So I smoke too much

[pig]

So say my gf and housemates. I guess they are right, but I didnt want to admit it. Anyway sunday we went for some food, about ten of us in total. Everyone bet me £20 each that I couldnt quit for ONE week. From Sunday at midnight to sunday at midnight. I was hesitant at first, a week without ciggies are you mad. So I took them up on their offer. If I manage to do it, I told them I would pocket £100 to pay off my gas bill and phone bill, and give £80 to charity (most likely cancer related for obvious reasons)

Now I dont actually want to quit. I enjoy a cigarette, after a meal, with a drink, after sex, after an exam. However my smoking has increased in the last 12 months, considerably. 2 years ago I was on 5 a day, to jumping to 20 a day now. Which is bad. Its partly because I am up till god knows how long, working so I tend to smoke while I work. Its also because I have a fag everywhere. Walking to Uni, a ciggie, outside a lecture, ciggie, after lecture, with friends, walking home, after dinner, after gym, in the pub, working etc etc.

Its a real problem I am truly addicted. So I cant quit forever at the moment. I really cant. I have quit since sunday, and I will continue till sunday. However after sunday what I aim to do is cut down. Seriously cut down. From 20 week 1 to 17 week 2 to 15 week 3 to 12 week 4 to 10 week 5 etc etc, until im on 5 a day. Once Im on 5 a day then I can see if I can quit.

Its ironic, you want sympathy but I dont deserve any at all, it is 100% my fault, thats what saddens me even more, its a disgusting habbit etc and ultimatly it is killing me. However the first part i guess is doing something about it, and come sunday cut down I will. It will be a long path till im fully quit but I will reach it.

By the way the cravings ive had are extreme, im more hungary (in fact constantly hungary) and im more bored, time goes sooooo much slower I swear.

Anyway have any of you gone cold turkey for a week,or any of you quit straight off, or do any of you smoke too much. Please no you smoke youre a twat comments I know that already.

[mist]

competely unrelated to smoking, but drinking water will give you something to do and stop you feeling hungry without causing any weight gain problems.

i'd suggest waiting untill the end of the week before you decide you're going to start at 20 a day and work down, by then you might feel better about keeping stopped.

i assume patches/gum are banned?

[JonnyBGood]

Good man. I can't say I've ever quit anything as serious as smoking but from my limited experience you seem to have the right attitude.

[pig]

Originally Posted by mist

competely unrelated to smoking, but drinking water will give you something to do and stop you feeling hungry without causing any weight gain problems.

i'd suggest waiting untill the end of the week before you decide you're going to start at 20 a day and work down, by then you might feel better about keeping stopped.

i assume patches/gum are banned?

im drinking plenty of water, but patches and gum seem useless when im doing it for a week, as well as that nicotine cravings will still occur, i want these cravings to dissapear or reduce hence lower amnt of ciggies in time thus reducing my dependency on nicotine. I chew on extra all day and bite and suck on my pen, still doesnt taste like a ciggie though :/

[mist]

Originally Posted by pig

still doesnt taste like a ciggie though :/

i could make suggestions, but you'd probably not be pleased.

that asside, i was under the impression that the point of the patches etc was to deal with the cravings. why does only intending to stop for a week make this any less useful?

[Tomkat]

Can you not do it on the sly, then clean your teeth or something to pretend you haven't been smoking?

[mist]

Originally Posted by Tomkat

Can you not do it on the sly, then clean your teeth or something to pretend you haven't been smoking?

surely only smokers actually think this works?

[pig]

Originally Posted by mist

surely only smokers actually think this works?

clean your teeth, spray deodrent, take off your garments, i thought worked, but in replys to tomkats question, no as ill be failing myself. If i can do one week ill be happy, btw it has crossed my mind but no.

[demiGOD]

also smoking while taking a shit is the best thing in the world (next to sex, that is..)

-i went cold turkey my first 3 days in my basic training, but i survived it, pretty much dont be around smokers and dont buy them.. thats the hard way, if you will.. then also theres that smoking the same amount of cigarettes, but only smoke half the cigarette on the first week everytime you light up, then the 2nd week, smoke half the amount of what you smoked last week but smoke them to the filter, 3rd week, smoke the same amount as on the 2nd week but only smoke half of the cigarette everytime you light up, 4th week, smoke the same amount like the 3rd week and smoke them to the filter.. do you see the trend? do this till youre down to 2-4 cigarettes a day, then just all of a sudden, stop smoking...

i tried this and it worked like a dream for me, a few months later i went back to smoking because i just like doing it..

