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Can he give up smoking after 40 years?
By adamg on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 10:38am
Our own Suldog is giving it a try, because he's getting tired of the annoyance of it all, such as when flying:
[I]t's not just the inability to have a cigarette while on the flight. That I can generally deal with since it is a delineated period, supposedly beginning at a scheduled time and ending at a scheduled time (although we all know that isn't always the case.) As long as I know I'm going to be sealed inside of a tin can for a certain length of time, I can usually make my peace with that. But, damn, ever since 9/11 there's an indeterminate eon before the damn flight when you can't smoke, too, since you have to get to the airport two hours earlier, to subject yourself to various scans and searches, and if you really feel the need to go outside and have a smoke, rather than sit like a lump in the airport waiting area for two hours, you have to subject yourself to searches all over again, and the security folks look at you as though you have personally insulted them each additional time you come through and I'm not interested in tempting them to do a strip search.
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Comments
Go Suldog!
One thing that helped me to never start smoking: watching my parents need their cigarettes and try time and again to quit (success did come though!).
My parents and some of my friends have reinforced their non-smoking decisions by calculating the money saved not smoking and buying something they really want - you might give that a try. Mom joined a couple of book clubs, Dad bought a TRS-80, a friend bought an expensive bike and rode it every time he wanted to light up at home, another friend quit and adopted a cat.
I have to say that I was shocked to see a smoking lounge in the airport in Salt Lake City of all places ... but most places don't have them.
Good luck!
Good luck, Suldog! You can
Good luck, Suldog! You can do it!
As they would say in Japan
Gambatte! (Try your hardest, do your best). ;~}
Best of luck to Suldog!
He needs to keep in mind that he may need to make several tries to stop, especially since his addiction is so deep-seated. He might also want to keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with seeking help for dealing with his addiction.
He may also take heart that he is not alone: the public health laws which have so inconvenienced him are doing what they were designed to do - encourage healthier behavior as well as protect the public from air pollution.
Finally, he might feel better to know that his risk of heart attack will start going down almost instantly.
Good luck, Suldog!
Best of luck!
You can do it.
Sam,
Are you being sarcastic?
No, of course not!
It's just a handle.
I genuinely want Suldog to succeed.
For 43 years, the very first
For 43 years, the very first thing I did when I woke up was light a butt. No coffee, no paper, no bathroom. Light, puff, pee and off with the day. Started a week before my 10th birthday. I was at least a pack-a-day guy, getting up to three packs in my bartending years(although most of that was lighting it and leaving it in the ashtray for it to burn out but I made up for it by inhaling the smoky barroom haze.) Smoking was allowed on planes when I flew regularly and I took full advantage of the armchair ashtray, leaving it overflowing. While working at the Herald, I was a staple out front every hour puffing away. A little over five years ago, while sitting at my brother's funeral, my then-3-year-old grandson came over and sat on my lap and said, "Boppy, I don't want you to smoke any more." Haven't had one since. Initially, I wore a suit of patches (only half-kidding) and there were minutes, let alone days, I thought I was going to pick up again, but it's been more than five years now. I never went more than a couple months before. I still want one nearly every day. I linger outside when one of the officeworkers in my building is at the door smoking a butt and when someone is walking down Tremont in front of me smoking, I get in behind them lockstep just for the smell wafting into my nose (Do I sound wistful?) But I don't smoke. Motives don't matter, Suldog, just results. Good luck.
advice for suldog
here is my advice. wait as long as you can tomorrow before you have your first smoke, then allow yourself one per hour until bed. the next day wait one hour longer, then allow one per hour til bed.this will gradually wean you off. but her is the key sul, NEVER EVER CHEAT AND JUST HAVE ONE!!!!!!! it wont work, you will be smoking a pack a day in no time. thats the key, never smoke another one. i can tell you that i have not had a smoke(cigarette) since halloween of 1995. fifteen years and ive never cheated. i still get the urge (high pressure situations, after shagging, watching movies where the smokes look like fine chocolates etc...)
just never allow yourself another one and you will begin feeling better in weeks if not days.everyday with smoking takes time off your life. death by smoking is never pleasant. please quit suldog.
