# Smoking



## RayJ (Nov 3, 2010)

Hello PC'ers, pretty new here but I ve been reading up the past couple months. Seems like a great place, learnt alot about myself so far.

My thread here is to seek advice from, healthy non smokers and ex smokers who have successfully beat this habit.

I been seriously committed to stopping smoking for the past several months, with success of not buying 1 single pack for the last 4 months, (I have been smoking though here and there getting cigarettes from other smokers in my household that always have em around) but 2011 I promised myself I would finally cut it ALL.

I been unsuccessful for the past 3 days into this new year thus far. And I know its because smoking is so ingrained psychologically in my mind, Im seeking new mental change approaches this time around.

*For non smokers - what are some beliefs or discouraging thoughts you have, that have helped you to have never lit one up and got into the habit in the first place? is there anything you believe about smoking that has kept you away from them and continue to stay away?

For ex smokers - could you mention a turning point or realizations that hit you, that made you finally stop! ....what was it for you.*

I appreciate any help guys, I've been doing the online research / self help / hypnosis / book readings / patches / etc etc, I feel like Iv e gone through alot of resources already to help myself stop, but still cant stop from lighting one here and there (after meals is the worst!). 

This has to be one of the hardest things I have ever gone through in my life. I wish I had never started...

Help ....


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## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

*Well....*

In high school and university, I had enough clubs and other things that caught my interest that I never hung out with the smokers would be an initial attempt at an answer. Another part would be that even when I was old enough my mom would take me to Bingo back when one could still smoke in most of those big rooms and within a few hours my eyes would be so watery and I'd be wanting to get out that I knew I would never start and haven't in the 35 years of my life. A lasting impression on me are the relatives that smoked that have either died really young like my mom who died at the age of 57 from various cancers including lung and lymphatic or my aunt who while still alive but is on oxygen and has a number of health issues that I wouldn't want to have.

I'd wonder if nicotine gum, patches or inhalers may work for you as something that may help beyond just trying to go cold turkey. Just a thought if you haven't already tried some of those routes.


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## Merov (Mar 8, 2009)

You just realized you would love to light a smoke.

Come on man...you've allready failed your new years resolution. Why try and change a habit?
You like smoking, otherwise you would'nt have picked it up.
It's someting fun to do with your hands when in company, and it makes you relax.
You know you don't really seriously want to stop. You just feel you should. Thats no motivation to stop.

Stop beating yourself up, and enjoy one. You deserve it 
:wink:


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

Hi,

I admire you for feeling strongly about quitting smoking and seeking advice here. I am sure an ex-smoker will be able to give better advice. Since you ask for input from non-smokers, I'll tell you what I think:happy:

I have never smoked for health reasons. Nothing about smoking attracted me, anyway. I didn't want to smoke because not smoking is one of the ways to work towards better health. Also, my father died of lung cancer when I was 10. He was fairly young, and he passed away in less than 5 months of diagnosis. The strange thing is that he hadn't smoked in his entire life, and to the best of everyone's knowledge, he hadn't exposed himself to any fumes etc. known to cause cancer. While the cause of his illness remains a mystery, I knew then that I was never going to smoke and actively place myself in the line-up for terminal illness.

It's awesome that you are trying to quit at this age. It's alright that you started to smoke. Youth is the time for experimentation, and there are countless people who smoked when young, recovered and never went back again. Keep working towards your goal. I wish you success. I hope some ex-smokers will stop by, and give you good advice. Please keep us posted about your progress, and there will be progress. Trust yourself and continue to make use of all the resources at your disposal.


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## s0n1c800m (Dec 6, 2010)

I smoked for about 5 years, from 22 to 27.
I smoked half a pack of clove cigarettes every day, sometimes up to a pack and a half, but only rarely.
In the first year after quitting, I probably smoked about 3 packs, total.
In this second year, I can happily say, none. 

I quit when I realized that I was really disgusted with myself for smoking.

That doesn't mean I didn't thoroughly enjoy smoking. That doesn't mean that really good sex, really good beer, and really long road trips suddenly stopped making me want to light up.

It means, very simply, that it stopped being worth the disgust I felt for myself afterward. I was a hypocrite. I've always been an ardent supporter of public smoking bans. I believe smoking around children should be punishable as child abuse. My own mother has an allergy to cigarette smoke so bad that I could not enter her house without risking hospitalizing her.

