HELP: Smoking...ways to stop.

So a lot of people smoke in Japan?

 

Fuck yes, and you can smoke just about anywhere. There are now ordinances to get people to not smoke on the street. You can smoke in any bar, game center, and most restaurants and cafes though, which limits places you would want to go, and SEVERELY limits places you can go with your young child.

The new no smoking on the streets laws (which work for the most part) is about the only thing Japan's got going for it in the smoking sense, and might make it a more non-smoker friendly city than Seoul, which is also a disaster.

 

yeah in Seoul you can smoke absolutely anywhere any time. My only refuge is my girlfriends apartment.

 

this sounds so sensational for you...what is so spectacular about smoking on the streets? is this forbidden in most parts of the world?

 

It is not forbidden here, but then again who knows what the bloody EU will try to next time around, those damn wankers.

 

they banned it in german pubs, so just the other way round than in asia...

 

Is it just me or is nicotine gum f*****g disgusting. I've never tried the patches although i thought the inhalers didn't have much effect.

 

Yeah the gum is rank, burns the back of your throat and makes you want to vomit, although last time i quit i tried the mint lozanges and they were pretty good

Quitting smoking can be a bitch, and yes it is mainly willpower, but no harm in a bit of extra help from your GP in the form of patches, mints etc.

A few years ago when i trained as a nurse, i did several courses on smoking cessation councilling, and actually ran a small support group at a local collage to help the kids quit, i was often asked if i was being a hypocrite as i was a smoker myself (not only fags, but weed as well), but as i pointed out, if you have never smoked before, you can give all the advise you want, but to experience quitting first hand is much more valuable a experience as you know what people go though when they try and stop

I worked for over 6 years in the NHS before i left, and saw some nasty shit happen to people who smoked all their life and the damage it can cause, on saying that i am sitting here typing away smoking, but i do do it in moderation now, wheras before i would smoke upto 40 a day, now i smoke a lot less, 5-10 most days, some days none at all, if i am off out on a bender then probably more (although still a lot less than i used to thanks to the smoking ban)

One thing that affects me bigtime when i stop for a while is my libido plummets, which ironically is why i still smoke now, when i quit last year for about 6 months, i went from tugging daily and sex 3-4 time a week, to the point where i simply wasnt in the mood for sex or anything, i even had the wife all dressed up in pvc standing in front of me and i simply wasnt interested! (much to her anger) so now i smoke in moderation, yeah im not as physically healthy, but at least i can 'get it up' as and when

 

Really? When I quit I had a perpetual hard on. Not that I wasn't ready to throw down at justabout any time before hand, but I remember for the first year or so I woke up to a freshly pitched tent every morning.

 

that book is great.
5 friends of mine stopped after reading it (the same copy, even :nod

 

wtf is wrong with this book?!?

is it printed on lsd paper or something?

 

It's the only way to fly.

I'm curious to see where the OP is on his battle.

 

Well i have took the plunge, and decided to stop again, hopefully this time for good, the costs are spiralling and for what? i worked it out and i spend over £1500 per year on cigarettes, which is insane for something that is basically going to kill me!

So far havent had one in over 12 hours, yeah its not a huge achivement, but considering i would have normally had 4-5 cigarettes by now thats not bad going

Last night i emptied all the ashtrays, cleaned then and put them in a cupboard, got rid of all the empty packets, nubs that were lying around, rizla, filters etc. emptied all the bins that have fag butts in, printed off a pledge to my wife and kids that i would stop and stuck it on the fridge (and my wife has done the same, although she only smokes 2-3 a day compared to my 20+ a day)

So far im feeling pretty positive, have busied myself around the house, and had a few nicotine lozenges, which are the only NRT that actually work for me

So by the end of the week, i will have saved around £35, first month and thats £140, so all the money i am saving i am putting away for new camera equipment and some studio lighting

Lets just hope i can stop and stay stopped this time, wish me luck guys!

 

what is a fag butt ???? :lol:

nevertheless, good luck mate and keep beeing busy, like you did with doing stuff around the house!

 

Well that could be taken 1 of 2 ways, the first, and one i was referring to is in the UK, cigarettes are often referred to as 'fags' so a fag butt, would be the end of a cigarette (the filter)

of course the other way would be that i was emptying the bowels of a homosexuals arse! :dance:

 

never heard of that....but okay

 

Took me a week or two to calibrate to my English/Irish friends saying, "Give us a fag".

 

Both my girlfriend's parents (fairly heavy smokers, couple of packs a day kind of affair) gave up after consulting their GP (one about 2 years after the other).

The GP put them on a antidepressant that actually has the side effect of helping people quit smoking - I think it's bupropion. It removes the crave for some - much more than gums and things.

The biggest hurdle as far as I've heard whilst on the drug is cracking the habitual learning side of it - going off to 'have a smoke' after completing a task, picking up a cigarette through the habit of doing it rather than the crave.

 

I had bupropion (Zyban is the brand name) a few years ago, for a while it was fine, then after a month of being on it, i literally would zone out completely, sometimes half way through a sentence, in the end i had to come off it, as it really was not healthy for me, mainly because i was already on anti-depressants at the time, and i ended up being super hyper all the time

 

My dad (50 year smoker) and brother (35 year smoker) both quit with Zyban. But yeah, they said the side effects sucked massive ass.