OT: PING ex-smokers

On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:59:55 -0700, the infamous "Jon Danniken" scrawled the following:

--snippage--

I forgot one thing: Whenever you want a cig, just go outside and take a deep breath or two of fresh air. Once you get used to doing that, just do it where you sit instead of going outside. It gives you the same deep relaxation without the stench and chemicals.

You must either *want* to quit or accept without reservation the notion that you must quit NOW. That's very different from someone telling you that you should quit, and in that difference lies success or failure. You must totally commit. There's no such thing as just one. I personally regard gum, patches and drugs as crutches that prolong the agony. That's useful for those who believe they can only tolerate so much at a time. Hey, whatever works. What worked for me was to guts it out cold turkey, get thru initial withdrawal misery as quickly as possible rather than reduce by prolonging.

I never wanted to quit, but when I was told that that my choices were quit and have some good years or die within months my course seemed clear. If the upside has been less positive then the choice would not have been as clear. If I'd been diagnosed with cancer, then there'd have been no point in quitting at that point. May as well enjoy until the smokes get supplanted by morphine and that's what I'd have done. I didn't want to quit. I still sometimes wish I could smoke, sometimes feel a little ping of envy when I see others enjoying a smoke, but only for seconds at a time now. I do chortle a bit when I see folks freezing their arses off to grab a smoke outside a workplace in MN during winter.

An artifice that can make the process considerably more enjoyable (or less onerous) is to earmark the money previously spent on smokes to now spend frivolously on little pleasures that are as exempt from any budget scrutiny as the smokes were previously ... uh...not highlighted. At $10/day the toy budget accrues about $300 a month. For me, that has translated to:

Ruger Mark III Hunter with 7" barrel and red dot scope, July 08 Nikon Monarch scope for .22-250 rifle not long after that Ruger GP-100 .357 mag revolver sometime last year Crimson-Trace laser grips for Sig P-226 Para-ordnance Carry9 a coupla weeks ago

I do have superb support. Visiting a gun shop with Mary is fun.

My tobacco-to-toy budget is currently underspent. I didn't think about smoking once today, at least not until right now. The urge will be past before I finish typing this sentence. Yup, it's gone.

Bottom line, Tawm, there are no shortcuts or easyouts. You can do this if you damn well decide without equivocation that you will bloody well get it done and keep it done.

Many have succeeded before you. Your turn now. Suck it up, get 'er done.

Love Don

Oh my gawd -- it's an addict who uses gun-buying to combat withdrawal symptoms.

I LIKE it! I want a S&W 500. 3 or 4 months of smokes.

S&W 500 just 3-4 months! I didn't think of that. I have a few packs left and that's my target. I'm already down to half of yesterday's total without even noticing. I still have those 3 Vicodin I've been saving for months and I would have liked one a number of times. I'll stretch out these few packs hopefully for years, and never smoke them all. One of my good friends has a partial pack in his jacket pocket that he's been carrying around for a couple years. THAT'S balls!

Former addict, long past withdrawal, who enjoys some examples of fine metalworking and craftsmanship.

My neighbor has one of those. Hit's a handful!

Dang Don: What an idea. I've been quit for more than 20 yrs. If I go back and figure up the money I've saved, I can probably afford that new truck. I'll just tell the wife that is where the money came from. It has just been setting there waiting for your idea to hit me.

I smoked when I took a break. It was long ago when I was in the Navy. You and some other sailors are doing something like chipping paint, and then you take a break and just relax for five or ten minutes. You can''t smoke and do anything else at the same time. Not anything that takes two hands.

So try to think of something you can do for a few minutes to relax without smoking. The best I can come up with right now is to really concentrate on some music. Something like Wagner that one has to really listen to, not any pop music. Better than stopping to eat a doughnut. I think in the Navy I got a cup of coffee.

It took years before I completely lost the urge to have a cigarette when I was cold and wet from working outside.

Dan

Only a brother!

I quit cold turkey about 20 years ago. At the time I was smoking over two packs a day. On the other hand, my wife wasn't able to quit until recently. Her secret was to use Chantrix. It was practically painless. She just started smoking less and less. In fact, she was surprised how her smoking just tapered off until she was down to 1 or 2 cigs a day. At that point she just stopped. Her mood didn't really change much when she stopped. However, when I stopped cold turkey I was a real asshole for a few weeks. If I were you I'd read all about the Chantrix stuff because there may be some disturbing side effects and if you are willing try the stuff. It sure worked great for my wife. ERS

Damn, all I got was a vcr. That was in 1986 though when they cost real money.

Wes

-- We are living in the society that Ayn Rand warned us about in 1957.

On Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:49:59 -0400, the infamous Wes scrawled the following:

Sheeeit! 3-4 months buys a cannon like that now? Cigs really are gd expensive. I took my neighbor to get her bag of Bugler today and she said (via the liquor store clerk) that next month, the price of cigs and bulk tobacco is going to cost DOUBLE what it is today. I wonder what that does to the number of people finally deciding to quit. Might they come off like this?

Ooh, I like the new sig, Wes!

I may be queer but I'm a lesbian!

I went through Gunner's experience similarly. A 8.5 hour 5 way bypass and aortic valve replacement. I quit smoking about a year before that when I couldn't breathe. Yeah, not being able to breathe can be a big motivator.

I now have the AAA. (ascending aortic aneurysm) 5 cm. Not sure where it's going, just that I feel it is getting worse. Got to get me to the doc one of these days.

Got a new used boat that I'm trying to get in the water and go fishing once in it before I die. And can't find the time for that because of honeydos.

Life is short, and so much to do.

Really, people. If you smoke, quit and enjoy the extra time it gives you. Play with the wife or grandkids, your choice. Do something to help someone who needs help. Just live.

Steve

This comment has been bugging me all day until I tumbled that it might be meant in fun as a good-natured poke. If that was your intent, well done Tim! Fuck me if I can't take a joke.

Gotta do whatever works for you, but equivocation anticipates failure almost by definition.

What worked for me was to trash all smokes, ashtrays and lighters on day zero for me which was 9 May O8.

Saying you'll stretch a few packs out for years is tacit admission that you don't really want to quit, because if you really want to quit then you'd discard all smoking materials forthwith and proceed.

Pick yer pony and take yer ride.

On Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:40:04 -0500, the infamous Don Foreman scrawled the following:

I also shampooed the carpets & upholstery and washed all the walls, windows, and drapes that first week. That ugly stench remains in all those and is hard to get out.

It's a simple decision. If he just makes it, he's done.

I have never, _ever_ regretted my decision to quit smoking. (Or drinking, for that matter. Giving up women and cursing will be much harder things to accomplish, should I ever contemplate them. ;)

On Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:26:18 -0400, the infamous "Buerste" scrawled the following:

--snipperoo--

Yeah, I was (and I'm sure the rest were) thinking of you when we saw that "brother" line, Ms. Tawm, ya silly savagette.