The Agathon and whoever else can be bothered is quitting smoking thread.

[Urban Ranger]

Why the sad face? You ought to be happy.

[JohnT]

Good luck, Agathon - I've been there. As a non-smoker who used to do over a pack a day, I'll give my usual advice:

1. Get full color photographs of cancerous lungs and tongues and place them at your favorite smoking stops. Definitely keep a couple in your car. Look at when necessary.

2. Jog. Areobicize. Swim. Walk up and down the stairs 20 times. Do something daily that causes you to breathe hard and hack out crap from your lungs. You've got a lot of nicotine stored in the excess mucus in your lung and as long as its in there you are going to continue to have cravings.

3. The physical stuff is easy compared to the mental anguish a lot of smokers go through. You must quit in your mind as well as your habits and eventually come to believe you are a non-smoker as opposed to an ex-smoker. You know how to tell somebody who mentally won't let go of their addiction? When their counting "days since," as in, "it has been 672 days since my last beer."

[Japher]

I wish!

I have been at least a pack a day smoker for just over 10 years now, and I can't quit.... Even though I work for those who make Nicoret (spelling?).

If you can; the more power to you.

Tell you what... If you can quit successfully for 6 mos. you let me know and I will quit or pay you $100.

[Japher]

And you can hold me to that.

[Lancer]

Only a hundred?

[monolith94]

$100 is like what, a couple of weeks worth of cigarettes?
Whatever it is, they're still too much money for the amount of payoff they give (none).

[Gatekeeper]

As others on this thread have stated: Good luck with your endeavor, Agathon. I doubt it will be easy, but if you succeed you will *not* regret it.

Gatekeeper

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by JohnT
1. Get full color photographs of cancerous lungs and tongues and place them at your favorite smoking stops. Definitely keep a couple in your car. Look at when necessary.

Yo, you stole my line.

[Harovan]

Good luck. I've been there 3 years ago. My approach was to do it in 2 steps. First I prepared the big jump by lowering my consume from 30/day to 10/day for a few months (radically, and not slowly decreasing), and then I dropped the rest in the second step.

When I quit, I used medium patches the first 2 days. Then forgot to use a new one and found out, that they are more a placebo than a help, so I ceased to use them. Ate lots of sweets (which I shouldn't have done), was in a very bad mood the first week (my poor family and friends), but a couple of weeks later I got over it.

I never smoked again. But I still smoke in my dreams. That sounds strange, but even 3 years later I still do so. May be some day this will cease.

[Tingkai]

I tried quiting twice this year. I should try again...

That's one thing I can't understand. Why did I really want to quit twice this year (I know, it wasn't for long), But now I can't even think about quitting. My immediate reaction is I don't want to quit.

Anyways, Good luck Agathon.

[CerberusIV]

I quit about 15 years ago but it took 7 or 8 years to entirely forget about it. I used to find I was imagining smoking whilst driving or sitting working. Doesn't happen now.

Good luck, it is worth it.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Yo, you stole my line.

Yo, to me it wasn't a line - it is a proven strategy!

[Bereta_Eder]

come on godammit quit smoking

(yell also to myself)

[Agathon]

This is terrible. I'd forgotten quite how it feels. It is like someone has died - there's a huge void in my life that used to be filled with cigarettes and standing around. Today it's like there is a giant hole in reality.



Still haven't smoked though. I think it's time for some chocolate.

[JohnT]

The patch is good and worthwhile as well.