Help smoking Team-BHP members quit smoking

Thad E Ginathom · 16th February 2009, 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surprise

After that period it's only the suicidal act which will bring back the smoking disease

I was in hospital once, and there was a guy who was getting over having half his lung removed because of cancer. They told me he still sneaked out for a smoke several times a day. It seemed like lunacy to me, but then, at stage I was still a smoker who had never seriously tried to give up.

SS-Traveller · 16th February 2009, 21:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Perhaps you read a sarcastic note in my post; it wasn't there! I sincerely wish you, and everybody else who is trying to stop, all the very best.

@Thad: My sincere apologies for reading something extra into your note that wasn't there. As I mentioned, I have been feeling horribly irritable, and don't find any relief from it. I know it will pass in a few days, but till then, medically speaking, my brain cells do need the occasional nicotine to let me get through the day - and I am using nicotine gum for the same. Your, and all other members', good wishes will go a long way in giving support to people like me in our endeavour to stop smoking.

No hard feelings please.

Thad E Ginathom · 16th February 2009, 22:23

No hard feelings at all... I figured that the withdrawal irritability might have influenced your reading, and your reply. No problem.

Stick with it. I won't say that it can only get better --- that is true in the long term, in the short term there's going to be bad days.

I used to even dream about smoking! In fact, I remember in one dream, taking a cigarette, lighting it, and then thinking, "No!!! I don't do this any more!!!"

Even years later, I'd catch myself going out, thinking, keys... money... tobacco... ? Err, no?

SS-Traveller · 17th February 2009, 09:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

No hard feelings at all... I figured that the withdrawal irritability might have influenced your reading, and your reply.

No hard feelings both ways

. Just touching base with a 108-hour report. Can't sleep well at night, and feel terribly sleepy the whole day. Trying to combat the sleepiness with coffee, that's probably what's keeping me awake at night. Need a 24-hour break to set my body clock back on its feet. Will do that over the weekend.

supremeBaleno · 17th February 2009, 10:22

SS-Traveller, stick to it, however irritating it might seem during the initial days. You CAN do it.

bblost · 17th February 2009, 10:29

If I can hold off for the past 6 months. YOU CAN.

and was pointed out by thad_e_ginathom, its a daily struggle. But its a struggle we WIN everyday, everytime.

Thad E Ginathom · 17th February 2009, 13:17

SS-Traveller... You are having a harder time of it than I did, it sounds very rough --- keep at it. I hate those people who say, "Oh! I just stopped, no problem"

My sleep patterns are all over the place even without trying to give anything up! I have always had a tendency to become nocturnal. Whilst it is not a health problem sleeping in the day instead of the night, it is a productivity problem; it is very hard to get stuff done! So if I'm not careful I'll be getting addicted to sleeping tablets next. I'm going to investigate melatonin as an alternative. Trouble is I like being up at night.

...

SS-Traveller · 18th February 2009, 20:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I hate those people who say, "Oh! I just stopped, no problem"

Trouble is I like being up at night.

...

Dear Thad: This is absolutely NOT

- I've also spent nights awake and find I enjoy the silence and solitude - with cigarettes for company! So the nights when I cannot sleep are not that enjoyable as they used to be.

Sharing your thoughts, and the support & encouragement from bblost, supremeBaleno and everyone else - thanks a ton for that... Only problem is - I have a departmental inspection at my college (I'm the HOD :( ) in 36 hours' time, and am starting to get a little frayed at the edges. But this time my guts tell me I can go through without getting pally with the sticks.

Might not log in for the next 2 days, but do send in your thoughts.

Thad E Ginathom · 18th February 2009, 22:23

Oh, you do get used to the night hours being without the cigarettes.

Now you remind me, I remember that, "just one more cigarette before bed", but I hadn't thought of it for years.

I think I eventually replaced with --- just one more check for new posts on my regular forums!!!

SS-Traveller · 18th February 2009, 22:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I eventually replaced with --- just one more check for new posts on my regular forums!!!

Yes... seems I'm getting into that "check for new posts" addiction too...

