Fags

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I've been smoking since I was seventeen years old, that's (hang on a sec)

...Thirteen years of clogging up my alvioli with blood laced tar and muck.

A few minutes ago, I was half way through writing a post about Tiger Woods and skin cream and my body was crying out for an L&M Menthol, the cigerettes of choice since I've been in Asia - the menthol adding a certain 'freshness' in the humidity.

So with the internet meter still ticking away, I went outside and opened a new pack only to discover I'd left my lighter at home on the bedside table.

The internet cafe woman didn't have a lighter so I had to go to a cafe over the road, a French Cafe where one of the staff went to get a lighter for me and returned with a lighter - still in it's cellophane jacket - and said it was mine for 10bht.

I only had 9 bht in change and wasn't going to break a hundred so I kindly declined the offer and accosted a passing motorbike taxi driver for a 'free' light and in return I gave him one of my fags.* (That's English slang for cigarettes to all you Yanks and Canadians out there who clicked on this topic because you stupidly thought I wanted to be hypnotised so that I could become a homosexual)

Anyway, so I sat on the step outside the net cafe smoking away and then I ran inside to retrieve my can of Sprite to accompany the cigarette because as most of us smokers know, a fag tastes better with food or drink (providing it isn't water) and is also nicer if you're not too hungry.

When I had finished I dropped it in the empty can and then had to look around for a bin before going back to finish my post after at least six or seven wasted minutes.

I could do without all this nonsense and want to give up for many reasons - one of which being that I have recently started pumping iron (well alright, more like pumping tin foil but it's a start) and also there are at least two fag burns on the carpet at home, which I think Ning did but that's beside the point.

To cut a long post short, has anyone ever given up smoking in Thailand, what are the options and is it possible to get hypnotherapy in Thailand??? (Which is my main question.)

Is there also any truth that menthol are any worse than 'normal' fags? I once heard that menthol cigarettes make your spaggle inactive and therefore render the smoker infertile - which isn't a big problem yet as I can't afford for Ning to have the jab anyway.

[andyadam]

Scamp, you know you're gonna take flack on this one from our US friends, giving up FAGS, sounds more like a Harry Palmer post!!!!!

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I don't care, bring it on!

Hey, it got people to look didn't it? I didn't break any rules.

[stroll]

Well written and funny, as usual- Scampy Vol.2, the Hua Hin Diaries.

[Pudgimelon]

when i was a kid, my brother and i conspired to get my parents to quit smoking (nothing is worse than being trapped in the backseat of a car with the windows rolled up while your parents puff away up front, bleh!).

so we bought a few packs of those gag-snaps that you insert into a cigarette. they were easy to find at any novelty or fireworks shop. when someone lights the cigarette, BOOM! the end of the cigarette explodes. it's a great laugh and really gives people a shock.

so what my brother and i did was whenever we found an unattended pack of cigarettes, we'd sneak one of the snaps into ONE of the cigarettes in the pack. that way, my parents never knew which cigarette in their pack was going to explode on them. and so they could never truly relax and have a smoke because there was always the potential of a loud bang interrupting their smoke break.

Shortly after a few embarassing BOOMs while shopping/working, and after a few near traffic accidents, my parents quit smoking. It was just too nerve wracking .

(ps. i really don't know why you English call cigarettes "fags" when you're the ones doing all the puffing and blowing ).

[Narachon]

I've been smoking since I was seventeen years old, that's (hang on a sec)

...Thirteen years of clogging up my alvioli with blood laced tar and muck.

A few minutes ago, I was half way through writing a post about Tiger Woods and skin cream and my body was crying out for an L&M Menthol, the cigerettes of choice since I've been in Asia - the menthol adding a certain 'freshness' in the humidity.

So with the internet meter still ticking away, I went outside and opened a new pack only to discover I'd left my lighter at home on the bedside table.

The internet cafe woman didn't have a lighter so I had to go to a cafe over the road, a French Cafe where one of the staff went to get a lighter for me and returned with a lighter - still in it's cellophane jacket - and said it was mine for 10bht.

I only had 9 bht in change and wasn't going to break a hundred so I kindly declined the offer and accosted a passing motorbike taxi driver for a 'free' light and in return I gave him one of my fags.* (That's English slang for cigarettes to all you Yanks and Canadians out there who clicked on this topic because you stupidly thought I wanted to be hypnotised so that I could become a homosexual)

Anyway, so I sat on the step outside the net cafe smoking away and then I ran inside to retrieve my can of Sprite to accompany the cigarette because as most of us smokers know, a fag tastes better with food or drink (providing it isn't water) and is also nicer if you're not too hungry.

When I had finished I dropped it in the empty can and then had to look around for a bin before going back to finish my post after at least six or seven wasted minutes.

I could do without all this nonsense and want to give up for many reasons - one of which being that I have recently started pumping iron (well alright, more like pumping tin foil but it's a start) and also there are at least two fag burns on the carpet at home, which I think Ning did but that's beside the point.

