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The Almost War That Wasn't; Chantix And Quitting
Topic Started: Mar 22 2009, 08:23 AM (1,198 Views)
Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
So glad to hear that you found a successful method, Frank! Your wife and daughter thank you, I'm sure. We've been trying to get my dad to quit for years. He was diagnosed with the early stages of emphysema probably about a decade ago (he's going to be 55 this year), though you wouldn't know it. He's never made any serious effort to quit; he enjoys it too much, I guess. It's the only selfish aspect about him.

Keep it up!
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Thanks, Opti! :) Sorry to hear about your dad... It's awfully tough. COPD and emphysema are bad to live with... :( :hug:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Cigarettes have shot up in price to the point where I simply cannot afford to smoke anymore, and if I could afford it monetarily, my health can't afford it anymore. I don't want to afford it anymore.

The Chantix is $139.00 per month. Expensive, isn't it?

Cigarettes, at $4.89 a pack, smoking a pack and a half a day, equates to $7.33 per day, every single day. Multiplied out to 365 and divided by 12 equals $223.11 per month, or $2,667.28 a year. Holy sh!t...

A full 90-day course of Chantix will run me $417.00
Pack and a half per day @ $7.33 for ninety days: $659.70

Side effects of Chantix that I've experienced, thus far:
A bit of gas... Not much, really. (No more than normal, really...) LOL
Vivid dreams. Hell, that's just a bonus!
Cigarettes tasted like ass. Ugh... I had to force myself to choke down the last few, they tasted so repulsive.

Side effects of smoking:
It makes you fcuking STINK
It yellows your teeth and fingers
It wrinkles your skin and gives your skin a wooden, greyish pall
It makes you constantly feel like a social pariah.
It WILL kill you. Emphysema, COPD, strokes, about fifteen different kinds of cancer, heart attacks, and on and on. Real glamorous, right? Real cool, isn't it?

I've just hit 25.5 hours, smoke and nicotine-free. I've been smoking for 22 years. It's time I finally slipped the hangman's noose from around my neck. I'm turning 40 next month. I'd like it to be smoke-free. I can't think of a better gift that I could give myself than that.

My quit date: 3-21-09, @ 1900 hours. There seems quite a preponderance of threes... I didn't plan it that way.
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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George K
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Finally
We expect daily updates. The fact that it tasted horrible is very good.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
Frank_W
Mar 22 2009, 04:15 PM
In the past, when I've tried to go cold turkey, after about six hours, I'd find myself digging madly through the garbage looking for one ancient cigarette butt that had a couple millimeters of tobacco left on it, just about frying my eyebrows off trying to light it, and then gagging and coughing my head off for the two mere drags that I manage to get, stubbing it out, and somehow convincing myself that it was good, and being able to gloss over the fact that I'd just failed miserably.
Oh I remember those days. Once, after a late night party when I ran out of cigarettes one guy asked me to promise I'd never try and give up smoking as I was such a mess at about 3am pacing the house trying to figure out a way of getting something to smoke. It's hard to believe unless you've been there.

I still love the smell of the damn things, but I'm never going back.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
John, if I never ever have to re-live that kind of desperation, even if years of smoking still killed me in the end, I would still be okay with that. There is a lack of dignity, an awful sense of shame, and even horror, when I think of having been in that state.

There's a lot of bad press about Chantix. As I progress through the 90-day cycle of this stuff, I may even experience some of the ill effects. If things get too bizarre, I'll go off of it. At this point though, I can't imagine going back on the smokes.

I truly think that this time, I'm done.
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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George K
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Finally
Need some motivation, Frank?

OK.

You stink.

You smell bad.

It's unpleasant to be around you.

I'm sure that your (lovely) wife thinks, every time she kisses you, "This is like running my tongue along an ashtray."

People notice how you smell.

Your clothes stink too. So does your car, your office, and your bedclothes.

=-=-=-=-=

I'm here for ya, buddy!
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Absolutely, George. I know that when I've been quit for a few days and I'm walking around a store or something, I can pick out the smokers from ten paces away. I can smell them, and they smell like burnt, dead, rotting things... Smoking and smokers smell like sh!t. Literally.
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Ben
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Senior Carp
You can do it, Frank! I'm grateful beyond words that neither of my parents ever smoked and they raised me so that I don't think I'll ever try it. Not taking care of my asthma is a good motivator not to try smoking, too :P
- Ben

"Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing." - Duke Ellington

bennieloohoo@gmail.com
Or you can just PM me. :P
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Excellent, Ben. Don't ever start. "Just one," is what started the avalanche...

I am now at 36 hours smoke-free. w00t!
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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plays88keys
Pisa-Carp
When I quit 10 years ago, this was the place that made the difference: http://forums.quitnet.com/community/talk/

Here's one of the gems I saved from my experience:

The Nicotine Addiction Story


Nicotine is probably the most addictive of all drugs we know of. The addiction process is very complicated, with dopamine receptors, neurotransmitters, etc. This illustration is an oversimplification of the process, but helps smokers to understand the reason for the difficulty in quitting.