[meglamaniac]

I really can't understand why so many people, once they are fully aware of the damage it is doing to them, continue to smoke without even trying to give up.
Going back to it after giving up should, in my opinion, carry a prison sentance.
Fools! Fools and imbeciles I tell you!

[NEWSBOT3]

Originally Posted by meglamaniac

I really can't understand why so many people, once they are fully aware of the damage it is doing to them, continue to smoke without even trying to give up.
Going back to it after giving up should, in my opinion, carry a prison sentance.
Fools! Fools and imbeciles I tell you!

this thing called addiction.

my mum gave up after 30 years because she was so poor (ie, not affording food), that you she couldnt do it anymore.

[Hicks]

Dude you know smoking kills you right ?

[Hicks]

Originally Posted by meglamaniac

I really can't understand why so many people, once they are fully aware of the damage it is doing to them, continue to smoke without even trying to give up.
Going back to it after giving up should, in my opinion, carry a prison sentance.
Fools! Fools and imbeciles I tell you!

It's called cognitive dissidence, basically people know what they're doing is bad but they choose to think that it only happens to other people and could never happen to them, until they're in a hospital bed gasping for breath coughing up all this black shit.

[at0mic.c0w]

a week is easy. staying away from ciggies for years is the hard part.

[ceres]

I've never quite got why people couldnt just stop without all this rubbish about cutting down, i havent however suffered from any form of addiction before so i am slightly in the dark with regards to the exact feelings and compulsions. Just try to remember that you control yourself, not some ghastly smelling drug.

One example i do have of smokers giving up was my grandfather who smoked i believe since he was 13 and gave up without any cutting down nonsense at the ripe old age of 73, ofcourse the damage has already been done, but the point was that no matter how deep into an addiction you feel you are, there's an easy way out.
________
MARIJUANA BUBBLER

[Phil^]

you want to be asking ice-lady for tips. shes just gone 3 weeks without smoking

[Nodrog]

Addiction is for losers, get more willpower.

[Ste]

Originally Posted by Hicks

It's called cognitive dissidence, basically people know what they're doing is bad but they choose to think that it only happens to other people and could never happen to them, until they're in a hospital bed gasping for breath coughing up all this black shit.

That still doesn't stop them.
My Grandma got Lung Cancer and she carried on smoking until she died.
My neighbour smoked so much the arteries in her legs got clogged and she needed them both amputated. She carried on until she died a week later.

I'm so glad I never really started smoking.

[meglamaniac]

Actually once you've got lung cancer there's little incentive to stop.
The damage has already been done, innit.

[pig]

Originally Posted by Hicks

It's called cognitive dissidence, basically people know what they're doing is bad but they choose to think that it only happens to other people and could never happen to them, until they're in a hospital bed gasping for breath coughing up all this black shit.

so true, its biazare though, a ciggarette brings enjoyment, however this enjoyment has all its downsides. Its ok everyone here who dont smoke saying that im lesser than you because I cant quit straght away, it is difficult. But then again ive only got myself to blame.

[I am Idler]

I believe america, smoking is good for you.

Im on 10 a day, which is quite a miracle considering I was on 30 a day a year ago

[1-X]

Originally Posted by pig

By the way the cravings ive had are extreme, im more hungary (in fact constantly hungary)...

going out with no coat makes me chile

[demiGOD]

Originally Posted by Hicks

Dude you know smoking kills you right ?

really?!??

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by Hicks

Dude you know smoking kills you right ?

dude you know living kills you right?

[lokken]

Smoking causes a slow and painful death
Living...oh.

[Nondescript Human]

Originally Posted by Yahwe

dude you know living kills you right?

i think there might be a time difference between them

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by Nondescript Human

i think there might be a time difference between them

on average this is negligible.

not to mention that quality of life lies in youth.

[Boogster]

Good luck to you mate.

[Tis]

youre my hero piggy.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by pig

Anyway have any of you gone cold turkey for a week,or any of you quit straight off, or do any of you smoke too much. Please no you smoke youre a twat comments I know that already.

