Three Years Smoke Free

[Samui Bodoh]

Yes, as per the title, today marks the day that I am three years smoke-free. I know, I know, reformed smokers are the worst (blah, blah, blah), and usually I agree with that sentiment, but not today. Today I am proud as hell of myself and I don't care who knows it; if anyone is on Koh Samui and sees a foreigner with a mile-wide, beaming grin of pride on his face, that would be me.

 

Okay, enough of that.

 

The reason that I am writing is to encourage smokers to think about quitting, and the reason that I am posting here is that the Stop Smoking Forum helped me get through it all. You/everyone knows the medical reasons to quit, so I won't bother; I will simply say that quitting is a great thing, you'll be happy you did it, and your life will be better. Much better. Period.

 

What's my story?

 

I was a smoker for around 35 years; I got hooked as a teenager who didn't know any better and kept doing it even as my contemporaries and friends quit around me. Yes, I knew it was bad for me (eventually), yes, I always said that I could and should quit, and yes, I was deluding myself. 

 

The simple truth is that I was an addict. I denied it, I denied it, I denied it, but... Self-delusion is a powerful thing.

 

What changed? What made me make the decision to quit? It was a combination of many things. 

 

I always knew I needed to stop, but one day I asked myself "if you aren't going to quit now, then when will you quit?" That started me thinking; age 55? Age 60? Age 65? Do you want to be one of those old crumbly guys shuffling through their day wedded to an oxygen tank? Do you want to end your days in a hospital bed, gasping for breath and coughing up vile, discoloured sputum? That was a... unsettling thought.

 

I did a border-bounce a few years back and there was a guy on my bus who had had a tracheotomy and wore a little cover at the base of his throat. I assumed that he was an ex-smoker, but when the bus stopped for a rest, he lit one up and I knew for sure that he wasn't. I looked at the guy and thought to myself "EUUGH!!! YUCK!!! I don't want to be like that!". The truly worst part of that experience was that at one point our eyes met and he could see what my thoughts were; the look of embarrassment on his face was... just awful. Sad as it was, I still smoked for a few years after that.

 

I took up cycling years ago, ironically because I was worried about my health as I was a smoker. I got into the habit of going all out for the last 2-3 kilometres of my morning ride to elevate my heartbeat and provide for an extra dose of endorphins. Upon arrival at my house, I used to feel 'Lung Burn' (think a bad case of heart burn and raise it 6 inches to your chest) and it was awful; it felt like my lungs were scraping the inside of my rib cage. Yes, it was as unpleasant as it sounds, but it went away about three months after I quit smoking.

 

Money. I live a happy, frugal life out of habit (He's cheap as hell! Ed.) and one day started really looking at how much money I was spending on cigarettes and what I got for it. The answer was a great deal of money and Sweet <deleted> All. Three years of not smoking saved me approximately 190,000 Baht. 190,000 Baht. I would have spent 190,000 Baht to quell my addiction and get absolutely nothing in return. What a <deleted> waste!

 

There were other reasons, many of them, but that is enough for now.

 

How did I do it?

 

The first thing you have to do is make the decision to quit. Yes, I can hear you thinking "Doh!" and "No <deleted>, Sherlock!" and "That's insightful, Idiot!", but it is the key to everything. If you take the decision very seriously, then you can quit. If you make a half-assed decision, then you will certainly fail.

 

Next, pick a time. I always thought that something like this should occur on a Monday morning, so that was it for me. Coincidentally, my Monday was also the day that taxes were going up on cigarettes, so it was a double-good day.

 

On the Sunday night just before you go to sleep, destroy all the cigarettes in your house (literally; break them and toss them in the garbage), wash and hide all ashtrays, and toss out matches and lighters. Further, make sure you have the proper money/bills (see next point). Finally, place a clear jar on your kitchen table, or somewhere you'll see it, and every morning place the exact amount of money that you would have spent on cigarettes into the jar (when I quit, I was smoking 2 packs a day at 174 Baht. I would put in one 100 Baht note, one 50 Baht note, one 20 Baht note and four one Baht coins). The first day this won't help much, but after 4-5 days, it was a great, great visual aid!

