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Hi, i wasnt quite sure where exactly to post this question so i took the liberty of reasoning that surely since it regards my health then why not in this section.
i am a caucasian male in his late twenties who has,lets say, sometimes succumbed to lifes guilty pleasures and is noticing a effect from some of these said pleasures. okay i tell a lie, just one of them. Smoking cigarettes. I wonder why i do engage in this filthy habit at times but on the same hand i do occasionally enjoy a cigarette and smoke inside my lungs. Nothing wrong with this you might say, thousands in fact hundreds of millions would agree with that statement. I also know that a decent percentage of that last staggering statistic are of a like mindedness to how i am at this current moment. I mean lets face it Cigarettes kill you. The contents within them are undeniably just another method of slow poisoning excepting one not so small detail. They are legal.
Now this post is in no way meant to be a rant on the legality of governments endorsing or not endorsing a product that is scientifically proven to cause numerous terminal illness` and other less lethal maladies. It is not to question someones else right to damage their own and others bodies by unwittingly( a majority of the time) polluting the air around them with second hand smoke which apparently is up to 15 times more toxic than the initial amount of smoke.
It is not a big waving middle finger to the tobacco companies who are more or less given carte blanche by governments and unwitting stockholders to ensure that my generation and the ones previous and to follow this one will be afflicted with who knows what sort of cancers and terminal illness.
To lay the blame of such utter and total lack of consideration to the men,women and children of this stinking mass of humanity that is Earth squarely on the shoulders of the capitalistic little conglomeration that is the Tobacco Company Family (BAT,PM etc) would be unfair to say the least. In fact it would be plain wrong of me to suggest any otherwise. Perhaps it could be a little fairer to say that these mentioned companies,corporations and conglomerates who`s actions combined with the actions of a desperate few nations who in their desperate struggle to try and assume world dominance and economic superiority brought our unwilling society into the "Nuclear" or "Atomic" age.
Yes i`m not that blind to other quite relevant factors in relation to cancer and other problems we face to our health in todays world. In fact i have trouble sometimes distinguishing the line between smoking related illness/diseases and environmental and genetic factors.
For example i may be able to keep on with this pathetic habit of mine until i die of natural causes i.e: old age, because my forebearers were from the "Deep end of the gene pool" and they may have absolutely no effect on my health and wellbeing aside from making me smell revolting and considering the future of being a "social outcast". But on the other side of that coin i may be a coal miner who doesnt smoke but has to sustain environmental factors that could and would affect parts of my body that smoking cigarettes will affect, and who also has to deal with other peoples second hand smoke away from his workplace and contract lung,throat and other such cancers without being a willing participant for lack of a better word.
In fact you are most probably wondering where the question in this monologue is going to arrive.
Well despair not for here it is.
Since i want to give away this habit that could quite possibly end my life prematurely and i am quite aware of other factors that could accomplish that same point i wonder wether the numerous quitting aids that have flooded the market are reliable.
I have tried the Nicobate patches but they make me feel nauseous, the same goes for the gum and inhaler. I came across one called NicoBloc quite recently but cannot find it locally nor can i find any decent results of studies with this particular brand/device of quitting aid. This method involves placing droplets of a liquid which apparently blocks the nicotine and other harmful substances from flowing into your mouth/lungs when inhaling the smoke. So far aside from having a stressful time going cold turkey which has failed me several times i think that this could perhaps be a viable option for me.
I have perused the producers of this products` website but they are surprisingly lax with the information i am chasing which annoys me to no end. So here i am asking for any help you may offer.
And yes am am also alive to the likelihood of people, who after struggling through my post may brand me a big time wanker for writing a lengthy post which although relevant to my question has purely just been to give my two cents on cigarette smoking and the benefits of me not indulging in the habit but all humour aside it is a pressing issue in todays society and i for one will not be supporting it for much longer.
You say you've tried chemical replacements and cold turkey, but have you ever considered hypnotherapy or any number of homeopathic remedies ?
Also there's the life style changes that some people swear by. Sometimes somethig as simple a stopping drinking coffee can help kick the habbit.
If you can almost quit on your own, try hypnosis and some of the stop smoking tapes.
I will even go one step futher, if you want to email me your address I will send you a free stop smoking tape, that was used in one of the seminar programs that cost 49.99.
I agree with CurlyBen, you'll need to break the psychological links you've made with smoking. A friend of mine didn't have a problem with the physical withdrawal, it was the links he made to smoking (morning coffee, breaks at work, alcohol, etc.), his doctor recommended Zyban and it worked for him.