I stopped smoking by using the book, "The only way to stop smoking permanently" by Allen Carr. I have not smoked tobacco since christmas, unless you count tobacco in a joint. Anyway, give it a go, its a totally different approach, where he goes through step by step, the process of unbranwashing your mind as it were, about the myths of smoking, "I like the smell of it, it calms me down" etc, etc.

Anyway, good luck

[Gary]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

Addiction is for losers, get more willpower.

Wrong. Very strong willed people remained hooked for life. That does not mean they do not have any willpower. Its not a matter of willpower, its more to do with the fear that the smoker feels when they are coerced or forced to give up. Think about it, you are in a night club, you fag levels are running low. All you want is more tobacco, you cant get hold of any, you become frought (sp?) with panic. Fear is the key factor to stopping smoking, NOT willpower, apart from the basic desire of, "I want to stop smoking".

Read the book I have refered to before. Any ex smoker who has quit using his method would be able to tell you all this.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by GJN

Wrong. Very strong willed people remained hooked for life. That does not mean they do not have any willpower. Its not a matter of willpower, its more to do with the fear that the smoker feels when they are coerced or forced to give up. Think about it, you are in a night club, you fag levels are running low. All you want is more tobacco, you cant get hold of any, you become frought (sp?) with panic. Fear is the key factor to stopping smoking, NOT willpower, apart from the basic desire of, "I want to stop smoking".

Read the book I have refered to before. Any ex smoker who has quit using his method would be able to tell you all this.

my will is stronger than you can imagine.

i smoke by choice.

because i want to.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by Yahwe

my will is stronger than you can imagine.

i smoke by choice.

because i want to.

Thats what every smoker desperate to rationalise their 'habit' say... Including me not so long ago.

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by GJN

Thats what every smoker desperate to rationalise their 'habit' say... Including me not so long ago.

What a generalisation! Unless you actually believe that nobody has ever wanted to smoke.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

What a generalisation! Unless you actually believe that nobody has ever wanted to smoke.

jonny i love you. i don't think he gets me

[Gary]

Want to smoke thorugh addiction - in that sense ALOT of people want to smoke, to eliminate that nagging feeling, where you are figity, restless, and cant stop thinking about that little white stick!!!

Want to smoke because you are not addicted, and therefore your choice, (even though you are by defintion addicted if you smoke regularly) and because it gives you confidence, etc etc, myth after myth.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by GJN

Want to smoke thorugh addiction - in that sense ALOT of people want to smoke, to eliminate that nagging feeling, where you are figity, restless, and cant stop thinking about that little white stick!!!

Want to smoke because you are not addicted, and therefore your choice, (even though you are by defintion addicted if you smoke regularly) and because it gives you confidence, etc etc, myth after myth.

no.

i'm a god. you might want to call me a 'myth'.

knock yourself out kid.

[JonnyBGood]

Maybe someone wants to smoke because they enjoy the taste? I've certainly heard of people who enjoy stranger tastes.

Your

even though you are by defintion addicted if you smoke regularly

is quackery. What makes it an addiction? The fact it's done regularly or the fact there's a sunstance labelled as addictive involved? Some people are alcoholics, as in addicted to alcohol, but I merely enjoy a drink sometimes. The fact you don't want to give something up doesn't mean you are de dicto addicted.

[pig]

Smoking is a weird threshold.

There is the addiction part of it, you do feel craving
There is the enjoyment part of it, question is

the enjoyment part, part of the addiction? All I can say is another 20 hours and i can smoke again, it will be good, but I chose to smoke, and I do continue to smoke through choice, but through a certain amount of addiction too, good point made JBG, yahwe and JGN, time to spread some rep if it allows me

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by pig

Smoking is a weird threshold.

There is the addiction part of it, you do feel craving
There is the enjoyment part of it, question is

the enjoyment part, part of the addiction? All I can say is another 20 hours and i can smoke again, it will be good, but I chose to smoke, and I do continue to smoke through choice, but through a certain amount of addiction too, good point made JBG, yahwe and JGN, time to spread some rep if it allows me

my only wonder is why when we know the carcenogenic (cancer causing) part of smoking is the tar. why haven't we grown tobacco plants with tar free leaves?

[Tomkat]

Originally Posted by Yahwe

my only wonder is why when we know the carcenogenic (cancer causing) part of smoking is the tar. why haven't we grown tobacco plants with tar free leaves?