Congrats Bostnkid
Fifteen years - good work.
My late mom would wake from a nap and say "I just dreamed that I was smoking a cigarette and I reallllly liked it". But she never lit up.
i watched my father suffer
deadly combo of esophageal/stomach cancer. nothing they could do to help him. it was brutal. i promised myself if i ever had children i would never put them through such a terrible experience. quit for your kids and maybe even their kids.
+1
I'm with you on that. My dad died about 20 years ago and his cancer started in his lungs. The Dr's caught it in time to operate but later, when it popped up again, it had spread.
Good luck, and hang in there Suldog. It will be worth it.
good luck
I quit just over 11 months ago after about 20 years of smoking. I went to the Mad Russian and thus far it has held. Things to be prepared for are as follows
1. a lot of being in a pissy mood.
2. a lot of anxiety (partly physical)
3. when you go to google "how long does this or that last after quitting smoking" there won't be much. I was very disappointed by how little there is out there for when people do quit. A ton trying to get one to quit smoking but not much once you have.
4. some more crankyness...
5. months later you still want a cigarette. It just get easier to say no, you'll still want one.
Give your doctor a call
Everyone has a method that works right for them for kicking an addiction like nicotine. You'll find the one that works for you, but your doctor may be able to give advice on which ones work best for different patients depending on how often, when, where, and why you have a trigger for having a cigarette. He will also have access to prescriptions for nicotine substitutes, like the spray/inhaler, that may work better for you than the patch or the gum.
There's also the potential for any substitutes to conflict with any other current prescriptions that you're on, so your doctor is always a good person to help work through those potential problems too.
It's a two-pronged approach: change the body chemistry creating the cravings/addiction and change the behaviors that support the addiction.
Over time your body will repair much of the damage done to it by the smoking. This is a much better choice for you and everyone around you, Suldog. Good luck.
Do it
Good for you, man, you can do this.
What I learned
I quit smoking 24 years ago. I was good for a pack and a half a day or more. I had tried to quit a few times before and failed. I was succesful because I finally learned that I wasn't going to all of a sudden feel great when I quit. Instead I figured out that I was going to feel terrible for a while -- very tired and sluggish (nicotine is a stimulant). Once I knew that, I realized I just had to get through the tough period. After a couple of months I started to feel better and noticed I had more wind.
Also, don't "sneak" smokes. It just sets you back. Quit and be done. At first you think of having a cigarette every minute or so, then it becomes minutes, then hours, then just a few times a day, then days, then months. Every now and again I think of having one. I still wish I could, but I know if I had one that would the end. Some people can have a cigarette just now and then. I am not one of them.
I totally understand the motivation to quit smoking being how inconvenient it is. It was just starting to become inconvenient when I quit. Now it is so much worse (or better depending on your perspective).
If I can do it Suldog, you can to. You will be so happy you did. Quitting is the best thing I ever did.
I used to work in a smoke shop and 2 things
made me never want to touch another cigarette;
1. The Marlboro rep telling me it only costs them 66 cents to make a carton of cigarettes!
2 The old man who came in one day wheeling an oxygen tank behind him and had to speak through a cancer kazoo who said;
"Carton of Luckies, please"
To which I replied;
"Are you serious?'
To which he replied;
"Don't I look serious?"
Put this in your wallet, Suldog
Voice like he swallowed boiling acid. Set himself on fire while trying to smoke while using oxygen. Smoked himself to death.
Not A Total Success, But Also Not A Total Failure
The subject line gives you the abbreviated story. If you'd like the long-winded version...
Semi-Non-Smoking Diary
Thank you to everyone who gave me such kind encouragement! I'll continue trying to build on what success I did have.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Smoking
One of the few things in life where success comes from quitting over and over again.