This worked for me - but I would NOT reccomend it.
After I had my engine "recon" (see another thread) all "Zipper Club" patients were recomended being .given Beta Blocker tablets. I did question this at the time as my BP has always been slightly on the low side ( 110/118 over 65/70 for those who know the vernalcular).
The fateful day arrived after my retirement and therefore not working the drug out of my system, I blacked out due to beta blocker overdose - the paramedic gave me BP as 85 tops stuck a valve in my wrist and pumped a full phial of "quick start" into my veins. I was kept in hospital for 24 hrs observation - three days after this I came down with the biggest dose of what I thought was 'flu - which lasted almost a fortnight - yet all the medicals were trying to tell me was "diabetic" - I ain't gottit - nobody in the family ever had it !!!!
Sorry for the long story - but the culmination is that even though I enjoyed the occasional cigarillo or cigarette after my recon - I can't any longer - nicotine smoke puts me on my knees , the so called 'flu or diabetes (I personally think it was MRSA that I picked up in there - but that's another story) has completly messed up my lungs. Now I am actualy jealous when I see some one "Lighting up".
No moral to this story - our respective governments actualy encouraged us to smoke in the 50's and 60's and in the case of the UK still take a hefty slice of tax for the privelege of killing us !!!!
I quit over ten years ago. I had been quitting and quitting until one day, I was good and fed up. By then I was smoking only in response to a NIC FIT, and stubbing out big butts too (never ever relight a burned cig, you increase the carcinogenic properties untold fold doing that!)
So when I went on the Nicoderm brand patch for one pack a day, I actually upped my nicotine dosage accidentally but that helped. For several days there were a number of activities I simply couldn't do (like talk on the phone or coffee, that was iffy for a while too) since I associated them with smoking. In short, I did whatever it @#%#$@ took! Everyone understood and supported me.
Now the patch had some drawbacks, like wierd dreams and occasionally feeling like I was slugged really hard at the site where I put on a fresh patch but I said tough tiddles, AT LEAST I AM NOT SMOKING!
I did not buy the different sizes since my doctor told me that is a rip off. I bought the largest one and cut it up myself with scissors. So instead of it being three steps from the three sizes they sold (all at the same price, mind you!) I created like twenty steps over a slightly longer period of time. By the time I stopped using the patch, it was the size of a tiny round band-aid LOL.
Also I read the "unfold it fifteen times in six point type" little brochure that was included and was properly scared about lighting up since it virtually said if you do, don't sue us when you drop dead from nicotine overdose over and over. I called my doc and asked if I really had to wait the 24 hours they stipulated before lighting up and he said nah, 18 hours would suffice. Well, bloody hell - what's the diff?? I still had to wait! And by being forced to wait, I learned the urge passes. So every moment of every hour, I made sure I had a patch on. And little by little, I conquered the mental part of it.
By 90 days, I could feel a turn taking place. I no longer thought about it. And I haven't looked back since. Oh I occasionally enjoy a vicarious thrill standing next to someone who lights up. But I certainy don't miss standing in the rain, huddled under the eaves, to suck one down quick before returning to work! By the time I stopped I had two full size patches left and vowed to myself, if I ever think about lighting up I am racing to my bathroom and slapping one of those puppies on my forehead. So far, that has not been necessary.
So, I am assuming he who writes long interesting posts can handle a long one back atcha and to you I would say keep quitting 'til you quit, man! It remains one of the best things I have ever done.
DO what it takes! Only don't do like my friend Bobby, who quit with the gum and ten years later is still chewing it - I call him the science experiment!
Excellent post, McNug, and lots of great suggestions from everyone! I'm sorry my answer won't be as helpful. I tried to quit many, many times.... without any luck. What finally did it for me was getting pregnant! Now I don't want to smoke ever again... I lost my interest in it, and the smell of cigarette smoke actually makes me nauseated now. But obviously not everyone can have a kid in order to quit!! I do wish you lots of luck, though!
Since i want to give away this habit that could quite possibly end my life prematurely and i am quite aware of other factors that could accomplish that same point i wonder wether the numerous quitting aids that have flooded the market are reliable.
Thanks for your time.
There is Zyban which is a medication which enhances a person's ability to control smoking related thoughts, Nicotine gum, and transdermal patches which reduce nicotine craving. The article at the following site talks about their effectiveness.
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