if i sometimes seem a bit RATTY
going through a bad patch at the moment-
for both financial and HEALTH reasons i have been forced to sut down on the CIGGIES - from 40 a day (for aver 30 years) to 10 a day is having some strange effects, yed physically i feel much better but mentally it is taking its toll -
EXAMPLE - if a person says that “their dog will not catch the mice” and i know full well they have a CAT then why complain about the dog -
where at on time this would hav had no effect on me, recently i have to restrain myself from sticking pins in their avatar and screaming "use the b****y cat **** -
hope you understand
M.R
been there done that - it sux
No problem M.R. Some days I’m like that and I don’t have ciggies to blame. 
Hang in there!
D
I was a smoker for 36 years (actually that’s not true; I quit for 4 years -consecutive- in that time, but I did go back to them.)
I’m gonna tell you something that makes no sense but is true nonetheless: it is easier to quit than to cut back substantially.
A long time ago I read that smoking five cigs a day is - health wise - the same as not smoking at all. And I don’t know how many times I tried to cut back to five a day.
It doesn’t work. All you think about while having one of your allotted smokes is… “that’s one fewer I have left for today.” It takes away whatever dubious pleasure those few smokes represent. And the minute you have a few drinks with smoking friends your cutting back resolve goes out the window.
Quitting is tough. But in four days, the physical symptoms disappear - it’s a hell of a four days, but you can manage FOUR days. Then you have to deal with the psychological addiction BUT that’s when you remind yourself about those four days - “if I give in now… you tell yourself …I have to go through those four days again.” That’s a strong incentive to resist the urge.
And, let’s face it, that’s all it is once you’re past the physical symptoms - an urge. It will pass. And, in time, those urges will occur less and less frequently. Then one day you’ll realize that it’s been days since you’ve had an urge at all.
Then weeks.
Then months.
Then years…
That reminds me of my friends dad. He had smoked two or three packs a day for over 65 years. One day he was sitting on the couch watching television and started to light up. He didn’t. Stopped then and there. Cold Turkey. He told me he “just thought he’d had enough”. Amazing…
D
Hang in thar Rabbit! 
From one who quit 20 years ago, I still crave them. In fact last weekend was at an outdoor bar and bummed two cigarettes as I was drinking. VERY NICE.
But, I cannot smoke, just feel to badly physically, so in the end it is best.
Perservere, I found sunflower seeds helped a lot. Something about the B vitamins.
Copenhagen helps a lot too.
Quote:
And, let's face it, that's all it is once you're past the physical symptoms - an urge. It will pass. And, in time, those urges will occur less and less frequently. Then one day you'll realize that it's been days since you've had an urge at all.
Same as sex
Quote:
Copenhagen helps a lot too.
Never tried snuff, but have chewed tobacco, bought a couple of pipes, done the patch thing. Ended up smoking cigarettes at the same time I was doing all these. My grandpa put em down when he was in his 50's, never picked em back up, and lived to the ripe old age of 98. I'll make another stab at it one of these days, but in no hurry to go through what M.R. is going through now. My prayers are with you, Rabbit.
I also add: hang in there, Rabbit. It’s a good thing you are doing.
I hate reformed smokers…
Leonard…
the steel guitar player smoked three packs a day for fifty years…
He was forced to stop when he was diagnosed with lung cancer…
I can remember playing on the stage…
he had an ashtray clipped to a leg of his guitar…
He never lit a smoke with a lighter or match…
He lit the next one just befire he butted the stub of the one he put-out…
Smokes and coffee…
Poor-Man’s Sex…
Anyway, he tried everything to quit…
The patch(s)…
hypnotic sessions Didn’t work…
BUT. when it took hold he became a reformed guitter…
I hated it…
I still continued to smoke… He couldn’t stand to be around people who smoked…
But it was poison to him…
I finally quit after 25 years…
COLD Turkey…
I stopped for 10 years…
then took it up again…
and smoked for another 10 years…
quit COLD TURKEY Again…
I am unable to pass up the smell of a nice cigar or pipe…
You can’t smoke in a public place around here or in a car with kids present…
or use a cell phone while driving… OR…
OR…
Rules/Laws…
Very un-democratic…
That’s what I think…
Charlie, The Acoustic Guitar player/front man on the last stage I played on…
He was a three pac-a-day smoker…
He’s gone now…
He used to take coughing spells on the stage…
I’d Cover his vocal lines when it hit him…
He’d cough for twenty minutes at-a-time…
When he was diagnosed he went in ninty days…
What a way to go…
It’s so sad…
Bill…
In case this hasn’t already been brought to your attention:
Allen Carr’s stop smoking book
You smoke WHILE you read it, btw.
It’s simple brainwashing that helps turn your head around to the “correct way” of looking at it.
— I’m just a lurker, but I mean well
