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And need all the advice I can get!
Published on March 3, 2006 By adnauseam In Blogging
I started smoking at 17, just after I left school. Smoking was fashionable in 1964 and we all puffed away in cinemas and restaurants and at work.
When I think about it now I wonder how people put up with all that smoke! This dreadful habit was acceptable then because it was an age of freedom, of pot, of good music,
of outrageous habits. The oldies will remember.

I'm still smoking 40 years later and I'm ashamed. I put it down to stress (plenty of that in a big school if you're the head honcho), coffee (how would a fresh cup of espresso taste
without a cigarette?), and beer. Imagine a few Miller Lites (sorry Yanks but we South Africans own Miller---and I am nothing but patriotic!), without a cig.?

Seriously, I've tried most cures half-heartedly (like sprays and patches and gum), and now I'm thinking of acupuncture. If you have any advice I'm willing to listen. It will not be
half -hearted this time: My breathing is suffering and I do want to live a little longer.

It is my life's resolution to give up the dreaded weed before I turn 60 soon. Any recipes and advice would help although I know it is mainly up to me!

Yours in desperation.

Comments
on Mar 03, 2006

No advice..never smoked.

But I just wanted to say Good luck!

And Good on ya for wanting to quit.

on Mar 03, 2006
Have you tried WelButrin?  It is expensive (about $150 for 30 pills here in the states), but it cured my mother (a smoker for longer than you).  It is prescription, but not a narcotic or anything like that.
on Mar 03, 2006
i smoked for years, about 17 or so and how i quit was i got my MIND ready . for about a week before i quit i told myself as you are that i needed to do this for many reasons and just kept convincing myself of that for a few days. i planned it out that i would have my LAST cig before bed, the pack was empty and i just REFUSED to buy anymore.for me that is what it took. i have not bought a pack of cigs in months now, but i have smoked just a few....with those beeres at the bar........ but that is the only place i will let myself bum one or two from my friends. i don't miss them at all and after smoking just a few of them at the bar after not smoking them on a constant basis... they taste like CRAP... reinforcing the need to stay away. the "addiction" to nicotine is supposed to last for 3-5 days before it is out of your system, i personally had no problems abstaining once i had myself CONVINCED that it was the best for me. so go ahead and enjoy a few on occassion, but get your head straight if you are serious about it. it is all that will work.. and doesn't cost you a fortune to try like the patch, gum and such.....if your head isn't "in the game" you are doomed to fail from the start!!
on Mar 03, 2006
Take a two-week vacation.

During that time, hang out with non-smokers.

When you return, do not buy cigarrettes.
on Mar 03, 2006
Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it dozens of times.
on Mar 04, 2006
I need to quit at some point too. It dawned on me the other day that I've now been a smoker for 20 years. That's more than half of my life (I'm 35). I have very little willpower when it comes to smoking and drinking soda. I've half-ass attempted to quit both a few times, but have never really committed myself to it.

As sick as this sounds, I sometimes wish that I would start experiencing some health issues from it for motivation, even though I know there are a lot of other good reasons to quit. I'm pretty twisted in my thinking about a few things.