Smoking advice "Help Needed"

[Jim Brady]

Lets go back to Grahams original post September last year,this post got quite a good following and many said they were going to give up the dreaded weed, just how many succeeded and how many fell by the wayside.I myself was quite proud and feeling smug of the fact that I had packed them up and that I would never smoke again!!!However August last, every minute of the day I was craving for a cigarette,I must have just one just to see what it is like I thought.I got some tobacco and had a quick wiff,ecstacy I thought so what I will do is just have a quick one on my walk around for my morning paper every day.Quite enjoyable having this one smoke per day it satisfied the craving and nobody knew!!I was having some building work done on the house so I started going out talking to the builders and having a sly wiff.The rest is history I was back on them good style hook line and sinker.I can tell you that since starting again I dont feel as good as I did without them so I took action to pack them in again,went back to the clinic last week and now its four days without a smoke.Has anybody else fell by the wayside I hope not and the dreams of having a cruise with the money that you have saved has come true.Or what else have you done with the money(not being nosey by the way but just interested)
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Calvin Kent]

My ex-wife started smoking, idiotically, at the age of forty. I told her if she would have a go at giving up I'd put forty-five plus years of smoking behind me and join her. The only stipulation was I'd leave it until new year and my youngest sons eighteenth birthday were out the way.

I'd been told about tablets called Champix but doctors don't like to dish them out. Fortunately my doctor was due to retire so didn't give a chit about the budget. You start taking these tablets a week or so before the date you want to stop smoking and then for I think three months afterwards. After starting the course I found I didn't know why I was smoking and so stopped smoking before my due date. I can honestly say that apart from the occasional reach towards my pocket out of habit I had no withdrawal symptoms at all. Neither did my ex. I stopped taking the tablets after six weeks expecting the urge to come back but it hasn't. That was January 4th this year and my only regret is I didn't know about Champix sooner. T'other thing is that extra £40 a week comes in really handy now I'm on pension.

Regards

Calvin

[Captain Kong]

I packed in smoking for nine months, I was over it, no problem.
I went to a Dinner, the only thing missing to complete it was a Cigar with a glass of brandy. that is all I had,
Next morning I was screaming up the wall for ciggies and was out buying them first thing and was back on them again with a vengence.
I lasted for six months and started to stop again and this time I did it, and that was 23 years ago on August 4th 1989.
Other people smoking doesnt bother me, but I know that if I had one ciggy or cigar I would be away again.
It is like being an alcoholic, you can keep off it, but you know that one will start you up again. no matter how long you have stopped.
BUT look on the on the bright side, one pack a day at around £7 is £56 a week which is just under £3,000 a year. enough for a decent cruise. or the equivalent over the last 23 years at todays prices is around £69,000, So that is not to be coughed at.
You can do a few things with that kind of saving.
Cheers
Brian


















36

[John Pruden]

Jim i packet them in for 18 months a few years ago but fell again the champex tablets are very good and if you stick to the plan you will pack up!!!! me i like a smoke i don't drink but have a few fags a day i did the plan but had side effects due to other medication the beauty of champex is you have a smoke as normal and the craving stops after 3 to 4 weeks they will definitely make you pack up? good luck.jp

[Jim Brady]

Brian and John,I know what it is like to be off them and to be back on them is not the answer.I must admit that I cannot deny the enjoyment from having a smoke but there are more reasons for not smoking that outweigh the reasons to smoke.I should get over the craving in about 2 weeks and this time I hope it's for good.I must say that in the last 8 weeks or so that I restarted smoking I have seen a big differnce in my spending although i have been taking it easy its still just over £20 quid a week,some dosh over a year.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Captain Kong]

Keep it up Jim, you know it makes sense.
good luck.
Brian

[John Callon]

I too went on the Champix tablets which helped me to stop smoking.However I had a reaction to them after a week - nausea, no appetite. Decided to flush them down the toilet and went cold turkey. That was almost 5 years ago and never touched a cigarette since. The very smell of them puts me off. Just wish I had not packed them up 20 years ago.
Regards
John

[happy daze john in oz]

JIm #264 I was like you at one time. Had my first at the tender age of about 8, by 16 was on Capstan Full Strength. Gave it up three times before I quit. Tried cigars in between, no good had to go back. Then in 1973 I got the flu, never touched them since. So hang in and be strong, get some climbing boots for when you go up the wall, but it will not last too long.

[Les Woodard]

Calvin I managed after about twenty false starts over the years to just see how long I could go without one and every intention of having one later on. Got to say I have been a non smoker for decades now and if I had one now it would take my head of. As for the tablets well they had a campaign here where you could get a months supply on perscription and the wife decided after a while to also stop smoking using the tablets. As anyone doing so where only entitled to one months supply I was like a drug addict going around all the people we knew that had tried them and given up and got there supply as well. Long story short ended up with a about five months worth of tablets and she did not need them all but is also a non smoker now. Why I decided not to give it up was because when ever I tried every rectum replica came out of the wood work to make my life impossible not to mention the amount of problems that seemed to crop up to test me out each time I tried. You can be sure that as soon as you tell anyone that you are giving up the weed that all your problems will descend upon you until you are a wimping heap on the ground screaming out for that nicotine. My advice is to not have one for the next hour and then contenplate doing it for another hour but NEVER I repeat NEVER tell anyone at your peril be it if you do.

[Gulliver]

It's a no brainer. Quite apart from ruining your health and controlling your daily life the extra £200 a month certainly comes in handy.I'm not talking indulgences like expensive cruises but just everyday living,and knowing you have that extra £200 in the bank every month to pay your bills.Not a good idea to put it in a jar-you'll keep raiding it.
I stopped smoking for 6 years,then foolishly restarted for another 12 years.I've been smokefree again now for the last 6 years.The last time I did it cold turkey-it was OK after the first week.Hardly ever think about them now.Almost all of my friends in the pub have now stopped.I must admit the thought of having one now makes me feel physically sick for a moment or two., such is my aversion to them,but that's not a bad thing to have.
I realise everyone has different lifetime circumstances and reacts differently to nicotine withdrawal,but as many of us ex-smokers say "If I can stop anyone can.".

That extra £200 per month- is why I get so annoyed when people complain about having to cut down on food or items or visit those so-called 'Food Banks' to feed their kids when I see them buying fags in the shop.

Spending (i.e. throwing away)money on other extravagances like running a car is another of my pet hates,but I'd better stop there...I can hear Ivan's pen fingers beating a tattoo on his keyboard !....

Gulliver