As to how I quit?
I stopped buying cigarettes, asking for cigarettes, hanging around smokers, smoking, etc.
I quit doing it by not doing it any more. Sometimes it was hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
I see no reason to not use a nicotine replacement, but I couldn't stand any of them myself. 
Not sure if I was helpful, but the only way to quit is to, you know, quit.


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## Digger Blue (Dec 1, 2010)

RayJ,
I kissed a couple of girls who smoked, and it was quite disgusting. They smelled like smoke, they tasted like smoke. It was like they were unclean. It is filthy and expensive, especially when you factor in the fact that you'll likely die of lung cancer which is a really sucky way to die. Most people try several times before they finally get over it. The smoke gets into your electronics and causes early failue of those, too, because a film covers all the parts and they cannot dissipate heat as fast, so the whole set ages quicker. That is a hidden cost. 
Good Luck.
Keep kicking the habit until you succeed.
Regards,
Digger Blue


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## Socrates (Feb 1, 2010)

Merov said:


> You just realized you would love to light a smoke.
> 
> Come on man...you've allready failed your new years resolution. Why try and change a habit?
> You like smoking, otherwise you would'nt have picked it up.
> ...


This.

At the moment, I'm trying to resist the tightening of my chest due to addiction and what have you, but as soon as the chest tightening wave is done, I'm going to have one. 

I like smoking, don't like the addiction. 

Then again, I only had my first cigarette about two and a half months ago... despite having dreamt about them and lusted after them for years. 

Do what you do, if you WANT to quit, do it. If you don't really WANT to, keep on. Sure, it has consequences, but life will kill you. You can't avoid everything that could possibly kill you. Just do what you feel comfortable with.


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## etherealuntouaswithin (Dec 7, 2010)

I now suggest that you cease with a habit as such.Admittedly I am a smoker..As Socrates has stated,"I like Smoking,I don't like the addiction".I am quite young...perhaps as such that it is all the greater a threat(or so i have heard) Yet i am unconcerned,as was stated,I like what i like...though i do not wish to see nor hear nor have fore-knowledge of a life decayed by cause of substance so my suggestion is that you stop and seek alternatives....activities of many forms await you,get out and build a tolerance of the body(more-so the mind) to rid yourself of the dependence..


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## OxidativeCleavage (Dec 27, 2010)

Well there are obvious health risks associated with smoking and that is what always kept me from doing it... 
but most people are aware that smoking causes cancer, heart disease, and all kinds of other problems... what you might not know is smoking also contributes to premature aging: 

Recent studies have shown that there is a definite link between smoking and premature aging. This is because cigarette smoke actually injures your skin by damaging your cells... 

A brief intro of how it works is it causes the cells to produce more of the enzyme that breaks down your skin (we all have this - it's how we get rid of old/dead skin cells, but when exposed to cigarette smoke the production of the enzyme that breaks down your skin cells is increased thus decreasing the production of the enzyme that restores collagen - thus resulting in the negative effects that smoking has on your skin)

According to the research, smoking can result in a loss of up to 40% of new skin cell production... this compounds over time and the more concentrated the smoke the more the effects are accelerated.... 

hopefully this helps - good luck..


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## PistisSophia (Jan 2, 2011)

*For non smokers - what are some beliefs or discouraging thoughts you have, that have helped you to have never lit one up and got into the habit in the first place? is there anything you believe about smoking that has kept you away from them and continue to stay away?*

I've never smoked. When I was a kid both of my parents did and the house smelled like an ashtray. That was enough to keep me away, away from the filthy weed.


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## Digger Blue (Dec 1, 2010)

However, if you quit smoking, you'll have a few more years to write your memoirs, and a lot more money to have fun in between. 
Digger Blue


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## Socrates (Feb 1, 2010)

I think saying 'smoking kills' or 'smoking causes cancer' is pretty asinine. 

Like, really, everyone knows that smoking kills. You're never going to tell a smoker 'you know that kills' and they're like 'HOLY SHIT I GOTTA STOP SMOKING!', because it's been drilled into our heads over and over since the 1960s and beyond.

Just sayin'. :bored:


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## RayJ (Nov 3, 2010)

Thanks for your responses everyone. 