Sowmya · 18th February 2009, 23:14

I used to smoke a lot but now I have reduced to daily one or two. No cigarette in week end... I really appreciate the Banning smoke on the public place. This ban helped me to reduce smoking. My office was at 6th floor and after banning I had to come to ground floor for smoke which I used to feel lazy.
1+ try to smell your fingure very closeyly after smoke. The smell is really bad which help to hate smoking

SS-Traveller · 20th February 2009, 22:18

Slight setback over today - too stressed out to notice. There were a lot of things happening, departmental inspections et al, and someone offered one during the day - he didn't know I'd stopped.

And a second one later on...

Well, I haven't gone back to smoking, because I find the craving's reduced. And the taste of cigarettes was not as nice as it used to be.

Thad E Ginathom · 20th February 2009, 23:20

Quote:

Well, I haven't gone back to smoking,

Quite: one cigarette might be a battle lost, but the war is still on!

I was remembering my last cigarette...

It was about ten days into my successful patch-assisted giving up, and I probably had not had any for about a week. I have never been much good at housework, and I suddenly recalled that there was an old cigarette under the sofa! Noticed, at some point, but not cleared away. The picture grew and grew in my mind, and I decided to smoke it.

Previous attempts to give up had always failed mid-evening. They lacked that absolute commitment, and I would get through the day, and then permit myself just one. If you don't smoke for a day, then that one cigarette is really powerful; it is like a drug; stars floated in front of my eyes!

It was horrible. The tobacco was completely dry, so it burnt too fast and too hot, like smoking fire.

kb100 · 21st February 2009, 21:03

Well... I used to be smoker. And a quitter too - I quit twice - first time for two years and the next about five years back .. and running

For me I had started doing 60 cigarettes a day. Went on this holiday, clicked over 600 snaps and every single one had a me with a cigarette in my hand. I knew that 'control', 'slowing down' , nicotine patch/gum methods would just not work with me. The ONLY one that works is a DARE! - I absolutely HATE to lose a bet! So I went and told the world I had quit - of course NO ONE including my watchman, office boy, milkman believed me capable of it. So I took on the world - took bets with everyone I came across! Set the date over a long holiday weekend. I smoked my last ciggy on a Friday eve, ensured I had absolutely NO cigarettes lying around anywhere (including the 'emergency' supplies), and woke up to a Cigarette free Saturday! I ensured I did not step out of the house for anything for the next three days - lest I give in to the craving! Three days of cold turkey.. the first day is BAD.. the second WORSE, the third is not so bad.. and by the end of the week I was okay.

Needless to say won all those bets as well. Believe me the feeling is GOOD!

The only downside... my taste buds came alive and I put on some crazy kilos (went from 73 to 116 kgs).

Bright side - I had a Lung Function test last week. The results show my lung capacity @ 114% despite being about 25 kgs overweight! That means my lungs are back to peak form!

One thing I leant from the whole exercise. How PERSONAL is your desire to quit? Unless you are doing it for YOURSELF you will never succeed! The battle is entirely in your head - I felt DISGUSTED with myself for allowing myself to become a slave to something like this. So long as failure is an option you will never succeed at quitting .. or staying quit! The day I erased that option I won!

Anyone needing any help - a la 'Smokers Anonymous' if you will - please PM me - I am willing to help in any way I can!

bblost · 21st February 2009, 21:19

Great. Its stories like yous that help me stay on track.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kb100

The only downside... my taste buds came alive and I put on some crazy kilos (went from 73 to 116 kgs).

What I have read is that smoking kills hunger as it plays havoc with the sugar metabolism. So you actually feel HUNGER after a long time of having mistaken it as cig craving.

I quit smoking in Ramzan. So that put me at a NO SMOKE zone automatically.

Mods
if the content below is violating some rule, sorry.
Please delete the same in that case.
It helps to get God on your side.
Muslim -> Ramzan.
Hindu -> Sabrimala.
Christian -> Lent (?)
and Sikh, well they aint allowed to smoke anyways.

How I wish religious heads who spread message of hate instead pass a ruling banning such a potentially fatal habit.

Just a goal you guys could work towards and decide to quit smoking on.

