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Topic: Hi, I'm New
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jas
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9529
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posted 30 September 2008 10:15 AM
Has there never been a way to simply reduce? If you could get yourself down to 3 a day, and then 1 a day, (and then maybe even just 2 or 3 a week) that's almost like not smoking at all, and yet you still get the pleasure and the ritual out of it and it becomes more meaningful. Like an evening cigar. I've heard from past smokers that, no, it doesn't work that way, but was just wondering if anyone has ever done it this way. I was wondering if another way also might be to smoke yourself sick. Next time you cave in, light two cigarettes, not just one and then chain-smoke for two hours straight, until the thought of any more nicotine makes you gag. And then next urge you get, maybe the next day, do the same thing.
From: the world we want | Registered: Jun 2005
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oldgoat
Moderator
Babbler # 1130
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posted 30 September 2008 10:36 AM
There are ways of reducing smoking that come from the harm reduction model of addictions treatment. Some sort of personally tailored structured approach works a lot better than just generally trying to smoke less, and are fitted to your lifestyle.For example, smoking when watching TV. When the chainsmoker's brain says "time for a ciggie", cut yourself down to say one at the beginning of every half hour show. Or, when you brain says that, have a timer handy, and set it for 15 minutes before taking the smoke. Then you can move it up to maybe half an hour. Quitting smoking for the day may be too difficult, but telling your mind you're quitting smoking for 15 minutes is an argument with yourself you can win. Know how many cigarettes you go through in a day, and set up yor structure so that it will be several less. (I'm imagining a fairly heavy smoker here) Soon, as you stretch out the time between smokes, this becomes your new baseline, then reduce more from there. Depends on your lifestyle. I work with people on disability who are at home and isolated a lot. Someone who works and can only grab a smoke on a break may might want to try skipping one break. Again, that's telling yourself not to smoke for only 15 - 20 minutes, and promise yourself one at the next break. It's an argument with youself that you can win. Think about how when you finally do light up, how much more you'll enjoy it, because you will, but that's ok. The key is to keep lowering what your body feels is the baseline of how much you smoke. [ 30 September 2008: Message edited by: oldgoat ]
From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001
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triciamarie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12970
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posted 30 September 2008 04:47 PM
I eat meat -- my dad was a butcher -- but I can go days without it and not blink an eye. Whereas, by the end of my fifteen-year smoking addiction I couldn't sleep through the night without lighting up. That was pretty much what did it for me, actually; I was a house fire waiting to happen, plus it was getting to be such a pain in the ass to have to leave places all the time, like social gatherings, and work, to go outside and smoke. Plus, I got pregnant.Most of the time I'm so happy I quit. I don't cough anymore. I can taste food better. I have more money. It gives you so much freedom that you never even knew you were missing. Guilty secret though: sometimes when I'm around union people, I still smoke. Otherwise I miss the comraderie too much, out on the smoke breaks and Wednesday night benders. I didn't start doing that though until about five years after quitting, and it's strictly occasional, not everyday. Not yet, anyway.
From: gwelf | Registered: Jul 2006
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 30 September 2008 06:54 PM
I quit cold turkey, but it required preparation.First, I had quit many times before, and it was always a wretched experience. I finally convinced myself that it was better to have the wretched experience once and for all, rather than repeating it over and over. Second, I had to psychologically come to terms with the fact that quitting would mean I could never have another cigarette for the rest of my life. That can be a frightening prospect, and I recognized that my previous attempts to quit had failed because I could not bring myself to accept it. Related to this was the necessity of acknowledging that I would always, for the rest of my life, be a nicotine addict, which is precisely why I could never have another cigarette as long as I lived. Third, it occurred to me that I had unintentionally quit for brief periods on many occasions, when I had gotten sick with the flu or a nasty chest cold. I had quit simply because it was so unpleasant to continue smoking, but when I felt healthier, I would always come back to smoking. I decided to use this aversion to smoking to my advantage, to get me over the first few days. Once I was ready to quit, I resolved that the next time I got sick, I would stop smoking, as usual, and simply never start up again. And it worked. I had to get rid of all my cigarettes so I would not be able to relapse if my resolve weakened. I threw out all my ashtrays. I told myself I was now a non-smoker. I started keeping track of all the money I was saving, and I spent it instead on things to reward myself. I gained 20 pounds in about two months. But I haven't had a cigarette since 1982.
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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Stargazer
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6061
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posted 05 October 2008 07:42 AM
I doubt it G. Pie. It's really hard to quit. I smoked for a very long time, then quit in 1997 and started smoking again just three months ago. I think M.Spector is right and he describes things pretty much the way I dealt with it. Now that I'm smoking again every single time I take a puff I think about what toxins I'm putting in my body. Even more embarrassing is that I go to the gym 4 times a week and am a vegetarian. While I'm all about being healthy, I realize this smoking is going to kill me if I don't stop but it's never too late. Good luck to you. You can do it.
From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004
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WendyL
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14914
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posted 05 October 2008 09:35 AM
G. Pie. You are doing a great job! Just stay the course. All quitting is tough and we each find our own way. You are finding yours. I quit smoking some 6 or 7 years ago...smoked for 31 years and was smoking 70 cigarettes a day by the time I gave it up. I had never, ever tried to quit before that. Not once. The very thought of quitting would send me into a power smoking madness.And, with a huge amount of felt shame, must admit to sitting by my sister's side as she died of lung cancer and still I did not quit. She told me that she continued to smoke in her dreams, but always in hiding... Such a loss. I miss her more and more with each passing year. The day I quit, my partner, who had quit 7 years prior, said: "You know, there will never be a day you don't crave a smoke...." Thankfully, for me, I have never looked back and never once wanted a cigarette. I knew that if I could go 1 hour without a smoke, I could go forever! A week later, I had my teeth whitened as part of my self-congratulatory puffiness and called myself a nonsmoker from that day forth. I have a very dear friend, Margaret. Margaret smokes 3 cigarettes a day. Every day. She wishes to kick her addiction and to date, after many years, has been unable to do so. Every day, in the early evening, she sits on her porch and smokes her three cigarettes. Smoking 70 cigarettes a day, I used to wish I could be addicted to just 3/day. But, I understand Margaret's dilemma. Accckkkkk too much! With each attempt, you will become stronger. Don't beat yourself up over anything. Take deep breaths and babble away!
From: PEI Canada | Registered: Jan 2008
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G. Pie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 15576
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posted 05 October 2008 06:44 PM
quote: Originally posted by Wilf Day: And then I figured out what was going on, and quit for good.
Care to share? quote: Doctors have found nicotine is as addictive as cocaine. Don't try to outwit it.
I've tried cocaine and it didn't interest me. I'd say (from my own personal experience) that nicotine is FAR more addictive. [ 05 October 2008: Message edited by: G. Pie ]
From: Vancouver Island | Registered: Sep 2008
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Wilf Day
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3276
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posted 05 October 2008 09:29 PM
quote: Originally posted by G. Pie: "Originally posted by Wilf Day: And then I figured out what was going on, and quit for good."Care to share?
I was kidding myself that I had quit. Clearly I had not.Any alcoholic knows there is no such thing as "just one drink." Nicotine, same deal.
From: Port Hope, Ontario | Registered: Oct 2002
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