To cut a long post short, has anyone ever given up smoking in Thailand, what are the options and is it possible to get hypnotherapy in Thailand: which is my main question.

Is there also any truth that menthol are any worse than 'normal' fags? I once heard that menthol cigarettes make your spaggle inactive and therefore render the smoker infertile - which isn't a big problem yet as I can't afford for Ning to have the jab anyway.

Uhmmm...Scampy,I hate to say it, but yes, the title of your thread has a completely different meaning here in America.....

(...Fag burns on your carpet back at your home.....hehehhe... )

Anyway, I hope you can quite the habit, the sooner the better!

[Narachon]

I've been smbecause as most of us smokers know, a fag tastes better with food or drink (providing it isn't water) and is also nicer if you're not too hungry.

Err....Uhmm..I'll take your word for it scampy!

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I was editing but I've gone and messed it up - Ignore this post and i'll try again.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Anyway, I hope you can quite the habit, the sooner the better! 

Is anyone going to answer my question then, or are you too busy giggling at the 'F' word still to get your minds into gear?

Narachon my dear fellow, delete that 'e' of 'quit', - 'quite the habit' sounds a bit gay.

[Narachon]

Is anyone going to answer my question then, or are you to busy giggling at the 'F' word still to get your minds into gear?

Narachon my dear fellow, delete that 'e' of 'quit',  - 'quite the habit' sounds a bit gay. 

Sorry, I was too busy giggling at the "F" word to type "Straight"

[BlueTa]

Is anyone going to answer my question then,

Hypnotherapy, acupuncture, nicotine patches,... Nothing works for long.

Only willpower does and motivation. Like for everything else...

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Is anyone going to answer my question then, or are you to busy giggling at the 'F' word still to get your minds into gear?

Narachon my dear fellow, delete that 'e' of 'quit',  - 'quite the habit' sounds a bit gay. 

Sorry, I was too busy giggling at the "F" word to type "Straight"

I've gone and done it now.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Is anyone going to answer my question then,

Hypnotherapy, acupuncture, nicotine patches,... Nothing works for long.

Only willpower does and motivation. Like for everything else...

Hypnotherapy does work. Paul McKenna said so on the telly, besides, I met a bloke in Hua Hin last week who said it was expensive but it worked for him, he had it done in Italy, so there.

[stroll]

Gone and done what?

-don't make them misunderstand you again...

For stopping 'fags': impose a ban in your bedroom and make an example for sticking to it yourself. That'd be a start.

[Tornado]

never had a fag, never want one, it is a disgusting habit and you can die from it.

give up the fags cold turkey.

[BlueTa]

Hypnotherapy does work.

Did you know that after you have been hypnothized once, it is getting easier and easier to get hypnothized again.

So I'm pretty sure it will work on you and quite a few other farang men who came to Thailand and never left...

[stroll]

never had a fag, never want one, it is a disgusting habit and you can die from it.

We know you are straight, Tornado.

[Tornado]

never had a fag, never want one, it is a disgusting habit and you can die from it.

We know you are straight, Tornado.

yes, but what has that got to do with smokes?

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Where can I get hypniotized then?

(In Thailand I mean.)

Stroll in real life looks a bit like a hypnotheripist, I can imagine him in a white coat, hypnotizing me and offering me a glass of Leo with ice in it.

[andyadam]

Hypnotherapy does work. Paul McKenna said so on the telly, besides, I met a bloke in Hua Hin last week who said it was expensive but it worked for him, he had it done in Italy, so there.

Hypnosis is only effective if you want to give up, it cannot make you do anything that goes against you character, (ie. jump off a skyscraper.) If you use hypnosis to HELP you it should work, it didn't work for me because I like smoking and was only trying to give up because of the nagging wife!!!!!

[kat]

Scamp, it's funny you should bring this up, because I am in my 3rd week of giving up cigarettes for good. I never really smoked a lot, only socially when I drank, which was maybe a few days a month or a couple of weekends.

But when I went to Malaysia last month, I was partying a lot, and smoked more. I've never been so sick in my life! When I stopped 3 weeks ago, there was a very heavy rock-like feeling in my chest. That rock has been "stuff" that has been coming up since and I haven't been able to shake a cough. But I am getting better. The fags out here are much stronger and lethal, I think.

When you stop, you have to be prepared to feel absoultely miserable for about 2-3 weeks. The shakes, headaches, a disgusting toxic feeling along your throat and insides, and the smell that starts escaping your pores. You then realize what a disgusting habit it is once it starts coming out of you. But no worries, in about 1 month to 6 weeks, you will look like a brand new person. Your eyes will become clear and bright, your skin will look better, you'll have more energy, and feel better.

When I am de-toxing from cigarettes, I gargle with honey vinegar, eat tons of vegetables and fruits, especially carrots and dark yellow or red fruits and vegetables, drink green tea and massive amounts of water, and slow way down on the caffeine.

And then I swear I'll never smoke again, not even socially, and this time I mean it.