Imagine that you have a factory in your brain which makes acetyl choline (you really do, but it doesn't quite work this way.) The acetyl choline workers work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no breaks, no vacations, no union representation. Acetyl choline is an essential part of our nervous system and without it we could no function very well (ask a smoker who is trying to quit how they feel and you will know how acetyl choline works.)

These factory workers work day and night and produce as much acetyl choline as the body needs. That amount is determined by the foreman who does continual blood testing to make sure there is an adequate amount available. After about 10 or 12 years you decided to try a little tobacco (either smokeless or smoking.) In 7 seconds th nicotine is in the brain and the foreman cannot tell the difference between acetyl choline and nicotine. He announces to everyone, "I don't know what is going on, but there is plenty of acetyl choline available. It looks like you can take a break."

The factory workers go out on the lawn, in the sunshine and have a glorious time. They are only out there about 30 minutes and the foreman calls them back in. He tells them that the acetyl choline levels have dropped and they will have to resume production.

The factory workers continue to work 24 hours a day, but they also remember how nice it was out on the lawn. You decided to have another cigarette. The foreman hardly gets the words out of his mouth and the factory workers are all out on the lawn. Again because the half-life of nicotine is just one half hour, they are soon called back in. You try tobacco again, with their encouragement — and again — and again.

Pretty soon you are smoking quite regularly and the factory workers are on the lawn most of the time, having a wonderful time. So you become fully hooked and smoke on a regular basis. The factory foreman tells the workers, "You haven't been needed for quite some time. Why don't you go on vacation. I'll call you if you are needed."

So they take off to the Caribbean. They are there for many years.

Finally you decide you've got to quit smoking. You stop.

The foreman checks the blood levels and panics. He starts trying to round everybody up, by sending letters and telegrams and making phone calls. The factory workers have to say goodbye to all their friends, find their cool-weather clothes, make airline reservations and prepare to leave. They are not happy and they let the foreman know that. He passes that information on to you and you give in and start smoking again.

One day you finally make it. You quit.

It takes one month for the factory workers to get home and start working again — but they never forget the Caribbean.
You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Wow.... That makes a lot of sense, Plays. The scary thing is that I have two friends who have each quit for ten years, and both of them have resumed smoking. One of them just quit again, and the other is on Day One, as of today.

As for me: Once I get free of this, I'm done. I am never putting another one of these things in my mouth ever again.

Fcuking cigarettes... They are worse than smack. They just ruin peoples' lives. (and Hollywood has a lot to answer for, dammit!) :angry:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
(Oh yeah... The only place I ever smoked indoors, was in my study, but I've aired it out, sprayed Febreze all over everything, vacuumed with scented carpet cleaner, and I'm burning scented candles. It smells NICE in there, now!)

Also, I'm on an upcoming magazine cover, fighting off the craves. Check it out:

Posted Image

:lol2:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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big al
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Bull-Carp
Frank_W
Mar 23 2009, 05:42 AM
As for me: Once I get free of this, I'm done. I am never putting another one of these things in my mouth ever again.
Just don't forget that resolution, Frank. I quit once for about 6 months 27 years ago and thought at that time I could put maybe just one in my mouth. 10 years after that mistake, I quit for good.

Oh, and if you get tired of reading the magazine, you can always listen to the album...

Posted Image

Big Al
Location: Western PA

"jesu, der simcha fun der man's farlangen."
-bachophile
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
:lol2: Thanks, Al! I quit for eight weeks, last year. It's the longest I've ever gone. Then.... I thought I could have "just one." Ugh... Fatal mistake. It's taken me this long to get my sh!t together and give it another go. :thumb: Congrats to you, too.

Great pic... :lol2:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
What a great birthday present to yourself, Frank. Turning 40 as a non-smoker will be a very good thing. :hug:
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Thank you, Sue! :) :hug: 1300 hours, here. 42 hours, smoke-free! w00t!
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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George K
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Finally
Still no desire, right, Frank?
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Not for cigarettes, no. :unsure: :D
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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George K
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Finally
You're a pig...and I say that in the most brotherly way.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
:lol2: Thank you. Thank you vera' much! ;) :thumb:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Piano*Dad
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Bull-Carp
Way to go, Frank! I remember helping my mother along in her quitting. I threw away cigarettes that I found! :sombrero:
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Thanks, PD! I'm throwing away lighters, butts, ashtrays, and empty wrappers, as I come across them. I counted 'em up last night: I have sixteen cigarette lighters on my dresser... WTF? LOL

I never smoked in the house, so at least I don't have that to contend with. I have a driveway full of butts, though. Feh.... Ick.
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
w00t!!!! 48 Hours down!! :party: :woot:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Nobody's Sock
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Fulla-Carp
you're still on your honeymoon phase Frank, don't get overconfident now!!

the real work gets started in a couple of days.

1 year 2 months 23 frikkin days quit!



"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
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