posted on January 21, 2002 05:09:26 PM
A stick is a good vice the #1 problem a person has when they quit smokeing is what to do with there hands.
smokeing is not only addictive but its a bunch of other little habbits that are hard to get over like haveing something in your hand and mouth
Carrots are another good item to keep in hand as well for a few reasons, one is when you stop smokeing your appetite incresses 3 fold carrots are good to eat low calories they can be held in your hand and put in your mouth as well of all the vegtables carrots have been found as well to be fairly high in nicotine so if you munch them enough you can even satisfy a craveing.
I smoke at this time but long ago I once quit for nearly a year one of the things I found that made quiting easyer was not to denie myself some of the other pleasures that may or may not be so good for me http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
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posted on January 21, 2002 05:40:09 PM
haha The one thing I noticed when I wasn't smokeing is a sense of smell and taste which added to how much I wanted to eat when I got around some place with cooking going on.
as much as smokers rather dodge the smell of smoke issue its self to get near someone who had been smokeing all day was enough to knock me over.
When I talked about not denieing myself other things that might not be good for me I mean things like maybe go a little over on the bacon one day or ice cream pig out now and then, to name a few things.
The want for a cig don't Just go away after a short time even after 8 months I still got craveings my down fall was the people I was around were not tougher on me the day I got upset and bought that pack of cigs they should have taken them some how and stomped them in the dirt or something instead of saying its your choice.
It's all about distraction Helen. If he can keep busy using his hands (no pun intended )woodworking, driving, etc., it'll keep his mind off of smoking (which is ALL you think about after you've quit!) Bravo for him BTW (clapping)!!
"Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much....."
posted on January 21, 2002 08:11:36 PM
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I used to 'smoke' cut up straws. You know the plastic beverage straws? I cut them to cigarette length and kept a supply of them by the telephone, which was when I wanted to smoke most...yakking on the phone. Of course, I never actually lit them. But I did inhale. Helped me alot with the urges. So no, I guess I don't think 'smoking' a wooden cigarette is weird. Anything that works is okay.
posted on January 21, 2002 09:01:30 PM
I smoked 2-1/2 packs a day for 21 years. I quit 7 years ago and haven't had a single puff since. I can tell you one thing that has yet to come out about the effects of nicotine and cigarette smoking. It affects that part of the brain that is responsible for switching off your hunger for food. What I mean is, when you eat enough, a signal gets sent from your brain that tells the rest of your body to stop all of the symptoms of being starved and hungry. Cigarette smoking, and I suspect nicotine in particular, eventually deadens or destroys that part of the brain that receives the "all-full" signal and/or the part that sends out "stop-symptoms" signals.
Remember: you heard it from me first, years before science announces it!
posted on January 22, 2002 12:11:13 PM
I quit about 8 years ago and all those things are normal.It's great that he is trying to quit. It is a hard thing to do and once done a hard thing to stay away from.
posted on January 23, 2002 06:13:47 AM
March 4, 2002 will be 20th year of non smoking! I was a 10 year smoker and really deceided that I wanted to quit. What worked for me was to substitute something else for the cigarettes.
I used Lifesaver Candy. Every time I wanted to smoke, I popped a Lifesaver in my mouth. It took me about a week to quit. It was like this. I carried 5 cigarettes with me for the week as I do not like to feel deprived. On Thursday, I started to quit, and on Friday I smoked 2 of the cigs. On Saturday, I smoked 1 of them. On Sunday, I smoked none of them. I was eating the candy left and right. They are small, cheap, and easy to store in your pocket. After about 1 week of not smoking, I think it was finally over it. I continued to eat the candy for about 2 1/2 months until I finally got sick of them. Never went back to either of them.
Today, I sometimes still have the craving for a menthol cig. They sometimes smell good when I'm near somebody smoking one. BUT, I ask myself do you really want to smell like an un-emptied ashtray? Can you afford this? Do you want to die an early painful death caused by lung cancer? The answers to these questions are NO, NO AND NO!
So I rethink about the smell of the cig and walk away form the person smoking.
I do not allow anyone to smoke in my car or house. I don't own an ashtray. Nor will buy cigarettes for anyone at a store, adult or not. I don't even like to touch the package.
One more good reason for stopping is the cost. Im Michigan, the average cost of cigs for a carton might be $35.00. If you smoke 1 carton a week, that is $1820.00. A lot of money! Multiply tht by 20 years, and you will have saved $36,400.00. That alone might be cause for quitting!
Congratulations to all of you who have been able to quit smoking.
It appears that my husband is having a more difficult problem quitting. He still needs to have a pack of cigarettes nearby and in the car along with the weird wooden cigarette. LOL!
Yeager
I read the financial analysis that you added to your comment and that got his attention. Thanks for that!
posted on January 23, 2002 09:46:26 AM
Helen, diferent people have diffent ways of quitting. I know, because it took me ten years of struggling to stop it. I finally had to come to grips with the reality that oince you are addicted to something, you are addicted for life! It does not matter one iota that you stop smoking: you will feel the 'need' for the rest of your life. The difference laid in deciding whether I wanted that need with or without niccotine in my life. I chose to be healthy (and richer) and quit smoking.
I did it cold turkey - that's what works for me. I got rid of every odor of smoke that I could track down in my home and car and eliminated them. I threw out all ashtrays and paraphenllia. I burned incense constanly to get rid of the smell.
That's what worked for me. Good luck to your hubby, Helen.
posted on January 24, 2002 10:15:18 AM
Good luck to your husband in quitting smoking, Helen. It's really tough when you've been smoking for a long time. I've tried many ways to quit, chewing gum, lifesavers, nicotine patch, acupuncture etc. Each time I would stop for a while and then go back to it. The things that worked the best for me were the graduated nicotine patch that gradually decreased the amount of nicotine into the blood over a period of time. It made withdrawal so much easier.
A few years ago I was basically told I MUST quit for my health due to a previously undiagnosed heart problem. As I was very sick at the time, that worked pretty well in getting me to quit! But until six months ago I cheated about once a month. I have always had a pack of cigarettes in the kitchen drawer. Right now I have two empty packs, it must be psychologically comforting because there are no cigarettes in them. Go figure, it must be habit.
I'm still more prone to bronchitis and chest colds than the average person and I believe this is due to my past smoking. That helps fight the desire to go back to smoking too.
Hope the irritability factor hasn't affected his desire to quit, or anyone else around him LOL. I wish him the best, hope he keeps going with the effort to quit.
)woodworking, driving, etc., it'll keep his mind off of smoking (which is ALL you think about after you've quit!) Bravo for him BTW (clapping)!!