 

The first week is... unpleasant; there is no getting around that. Every time you want a cigarette, distract yourself and/or power through. Smash your head against the wall, run around your house, juggle, bark at the Soi dogs, whatever. Just distract yourself until the urge passes. And, it does pass.

 

The first 2-3 weeks are when you have a physical reaction to it, and you just have to power through. Some people take drugs to help; I have never seen the logic in that, but if that is what you need, then go for it. Some people switch to vaping; again, I don't see the logic, but if it is a step on the way to actually quitting, then go for it.

 

The psychological aspects of the addiction are different for everyone. I got over most of it in about two months or so, but to this day I get an occasional 'urge' to have a smoke. Some people breeze through, some go through hell; I hope you are the former but you don't know until you go through it.

 

That's it. It is not easy, but it can be done if (repeat 'IF') you are serious.

 

The rest of the battle is staying away from the vile things; they say that about half of people who quit start again, so you have to be vigilant. In my case, I am adamant that I am not going to start again, and ever watchful that I do not become over-confident. I have thought to myself that I could probably handle an occasional smoke, but then realized the insidiousness of the addiction and punched myself in the face. I have thought about an occasional cigar, but then realized where it was leading and kicked myself in the nuts. You have to be forever vigilant.

 

So, there it is.

 

I feel better, I have more energy, my cycling is better, my sex life is better, my skin is better, my breathing is better, my overall health is better, my attitude on life is better, my general moods are more positive and the best thing is: I control my own life, I am not an addict anymore.

 

There isn't much else to say. If you are a smoker and you have read this far, then you are thinking about it. I know this because I was just like you. You are also thinking that you can't do it; again, I know this as I was just like you, but you are mistaken. I was able to stop, and if I was able to stop, then so can you. It is that simple. 

 

The only sure-fire, 100% guaranteed way to fail is not to try. 

 

So, try.

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

[PatOngo]

Good on you SB. Well done! I've now been smoke free now for 9 months also. Was nowhere near as hard as I thought giving up, being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer certainly helped my decision, am feeling as good as ever. I have no desire to ever smoke again. 

[bodga]

Like  many things  in life  PEER  PRESSURE  is  the main cause, I resisted  all  peer  pressure for alcohol and tobacco and ended  up  not being  in with the "in" crowd as a  youngster.

[worgeordie]

You must be feeling a lot healthier now,good on you,I never

started,could not be bothered to carry cigarettes ,lighter around

with me,and my father promised me,£1000 if I did not smoke

till I reached 21, which was an incentive,so when I reach 21,

he did not give me the 1000 quid, but said you will have saved

that much by not smoking.

regards Worgeordie

[Lacessit]

Congratulations, OP. I gave up smoking in 1983, using isolation on a remote outback property. I would have had to drive 100 km to buy more cigarettes once my supply was exhausted.

You may not be aware you are in the phase where your lung function is improving the longer you abstain. My lung capacity when I gave up smoking was 3.5 litres. After 5 years, I had got it back to 6.

Also, after ten years, your risk of lung cancer falls back to that of a non-smoker. Smokers are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers.

In these days of coronavirus, reduced lung capacity is not a good thing to have.

Keep up the good work.

[sungod]

14 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

You must be feeling a lot healthier now,good on you,I never

started,could not be bothered to carry cigarettes ,lighter around

with me,and my father promised me,£1000 if I did not smoke

till I reached 21, which was an incentive,so when I reach 21,

he did not give me the 1000 quid, but said you will have saved

that much by not smoking.

regards Worgeordie

Brilliant, love your old man ????

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

You/everyone knows the medical reasons to quit, so I won't bother;

Nice write up.

 

I am into my 2nd decade of not smoking, have seen a few friends pass, and a family member pass from smoking.

 

Having smoked for around 25 solid years, pack a day, it wasn't till 7 years after that I had a heart attack at age 47, so you can imagine the narrowing of the arteries from the cigarettes smoked over the years.

 

I ate healthy and exercised when I stopped, that said, we don't see the damage we do to our internals by the cigarette smoke we inhale.

