I was talking to a 21 year old friend earlier this evening who has now stopped for three days. He's doing well, but finds it harder when he has had a drink or two. This reflects my own past experience so the message is: while you're in the process of giving up don't get pissed - all resolve goes out of the window and all that effort up till then can be wasted.
But I repeat my earlier advice. Giving up is not nearly as difficult as you think it's going to be, provided you're fully and genuinely determined to do so. And, as my friend has just confirmed, the third day is only about a third as bad as the first day - and so on for the first two or three weeks, by which time you'll begin to really feel the benefits, such as being able to actually taste and smell food again.
Tony. (So go for it!)
PS. An item on the Jeremy Vine show earlier today featuring Robert Peston, the BBC economics expert, who lost his wife to lung cancer not long ago. She had never smoked, which made it particularly cruel, but the enduring message which came out was nevertheless that vastly more smokers than non-smokers die from this dreadful disease.
Saw the young friend who I referred to in my last post again this evening in the local. He was enjoying a drink but was well aware of the dangers of too much while in the process of giving up. He has now gone 5 days without a fag and is already feeling better for it; he's also justifiably proud of having got this far and shows no signs of weakening.
So I have high hopes for him. And it really does show that giving up is really possible for ordinary people - not some sort of super-human - but people like you and I.
While I was in the pub someone at the table put down a packet of Silk Cut (the brand I used to smoke before I gave up 25 years ago) for which she'd paid £7. They were £1 a pack when I gave up! I'm amazed that teens, who seem to rank among the most dedicated smokers, can even afford to do so ...
Jeebus, smoking seems to be cheap here in comparision to the UK and Irleand [they legit cost half of what they are in Ireland here] and people quit smoking here because it's too expensive. :P
I do hope, Cacoethes, that after your experiment you succeeded in staying off the dreaded weed? Do let us know - and offer advice to those who are still addicted ...
Saw young friend last night. He's now gone a week and is verging on smug about it - not that I blame him, I can only applaud ...
Question that arises out of the current cost of cigarettes: how much revenue does the government get from all the taxes on tobacco, and how much do the many hazards of smoking actually cost the NHS. Does it balance out? Was about to ask if there was a "winner", but of course smokers are never really winners in the end.
I'm not doing so well with it to be quite honest! But I shall keep trying!
I'm not sure how much tax they take from it, but I did hear somewhere that non-smokers will get priority treatment over smokers for related treatments in the NHS.
Oddly enough, I have just spoken to my Nanny who had terminal lung cancer due to smoking and she says she still finds it hard not to smoke. I suppose when you've been doing it 50 odd years it becomes significantly harder!!
She was diagnosed 8 years ago and was given 6 months to live! Her doctors call her a miracle patient!
Truth is, stubborn-ness runs in the women in our family. :p
I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, I'm fine!
Thumbelina, anyone can give up at anytime, if they really want to. And everyone has to make the choice that suits them at that particular moment in their lives. But I entirely accept that some people may say "sod it, if it kills me, so what".
And I also accept that many people on this site, who may be suffering from extreme mental/emotional stress, derive support from nicotine. But if you really have to use it as a support, don't use it as an excuse!
I'll tell you guys a true story about smoking, based on my own past experience. A good few years ago I was serving in Northern Ireland. My patch was a particularly hairy spot - strongly Republican/Nationalist and we were not welcomed in any way on the streets, even though we were actually trying to keep the peace.
My Commanding Officer (later a Godfather of James) had just been sacked. So too had the Regimental Sergeant Major and one of the Battery Commanders (we were a Gunner Regiment in the Infantry role). I had been appointed at very short notice to take over from the sacked Battery Commander and was ordered to do our peace-keeping thing in this very unpleasant patch. On our first day in situ we had bomb scares, rioting, et al and I was a very busy chap trying to keep some sort of order while at the same time trying to get some sort of clue about the area.
Late in the evening my Commanding Officer came down to visit me. Morale, as a result of the previous sackings, was so low that I honestly thought that he'd come down to sack me too. However, he didn't, and instead provided much-needed support and encouragement throughout the rest of our tour. But the sheer pressure of coping with the area and all it entailed meant that I was working, on average, a 22 hour day - either on the streets or, briefly, in what passed for an office. And that went relentlessly on for many weeks.
Anyway, I defy anyone to work those sort of hours, and under that sort of pressure, for very long without some sort of support. Mine was tobacco, and I found that eventually I was smoking the best part of 40 cigarettes a day. That was, when you calculate it, barely one every half-hour throughout a highly stressful day. But that was tobacco as a support, not an excuse ... and there is a very big difference.
Well I have about quater of a pouch of baccy left and then I think I am going to join you in giving up! (this is gonna be fun) good luck I know you can do it :)
Good luck, Rainbow. I promise you it really is possible, but determination is everything. The friend I mentioned earlier in this thread has now gone over 10 days without a fag - he's there, provided he doesn't weaken. His system doesn't actually need the nicotine any more. Very well done to him.
I watched my boyfriends nan dying of lung cancer. I think all teenagers should be taken to see lung cancer patients as its a horrible way to go and enough to put anyone off smoking (I would hope). You can all hear the stats and think "it won't happen to me" but go and see an actual person in their hospital bed, suffering from a disease that they essentially caused to themselves and its very different.
I also see smokers in my exercise classes and their stamina and fitness is usually atrocious. Once they decide to quit smoking, their exercise limits quickly improve.