h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

severe constipation, spots,uncontrolable emotions, mouth ulcers and sore gums resulting from an unhealthy interest in chewing gum . Other than this, it fine !
Stopped April 04, In search of a new addiction , suggestions welcome.

Hello Moxon,

My b/f and I quit over 3 years ago now, we suffered none of the above I guess we were lucky
We had no help, no patches, gum ect. We both stopped so we could buy our house we had a 10 year mortgage we now have less than 7 years to pay it off then we live mortgage free. If that is not an insentive to stop, then I don't know what is.

Good for you Miz, of course the money these days is often not a factor due to cheap fags from abroad, but your story is a motivator for those paying UK prices. I personally stopped to support someone else who had a health problem and was surprised at my own sucess. Despite the above aflictions, I do not intend to go back on the weed and of course after about 3 months i began to feel human again.I have to say that i think it would be good if the negative effects of withdrawl were discussed more openly so that it doesnt come as such a shock.
Enjoy your mortgage free living, I reckon I have another 23 years to do !!!!

Hi again, mox. I quit smoking on 01/05/97. That date might ring a bell! I had cancer at the time, which made it seem like a good idea. I don't have it any more. I started drinking more and put weight on, but there was a false alarm with the cancer at the time which screwed my head up completely; so that might have been a contributory factor.

I used the patches and found them very effective. Instead of buying the smaller ones when the time comes, cutting the big ones in half works and saves a lot of cash. The instructions say not to do that, but they want your dosh.

toxx

Hi Toxx,
there can't be a better reason to give up than cancer. I can imagien that you went through hell.
I did the same with the patches. Infact by the end i was cutting them in to quaters. I came off them when I realised that the bit of pactch wasnt sticking properly.I agree though, they really do help especially at the beginning.
I reckon i'm through the worst, have had some recent personal trauma and haven't gone back even though i felt the urge. I think its that thing about acknowledging the addiction, i know if I have 1 , I'll be right back to square one.
What happened 1/5/97 or am i being thick ? 95~2000 were wilderness years for me !!!

Hi Mox. Yep, I found that half a patch was about the smallest sample that will stick. You can also get about an extra 12 hours out of the ones that have been used for 24 hours - maybe at a lower strength, I don't know. I found the old ones I'd kept handy in the final stages.

I found later that I could smoke the odd one very occasionally without becoming readdicted. I only actually enjoyed the first lungful or so though, so I wouldn't smoke it all.

Oh yeah, 01/05/97 was the day that Labour took over from the Tories, so my period of abstinence is as long as the life of the current regime.

toxx

Blimey memory man! although at the time it was cause for celebration. I'd never have remembered the date.
Meant to say thanks for the message board links.
mox

Hi mox. I recall that date now mainly becuase it was when I gave up the noxious weed. I also timed it to coincide with the election and the final stages of some therapy that gave me a clear start after some minor alarms. I'd carried on smoking through the operation and radiotherapy so this was my last chance to get a clear run.

Glad if the QQN page is of service. JR and I only update the links now. Actually he collected them and if I find a dud I leave it to him to update it. I set up the page in the first instance and wrote the copy (now well out of date). It became required because the Questions Questions board was extremely unreliable and we decided to protest by byepassing it.

It was soon overtaken by those using The Oldie message board, which was then new! Shortly afterward, some franchised boards like QQ Renegades started up. I'm Doc Turner on QQ and just 'Doc' on the others. Nice bunch of folks, but not really as good as us 'founder members'. JR and I got a couple of name checks on the actual QQ programme, which was fun.

JR and I keep AIM open when we're on line. He's JR as always while I'm 'patacult' due to changing ISPs.

toxx

Ya know Toxx I'm well out of touch, thanks for the info, it'll give me a good starting point