 

Glad I stopped, glad I made it through my heart attack and am glad I care enough for myself to want to keep breathing to live another day, week, month, year, decade/s without another cigarette in my life.

 

Keep it up, you have broken the addiction, now just keep living a healthy life to get the maximum out of it. 

[Poet]

31 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

we don't see the damage we do to our internals by the cigarette smoke we inhale.

The same goes for anyone living living in Chiang Mai or elsewhere in the north of Thailand during the first half of the year.

[stouricks]

Stopped my 60 a day habit on 10th October 1972, when I was 25. Not smoked tobacco since!

[Surelynot]

For some reason I don't find it addictive.....I can smoke for a couple of months then kind of forget to?......might not smoke for a couple of years then take it up again for a couple of weeks or a month or two then jack it in again.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, Poet said:

The same goes for anyone living living in Chiang Mai or elsewhere in the north of Thailand during the first half of the year.

I run a couple of 3000 baht air purifiers in my apartment non-stop. Worst was 45 PMI when the outside air was 500. Can't do much about going shopping, a PM 2.5 mask is about all I can do.

[Poet]

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

a PM 2.5 mask is about all I can do.

Yup, it's a desperate situation.

Don't forget that the highest exposure on the bad days is when you are in an air-conditioned car.

 

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, Poet said:

Yup, it's a desperate situation.

Don't forget that the highest exposure on the bad days is when you are in an air-conditioned car.

 

I take comfort from the fact the bigwigs that come up from Bangkok, for the sake of appearing as if they are doing something, travel in convoys that way.

[Samui Bodoh]

4 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Good on you SB. Well done! I've now been smoke free now for 9 months also. Was nowhere near as hard as I thought giving up, being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer certainly helped my decision, am feeling as good as ever. I have no desire to ever smoke again. 

@PatOngo I wish I knew what to say. One of my oldest friends is just beginning Chemo for stage 4 lung cancer, and her prognosis isn't good. I sit down in front of my computer to write, but not much gets typed.

 

I wish you all the happiness that you can find; it isn't much, but it is the best that I can do.

 

Actually, I do know what to say; Cigarettes are <deleted> evil!

 

@worgeordie I think I would like your Dad, and he gave you much, much more than a thousand quid's worth of education.

 

@Lacessit Thanks for the info re: lung capacity. As I noted above, I cycle every morning and can feel the difference. I would have guessed that I had doubled my oxygen intake since I quit, and it is good to hear general confirmation.

 

PS. Sadly, back in the day, I would have driven that 100 KMs to get smokes.

 

As I said, cigarettes are <deleted> evil.

 

@sungod: +1

 

@4MyEgo: +1

 

@stouricks Thanks for your comment. Your specific wording that you haven't smoked tobacco since 10th October 1972 is... er... ahem... thought-provoking. Perhaps some other stuff went up in smoke? 

 

Thanks for the comments. Off to the beach to enjoy that clean ocean air!

 

Have a good day all

 

 

 

[wombat]

repeat after me.....i am a non smoker.

[newatthis]

On 9/17/2020 at 8:29 AM, Samui Bodoh said:

The rest of the battle is staying away from the vile things; they say that about half of people who quit start again, so you have to be vigilant. In my case, I am adamant that I am not going to start again, and ever watchful that I do not become over-confident. I have thought to myself that I could probably handle an occasional smoke, but then realized the insidiousness of the addiction and punched myself in the face. I have thought about an occasional cigar, but then realized where it was leading and kicked myself in the nuts. You have to be forever vigilant.

NO!

 

2 hours ago, wombat said:

repeat after me.....i am a non smoker.

YES! YES! YES!

This is the truth. You are a non-smoker now, full-stop!! Non-smokers don't think about smoking.

"ever watchful that I do not become over-confident." Why? Because you're thinking about it. "have to be vigilant." You're still obsessed over it. You just spent 1300+ words to talk about something you did 3 years ago.

No more! It is finished. Over with! Kaput!

[from the home of CC]

After smoking 20 years I was addicted to nicotine replacement for 10yrs lol, patches, gum etc. Although it was better than smoking I still resented the compulsion. Finally packed it all in a few years back but there's hardly a day that passes that I don't get a craving (gone in 5 min. thankfully). No wonder the governments loved it as revenue generator, maybe the most addictive substance on earth.. 