As of the new year, I have managed to get by with 2 a day being even 1 a day in the past few days!. The morning crave has been my Achilles heel, I really should take up drinking coffee, (but oddly enough I dont, because I know coffee is bad for you) :dry:

I been a smoker for 10 years. I find the hardest thing about stopping is, finding a complete replacement?

thanks for the advice guys, I will continue on my turbulent cessation. // Merov that is the crappiest advice ever ! :crazy:


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## prplchknz (Nov 30, 2010)

also i hate when people are like you're too young to smoke, put that out. like I've been smoking for years now you tell me not to smoke isn't going to make me magically unaddicted. it's just going to piss me of. I've tried quitting with the patch with out the patch, wasn't able to do either. So I don't know. but good luck.


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## tangential (Aug 15, 2010)

The only way I could quit smoking was Nicorette. Nicorette is like smoking, also addictive, expensive, and has physical side effects. But I'm willing to take the tradeoff.


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## devoid (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm a non-smoker, never picked one up myself. My dad smoked all his life, and it destroyed him. He tried to quit after 30 years of smoking and found that he couldn't, the addiction was too much for him. He managed to get off of alcohol, marijuana and everything else.

So the reasons I've sworn I'll never pick up a cigarette:
- I want to be in control of my life, not have a drug control me.
- I cannot stand the smell, and even if I could, my boyfriend would instantly leave me because he really can't.
- I don't want to die of something as horrible and debilitating as lung cancer. My grandfather went through that and it is painful just to watch.
- Cigarettes can cause women to develop facial hair, even as far as full-out mustaches!
- They also cause accelerated wrinkling, which means that my breasts would look like an old guy's testicles by age 40.
- The cough. I think you know what I mean, it's just awful.
- The idea of voluntarily putting 400 assorted TOXINS into my body every day is absolutely disgusting. I would rather just drown myself in bleach and get it over with.
- My teeth aren't exactly pearly white, but have you seen old smokers' teeth?
- I would see it as a sign of weakness if I had an addiction. Already I worry constantly about my minimal use of alcohol for medicinal purposes, and I want to be able to respect myself more than that.
- High blood pressure and all associated issues are certainly not fun.
- The idea that by smoking I am releasing toxins into the air and poisoning my loved ones, strangers, children walking by... I could not live with that. No matter where you smoke, it will get out into the air, and it would make me cry to think about my own decisions putting other people at risk. Not to mention that second-hand smoking can make people more prone to addiction themselves.


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## Cheveyo (Nov 19, 2010)

RayJ said:


> *For non smokers - what are some beliefs or discouraging thoughts you have, that have helped you to have never lit one up and got into the habit in the first place? is there anything you believe about smoking that has kept you away from them and continue to stay away?*


*

The benefits are entirely out-weighed by the downsides.
Even smaller downsides like the stench. You smokers stink. I HATE being around you. It feels like I'm suffocating in your stink. You disgust me.

I've never seen any reason to smoke. Never seen the draw of it. I had friends who smoked and I hated being around when they did.



Merov said:



You just realized you would love to light a smoke.

Come on man...you've allready failed your new years resolution. Why try and change a habit?
You like smoking, otherwise you would'nt have picked it up.
It's someting fun to do with your hands when in company, and it makes you relax.
You know you don't really seriously want to stop. You just feel you should. Thats no motivation to stop.

Stop beating yourself up, and enjoy one. You deserve it 
:wink:

Click to expand...

Also, jump off a cliff. It'll kill you faster and you may not suffer so much if you make sure to land on your head.*


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## Intense (Mar 15, 2011)

I gave up once for 9 months.

I gave up again on Wednesday and it's now early Sunday morning and I still haven't had one.

Hypnosis this time. It seems to be sucessfully changing my thought patterns.


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## lovegames25 (Oct 7, 2010)

I once stopped for 2 weeks and started exercising but it didn't work, I just can't do it but i'm still exercising


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## Surreal Snake (Nov 17, 2009)

."Coughs".


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## Tootsie (Mar 15, 2011)

Have you consider Chantix?

I am a smoker but I did quit on Chantix for nearly a year. I believe that I really could have quit for good if I hadn't just bought that one pack.

