Listen to this.

Or have your kids read it, for that matter.

Let me begin by stating that the anti-smoking propaganda is very difficult for people to believe, especially when they're younger and know everything, because the condemners think that lying -- i.e. greatly exaggerating the ill effects of smoking, and simply making up things about second-hand smoke -- justifies the end, which is that people might quit. The main reason for which it's difficult to believe the "data" is that lung cancer has gone up and up in the past couple decades -- while smokers have greatly diminished in that time. It doesn't add up, unless one realizes that pollution is the real factor, rather than tobacco.

When kids realize you've exaggerated something, they think it's all nonsense -- even the stuff that isn't. Therein lies the rub.

The reason for the anti-smoking advertisement blitz is not health. People don't care about their health, at least in the Western World -- or McDonald's would close, people would stop drinking, and outdoor activities (i.e. exercise) would be more popular than television.

No, this was a precise campaign to socially stigmatize smokers, because they knew that people would only respond to something superficial, such as being ostracized from their gullible peers who believe everything they see on that box of light in the den.

The problem with my attempts at quitting is that I didn't have any health incentive, because I haven't had so much as a cold since I was in grade school. I have an amazing immune system. And I love to smoke.

But our family has a history of hypertension, and these high-strung Italian men all die of heart attacks in their 50s. They also all smoke. So the heart thing was my incentive, as well as saving a couple hundred bucks a month. So I decided that the pack I was on was my last, and bought Nicorette (gum with 4mg of nicotine per piece).

It worked for a couple weeks, until I realized that I was chewing even more gum than I had been smoking. So I threw that stuff away and did it cold turkey. For ten days, I didn't have a cigarette.

I hit a craving peak, then it gradually diminished and I was....kind of okay. Unable to focus, incapable of working on books or music (which really irked me), irritable, grouchy, terrible to be around...but certainly dead set against buying any more cigarettes, so I figured it worked, and I would get better with time.

On Saturday -- ten days after my last smoke, mind you -- I woke up at 4 AM with a terribly upset stomach. I won't go into details, but you people who've chosen the other poison (alcohol) can probably relate. Now, I have not been sick for a quarter-century. I thought, "Well, maybe I ate something bad." So I gave it a couple days. The same problem assailed me all weekend, through last night. A pounding headache accompanied this. I very, very rarely get headaches.

I couldn't even walk this morning. I hobbled out to my car, had to stop and breathe heavily to keep from vomiting in the parking lot, and stopped by our bass player's house on the way to work, so I could bum a cigarette.

I felt instantly better after about two drags. My stomach is now just fine, and the headache left me immediately. I'm back to normal. Just like that. I vented to my friend about how ridiculous that was, and he asked, "Don't you know that the cigarette companies are deliberately putting more and more nicotine in the smokes to keep you addicted?"

Not quite believing this, I've done a lot of research online today, all the way down to a couple of monotonously written patent sites. Instead of manufacturing, say, alternative cigarettes with reduced nicotine to help those who'd like to quit (as Phillip-Morris, et al. claim to care very deeply about), they are indeed gradually increasing the amount of nicotine -- and other addictive chemicals in the actual filters.

Other things I've read in the past couple hours ("Why Cold Turkey Doesn't Work For Some," etc.) explained that one's brain chemicals can be so drastically affected by a cigarette habit that quitting changes his entire personality -- sometimes for good.

Now I have to resort to those One Step at a Time filters (which gradually reduce the nicotine intake from 75% to 50%, over two weeks, and then of course down to 25% and finally 5%), and hope my personality and ability to concentrate isn't altered for the rest of my life.

The pleasure in smoking for fifteen years was not worth any of this nonsense.

Wish me luck, and I'm sorry for the verbose novella! Don't even start. Some people can quit with no problem, but some of us can't quit without torturous symptoms long after the fact. It's not a risk worth taking.

Hey, thats tough, good luck with that, can't say I have ever been tempted to start but then my dad smoked and I found it horrible. He managed to give up by going cold turkey, I don't think there was much of a change, I really hope that the cutting back works for you. Personally I think its disgusting that companies actively keep their customers addicted to something that although might be exagerated does affect you health and that of those around you. Living in Scotland I am living with the smoking band in public places, which I will hold up as one of the great things our otherwise quite questionable parliament has done.

I really do wish you luck and hope that things go better for you this time round!

