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giving up smoking !! help

7 replies

nellyhawks · 08/03/2011 13:51

Have been smoking on & off since teenager have managed to stop quite a few times, for a few years at a time but keep relapsing. Swing between chain smoking, wine guzzling slob and fitness freak (ran marathon last year) Weight swings likewise. Don't smoke around kids & hate smell & lack of self control. Any advice please.

OP posts:
Weechancer · 08/03/2011 14:54

The best and most up to date book I have seen on quitting smoking recently is called "How to stop smoking, now and for ever, by Dr Harry Alder and Karl Morris. From How To Books isbn 978-1-84528-223-3.

It emphasises that smoking is a learned behaviour, we were not born to smoke, so like all habits they can be unlearned in about 7-14 days - if we are motivated to do so.

They also emphasis that the fear of stopping is a hurdle to be overcome. Also that although nicotine is highly addictive it only stays in our body for about 3-7 days so if we can get past that then we are well on our way to quitting.

Also that too many people have wrongly been convinced that smoking calms them down. But it cannot and does not, because this drug is a stimulant, not a relaxant.

Stimulants stress up our bodies, make our heart pump faster and make us anxious.

The confusion in smokers minds is this. When we need a fag, we take our tobacco hit, just like the heroin user does and the immediate relief that comes is relief from our craving (addiction) to the drug. When that craving is satisfied we feel "relaxed" until a few seconds later when our body is screaming out for more of our drug of choice - nicotine, kicks in again

Depriving our body of the nicotine for 3-7 days clears it out of our system, so there is no craving left. What is left is the social and mental habit we have created for ourselves, that requires the drug tobacco to get us by the day.

Fact; The most successful method that quitters from tobacco use , is just to decide to stop, and getting on with it. No patches, no classes, no acupuncture or any other aid is required. It is all about the power of the mind. Smokers have over a long time convinced themselves that they cannot quit, so they don't.

fact 2: there are around 4,000 different chemicals added to commercial cigarettes to try to hook different sorts of smoker in. We do not even know what some of these substances are. The new off the street so called cheap fags from China are known to be highly toxic with up to 30 times more dangerous chemicals like lead in them than the legal versions.

nellyhawks · 09/03/2011 13:18

Thanks Weechancer. Will give it a go.

OP posts:
Weechancer · 09/03/2011 15:37

Let me know how you get on. The first 7 days are the key time. Never forget that there are literally thousands of long term smokers who have managed to quit. One tip is get angry to get motivated. e.g. did you realise that 80p in every pound you spend on fags goes straight to the government?

Sillyshell · 10/03/2011 13:47

Hi, just wanted to wish you luck. I quit on the 4 Jan this year, and am soooo proud that I've not had a single puff of a fag since!

I used patches for about six weeks but felt strong enough not to need them since.

Just keep thinking that you've done it before so you dont need to smoke, it hasnt killed you not smoking so you can do it this time.

Weechancer · 10/03/2011 22:35

Keep thinking positive. If there is no nicotine in your body then it cannot stress you up. If you are not stressed up - you do not need a fag.

avoid using the patches, they are just prolonging the process of being fag free. They only have about a 3% success rate across the world. Some users of the patches get addicted to them, I have a relative in that position, 2 years on.

You can do it. Join the band of successful non puffers and stick two fingers up to the tobacco industry that has no morals, only see dollar signs, and none of their top executives smoke. They are not that daft.

Weechancer · 13/03/2011 17:58

how is it going with the quitting efforts? Happy to give any encouragement I can as making this work for you would be the best health improvement decision you wil ever make.

Weechancer · 25/03/2011 18:34

how is progress on the quitting smoking front?

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