My short story on how I gave up Cigarettes

[Alice]

Thank you King Cotton and just after scrolling back to see the conversation between the two of you and will do the uttermost best to adopt the approach. 

[King Cotton]

Excellent!

Just take the 'hard woman' approach and boss yourself, when every smoke thought enters your head, with the 'get thee behind me, Satan' mantra.

I won't say good luck since luck doesn't even enter the fray.

So, just a heart-felt 'best wishes', 'cos I know how much it would mean to you, if you did end up the boss!

[LoongFred]

Cold turkey and a lot of will power. I was at two packs a day, picked a time and place, then quit. That was 45 years ago.

 

[poohy]

I do like the odd Red Malboro or Winston but not seen them around for a while i can smoke one or 2 ciggies  or even a whole packet then not bother again for weeks or months (years at moment)

So Not really addicted but i must admit working in Egypt and Yemen  i was on several sheesha a day Now those i do miss!

Amazingly back home in Dudley i do  frequent sheesha cafes

Edited August 14, 2021 by poohy

[yselmike]

On 8/13/2021 at 11:03 AM, LoongFred said:

Cold turkey and a lot of will power. I was at two packs a day, picked a time and place, then quit. That was 45 years ago.

Same same for me 30 years ago.

[thaifarmer]

quit in 2003. cold turkey. took a week or 2 of strong will. Ate more food during that time. went back to normal after those two weeks.

[billywillyjones]

I was able to quit over ten years ago with the help of cold turkey and some quality California weed.  I had a vaporizer and eveytime I really needed a cigarette I would have a few tokes via the vaporizer.  It worked.  And a few months later I stopped smoking the weed which was far easier than quitting cigarettes unassisted.  Haven't had a puff since then.

Edited August 14, 2021 by billywillyjones

[LoongFred]

On 5/14/2021 at 5:43 AM, Lucjan said:

Hi, my experience proved, that all is related to the to the mind set. If you really want, the addiction of your body to nicotine ist NOT the key. It will disappear after 3 to 4 days. The key problem (at least in my case) were routine activities, e.g. coffee and a cigarette, glas of wine and a cigarette, stress and the believe that cigarette will help me. So, the real challenge to was to get control of these routine behaviors.

I did not use any other means of compensation lack of the nicotine. And it worked for me well.

Hope, my comments might show you some direction and at the end lead you to success.

Same with me. I knew I wanted to quit my two pack a day but Thailand was different and most of my friends smoked and would offer me a cigarette. Therefore when I boarded the plane,with my new wife, I requested non-smoking. 

With a lot of determination, it worked. Cold turkey 46 years ago and stilled married to same girl.

It was very hard.

[Raugh]

Congrats to everyone who quit.

Gives me some hope

[ExpatPattaya]

16 minutes ago, Raugh said:

Congrats to everyone who quit.

Gives me some hope

Me as well. 

Why do I keep puffin the tobacco.?  

TIT  so easy for 70 baht damn it

Peace

[thaifarmer]

a big company I worked for (in europe) organised "stop smoking" event(s). Some person talked in these events for a time. This was after I quit so I didn't go but, I saw die-hard smoking chimneys quit, and not 1 or 2 but a whole bunch of them. I figure that there is a kind of hypnoses being used in those events.

employees were allowed to bring friends and parents. seems to work well. If anyone heard of this or knows more, please tell. Will be interested to know the method used to help others.

The company involved makes machines for the chip-industry and is located in the south of the netherlands.

[King Cotton]

9 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

Me as well. 

Why do I keep puffin the tobacco.?  

TIT  so easy for 70 baht damn it

Peace

Hi, @ExpatPattaya!    If you can see any mileage in my 'hard-faced boss' approach, try it, maybe Friday, Loy Krathong, so that when that special day happens, each year, you can give yourself another pat on the back . . . and say thank you to the bossy approach.

[palooka]

10 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

Me as well. 

Why do I keep puffin the tobacco.?  

TIT  so easy for 70 baht damn it

Peace

Go for a holiday/whatever to Australia. 600+ baht a pack plus the social ostracising, many treat you like you a  disease, more places you cannot smoke than allowed to smoke.  Change of scenery, throw in changes of habits, cig with coffee etc and seven years later your lungs may be pink not black.  Some Anaesthetists in Australia are now starting to refuse operations on people over 50 who are heavy smokers, consider them a risk patient.

[King Cotton]

1 hour ago, King Cotton said:

10 hours ago, ExpatPattaya said:

Me as well. 

Why do I keep puffin the tobacco.?  

TIT  so easy for 70 baht damn it

Peace

Hi, @ExpatPattaya!    If you can see any mileage in my 'hard-faced boss' approach, try it, maybe Friday, Loy Krathong, so that when that special day happens, each year, you can give yourself another pat on the back . . . and say thank you to the bossy approach.

Here's my original post, after @Andrew Reevehad started the topic . . . 

https://thethaiger.com/talk/topic/104-my-short-story-on-how-i-gave-up-cigarettes/?do=findComment&comment=137

Similar to my suggestion of using Loy Krathong as a trigger or catalyst, I used the 2019 general election as my 'excuse' for stopping. And it worked!

[gummy]

Well this thread popped up again, I must have missed it 1st time round. Anyway I gave up smoking on the 6th August 1987.  Prior to that I was smoking 40 to 60 per day . After that and my taste came back could not have sugar in tea or eat very sweet things. 