16th February 2009, 22:23	#258
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,448 Thanked: 30,056 Times	No hard feelings at all... I figured that the withdrawal irritability might have influenced your reading, and your reply. No problem. Stick with it. I won't say that it can only get better --- that is true in the long term, in the short term there's going to be bad days. I used to even dream about smoking! In fact, I remember in one dream, taking a cigarette, lighting it, and then thinking, "No!!! I don't do this any more!!!" Even years later, I'd catch myself going out, thinking, keys... money... tobacco... ? Err, no?
	() Thanks

17th February 2009, 10:22	#260
supremeBaleno Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Chennai / Kochi Posts: 5,676 Thanked: 2,914 Times View My Garage	SS-Traveller, stick to it, however irritating it might seem during the initial days. You CAN do it.
	() Thanks

17th February 2009, 10:29	#261
bblost Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 11,300 Thanked: 18,008 Times View My Garage	If I can hold off for the past 6 months. YOU CAN. and was pointed out by thad_e_ginathom, its a daily struggle. But its a struggle we WIN everyday, everytime.
	() Thanks

17th February 2009, 13:17	#262
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,448 Thanked: 30,056 Times	SS-Traveller... You are having a harder time of it than I did, it sounds very rough --- keep at it. I hate those people who say, "Oh! I just stopped, no problem" My sleep patterns are all over the place even without trying to give anything up! I have always had a tendency to become nocturnal. Whilst it is not a health problem sleeping in the day instead of the night, it is a productivity problem; it is very hard to get stuff done! So if I'm not careful I'll be getting addicted to sleeping tablets next. I'm going to investigate melatonin as an alternative. Trouble is I like being up at night. ...
	() Thanks

18th February 2009, 22:23	#264
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,448 Thanked: 30,056 Times	Oh, you do get used to the night hours being without the cigarettes. Now you remind me, I remember that, "just one more cigarette before bed", but I hadn't thought of it for years. I think I eventually replaced with --- just one more check for new posts on my regular forums!!!
	() Thanks

18th February 2009, 23:14	#266
Sowmya BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 493 Thanked: 19 Times View My Garage	I used to smoke a lot but now I have reduced to daily one or two. No cigarette in week end... I really appreciate the Banning smoke on the public place. This ban helped me to reduce smoking. My office was at 6th floor and after banning I had to come to ground floor for smoke which I used to feel lazy. 1+ try to smell your fingure very closeyly after smoke. The smell is really bad which help to hate smoking
	() Thanks

20th February 2009, 22:18	#267
SS-Traveller Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 8,279 Thanked: 28,735 Times View My Garage	Eight days over - 2 cigarettes today Slight setback over today - too stressed out to notice. There were a lot of things happening, departmental inspections et al, and someone offered one during the day - he didn't know I'd stopped. And a second one later on... Well, I haven't gone back to smoking, because I find the craving's reduced. And the taste of cigarettes was not as nice as it used to be.
	() Thanks

21st February 2009, 21:03	#269
kb100 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangy Boy! Posts: 1,556 Thanked: 23 Times	Well... I used to be smoker. And a quitter too - I quit twice - first time for two years and the next about five years back .. and running For me I had started doing 60 cigarettes a day. Went on this holiday, clicked over 600 snaps and every single one had a me with a cigarette in my hand. I knew that 'control', 'slowing down' , nicotine patch/gum methods would just not work with me. The ONLY one that works is a DARE! - I absolutely HATE to lose a bet! So I went and told the world I had quit - of course NO ONE including my watchman, office boy, milkman believed me capable of it. So I took on the world - took bets with everyone I came across! Set the date over a long holiday weekend. I smoked my last ciggy on a Friday eve, ensured I had absolutely NO cigarettes lying around anywhere (including the 'emergency' supplies), and woke up to a Cigarette free Saturday! I ensured I did not step out of the house for anything for the next three days - lest I give in to the craving! Three days of cold turkey.. the first day is BAD.. the second WORSE, the third is not so bad.. and by the end of the week I was okay. Needless to say won all those bets as well. Believe me the feeling is GOOD! The only downside... my taste buds came alive and I put on some crazy kilos (went from 73 to 116 kgs). Bright side - I had a Lung Function test last week. The results show my lung capacity @ 114% despite being about 25 kgs overweight! That means my lungs are back to peak form! One thing I leant from the whole exercise. How PERSONAL is your desire to quit? Unless you are doing it for YOURSELF you will never succeed! The battle is entirely in your head - I felt DISGUSTED with myself for allowing myself to become a slave to something like this. So long as failure is an option you will never succeed at quitting .. or staying quit! The day I erased that option I won! Anyone needing any help - a la 'Smokers Anonymous' if you will - please PM me - I am willing to help in any way I can!
	() Thanks