Ooh one thing I remember now is that dad replaced cigarettes with Cyrley Wurleys - strange but it worked for him, especially as he then had to excercise more which also helped him!

I get tons of exercise, so that part's no problem. What are Cyrley Wurleys? Perhaps I can find an equivalent over here.

Chocolate covered chewy caramels in a Curly Wurly pleated pattern I am afraid, he found them totally addictive. Made by Cadbury, maybey you have them over there but they go by another name? I can't think of any alternatives. Not so good if you don't have a sweet tooth, mind you I do know someone else who successfully replaced cigarettes with sweets but he is now fat, so replaced one health problem with another.

Keep posting about your progress, I really admire people who give up as there are so many wee things I feel I just can't go without that I am too lazy and weak to stop but cigarettes are the ultimate in cravings and it is such a huge thing. My dad still says that he would have a cigarette in a flash cos he enjoyed smoking, he has been without a drag for the past 2 years, he printed out a callander from an online stop smoking site and crossed off the days and rewarded him self at the end of the week.

He had the same problems as you but over a longer period - of feeling far iller but with colds and coughs not such extreme symptoms. I think he is feeling the benefits now, certainly he coughs a lot less and has more stamina but if he could without the health risks he would smoke like a shot.

Good Luck!

I hope you manage to quit, Chris. You seem to be one of the unlucky ones with your symptoms.

It is worth pointing out though, that tobacco companies are like every other manufacturing group and are producing products for their benefit not yours. Besides the obvious targets of alcohol and fast-food, think of the the motor industry, the petrochemical industry, the clothing industry, the processed food industry, the power industry and pharmaceutical industry for starters!

Yeah. And also think of how many people they have suckered in so far....

All the best!

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

This is why I will never, ever try a cigarette. I know I would get addicted, and even without these kinds of symptoms I'd find it nearly impossible to quit. But good luck to you, Chris, and keep working at it!

Hi Chris, as a fellow addict - may I suggest switching to roll-ups as a way of weaning yourself off the extra nicotine? You can add your own filters and you won't smoke half as much (unless you're particularly adept at rolling one-handed in a force nine gale of course). Just a thought. Good luck.

Not bad advice, that. I just might give that a try if these filters don't work.
Thanks for the comments, all. I'll let you know what happens with these things.

Muse: I do not know that I will become addicted, but I fail to see sufficient reason to chance it.

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Similarly in my case, although also I despise the smell/feel of simply walking past somewhere someone smoking just passed through so much that I can't possibly imagine I would enjoy it either.

It's great to hear you're trying to quit, Chris, even though I don't think I've really met you, and disgusting what the companies involved do to try and stop it - and the effect they've already had on you, on trying to quit. The very best of luck and wishes; with your determination to quit you should manage admirably, as soon as you can find a suitable method. Go for it!

I smoked for years, gave it up 18 years ago - with huge difficulties and pressure headaches that felt as if my head would burst - and it does get easier, although I still get a craving when the air is cold and crisp, heaven knows why.

Good luck, Chris, you have a ready made support group here. If you feel the craving come and talk until it goes away!!

I certainly will -- part of the reasoning behind my post was that telling everyone my intentions turns it into a pride thing. (Acting manly) Arrrrr sniff belch flex.
Thanks again, you lot. :)

:)

" although I still get a craving when the air is cold and crisp, heaven knows why. "

Classical conditioning?
If there were cold mornings huddled outside the office building with the other smokers sucking down the nicotine but not allowed to do it in the warm... Why else would one leave the nice(well, okay, not *that* nice) warm office on a brisk day?

Rollies is a good idea. I know a few people who used them to cut down and quit, although they claim they were addicted as much to the other chemical goodies in tailormades as the nicotine. My family all smoke. Oddly enough, I dont really- but my dad (who is supposed to be quitting... very gradually) says the best way is to trade one addiction for another. He has taken up renovating the house, which gives him the same crankiness and stress as being unable to find the lighter- which he never could, so he barely misses it at all.

Try renovating if you ever miss going off your nut for no reason!

Become an alcoholic instead.

Not really.

I really wish you'd have said that earlier.

(Dumping Tequila down the sink)




Oh dear. The drain's smoking.

Become a fireman!

<tries to imagine someone who is addicted to climbing ladders and spraying water through windows>