My advice: Talk to your doctor about Chantix and then just do not smoke ever again.

I thought about taking it again but I suffer from depression and it can not be so good for those with a major depression issue. At the moment my doctor is against the idea. BUT...If your doctor thinks that it may work for you I would certainly give it a try. You have nothing to lose, right?


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## Listener (Jan 13, 2011)

It's probably not really comparable, but there was a time when I didn't think I could give up sodas. But eventually I just decided I wasn't going to drink them anymore and I just stopped. I had tried cutting back before that, but it never worked. Only when I stopped entirely was I able to do it.


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## Yourlovelyquinn (Mar 20, 2011)

Okay, I smoked from ages 15-21. Seriously, consider getting an electric cigarette. 
Last Christmas, my parents pitched in and bought me one. I was pissed off. I did not want to quit. 
I was cussing up a storm and saying "I'm not quitting now, I'm too stressed!". I was being a big baby. 
I had one last pack of smokes, so I would smoke a regular cigarette and then to the ecig, and then on and on. 
The first week was hard but I eventually completely switched over to the ecig. 
Eventually you will start smoking less because with an ecig, you only need one puff. 
I stopped smoking altogether. Seriously, consider getting an ecig. For someone with no will power to quit, I quit.


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## Tootsie (Mar 15, 2011)

I've been thinking about the Ecigarette. So it really worked for you?

I'll have to really consider it. I have no idea how they work or how expensive they are but if you weren't even interested in quitting and you quit then just MAYBE I could do it.


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## Snakecharmer (Oct 26, 2010)

I'm a certified hypnotherapist. Hypnosis works GREAT for smoking cessation. Also, there's a fantastic book called The EasyWay to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr that I recommend to anyone who wants to stop smoking.

Funny story:
I had a client who came to me for smoking cessation. He was VERY quiet, and I couldn't get much information out of him about his smoking history - or anything else - on the first visit. 

I hypnotized him, and after the session he said, "Well, I don't FEEL any different." 

I said, "Try not to overthink it. Just go about your evening as you normally do and see what happens. Come back to see me later this week and we'll talk."

He came back three days later for a follow up. Here's how the conversation went:

Him: "What did you do to me?!"
Me: "Uh...what do you mean?"
Him: "I haven't wanted to smoke at all during the day...the only time I want a cigarette is at night after dinner!" 
<he actually sounded MAD at me>
Me: "Well, that's good, isn't it?"
Him: "It is freaking me out a bit!"

Anyway, the reason he still wanted a cigarette after dinner was because he was doing what we call "habit pairing". After dinner, he followed the same routine every night: Cook, eat, wash dishes, watch TV from his recliner w/a glass of wine and a cigarette.

I asked him to change his routine. He did, and he stopped smoking completely.


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## Yourlovelyquinn (Mar 20, 2011)

Tootsie said:


> I've been thinking about the Ecigarette. So it really worked for you?
> 
> I'll have to really consider it. I have no idea how they work or how expensive they are but if you weren't even interested in quitting and you quit then just MAYBE I could do it.


I had my parents surprise me with it and I was not happy. They range in price. My parents got me the Volcano E Cigarette. It was a kit that cost like $70 but there are cheaper ones out there. 

I strongly recommend getting one. At first it's going to be hard. The vapor is completely different from regular smoke. Think of flavored mist. It satisfies you though. I think it worked because it fed the nicotine addiction and the addiction of having something fill your lungs. 

Even if you don't want to quit, it's still something you should consider getting. It's pure nicotine, so there aren't any additives. It doesn't kill your lungs. You wont be hacking up a phlegm jim in the morning. You wont smell like an ashtray. 

You can smoke them just about everywhere. It's nice having that freedom. It also doesn't give off second hand smoke because it's vapor. 

They sell them in smoke shops too. I think they have like temporary ones. There is a whole wide range of different types. People don't usually think about getting those if they want to quit. I recommended it to my friend who smoked, they don't smoke anymore. 

My friend's father smoked for 20 years, it took him longer than I, but he eventually quit. 

Seriously, get one. 

They have ones where the nicotine is already in a disposable cartridge, or there is the liquid. The liquids come in so many flavors, it's ridiculous. Some of the ecigs have removable atomizers, which you have to clean. And they are easy to clean.


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