Smoking
There was a family ritual that whenever my mother asked if I smoke, my dad would reply for me "no, she doesn't" knowing full well that I did, so the blame wouldn't fall on him because he smoked and she would have said he was setting an example (which he was, 'cause I always thought smoking was cool because of him).

This would carry on to this day apart from the fact that Sparrow Dodger has made me give up and now I'm fucking miserable because I love smoking and I'm at least three quarters through a tub of Ben and Jerry's and I think my skin might be itching on the inside. And it's only been six days. (Technically only two because I had a bit of one [but not a whole one] on Wedsnesday).

I know it's off topic but I don't care. I want to share my pain. Come and fight me if you dare. I am a woman on the edge.

(Ps, hints and tips would be very welcome)
(Ryfelwr can't stop here... this is bat country, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 21:10, 11 replies)

Nicotine gum

( jim_bob can herd cats., Fri 21 Nov 2008, 21:16, closed)

start knitting
it'll occupy your hands.
also, wear a thin blouse/shirt for work. if you don't have a coat handy, you're less likely to brave the winter weather to go outside for a smoke.

good luck, you're going to need it.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 21:21, closed)

I love smoking too
but I've given up because Mr G-Lo got me drunk and made me sign up for a half-marathon, and fear of failure is driving me on. Actually, thats a tip in itself: publicly agree to do something that would be physically impossible with a severe Marlboro Light habit (God, I even love the words).

I'm the wrong person to answer this: I bloody love smoking.
(G-Lo, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 21:31, closed)

Stick with it!
Well done for lasting six days.

I'm a non-smoker myself, so don't have any personal experience - but since you asked for hints and tips, I will share with you something that I read from Allen Carr's best-selling book - which I believe to be absolutely 100% true, since I also thought about it independently.

Smokers believe that they enjoy smoking. However, this is all a big con - because what they don't realise is that it's all relative. Let me give you an analogy.

Imagine a very stiff, uncomfortable pair of shoes which pinch your feet. Now imagine the feeling of relief you get when you take them off, and soak your feet in a foot spa. Feels lovely, right?

Now imagine a passtime in which people deliberately chose to walk around all day in uncomfortable shoes - purely in order to feel the pleasure of taking them off at the end of the day.

That's exactly what smoking is. You see, the feeling of "relief and relaxation" created by the nicotine hit is only temporary. In fact, what's happening is that the nicotine is creating MORE tension and discomfort, which will be felt in the future. The only cure for this is more nicotine.

The most important thing to realise is, that the feeling of relief and relaxation you get is merely how non-smokers feel all the time anyway. It's just that because you were previously tense due to nicotine withdrawal, the difference feels like a positive.

Silly to walk around in uncomfortable shoes all day: much better to wear confortable trainers all the time anyway. OK, so you won't experience the "relief" feeling - but similarly, your feet will never hurt in the first place.

Therefore the best way to combat the withdrawal symptoms you feel is twofold:

1) Understand and realise the truth of the above
2) Don't consider it as "giving up" smoking. Giving up implies that there was previously something good, which has now been forefeited. Instead, consider it as the transition from being someone who's dependent on a poisonous and addictive drug - into a person who feels perfectly okay without the drug. You're not "giving up" tobacco: you're getting your independence back.

Anyway - however you choose to succeed, I wish you the best of luck! You're doing the right thing.
(EuroSong I love horse meat: best of all the animals, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 21:44, closed)

Alan Carr for the win.
Smoked while I read it, finished my last while reading the very last paragraph and never touched another cigarette. Never went through the pangs. Easy compared to cold turkey.
( argyleblanket The man on the roof works for me, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 23:34, closed)

No drink!
Whatever you do don't go out drinking. This invariably lead to me initially begin drunkenly and obsessively staring at smokers, then begging cigarettes and then waking up in the morning with 2 fags left in a pack of 20. Took me about 5 attempts to give up. I agree set a fitness target it works
(Feral platypus, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 21:45, closed)

those electronic fags
are good, you get the nicotine hit but none of the other crap, plus in the long run they're much cheaper. I've got one, and you can use it in the pub- yeah, inside! message me if you want to know where I got it from.
(randomstupidname would really like this signature field to be bigge, Fri 21 Nov 2008, 22:00, closed)

i got teh cancer
.. and spent 8 months or so in and out of the hospital, puked my guts out, lost my hair etcetc. Mind you, I didn't get teh cancer from smoking ( at least not directly)but i sure as hell don't smoke now. Stick with it and don't get teh cancer! (sorry for lack of funnies)
(goorf, Sat 22 Nov 2008, 0:22, closed)

Thank you
all for such support! I've spent the entire evening fidgeting only for our housemate to come in and say that he's bought me this Alan Carr book... yay! What a sweetie :)

God I want a cigarette...

Might have a Babybel instead...
(Ryfelwr can't stop here... this is bat country, Sat 22 Nov 2008, 1:19, closed)

find things to do with your hands
knitting was a good suggestion, but not one you'll generally get out easily in public.

I've known people to use

eating chuppa chups (turned into an even more expensive habit)

learning to juggle

hacky sack

any small kind of ball or toy you can roll around your fingers or play with when you feel lke a cigarette or see other people smoking.

You quit the nicotine while still retaining the habit. Hopefully gaining a new skill in the process.

Good luck
(misskitty reeks of sex and turpentine; laudanum afternoons, Sat 22 Nov 2008, 2:46, closed)

Another non-smoker here
but I used to work in health care and looked after lots of people with smoking-related illnesses, most of whom were dying.

I'm sure you know what the dangers are so I needn't give you a list of the horrible diseases and conditions I saw.

Not trying to scare you, but all those patients had at one time been happy-go-lucky youngsters who bloody loved smoking and weren't giving it up so get off my back, daddy-o!
A bit like you, really, until recently.

If you beat the addiction, you won't end up like that. Simple!

Of course, many health workers smoke, even ones who look after lung cancer patients, so scare tactics don't work.
CLEVERNESS does though. Giving up is clever.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Sat 22 Nov 2008, 8:48, closed)