I'm quitting smoking...

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You're right, there's more to it than nicotine addiction, and nicotine replacement therapy alone isn't enough. I probably need to pay more attention to the psychological factors.

I was puzzled as to why the designer of the e-cigarette bothered to incorporate a red light at the end of the device, and why did it have to generate steam? At first I thought it was either to confirm that the device was working, or just pointless gimmickry.....I was just thinking "cut the crap and just give me the nicotine hit!" But I'm beginning to realise that the whole idea is to mimic the look and feel of the smoking experience as closely as possible. None of these features have anything to do with physical addiction, they're there to fool my brain into thinking I'm smoking. Even the weight of the device plays a part - for a while I coldn't understand why I was disappointed that it was rather heavy.

Curiously, a friend of mine got caught out by ignoring the nicotine side of the equation - he figured he could smoke as much as he wanted to while he was away from home, because that was unlikely to have much effect on his tendency to smoke when he got back home, as the environment was so different. The problem was of course that when he got back home again he got nicotine cravings, and as his relationship with his partner was giving him a lot of stress as well, he was soon back to Square One. I don't think anybody's mentioned stress yet as a factor - not that it's an easy one to control, but I'm sure that when you're stressed out, that's when your resolve is likely to break. It's caught me out lots of times.

I once used my cigarette lighter to light a Bunsen burner in a laboratory, and was astonished to find myself putting my other hand to my mouth so that I could draw on the cigarette that wasn't there! It was the first time I'd ever used my lighter for any purpose other than to light a cigarette. It came as quite a shock to realise how my body had been programmed to do something that I hadn't consciously willed it to do. It was a classic Pavlovian response, made noticeable only because my brain made a mistake. I've read that most of us tend to intuitively feel that everything we do is the result of conscious decisions.

Callista, that was an excellent response. It's enjoyable to read the scientific explanations behind addiction.

ToughDiamond, there's a time for everything, I guess. Lately I have been wondering about the e-cigarette. For me, it is the sensory memory....the weight of the smoke in my lungs, the sound of the lighter, etc. The healthiest option available to me now is stuffing a drinking straw with a cotton ball and slowly puffling away.

The sensation of drawing on the thing is something you might like. To me, it really does feel like inhaling cigarette smoke. The resemblance isn't perfect, but it has a similar impact, and it can even makes me cough. It's tighter to draw on than a real cigarette, which is a shame. The "smoke" may not have the same "weight" as real cigarette smoke (assuming we're talking about the same thing, there are no words to describe some of the finer sensations of smoking, IMHO) but I can feel it stinging slightly as I inhale. No slight dizziness or nausea though.....I guess that's down to carbon monoxide. Who would have thought anybody in their right mind would complain about not getting nausea? But a little bit would be nice.

Since cigarettes can cause cancer I have setup a link for you: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=uct ... ery=cancer so you can educate yourself on the matter.

I have never smoked one cigarette myself for 30 years and I have no plans on beginning with it either. That reveals that I'm no ex-smoker and can feel unsympathetic on the matter, but good luck!! (although luck will have nothing to do with your success) I have heard that it's really hard to quit smoking.

Thanks all of you, my aim is to keep myself busy and get out more (which is when I crave a cigarette less) although I find it hard to concentrate on anything because my mind seems to focus on ciggarettes, but I'm sure as the crave for it gets less I'll be able to shift my focus.

I have a busy enough day tomorrow to get through the day without one I think,
Thanks again for your inputs, it helps!

I just wanted to mention my progress. Last Wednesday, I was smoking a pack and a half (30). I'm down to 21 today, using a chart to help keep me on track with my goals.

That's an excellent start, well done!
I'm on Day Seven now, having made it through my first weekend without my resolve breaking - it was hell, and today I've been shaking all morning and my emotions are all over the place. There are no words to describe the bizarre sensations I'm getting. It's bloody awful but I ain't giving up

Hm.. just want to say good luck. I have smoked since 1974, and allways rolled up.. think that's what you called it. I have allways rolled my own, have a steady 15-20 a day now, guess I smoked about 10 for many years. I can't see you got any answer to what is the most harmul, your own rolled or cigarettes. I've heard that they say rolling tobacco is the worst. But I get a sore throut from cigarettes, so I really don't know. Here in Norway it's much more common to roll your own smokes, so this might as well be a scare from the authorities.
Anyway, giving up smoking is a good thing, especial since you're so young. Just stick to your decision

I've read that rolling tobacco is safer because of the higher water content, which gives the smoke a lower temperature. But I used to let it dry out slightly because that way I got a stronger "hit" - though I tried to be careful not to let it get as dry as a ready-made cigarette.

Some people think that hand-rolled cigarettes are more dangerous because they don't usually have filters (you can buy filters but I've never seen anybody use them), but I've seen data that suggests that the filter makes no difference to the health risks.

There may be fewer chemicals in roll-ups. I used to smoke ready-made cigarettes but I changed to roll-ups a long time ago, and in my experience ready-made cigarettes made my throat and lungs sore, more than roll-ups.

Also, I think that ready-mades are too easy and convenient, and too large (the tax is per cigarette, not per gram of tobacco, so the makers don't bother to sell small cigarettes any more) - it's nice to be able to roll very small cigarettes, that way you can smoke the same number of cigarettes and still cut down the total amount of tobacco you consume, I found that was easier than trying to reduce the number. I was smoking about 5-8 a day before I stopped, but 50 grams of tobacco would last for about 6 weeks, and some of it was wasted because as it got older, it would dry out too much and it turned into powder. I always wanted to measure the amount that I actually used, but it's difficult because it's gradually losing water, so simply finding the weight doesn't really work.