That's like saying "why haven't they created cigarettes that don't:

make your breath stink
give you yellow teeth
make your fingers have a nasty brown stain
make your skin bad
give you phlegmy spit
give you a nasty cough
make your death more imminent"

Without all those nasty side-effects, how can you enjoy them? It just makes it more satisfying.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by Tomkat

That's like saying "why haven't they created cigarettes that don't:

make your breath stink
give you yellow teeth
make your fingers have a nasty brown stain
make your skin bad
give you phlegmy spit
give you a nasty cough
make your death more imminent"

Without all those nasty side-effects, how can you enjoy them? It just makes it more satisfying.

no no honey, the other effects i don't mind.
just one thing
the tar.

if we can make plants glow can't we make tobacco leaves tar free? most leaves don't contain tar.

[Tomkat]

Originally Posted by Yahwe

no no honey, the other effects i don't mind.
just one thing
the tar.

if we can make plants glow can't we make tobacco leaves tar free? most leaves don't contain tar.

It makes me all warm and fuzzy when you call me honey.

On line with the thread, I don't believe the tar is there to make people die, surprisingly enough. I think it has a few purposes. One being to be a substitute for tobacco (the more tar, the less tobacco required per cigarette). The other is to keep it burning - look at cigars. They go out, they have to be relit. Cigarattes keep on burning. It's not in the leaves, it's something added after.

Sorry if you're being sarcastic and you're just making fun of the idea of tar being in leaves - it IS 4am, i'm hardly at my most alert now.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by Tomkat

It makes me all warm and fuzzy when you call me honey.

On line with the thread, I don't believe the tar is there to make people die, surprisingly enough. I think it has a few purposes. One being to be a substitute for tobacco (the more tar, the less tobacco required per cigarette). The other is to keep it burning - look at cigars. They go out, they have to be relit. Cigarattes keep on burning. It's not in the leaves, it's something added after.

Sorry if you're being sarcastic and you're just making fun of the idea of tar being in leaves - it IS 4am, i'm hardly at my most alert now.

i'm not being sarcastic,
never have been, never will be.

the tar is a natural part of the leaves of the tobacco plant, as is nicotine.

i ask why can't we grow tobacco plants that produce nicotine but not tar

[Tomkat]

Originally Posted by Yahwe

the tar is a natural part of the leaves of the tobacco plant, as is nicotine.

I didn't know that.
I always assumed that the leaves were essentially like marijuana when originally discovered, but had been "customised" to fit with the modern usage of cigarettes. I thought the tar was added after, to make the cigarettes burn, or easier to roll or something.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by Tomkat

I didn't know that.
I always assumed that the leaves were essentially like marijuana when originally discovered, but had been "customised" to fit with the modern usage of cigarettes. I thought the tar was added after, to make the cigarettes burn, or easier to roll or something.

i wish.
i just don't understand why when we know exactly which bit of inhaling burned tobacco leaves is dangerous we don't just change the tobacco leaves

selective breeeding never tried. genetic manipulation again no one's tried.
why?

[pig]

well speaking of tar, im not sure but i was under the impression part of the addiction was the chemicals they put in it. When I lived in Berlin I smoked Marlboro Lights as I always do, but a friend introduced me too a tobaco called American Spirit which has no chemicals, it looked different and tasted nicer, ashame you cant buy it here, but the chemicals have an influence on the addiction I believe, and the type of ciggie u smoke.

[Yahwe]

Originally Posted by pig

well speaking of tar, im not sure but i was under the impression part of the addiction was the chemicals they put in it. When I lived in Berlin I smoked Marlboro Lights as I always do, but a friend introduced me too a tobaco called American Spirit which has no chemicals, it looked different and tasted nicer, ashame you cant buy it here, but the chemicals have an influence on the addiction I believe, and the type of ciggie u smoke.

the addictive chemical is nicotine

its true that in different countries they put other chemicals and herbs in the mix depending on tastes.
but the addictive, the drug part is nicotine.

the tar is there in all types. but there's no reason why it should be.

[djbass]

I think you'll find the tar has some link to the level of nicotine, hence lowering one also lowers the other, and apparently they have already looked into genetically modified plants.

http://www.ash.org.uk/html/conduct/html/tobexpld5.html

[at0mic.c0w]

Originally Posted by Yahwe

i ask why can't we grow tobacco plants that produce nicotine but not tar

what's in it for the tobacco producers ? you'll keep on smoking anyway