Update

etherea

We were discussing giving up smoking last week and I just wondered how everyone was getting on. It's 6 weeks since I became a non-smoker.

Tosh

Hey, six weeks is brilliant.

I'm nearly a year off the cigarettes, but still addicted to nicotine - I vape on an electronic cigarette - they're very good, you don't get the harmful stuff (tar + 2000 other poisons); and my lungs are great - I'm running 'n' everything. But I want to kick the vaping into touch too.

How did you do it, or more specifically, how did you cope with the craving and associated feelings?

patbb

congrats to both!

etherea

Tosh, I just decided to stop smoking and that was it! Granted I had been thinking about it for a while. The sad fact is that nicotine doesn't stay in the body for long it's actually the mental dependence on the act of smoking that's the problem, so for me it was crucial to keep my mind and hands occupied. I did go through a period when I didn't smoke for 5 years and only started again because I was pretty much under house arrest waiting to have surgery on my knee and boredom set in.

ThailandTom

Kudos to you guys, I do not or ever have smoked cigarettes but I can understand how hard it must and, and how much of a strong mentality to do so :thumbsup:

Zero

nicotene doesnt stay long in the body but the nicotene receptors and the genetic inclination are hard wired forever - combined with the reiforcement of the software (memory of smoking), a powerful urge indeed... congratulations on giving up - incredibly difficult and severely underrated.. well done - worse case if you fail, go onto vapour cigs as Tosh suggests - not as bad a regular cigs and can help if youre off the wagon - once a smoker, always a smoker...

These are good: https://www.v2cig.co.uk/

vinlyn

Tosh, I just decided to stop smoking and that was it!

You're like me dad. He was a 4 pack a day man for decades, and just quite cold turkey. Congrats!

ThailandTom

I can't remember who it was here who was a big shisha/hookha fan, but I read an interesting article about them. They have been found to be really quite harmful to ones health. I will try and dig out some passages.

This is from the BBc website

A health charity has warned shisha smokers in Glasgow that one hour-long session could be the same as inhaling the smoke of 100 cigarettes.

Scotland's seven shisha bars - all of which have opened in Glasgow since 2007 - allow customers to inhale flavoured tobacco through exotic water pipes.

The British Heart Foundation said some people wrongly thought this was healthy or less harmful than cigarettes.

The charity issued the warning to coincide with No Smoking Day.

The British Heat Foundation (BHF) polled 2,291 adults across the UK, 185 of whom were in Scotland.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
Don't be duped by the sweet smell and wholesome sounding fruity flavours: if you use shisha you are a smoker”
End Quote
Andy Carver

BHF

The results found that 84% of respondents in Scotland believed a shisha was the equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes or fewer while "almost everyone" polled was unaware the amount of smoke inhaled in a typical one-hour session could equal that of 100.

The survey also showed that 9% of respondents from Scotland had used the pipes, which are also known as hookahs.

A freedom of information request submitted by BHF to Glasgow City Council showed that there has been an increase in shisha bars trading in Scotland's largest city in the past five years.

Heart disease

Glasgow now has seven shisha bars compared to none in 2007.

The charity said shisha smoking was linked to the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smoking, including heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy.

However, only half of the adults who responded to the poll in Scotland (53%) knew they could contain tobacco and one in six (17%) thought there were no health risks from using shisha.

A total of 15% thought it was less harmful than smoking cigarettes.

The charity also claimed shishas could provide a new gateway for people to start smoking and become addicted to tobacco.

Andy Carver, prevention and care adviser at BHF Scotland, said: "Contrary to popular belief, shisha is not safer than smoking cigarettes.

"Don't be duped by the sweet smell and wholesome sounding fruity flavours - if you use shisha you are a smoker and that means you're putting your health at risk.

"It's linked to the same serious and life-threatening diseases as cigarettes and there are added risks because you often smoke it for far longer than you would a cigarette, and you're also exposed to toxins from the wood or charcoal used to burn the tobacco."