The Giving Up Smoking Thread - Part 3

Kiwisaver_2

UnderPressure wrote: »

Smoking is mostly a psychological addiction, you make yourself addicted and keep yourself that way, if your GP is telling you that you need major surgery but you have to give up smoking then it really should be a no brainer. I cannot think of a more powerful motivation to quit, I also wanted to make sure the OP understood this.

Ever heard the expression "being cruel to be kind" ?

Honestly I do know that your posting was well intended, I just think about that psychological addiction and how it affects us all. It's not about needing tea and sympathy or slap in the face with the harsh realities.

You don't need to be cruel to be kind. We know the cruel bit already. Most of us are well aware of the huge possibility that we'll get sick and die at some stage from a smoking related illness - but we're also expert at putting mechanisms and reasoning in place to excuse ourselves just this once, maybe just a few more weeks, one more year, the next holiday, the next birthday or whatever milestone we create out there on the horizon for when we see ourselves as stopping, at least so that we don't have to face it now.

I talked about this once before but can't remember if the UK went down the route of putting nasty graphic pictures of diseased lungs and gangrenous feet on the back of fag packets. I know we do here in NZ, everytime you get a packet it has a different image trying to 'scare' us stupid smokers into not smoking again. Whenever was alarming scenes of diseased mouths, dodgy eyeballs and the like going to make us stop? I remember years ago my doctors surgery in the Uk used to have a model of a set of lungs, one healthy and one all tarred up. It never made me want to stop, so even when faced with evidence and good reasons to stop we tend to blank them out. How many heart attack and cancer patients are there that are still standing outside the hospitals having a quick puff?

We are all aware of the consequences, yet it doesn't make us stop. I have been nagged most of my life by certain individuals to stop smoking, it never made one iota of difference.

I had to make my own mind to stop, like you and everyone here I simply couldn't and wouldn't be told.

Needstochange

Agree with you totally kiwisaver.
I like to think I am a reasonably intelligent person in fact i do have some medical qualifications so knowledge of the issue was never lacking for me. Did the nasty pictures or scare stories about cancer stop me? well clearly not.

I did have to laugh at the latest attempt by the goverment to have everyone stop instantly, lets cover up the cigarettes in the kiosks:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: oh yes i can see thousands giving up now they can't see the pretty boxes :cool::cool:

Thanks for the comments about the weight and not worrying about it yet. I want to agree and I want to eat my own weight in food every meal time as a treat for giving up smoking but it was that attitude that had me put 2 stone on last time and I went up from a 10 to 18 and that I am afraid is not good even if i am a non smoker.

Puddle - good luck for the 17th Im sure you will succeed :T

Erme

Yeah it's officially 6 months now on my 'flame thrower' aka my e-cig. In that time I've had about 1/2 oz of tobacco (after about 9 weeks) and come off the nicorette nasal spray. I have also reduced my nic/ml concentration from 36mg/ml to 22mg/ml.

Had my ups and downs (don't mention the first home made tank LOL) but now quite happy and enjoying my vaping..

So thanks for everyone's prayers and like don't forget - if you know a smoker and they can't quit send them this email. Just proves what can be done. I would get psychotic on all other forms of NRT/Cold turkey

Right now I have the flu but not worried as not chesty (no more chest infections for me 😃). Would never have done this without the net and the fab support of my very friendly e-cig forum full of good and up to date info about e-cigs.

Erme

pondskater_2

This thread is just one big advert for ecigs now - bye

Lockwheeler

*Chattie* wrote: »

shame but you are right I gave up smoking with the help of these threads a couple of years ago when the people who posted on the thread helped with support rather than tried to flog you e-cigarettes or a forum/website that sells them

quite why they feel the need to come on this thread and pat each other on the back when they have their own forum to do so I'm not quite sure but now it looks as if I need to give up eating tomatoes wonder if there is a forum for that?

I am a bit confused about that statement, I have not noticed anyone trying to flog e-cigs o here and the forum (if I have the right one) doesn't either. There may be links on there to vendors, but that is all.

Kiwisaver_2

Needstochange wrote: »

Agree with you totally kiwisaver.
I like to think I am a reasonably intelligent person in fact i do have some medical qualifications so knowledge of the issue was never lacking for me. Did the nasty pictures or scare stories about cancer stop me? well clearly not.

I did have to laugh at the latest attempt by the goverment to have everyone stop instantly, lets cover up the cigarettes in the kiosks:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: oh yes i can see thousands giving up now they can't see the pretty boxes :cool::cool:

We've had the Nanny state mentality far longer, ours have been hidden away under the counter for years and the smoking inside public places banned many years back. They're generally locked in a cabinet at the supermarket so that nobody can see them (apart from maybe wondering what is that great big mysterious white tardis thing at the end of each till :eek:) You have to make a big embarrasing scene if you dare to ask for cigarettes, they make you wait for the supervisor and hold up the queue whilst comes and authorises the sale to say that you are over 16.

They're talking of us having them in completely plain and unrecognisable packaging; will that really put people off? Also now talking of banning in outdoor spaces, at the parks or beaches.

paidinchickens

Morning peeps

Just ignore the bits you don't like. There is support on here still.

I don't want to be posting on here on my own

PIC x

Lotus-eater

paidinchickens wrote: »

I don't want to be posting on here on my own

PIC x

Hopefully not. All the people who aren't posting have to do, is to post, then we're back to normal. Cutting off nose to spite face, seems applicable.

I'm in two minds about things like hiding cigarettes at supermarkets etc, in one way it's good, as anything that stops people taking up smoking is great, but will it make them into a more desired thing for young people? We all know that people want what they can't have.
I did agree with putting horrible things on packets, but although it made me feel a little ill sometimes, I usually managed not to look at them/read them.
None of it worked for myself though, I carried on regardless.

Erme

Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone...

Certainly I would disagree this forum is just 'one big advert for e-cigs'....the fact is I can't take champix or anything and I've tried all the NRT known to man and it's just made me ill...

Now I'm succeeding via e-cigs. Surely that's something to be happy about?

E

Lotus-eater

Erme wrote: »

Now I'm succeeding via e-cigs. Surely that's something to be happy about?

E

It is Erms, very well done on your six months.

Well done to anyone who's cutting down or stopping smoking, no matter which way you've done it. I don't even see why that's an issue.
Whatever works for you. Just stopping smoking has to be one of the very best things you've ever done for yourself and your family. Everyone deserves to be supported and helped so they can do it. Everyone on here is a real person, in real life they have their problems, they deserve to be spoken to with the same respect you would give someone in the street.