Always thought Thailand was the worst place to quit...

[kimbathewhitelion]

...everyone smokes! Brought patches from the States (and as a note to US Travelers), but with the humidity they fall right off. Like a Ralph Bakshi film back in the 70s, what is now will always be tomorrow. The 14 mg patches bought in large shopping center pharmacies work but don't kill the NEED. Had to go to the large tourist shopping centers & get the 21 mg versions, takes 20 min & def-con 4 will drop to def-con 1 in the matter of minutes.

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[gerry123]

try the e cig works great for me

[kimbathewhitelion]

Have an e-cig & enough juice to last at least a year. Going to give it all to a friend who wants to continue the part time smoker theme. The e-cigs are another branch or better put, sponsored by cigarette companies. They're a trend item not to help you quit but keep you interested. The 21 mg patch almost 2 weeks later is working & my wife for support. Grinding my teeth, chewing gum, eating lots of chocolate, also helps.

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[h90]

It is not up to the country....If you want to stop, just do it. 7-14 days and you are rid of your addiction (which doesn't mean you are complete done, but it is getting easy after 2 weeks).

If you use other ways to get nicotine you'll never stop the addiction...

[kimbathewhitelion]

It's not that easy, takes months not weeks. In today's world the amount of nicotine & then the chemicals put in the paper, the filter, mixed with the tobacco is there for the simple reason of addiction. You won't be just quitting the act of smoking even after the nicotine clears from your body, you have to adjust to how all the chemicals have altered your brain chemistry. Cigarettes today are very similar to an heroin addiction. You can quit, but it will take awhile with much willpower & you will always be tempted for the rest of your life...to the least, somewhere in the back of your mind.

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[AhFarangJa]

I quit 20 years ago, just too hot, could not breathe. I must admit I surprised myself how easy I managed it. But just wanted to write and say stick with it, there does come a time when you will never want one again....the people that hate ciggies the most are ex smokers...I sincerely wish you all the best in your endeavour

[kimbathewhitelion]

Thanks, 16 days now. Still wearing the patch & have too other as my wife will say, "I do not like when you so serious".

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[h90]

It's not that easy, takes months not weeks. In today's world the amount of nicotine & then the chemicals put in the paper, the filter, mixed with the tobacco is there for the simple reason of addiction. You won't be just quitting the act of smoking even after the nicotine clears from your body, you have to adjust to how all the chemicals have altered your brain chemistry. Cigarettes today are very similar to an heroin addiction. You can quit, but it will take awhile with much willpower & you will always be tempted for the rest of your life...to the least, somewhere in the back of your mind.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I stopped smoking at least 5 times....as always after month I thought I can smoke sometimes a little bit, which did not work and I was back on my 2-3 pack per day.

It does take month till you are total finished with it, but only the first 10-14 days were really hard, than it is relative easy and needs just a little will power.

If you pass this 14 days you have won....with nicotine replacement you just make the pain lasting longer.....

[kimbathewhitelion]

It's not that easy, takes months not weeks. In today's world the amount of nicotine & then the chemicals put in the paper, the filter, mixed with the tobacco is there for the simple reason of addiction. You won't be just quitting the act of smoking even after the nicotine clears from your body, you have to adjust to how all the chemicals have altered your brain chemistry. Cigarettes today are very similar to an heroin addiction. You can quit, but it will take awhile with much willpower & you will always be tempted for the rest of your life...to the least, somewhere in the back of your mind.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I stopped smoking at least 5 times....as always after month I thought I can smoke sometimes a little bit, which did not work and I was back on my 2-3 pack per day.

It does take month till you are total finished with it, but only the first 10-14 days were really hard, than it is relative easy and needs just a little will power.

If you pass this 14 days you have won....with nicotine replacement you just make the pain lasting longer.....

The patches are necessary as to deter my irritability. Once I return to the States next month for the short period I'll be there, I can stop the patch & return to Thailand dependent free. Will be in California & there are now so many places which prohibit smoking. Much easier to just stop everything if you either don't see or smell it. Will have to avoid Hollywood or anywhere off Sunset of course, the stink is burned into pavement.

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[mamypoko]

Champix/Chantix - quit magically...effortlessly.

