Trying to stop smoking.

[Jimmy the Celt]

I've been a pipe smoker for about three years, on and off, but my ex-girlfriend got me smoking cigarettes [my dumb choice, really]. I've been smoking cigarettes for about three months now and am trying to stop, but I get nutters when I go half o' day without smoking now. I determined that I would have to give up the briar as well, as I have taken to inhaling Half and Half.

So, any advice you can offer regarding the subject I would be happy to hear. Prayers and good vibes are also accepted.

[Panache]

James,

Good luck!

How much does a pack of cigarettes cost anyway?

How many packs do you smoke a day?

Everyday take exactly that amount in cash and put it in an envelope labelled "KILT FUND"*.

When you feel the need to smoke take a moment to think about what tartan or color your custom kilt is going be. Is that going to be traditional or modern?Start thinking who is going to make it; Kathy Lare?, Barb?, Rocky?, MacHummel?, Steve?, Matt Newsome?, or any of the other kiltmakers here at X Marks. Consider the kilt pin from Robin that you are going to wear it with or which Rab Gordon sgian dubh is going to look best in your sock. Better plan on what color Freelander you need. Don't forget belts and sporran straps, Cavscout has those covered.

I imagine by the time you have saved and bought everything to have the perfect kilt outfit, you will have conquered your smoking habit.

Since Kilts and Smoking are both addictions I see no reason to use one to cancel out the other. Besides no one ever died of second hand kilting.

Best Wishes on Quitting



* Even if you smoke just a pack a day, and a pack of cigarettes cost $3, thats a $500 tank in 6 months!

[pdcorlis]

Here's a little story for you. In September I saw a specialist for a blood disorder - nothing serious I'm just a bit too "red blooded." This MD happens to be an Oncologist and during our chat I mentioned I occasionally chewed snuff but was meaning to get some patches or something to help me stop. He said "I can help you with that... its all BullS%#&t..." The he looked me over and said "Is that kilt County Cavan tartan?" I said "yes" He said "I thought so" then he looked me dead in the eye and said "You know anyone strong enough to wear a kilt whenever he wants to is strong enough to quit chewing." and added "There's cancer and there's cancer... you don't want this one." I quit that day - no patches, no pills, no kidding.

Turns out he used to wear a kilt daily when he was a young man and his family lived in Scotland.

Best of luck to you!

[starbkjrus]

Well, ya know....I don't really have any advice. Not too helpful I suppose.

I actually hired a therapist to help me quit smoking and that just didn't do it. He told me I hired him for the wrong reasons. If you WANT to quit just do it. If you don't really want to it's not going to work.

MY problem however is that I NEED to quit but I don't WANT to quit. I like it. :rolleyes: God how I wish I'd never started but since I've been smoking for something like 25 years I've got to get my head around the whole thing and just quit.

If you've only been smoking a few months then just drop it before it gets worse! Pipe smoking can be addictive but IMOHO not nearly as much as cigarettes or snuff. If you want to quit then just bite the bullet and do it. The longer you smoke and inhale the harder it will be. If you want to quit do it NOW.

I will tell you as well as will kiltedfirepiper (who's in the middle of quiting Copenhagen) that the longer you do it the harder it is.

You can get gum or patches to help but I've not really found them too helpful. It comes down to just doing it. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: Anyone who WANTS to use tobacco - go for it. I have no problem with anyone's personal choices. If you want to quit then best of luck and there are numerous things out there to help.

EDIT: Yeah, above I think I said a couple of times to "just do it". Well easier said than done. Panache, you are dead on right BUT if you've never been addicted to nicotine you just can't understand. I have not tried this (but am seriously thinking about it) but there are hypnotherapy CD's available for several things. You might try www.wendi.com . Ever since an issue I had about a decade ago I've been a big fan of hypnotherapy.

Might want to give that a try.

[Erisianmonkey]

When my health got to where I had to quit drinking, I found a technique that finally worked. What you have to do is dissociate your desire for your addiction from your personality. What I mean is when you find yourself thinking "I want a cigarette," *immediately* modify that in your mind to "My addiction is demanding a cigarette, but *I* do not want to smoke anymore, so I won't." It won't necessarily help with the physical withdrawal symptoms, but it does wonders for the psychological cravings. I was a bottle a day man until June, and haven't touched a drop since, whereas I had been trying to quit drinking for a year or so before that.