[farang]

seems like very good hints at stopping the cigs.yep ive quit a few times.but keep going back.one time 5 years clean and a few at 3 months and 6 month streaches.and now doing a pack in 2 and a half days.so only about 8 a day.think ill make it this time.trying not to let my lack of not getting a visa yet trouble me too much.waiting  for restrictions to ease.chock dee to all.and happy upcoming loy katrong!

[Shark]

7 hours ago, thaifarmer said:

employees were allowed to bring friends and parents. seems to work well. If anyone heard of this or knows more, please tell. Will be interested to know the method used to help others.

In The Netherlands you can even go to your doctor and they will help you stopping. Zyban is commonly used in this case - Worked great for my mom the first time she quit, however a second initiative was done solely by myself and the question if she ever wanted to see her grandkids... motivated her enough.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-should-i-know-about-zyban-as-a-quit-aid-2825342

[BainaiThai]

On 5/25/2021 at 11:56 AM, KaptainRob said:

 

Came to Thailand and met a beautiful lady who refused to have anything to do with a smoker so I gave up.  11 years cold turkey now 

Funny how that happens...7 years now...one day at a time with the love of my life

[mickkotlarski]

18 hours ago, Shark said:

In The Netherlands you can even go to your doctor and they will help you stopping. Zyban is commonly used in this case - Worked great for my mom the first time she quit, however a second initiative was done solely by myself and the question if she ever wanted to see her grandkids... motivated her enough.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-should-i-know-about-zyban-as-a-quit-aid-2825342

On the subject of Zyban. Did your mum experience any memory loss as I know some folk did but others were unaffected.

[Marble-eye]

My friends mother and father owned a papershop at the time and instead of nicking a packet of 20, he would take a full packet of 200. We would only have been about 13 or 14 at the time and he would stuff them into his saddlebag on his bike and we'd peddle off down a back lane and do some train spotting while puffing away on the free fags.

When I got older I carried on smoking mainly because the people around you smoke, never had an addictive nature, never smoked till I went to the pub for a pint. My wife smoked like a chimney and she'd wake up in the middle of the night for a ciggy, she did eventually succumb to the habit, I thought that might be a good time to stop altogether, didn't take any will power at all, sometimes I would just puff away for the sake of it rather than any enjoyment.

But unfortunately we all have diffent levels of addiction and my heart goes out to the smokers that want to give up but are finding it difficult, it is about 35 years since I gave up and I havn't missed the having a cigarette one bit. 

Good luck to those who are trying to kick the habit.

[Shark]

3 hours ago, mickkotlarski said:

On the subject of Zyban. Did your mum experience any memory loss as I know some folk did but others were unaffected.

No memory loss - At later stage almost at the end a sudden rash appeared but as it's a anti depressive you can't suddenly stop so you contact the doctor and he will pop in some extra pills which on their turn fight the rash.

I know it's a popular "utility" for stopping but it has been found by accident, if you search the history of this medicine.

[ExpatPattaya]

On 11/18/2021 at 10:16 AM, BainaiThai said:

Funny how that happens...7 years now...one day at a time with the love of my life

Now that is 2 things. 

Cannot give up cigarettes and gave up being able to love or even trust any woman anymore in my life.

The idea of being/sleeping with the same lady for the rest of my life is the most horrifying thing I can think of. 

Did that for 15 years and it was hell more than half the time.  

Excuse the off topic rant

Edited November 19, 2021 by ExpatPattaya

[yselmike]

I stopped 1990,was on 50 Gauloise a day,when I realized how much a year I was spending on cigarettes it was incentive enough to go cold turkey.When I moved to Amsterdam about 1980 I smoked a lot of hash but it didn't mix with my growing drinking habit and the arrival of Charlie on the scene, something had to give,so I became one of the few who moved to Amsterdam and stopped using hash in it's various forms.A neighbor of mine died of covid in May,his wife knocked on my door two weeks ago and asked me if I wanted the bag of buds she found while clearing out the garage,why not.Fished out my old pipe and with trepidation got stuck in! The first hit was a bit rough but doable,had to take care because the heat was uncomfortable.Went online and got a longer Marocain kif pipe,that worked,on the second day i just took it straight down and held the smoke down like I had never stopped smoking.my last cigarette was June 1990 my last joint was 1980,the body and mind never forgets how to smoke,I guess it's the same whatever the substance is.I am enjoying experience.If you had told me I would be loving it at 70 I would have wanted what you were on.

[riclag]

Good on you Andrew.

For all of you considering putting the smokes away !

Take all of the pros and cons and other peoples advice on  why you should "stop" and cast them aside.

Find one reason why you must stop and drill it  through  your 

skull !

Every time you get a craving ,a urge for a smoke ,tell yourself  why "you can't" and chew something . Never mind that others can  smoke and your envious  ,stop it ,the last statement is for those who love everything about sucking in that nicotine .

I quit for 5 years and went back for 5 ! I got a case of brochities and stopped in 2000 ! 

Once or twice a year I still get the urge but it quickly goes away as fast as it came. 

Side note:The first couple of years , you'll get a whiff of a smoker as they stand next to you! You'll say to yourself ,this is what I smelled like !

Chohk dee

[Vince]

On 5/13/2021 at 4:31 AM, Alice said:

Hello Andrew

Great story with a happy ending, unfortunately now in my Forties and still smoking and starting to get worried about my long term health. I have set a give update as the last day of this month and plan to start June in very positive mood.

If you still haven't quit or quit and restarted (I quit several dozens of times :-p) tapering down as fast as possible and or quitting cold turkey has worked best for me. Don't carry any smokes and throw them all away asap! Don't put it off until you run out. Your will to quit may be gone by then!