[OneeyedJohn]

I stopped 3 years ago after a lifetime of smoking.

 

Best thing I have ever done.

 

The writing was on the wall for me when I went back to the UK about 5 years ago and firstly realised I couldn't smoke during the flight - 14 hours, or during the coach trip to Cardiff 3 - 4 hours or when I reached my hotel, or when I went to the pub, but had to go outside. 

And when I saw the price of a pack at £7 + ( I had my duty frees ), but it still had an impact.

 

Running around Swampy to get to the smoking room and having to go through all the checks again , shoes belt pockets etc etc, it was crazy. And then a slight problem with my breathing and I stopped.

 

 

[Bender Rodriguez]

you need a medal or something ?

 

for years you have blown your disgusting smoke around people who never asked for it

 

is this something like morbid obese people finally see the light and lose weight, which before they always had excuses, blabla,  and now have a normal weight and everybody have to congratulate them ?

[Slain]

Some great tips here to help stop so I thought I would add mine..

 

Make a pact with a close friend to both stop together

 

Think of a different reason every day why you want to stop. There are hundreds when you start to think. Also this is a way to really reinforce your reasons for stopping.

 

Really want to stop.

 

Think what it costs per year to smoke let alone a lifetime.

 

OK so the tax man benefits from smokers but why should we help them .

 

If you do stop for a year or so then start again (i did) people say it will be harder to stop. I found that as I stopped for a year I also knew I could stop again, and this seemed to help me stop permanently .

 

 

[allanos]

I, too, have my father to thank for my being a life-long (now aged 75) non-smoker.  My father had a horrendous smoker's cough.  As an impressionable child, I didn't want to end up like he did, with the same awful cough. So I never took the habit up, despite peer pressure from my pals. Smoking also appears to have hastened my father's end, as he died from a chest-infection not eighteen months into retirement!

 

I would remind TVF members that, among such harmful activities as the burning season in the north-west, even something seemingly as harmless as a Barbie (to Australians) or making braaivleis (to South Africans) deposits a huge amount of harmful charcoal inside us, and the effects are no different to smoking.  Just sayin' . . .

[DaLa]

On 9/17/2020 at 11:00 AM, Surelynot said:

For some reason I don't find it addictive.....I can smoke for a couple of months then kind of forget to?......might not smoke for a couple of years then take it up again for a couple of weeks or a month or two then jack it in again.

Same here. Started when I was 7 and would smoke for a few months then stop. I would buy 200 cigs to take on holiday, then stop until the next year, finally giving up at 31 years of age.......until I came here and started again at 60!  But again I can smoke 2 or 3 and then none for a week. And if I return to the Uk, none for 6weeks.

 

It would be an interesting and useful piece of research for the organisations that help people to stop, to analyse why it's so addictive for some and not others.

 

Now.....beers another thing!

[samsensam]

On 9/17/2020 at 3:00 AM, bodga said:

Like  many things  in life  PEER  PRESSURE  is  the main cause, I resisted  all  peer  pressure for alcohol and tobacco and ended  up  not being  in with the "in" crowd as a  youngster.

 

i agree, i gave up in my mid 20s, it was a no brainer my health was suffering and i wanted to start playing rugby again and generally be fit and healthy. so i simply decided to stop and that was it; it wasn't easy but it wasn't that hard either. one thing i did was i didnt tell my smoker friends i had quit for the first week, i told them i had a sore throat so wasn't smoking. after that their attempts to get me to start again all failed. i haven't smoked a cigarette since the day i to stopped. if i can do it anyone can.

[brian stoner]

Congrats!!  I'm going to add my own, shorter story of how I quit, but yours caught my eye, and I just wanted to say more power to ya!  It gives me more to shoot for!

[Slorfax]

Congratulations on making it three years. I'm just a couple weeks into quitting and it's definitely been rough. I have noticed that the cravings have started to subside a little bit and it feels like it gets easier with time. Just have to stay on top of it. Posts like this definitely help motivate those of us in the early stages.