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Why ? Why is it hard to stop smoking? Why do you want to smoke another cigarette?

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Why ? Why is it hard to stop smoking? Why do you want to smoke another cigarette?

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 26

Phoenix, firstly I should congratulate you on your moth anniversary - awesome! Personally, I followed Allen Carr's instructions to the letter - smoked the whole way through the book, have not used any NRT (patches, gum etc..) and have basically tried to ride the storms as best as I could without offending too many people in the process!! However! That being said my husband quit 5 years ago (hasn't smoked 1 cig since) and the only way he could do it was using the patches. Now, like you, I believe it is all a mind game - if the patches convinced my husband he could cope then it worked, for me Allen Carr's "Little Monster slowly dying" is working for me - I guess each to his own is what I am trying to say. (I am still int he very early days of my quit, but I have found the last few days so much better than the first week.) Without a doubt, the days I have woken up thinking to myself "Aghh! Today is going to be tough" have been just that - likewise the days when I have consciously said to myself "you know what, I think today is going to be easier than yesterday" have been so much better. As I say, each to his own! Britt [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/15/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 8 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 70 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $9.6 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 18 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 19

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 26

I read the Allen Carr book too - and I thought he actually said that Nicotine is more addictive than heroine? He often refers to "drug addicts" to which we are (were??) I have had to ask meself this question MANY times over the past 9 days, and like you, can come up with no real SANE reason to light up. I think the whole "easy" business is more of Allen Carrs way of positive thinking than anything maybe?

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 537

I don't think there is really an answer to that question. Lack of Discpline or control over oneself. The mind can do weird things. Hey Parola, Everyone's different. I have over two weeks in, and my mind tells me that it's withdrawl. I know it's just habit breaking from here. Hang in there, it'll get better! Ron [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/12/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 16 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 578 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $108 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 23 [B]Seconds:[/B] 51

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

BY THE WAY PHEONEX Congrats on 30 smoke fee days.. Way to Go!! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 15 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 314 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $73.35 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 11 [B]Mins:[/B] 47 [B]Seconds:[/B] 37

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

Denial. Thats why it is so hard to quit. We live in an age where most of us want for nothing and can have it instantly. Microwaved dinners. Drive through banking. We are a people who are use to having and if we can't have a cigrette that is what makes quitting harder. Denial. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 15 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 311 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $73.35 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 11 [B]Mins:[/B] 26 [B]Seconds:[/B] 28

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 506

So true- the mind game of it all. Regarding the book you mentioned and that topic, I am constantly at odds with myself regarding the patch (I'm on the second level now)and the cold-turkey idea. I know, though, that I (like the spouse mentioned earlier) could not have made it through the first week without it. Theoretically, you wean down gradually, more gently. Then there's the other view. I am still using nicotine ,thus prolonging withdrawal versus theoretically cleaning it out in 3 days and getting it over with. There doesn't seem to be much data to significantly support one over the other. Depends what the source is, too. Both make sense. Is it just a mind game? Interesting about the need to reprogram one's whole adult life (in my case). That's unnerving! My adult life was so entangled in cigarettes. (uncomfortable, yet....exciting) Really, it's a major pain in the ass, but I'm glad I'm doing it! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/18/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 33 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,353 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $297 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 1

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 61

CobenFan .. thanks :-) I haven't read much of it yet.. have read the first two chapters and then picked a few out that interested me. I find it similiar to the support found here for the times when I am not on the web, or just want to read and learn about the whole smoking thing without a computer. The "no replacement for cigs" - example sweets, gum etc I find interesting and valid for me - I do not chew gum and as I did on a regular basis during my quit, I did have the feeling my "want" of a cig was being re-enforced. The what do I expect from a cig was also interesting for me... Usually when I "want" a cig.. I imagine myself leaning back in the chair and "relaxing and enjoying" myself and so on and so forth - but when I stop and THINK about it - I see nothing but bad smell, coughing, and dirt. I stopped smoking inside my house a couple of years ago because of my daughter and it has since driven me crazy to get up in the morning and "rush" outside" to smoke my cig!!! I was a heavy, nervous smoker and the smoking outside prevented me from basically getting anything done because I was always outside puffing away... I HATE SMOKING - but to be honest am scared to death that I will start again because I am in the middle of a divorce/Child Custody thing - wife has taken child from me and preventing contact - and am looking for any method, tip, etc I can find to get the smokes out of my head! phoenix [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/24/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 33 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 993 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �247.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 7 [B]Seconds:[/B] 52

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 61

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step!" I made it ... 30 days no smoking :-) any more answers to why we want that cig? Why the head wants it, not why the body wants it. I would really liek to see if we cannot play this out more than we have. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/24/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 31 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 948 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �232.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 50 [B]Seconds:[/B] 43

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 61

I have been smoking for about 25 years... quit back in 2001 until my, now, ex started again secretly after 9 months :-( when I quit a month ago, I used a patch for the first week to ease my way off nicotine and deal w/my head/habit first and then the nic problem afterwards. I have just recently started reading allen carr's book - I guess as a way to work on the head issues some more. What amazes me on this discussion is there have been few answers to WHY we want to light that one cig! All of us have to say no to that one cig - it is a step by step, one minute to the next kind of thing and I am really very curious why we want that one cig - what do we expect from it other than nicotine?

18 years ago 0 +0 / -0 61

sanFern: Denial - ok, I could tell you some things I would like to do to my ex right now, but I don't and I won't. Denial - if you are so hot on killing yourself with these stinky things... that is denial??? butterfly: don't get me wrong, I am NOT belittling anyone - I too struggle, but I am trying to play head games with myself and get you guys involved too. Nicotine is addictive, but you are not going to go bonkers without it and you are certainly not going to fall down because your body NEEDS it - you head does more than your body - hence the head games. THIS IS NOT ABOUT NICOTINE - it is about why is it hard NOT to light up another cig! Brittinus - I agree with you - it is a head game, nothing else ... I am also very fond of the stay away from chewing gum, lollipop stuff - this basically verified in my head that I needed a cig and ket my head thinking about cigs... since I stopped with that stuff, I am doing much better and thinking much less about cigs. Sometimes I notice a wierd feeling of emptiness in my stomach, lungs and mouth and throat - initially I thought it was my missing cigs, until I concentrated on taking a deep breath and I realized - I could breathe!!! That is what it was - I can breathe again! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/24/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 27 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 831 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �202.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 52 [B]Seconds:[/B] 20

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Why ? Why is it hard to stop smoking? Why do you want to smoke another cigarette?