is to tell everyone what I am doing - that makes failing impossible, because I don't wish to be seen to be beaten.

Different strokes for different folks.

Burt thank you for the advice, I appeciate it.

Fair enough, but it sounds like absolute torture to me. I like the quitting without pain method. Let us know how you get on, just holler if you need some support.

cheers,

Eoan

No, it's not torture, it's a series of battles to win, & there is a "feel-good"to winning each battle. Wake up, see the bikkies, that means another day without giving in - I like that feeling. Put them on the car seat before a long drive - arrive, they are untouched, YES! And as the winning streak lengthens, so the temptation becomes easier to resist.

We shall see, but once again, thank you.

I gave up smoking 12 years back after seeing my old mum give up. She smoked easy, 20 plus a day,  for around  40 odd years. We both used that Chewing gum stuff ( although, occasionally  it tended to bond her false knashers together) and also i found Extra Strong mints helped with the craving times.

Last night was on the the very rare occasions that we went out around town, this morning I feel like I have smoked 20 park drive. I really do not miss it at all.