I smoked (happily) for 10 years. I smoked another 10 years (unhappily) with repeated attempts at quitting. None of them worked.

You want to know what worked? Deciding with my mate to be totally and completely honest with ourselves and everyone around us as well as removing all drama from our lives. If you weren't interested in talking about how to fix your situation or move forward in life, you could go talk about it on the porch. Not inside.

End result is that most of our 'friends' didn't want to hang around anymore and, after a few months without drama, we couldn't stand to be around them for very long either.

About 4 months of this and I quit smoking like I had shut a window. No big deal. My wife quit a few weeks later. (Very high stress job, didn't blame here a bit)

Never felt better in my life. The only other thing I can suggest that will help would be to follow the Blood Type Diet. At the very least, just stop eating the stuff on your 'avoids' list.

When you're ready to quit, you'll quit. Until then, depending on your health, it might be safer to keep smoking as stress is really unhealthy.

Good luck!

Day Thirteen of abstinence:
My resolve hasn't broken yet, but I'm still trembling a lot, and I measured my blood pressure yesterday - it was 178/95 86bpm, i.e. well into hypertension
Today it's 136/86 76bpm, i.e. fallen back to the "high normal." Usually I'm around 130/70, which is around the top of the normal range.

I don't know what's doing it - I suspect I may have been overdoing the hot nicotne, so I stopped using it as soon as I got the blood pressure readings, and indeed it seems to be returning to normal, though not so quickly as I'd have expected if the stuff has a hlaf-life of 2 hours.

Complicating factors:
1. I've been through quite a bit of environmental stress over the past few days: a sudden increase in my workload at work snce Monday, after being left to languish for weeks with very light duties, management seeming blisfully unaware that I was unlikely to get it all done by the end of the working day - that continued for the whole of the week, every day was hectic.

2. Some selfish bastard decided to play extremely loud Acid House muzak in his back garden from 9.30am till about 6pm - the city council's "noise callout" service doesn't start till later in the evening so there was little I could do. I found it somewhat stressful to resist the urge to go and beat him to a pulp with an iron bar. I'll nail him, I swear it, but it may take a while, and he might very well get away with further incidents in the meantime. I find the process of nailing him stressful in itself.

3. I'm trying to keep away from my wife, as conversation with her tends to sorely try my patience, but then I just get anxious about deserting her for so long, even though she seems to have plenty to do.

4. I gave up not only tobacco but also cannabis - I know nothing of the effects of suddenly stopping that, but considering the reputation cannabis has for relaxing people, I'm wondering if that might explain the increased tension.

Can anybody shed a bit of light on what the f**k is happening to me? Is this normal? I gave up smoking for the sake of my health, but it's starting to look as if it's going to kill me Or am I just riding out the storm?

Anyway I'm going to take a nice warm bath and hope that as*hole of a neighbour doesn't repeat his muzak assault. Where's the perfect murder plan when I need it?

PS hope my fellow abstainers are holding out OK - haven't heard much from you, hope that doesn't mean bad news. Frankly I'm wondering whether the occasional relapse wouldn't be a bad thing.

I smoked 70 a day through the nose for 15 years.
30 through one nostril and 40 through the other.

i got off them by substituting the ciggies with drinking straws. because i was a chain smoker, the subsitution method i have just outlined earned me no friends in the neigbourhood and created a fracas at the local milk bar (soda shop) when i was caught red-handed with a bunch of multi-coloured straws stuffed up my jumper by the owner.

the moral of the story is this"
substitution just does not work.

Damn the straws...it turned into a fetish and now i am left to languish in a world of mini-cylinders that love me in a way no person ever could.

callista your post was amazing.
millie you made me read your post several times, laughing.

i have never smoked but it sounds tough work - keep sticking to your game plan and keep us updated on how you are doing! blogging here is a great idea!

maybe invest in ear plugs for that neighbour of yours?
(i obsess over ear plugs.)

^glad to be of service, liresse.
back to the straws......

I think by the time I found some that cut down the noise enough, I'll have got the council to nail him anyway. And I find them very uncomfortable. I guess I could get some of those ear protectors that look like headphones, but again my body is pretty intolerant of them, I get all hot and bothered. I use them at work when colleagues are shattering my concentration with their noise, but I can only bear them for half an hour or so, and the discomfort distracts me almost as much as the noise they screen out. Why didn't the good Lord give us a volume control on our ears?

Anyway, thanks for the thought.....so far they've not started another alfresco acid house session, so hopefully somebody else has threatened them, or they've had their electricity cut off.

What's it called when the slightest source of stress winds you up like buggery?

I don't understand about these straws - how do they help you? Do you light them and inhale the smoke?

Good luck on quitting the vile smoking habit, I have never smoked in my life mainly because when I was young I saw someone die of smoking induced cancer. I do not want to get cancer, I think it can be a horrible way to leave this mortal plane.

Ruveyn is right, smoking is likely to be more dangerous to a young person than a older person like me. In general it becomes harder to induce cancer in people the older they get, experience from the now defunct radium industry has been that younger people are more at risk than older people.

My advice to smokers is to give up as you will save yourself a load of money. If you go and see your doctor or the pharmacist in many parts of the world they might be able to offer you some help with stopping.

Also I think the sight of a girl smoking is very unattractive, I also shudder at the idea of kissing a girl who smokes I do not imagine that it would be a nice experience. I do not know what young ladies think about the sight and smell of a male smoker, but the idea of repelling a partner might be another good reason to quit or never take it up in the first place.