oh boy i amsure glad i quite. 4 1/2 years ago. i hav flu rite now and i know that if i was still smoking it would be 10 times worse. who wants that!!! on second thort most likely i would not be here. I WOULD BE DEAD and wot kind of a death would it hav been gasping for breath. i watched my wife die that way and i hav to say it aint pretty...oh well smokers, go on with yr habit if you must but bear in mind the horrible risk you are taking...::

My sister gave up smoking three years or so ago. She recommends having a glass of water whenever you feel a craving for a cigarette.

I did exactly that when I gave up in1997 Gigglebyte.

I have never smoked and was brought up in a home where both parents were heavy smokers and my three siblings were into as soon as they could puff.

I remember refusing to sit down the back of the tram with my mother and other smokers.

I left home at 20 so I guess I was a victim of passive smoking which i have read is more dangerous to health.

During my childhood it seemed as though the whole world puffed away with no restrictions as to when or where.

I resented the fact that I went without needs to pay for the smoking and alcohol habit. What has changed, really?

I have just made the decision to quit and have signed up for a new clinical trail involving the Zonnic spray combined with patches through the hospital and the university of Otago. I have tried in the past so am praying this is the answer. Has anyone else started on this trail ?
Still-Raging

I haven't heard of the Zonnic spray, still raging but last year I did try Champix which apparently 'blocked' the area of the brain that craved nicotine. Didn't work for me so I went on to Habitrol Lozenges but couldn't wear the patches because the 'glue' on them reacted on my skin. With perseverence, gallons of water and Curiously Strong Peppermints managed to give up for five months. Had a relapse following a couple of stressful situations and am now using the patches (they have changed the glue) with above peppermints and have been smokefree since 4 January. Persistence and determination seem to be the key. Still have to find a way to cope with additional stress.
Good luck and keep us informed of your progress. You CAN DO IT!

My daughter managed to give it up with hypnosis over a year ago and she hasn't looked back. Son gave up as well but last year he was eating a lot of nicotine lozenges. However six months later I notice he was no longer eating them. When your parents die from smoking related illnesses ,it is sad when your own begin. To see them both give it up is the best present I could ever receive. Good luck to all you battlers. You will succeed.

I was brought up by a family of smokers although my parents kicked the habit in later life, dad with his craven a" and mum smoking her matinees, my elder brothers never kicked the habit and despite my early attempts at smoking it never got hooked, so the only conclusion must be that I don't carry a gene the predisposes me to additictions, so thanks for the smoke filled memory I now have

what an awful picture

The picture is a reminder of the younger generation bringing up babies with bottles filled with coca-cola and fags hanging out of mouths when burping the poor blighter's, as for my parents I can somewhat forgive them for smoking up large as it was driven by the government and the media and some of the well known brands that we used to see (as kids) when going to the flicks at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon to watch batman and robin or John Wayne taming the west and the rascally Indians.

During the intermissions adds galore promoting the evil weed and to name a few, Du Maurier, Pall mall, Capstan, Players and Benson & hedges and if I recall most smokers had badly stained fingers.

I can also remember going into public bars and eyes smarting at the blue filled haze and if you could see the ceiling it was dripping yellow with the odd pie stuck to the plaster work and the odd baby nursed by mum as she shared a jug of beer with hubby.

As I have said the gene of addiction I have is switched off and I am lucky, despite my best efforts to be one of the pack and puff up large, I could not do it, in any case I only smoked to impress the girls.

The picture I believe is poignant and a reminder that we do need to change, it is a horrible habit but I have learned to tolerate it, and don't the smokers cloths smell bad

The way it was...

I cannot tolerate smoking at all. (Even though I smoked as a teenager.) It's really bad for health - risk of stroke, heart attach, affects asthma, causes emphasaemia etc.
Better to make an effort to give it up - this takes time.
Milly 1