[BlueTa]

Hypnotherapy does work. Paul McKenna said so on the telly, besides, I met a bloke in Hua Hin last week who said it was expensive but it worked for him, he had it done in Italy, so there.

Hypnosis is only effective if you want to give up, it cannot make you do anything that goes against you character, (ie. jump off a skyscraper.) If you use hypnosis to HELP you it should work, it didn't work for me because I like smoking and was only trying to give up because of the nagging wife!!!!!

To come back to my original posting. Do you really want to stop smoking?

I do not think so and I'm afraid any "alternative" therapy will be a waste of money.

By the way, what has weight training to do with smoking?

[Jockstar]

I posted a somilar thread in the health forum but got no replies. I didn't write the word FAG. Maybe thats why. But would also love to give up. So if anyone can answer the question regarding hypnosis- Please Do!

[stroll]

Where can I get hypniotized then?

(In Thailand I mean.)

Stroll in real life looks a bit like a hypnotheripist, I can imagine him in a white coat, hypnotizing me and offering me a glass of Leo with ice in it.

I had the nickname 'mad professor' at art school.

I'd say Blue Ta gave a spot on answer to your question. As a therapist (and I did complete a training for psychotherapy) I'd say if smoking habit disturbs you, looking at the underlying issues, starting with your 'addictive nature' you mentioned before, and take it further, seeing a therapist 2-3 times a week.

This would involve spending serious money and wouldn't really be about smoking as such.

Fancy a Leo with ice?

We can discuss my fees later.

[Coffee Dude]

Is anyone going to answer my question then, or are you too busy giggling at the 'F' word still to get your minds into gear?

M keow is my weapon of choice too. I have smoked menthols for a long long time. There is some truth to the need for nicotine story but smoking is a habit. A very difficult habit to break but all the same a habit. When you smoke menthol you crave the act of smoking as well as the menthol. Smoking is a lifestyle choice and is difficult to stop regardless of which kind of fag you prefer to duut.

Coffee!!!

[NedKelly]

Mate you're a fag if you cant quit em !!

[jackr]

Guy I used to work with was a right miserable bugger and smoked all day. He tried everything to quit but couldn't, and then when someone mensioned acupuncture he just laughed at them. Anyway, he decided to give the acupuncture a go in the end and low and behold, totally cured.

Unfortunately, he got hit by a truck a week later! Only joking, hasn't had a fag to this day; but still a miserable <deleted>, though.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Guy I used to work with was a right miserable bugger and smoked all day. He tried everything to quit but couldn't, and then when someone mensioned acupuncture he just laughed at them. Anyway, he decided to give the acupuncture a go in the end and low and behold, totally cured.

Unfortunately, he got hit by a truck a week later! Only joking, hasn't had a fag to this day; but still a miserable <deleted>, though.

Ok, so can I get acupuncture in Thailand?

Is it expensive?

Is there a cheap alternative, acuinnertube for example? That was awful wasn't it, how bad was that for a joke?

No but seriously, I would try it if it was available in this here Thailand.

[Gazza]

GS, the only time that I've managed to quit ciggies was for a total of 10 months, and, I wasn't even really trying to give them up either.

What happened was, about 16 years ago I went back to England and my Ol' Girl gave me a carton of duty frees. They were Peter Stuyvesants, even though I've always smoked menthols since about 20 years ago. I thought no problem, I'll smoke the Stuyvesants and it'll save me a fair bit of money from not having to buy my usual Consulate menthols for a while.

Now, I can smoke most normal ciggies without too much bother; Superkings, JP Black, Embassy etc., but the Stuyvesants were so FOUL tasting compared to my menthols that I eventually went longer and longer between smoking a Stuyvie that I eventually weaned myself off them and, ciggies altogether. They were so horrible that I would only smoke when the craving got really bad and as I was smoking less, my taste buds seemed to come back to life and I could taste food much better, which resulted in me eating and drinking (coffee and tea) a lot more.

Now, eating and drinking more wasn't really what I would call a 'bad side effect' to quitting ciggies, mainly 'cos I wasn't overweight to begin with, but it was actually beneficial in helping me to quit smoking. Because by eating and drinking more I was still retaining the ciggie hand-to-mouth movement, just substituting the ciggie for food or drink. So, the times when I would normally be reaching for a ciggie, I would find myself raiding the kitchen cupboards.

I think it only took me about 10 Stuyvies to come off the habit and the remaining nine packs that I was left with, I gave to my father-in-law when I came back to Thailand. He'll smoke anything but even he found them so unpleasant that he would break off the charcoal filter before smoking them.

I can't recall the exact length of time it took me to stop but I think it was only about 4 or 5 days.

Quitting, I would say is the easy part. Staying 'quitted' is harder still. You'll always find justification for starting-up again with knowing that "I've quit once before, so I can do it again anytime".

So, try buying a brand that you find utterly detestable to smoke and see if that works.

Now, if I can just wean myself off food for the rest of my life I reckon I'll save a fair bit of money.

Gazza

[RamdomChances]

A cheap alternative to acupuncture would be to get Ning to stick a pin in you every time you light up