Tuesday 10 February 2009

Giving up smoking......

Having read UKgatsby that he has given up smoking I thought I would log my experiences in trying to do this. I have currently not had a fag for 4 weeks and atm it is going easily as I paid the Dr the prescription charge and he is giving me a weekly pack of patches for 8 weeks. Have been for the odd pint which has been the hardest bit but other than that with the snow the past week or so I have had a laugh at the others who have been dithering in the shed at work.

I do hope this works but having given up for 18 months a few years ago only to start again during the last World Cup I know that I can't afford to have even 1 more smoke or I'll be off again and when you hit the big 40 whether you mean to or not you do think what you can do to maximise your time on the mortal coil.

When I gave up for the 18 months I went with a mate to a hypnotherapist and even though he did not put me under, for the reasons given below, the images he described were very graphic so I gave up anyway.
When we went to the hypnotherapist I went in first and he started talking about the known health hazards of smoking and then the impact that it has on your nearest and dearest. Tbh it shit me up to think about the potential outcomes. He then said he was going to relax every muscle in my body while he transferred these thoughts into my mind. The only problem was I was dying for a piss and thought to myself "If I relax every muscle in my body it's going to get a bit messy!!" He had already started so I closed my eyes as he had asked and just waited for it to end. He knew I had not been under as my eyeballs were moving around under my eyelids as I was thinking about different stuff. Didn't matter though as the images were enough to put me off. Before my mate went in I had considered trying to bribe the hypnotherapist to get my mate to have a wank every time he wanted a fag. (My mate had said he liked a fag at work and over a pint). I figured it would never happen but funnily enough my mate had called him before the appointment to try and bribe him into making me quack like a duck if I thought about a fag. Would have been the maddest conversation ever the following weekend if we had both bribed him and were trying to work out why our careers were up the Swanee and why my mate was having to sign a register each week.

Oh well that's it. Bugger all happening poker wise and back on nights tonight so will probably just play a 2 quidder MTT as I can work at the same time.

Joke -

One day a long time ago in a land far far away lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch. But it was just one day and a fucking long time ago.

9 comments:

James P McAteer said...

lol lol. Good luck with the smokes.

I was a psychiatric nurse for ten years and did a stint in medical / surgical wards. Spend a few weeks in these wards and you will GIVE up. Full of old codgers on oxygen, gasping for breath, blackened toes, multiple bypass operations, bladder cancer, lung cancer, throat cancer, lower limb amputations. Even had a youngish guy die with gangrene ffs. also sent a fair few off to surgery and they didn't come back. land of the living dead - horrific. This is scotland mind you and we like a puff with our bottle of whiskey - apparently the booze helps the tar and stuff to bind to the throat for maximum effect.

put me off fags for life - that and my dad threatening to break my legs if I ever touched a fag. I became a bit of a health nut because of that experience.

Hope that helps...

Gavin said...

Yep .. That sort of cements it and is similar to the visions I was given along with the family having to watch the demise.
Cheers bud and I'll try to think of something cheerie for your next blog comment :)

Wildcat said...

Best of luck giving them up, you will feel so much better (says the person who has never had a single one in his life!)

Small Stakes Poker said...

Cheers mate for the mention
Tried my first cig in 1980 (aged 10). Odd box of 10 by time i was aged 12/13.
20 a day by 18
so regularly for about 25 years

No cutting down, no patches
Just bang, Cold turkey for New Year. 1st month was terrible, this one whilst better is still weird.
At least 5 or 6 times a day whilst playing poker i reach down with left hand where cigs used to be.

Dunno if i will stick at it but going to try :)

Gavin said...

Cheers Paul,
I have smoked since I had a paper round at 13 so more on than off for over 25 years.
As I posted mate the big 40 affected me psychologically though I would never have thought it would, just thinking how long you have left and what you want to do with the time left. Have already put a plan in place which I will have to blog about at some point to see whether I manage to stick to it.
gl m8

Rosie said...

I gave up in July after maybe 14 years. The longest I have managed to give up previous to this outside of pregancy is 6 months. I know how what its like

But I'm fine now , even went on a three day binge to Amsterdam recently where I smoked pretty full on and have, I think, left it there behind me.
Don't have much advice for you really except to wish you best of luck and to say the harder you think it is, the harder it is. You can do it.

Anonymous said...

I've been smoke free for 7 months now and like you I've done 18 months before but started again.

LMAO at thinking of bribing ht e hypnotherapist to make him wank when he wants a fag! Genius!

Gavin said...

Thanks for the comments Pud and Rosie and Wildcat b4 that.
Will keep updating future posts with how its going..

Mark said...

Hehe, looks like a who-is-who of smoke free bloggers here!

Just passed 1 year smoke-free after 21 years as a 40-a-day man... feels great and well worth the effort.

I used the 'having a row' method along with the better half rather than patches... worked.

Smoking is just sooo last century.Cheers and keep it up!

Mark