[msealey]

typical PATHETIC smoker, you'll never quit you'll always be a LOSER, just looking for excuses to start again from day ONE, no wonder your family most likely HATE you, you's can't even get a grip of ya own mind without inhaling TOXIC chemicals good luck

[ggt]

I love your tenacity...you are on the right track...smoking will eventually kill you...slowly...and do harm to those who have to breathe in the second hand smoke...damage can be somewhat reversed...but one may experience a degree of breathing problems for years after...good luck...

Edited April 18, 2014 by ggt

[Andre0720]

(Reuters Health) - Addicted to smoking and unable to quit? Your genes may be partly to blame, according to a trio of studies published Sunday in Nature Genetics that link several gene variants to a range of smoking habits, as well as increased risk for lung cancer.

Collectively, the researchers on the studies analyzed the DNA profiles of more than 140,000 people -- smokers and nonsmokers. They also studied whether genetic variants affect whether people start smoking, how much they smoke and whether they are able to quit.

In one study, researchers found that a single-letter change in the DNA code of chromosome 11 was strongly associated with taking up smoking and another on chromosome 9 was associated with quitting smoking. (Humans have 23 pair of chromosomes).

true

"This lends support to the idea that smoking is not just a question of will power alone, but that genetics plays a role in how much a person smokes and their ability to quit smoking," Dr. Helena Furberg from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who was involved in the research, noted in an email to Reuters Health.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/26/us-genes-smoking-risk-idUSTRE63P3NO20100426

[MikeOwen]

Thanks, 16 days now. Still wearing the patch & have too other as my wife will say, "I do not like when you so serious".

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Stick at it , It's one of the best things you'll ever do !

[EASYDOGG]

I quit without patches, e-cigarettes or anything. Willpower is all you need.

[Jukka]

Champix/Chantix - quit magically...effortlessly.

Champix Now it's been a year without smoking. Expensive nearly 500€ for the pills back home in FInland, but at least for me it worked.

[maybefitz]

I smoked for 47 years; and here in Thailand, a heavy pipe smoker (cheap mix of Thai tobacco with vanilla). I had the hard warning from a Dr when my blood pressure went on the blink, and a case of bronchitis. OK, I'll stop when the tobacco runs out, and I won't purchase and mix anymore. A declaration of intent, did it - over 2 years ago now. Still have to watch my BP - but I can exercise without being breathless now. The big noticeable gain for me, was my ability to taste things again. I must say, CM's infamous air quality doesn't worry me at all. I quote that I've put so much crap into my lungs over the years, Chiang Mai air is nothing.

[lumply]

I quit about 25 years ago after I picked up a lung infection whilst on a business trip to Turkey. It frightened me big time. Also I was having to have an annual for my pilot license and fill in that section about smoking, I was ashamed. My subsequent chest X-rays showed complete lung recovery after about 7 years. I never failed a pilot medical exam, which are pretty arduous the older you get. Sense of smell and taste recovered. I will not even light a smoke for anyone else. Stick at it! Kicking the habit combined with abstention from alcohol will give you a great chance of having a better quality life health wise until your time comes.

[Dap]

typical PATHETIC smoker, you'll never quit you'll always be a LOSER, just looking for excuses to start again from day ONE, no wonder your family most likely HATE you, you's can't even get a grip of ya own mind without inhaling TOXIC chemicals good luck

Bad hair day?

[Lancashireman]

It is probably the most difficult habit we break...but it only happens if you want to, and believe you can do it.

I managed to stop 'approx' 9 years, 3 months, 1 day ago! That was after 30 years on 20 plus/day...cigars too when I was 'duty free'.

If you can get about two to three weeks under your belt, you have achieved, turn into months and you are winning. My want dissipated on or around 4 months.

My defence mechanism is simply I hate the smell, the after-burn if you like on the breath of smokers.

I am a typical ex-smoker, of course I detest it. I have spent 35 years in the medical arena, so should probably know better.

Incidentally, I enjoy a beer, have never done drugs, and at 56 I am pretty fit.

Never wanted one since...or a girlfriend who does! Standards...

Good luck all!

Edited April 18, 2014 by Lancashireman

[thaiguzzi]

typical PATHETIC smoker, you'll never quit you'll always be a LOSER, just looking for excuses to start again from day ONE, no wonder your family most likely HATE you, you's can't even get a grip of ya own mind without inhaling TOXIC chemicals good luck

Bad hair day?