All that being said, I will give the caveat that I haven't done it with smoking myself, but it did wonders with my drinking.

Disclaimer: I'm not a substance abuse counselor, doctor, or expert.

[bikercelt1]

I used to smoke. I got started because if you were smoking it was okay to take a break but if you weren't smoking you were expected to keep your nose to the grindstone. After a while I got to where I liked it and that was just a short step to believing I needed it. I tried quiting for my wife. I tried quiting for my health. I tried quiting 'cause food tasted bad. I tried for a hundred different reasons and all the "trying" in the world didn't work. One day I finnished a pack and looked at my favorite lighter then I handed it to a friend and said "here, would you like this? I'm a non-smoker". It wasn't easy, whenever I had the urge to smoke I said a prayer instead. I took responsibility for my smoking but acknowledged my need for spiritual help and support. I had to give up smoking cigars and pipes as well because I realised that I couldn't smoke in one way but not smoke in the other. It's not easy but it can be done. You have my prayers and support, hang in there, you can do it.

Jamie

[Macman]

Different things work for different people. Some people can quit cold turkey. Others need to wean themselves gradually. The latter worked for me. My dad smoked for 40 years, and tried everything to quit, but nothing worked. Then he tried hypnotherapy. He hasn't had a cigarette since his first appointment with the hypnotist, and that was 17 years ago.
Whatever you choose, I wish you all the best in quitting.

[Jimmy the Celt]

Thank you all for your responses. I know I can do it, though it is tough. I use Skoal Original Wintergreen and Levi Garret Chewing Tobacco sometimes as well . . . . been struggling with that since I was 15, but I have been able to quit for a few years.

The expense is not worth it, nor the potential health issues. But I agree with Starbkjrus--you have to make your own choice--mine is to quit as soon as possible. If you want to use tobacco, by all means do so . . . but know that the warnings are real, and that it is very difficult to quit.

[wsk]

I smoked from age twelve or fifteen 'til I was twenty-five. A buddy who was a Quartermaster on the boat and I were sitting at the bar at the Dunkin' Donuts in Groton having a coffee and a smoke. Don't remember how we came to it but that day, we bet each other that we could quit. After our coffee we tossed our smokes in the rubbish bin.

I did ok for a day or so but it was a struggle. Midway through that second day I went down to the vending machine in the lobby (I was living in the barracks on base at the time). Put in my fifty cents and took the smokes back to my room.

I sat down at the table in my room. Put the pack on the table. Put my lighter on top of the pack and just stared at it.

Put the lighter on the table, picked up the pack and opened it. Put the pack on the table. Put the lighter on top of the pack and just stared at it.

Put the lighter on the table, picked up the pack and pulled out a smoke. Put the pack on the table. Put the lighter on top of the pack and fondled the cigarette.

Picked up the lighter lit the smoke. Took one hit. Put it out. Tossed the rest of the pack in the trash. That was the last cigarette twenty-seven years ago now.

This is my story which is all I can offer you.

I won the bet.

[thescot]

Well, my friend, I'll tell you this in the hope that it will provide the impetus for your quitting. It never did for me, but . . . you may be wiser.

I smoked from the time I was a kid. Heck, everyone smoked back in the 50s and 60s. I was hooked by age 15 or so. And I stayed hooked for about 35 years. Healthy as a horse for all intents and purposes. Ran miles a week, etc.

Until I had a heart attack at age 45. Bad genes and nicotine gang aft agley.

I had a stint installed to open the old right coronary artery and recovered pretty well. And went back to the cigarettes. I have to tell you this honestly: I could not quit. I tried cold turkey, hypnotism, patches, gum, and voodoo. (Not really, but you get the picture.)

It was the massive heart attack at age 47 that got me. I had more stents installed in the left side, then crashed, had an emergency bypass that lasted two weeks, and then the biggie came on. I was "dead" when they took me off the helicopter.

After a week in a coma, I awoke with a tube down my throat and learned that my heart was shot. Only a transplant would save me.

Well, that's when I quit. That was over 6 years ago, but the moral of all this is: do whatever it takes to quit. If you find you can't, then you are truly addicted, as sure as any alcoholic or heroin addict, so get whatever help it takes. I'm still a "smoker" (read addict), but I don't smoke anymore. I would be afraid to take one hit.

Been dead, and it's not where you are supposed to go at a young age. I was fortunate.

Good luck, and God bless.