Bad Everything day.

[Mudcrab]

I quit without patches, e-cigarettes or anything. Willpower is all you need.

Plenty of willpower, it's the won'tpower that is the problem!

[mamypoko]

typical PATHETIC smoker, you'll never quit you'll always be a LOSER, just looking for excuses to start again from day ONE, no wonder your family most likely HATE you, you's can't even get a grip of ya own mind without inhaling TOXIC chemicals good luck

smoking is deadly and the worst form of self-slavery...it's cute to joke about other things, but internalize this - you are a loser (but I'm really down with your grammar foxtrot oscar, baby...

[Greg Nixon]

I think Thailand would be an easy place to quit. My life and home are smoke free. No one I know is a heavy smoker. No one has offered me a cigarette. I see very few smokers in this suburb of 3000 homes. Perhaps it is the places you habituate.

Death threats on the cigarette packages. Cigarettes covered in the stores. Active anti - smoking campaigns.

[rhythmworx]

Be careful if you don't know how your e-cig is made.

I pulled one of my Boge 510XXL atomizers open and found asbestos cloth in there,

I've been smoking that atomizer for 2 years as it is the only one I found reliable.

Now back on the cigs and roll ups, smoke twice as much as I used to.

[rhythmworx]

Champix/Chantix - quit magically...effortlessly.

Champix Now it's been a year without smoking. Expensive nearly 500€ for the pills back home in FInland, but at least for me it worked.

I'm thinking of getting them.

How long did you take them for?

[MrBanks]

It is not easy to stop, however, I assure you it is worth it.

I used to smoke 40 per day and had tried to stop on several occasions, eventually I realised that I really wanted to stop and that is the key. You must WANT to stop, it is psychological, without wanting it you will have a hard time getting the necessary will power.

Recognise the reasons why you want to stop and every time you get the urge recite those reasons (quietly) to yourself, by the time that you have finished telling yourself why you want to stop the urge will have passed. As time goes on the urges get less strong and more infrequent.

I used to think of all the times that I would get on a plane for a 10 or 12 our flight and how miserable I felt. I also used to say that if this time did not work I would never quit again (that used to inspire me the most). I used to think about all the money I was saving..... I know that is not really relevant here in Thailand, but in England it is immense. You get the idea, come up with your own personal reasons and use them to fight the urge.

You may go through some changes, for instance I ate like a horse, 2 lunches, 2 dinners every day, but that is only temporary. I suffered from mouth ulcers for a while after I quit, again in time that went away.

The benefits are immense, you feel better, you don't get out of breath so easily, your food and drink taste better, your house and car don't smell and you don't stink. I even found that the intensity of a hangover (when I occasionally over do it) was less.

As others have said, it is not easy, but with the right mental attitude to back up the thing that you WANT you can do it.

In my case it is now 16 / 17 years since I stopped (cold turkey), I cannot remember the last time that I had and urge for a cig. I never give it a thought, even though I go to the pub most nights and my wife still smokes. You can do it, just WANT to do it. Best of luck.

[newatthis]

typical PATHETIC smoker, you'll never quit you'll always be a LOSER, just looking for excuses to start again from day ONE, no wonder your family most likely HATE you, you's can't even get a grip of ya own mind without inhaling TOXIC chemicals good luck

Thank you for your encourageing words to the OP.

True, smokers are losers; they'll die ONE day. Of course, the rest of us might have to, too!

[ronthai]

It is ALL about character.

Are you strong or pussy?

Want to stop or NOT?

I bought patches to stop ....

BE STRONG and stop

Good luck, it is all in the mind

[mamypoko]

Champix/Chantix - quit magically...effortlessly.

Champix Now it's been a year without smoking. Expensive nearly 500€ for the pills back home in FInland, but at least for me it worked.

I'm thinking of getting them.

How long did you take them for?

My local doc sat me down and explained the procedure. Start the medication and CONTINUE to smoke for the first seven days (If you can...I couldn't - day 3; as hard as I tried to enjoy smoking, it had lost the effect and 'taste'). From there, I continued the medication for 2.5 months...it's been +/- two years.

I can't remember how much the Starter Pack of Chantix was, but the Maintenance Pack (good for two weeks) is/was 1500 baht. Simple math makes is super cheap, all considered.

From one loser to another :) best of luck!