Still trying to shake off the nicotine deficiency-related psychosis. So far so good!

Good luck with that, BC.  And Happy New Year.

Remarkable piece, truly.

Good Luck, Betty!  What are you using to help you quit?

Good luck Betty, I chickened out—again. Then again I was also informed that it would prolly be best for all involved if I became a single man again, so that didn’t help the puffing.

Jeez, sorry to hear it HB.

I quit when I had a wretched cold, figuring that concentrating miseries would be more efficient. But I hadn’t been smoking very long: I was living in North Carolina, and ciggies were so cheap it would have been STUPID not to smoke!

My Auntie Pat quit by breaking her leg. She hadn’t quite planned it that way, but she was laid up and I brought her packs of nicotine gum, to which she switched her addiction. She continued to chew it for YEARS, but it was better than smoking. Now she’s off the stuff, and has taken up brooding and condemnation, so she’s just as much fun as always.

Best of luck, both of yez.

I thought “Obama” was the word.

Love guys with ukuleles. Heck, I love the word “ukulele.” Ukulele…

Good luck, Betty. I can hear you cursing all the way up hear. At least you still have Bourbon.

Btw, just heard on MSNBC that Bill Clinton was being considered to replace Hillary as junior senator from New York. No joke.

Oh man o Manischewitz! I’ve now got my afternoon planned, listening to the OOGB, the Shaft version is pure comedy and musical genius.

Jeez, sorry to hear it HB

Hell Polly, it was a year in the making, not a lot of drama involved.

Well, still,HB. Blecchhh.

UOOGB’s motto: Four Strings Good, Six Strings Bad

Betty, you are quitting smoking?  Please reveal your secret!  I’m too old to worry about dying young, now I worry about dying soon. :(

Kevin, these guys are super.  I’m emailing the video to friends who will love it too.

Thanks for the encouragement on kicking the butts, all. It’s an overstatement to say I’ve quit. I started taking Chantix yesterday, which blocks the body’s nicotine receptors. You’re allowed to keep smoking at 1st if you want, but it’s kind of fruitless—like trying to drink a milkshake with a staw that’s sealed at one end.

Another weird thing—and this was reported by others I know who quit with Chantix: You actually forget to smoke. I didn’t think that would be possible. But it is. If it works, it’ll be worth every penny, even though my bastard insurance company doesn’t cover it.

ATTENTION SMOKERS/QUITTERS:

It may take me awhile to dig up the URL, but I SWEAR I read a recent study suggesting that it’s not the smoking that kills you, but the body-wide metabolic shitstorm that’s triggered when nicotine is suddenly withdrawn from a biological system that has learned to live with it, and forgotten how to live without it.

It may have been a complete crock of shit, but it eased my mind considerable.

PS: I would never discourage anyone from quitting this nasty, expensive habit. All hail those who are trying or have already succeeded. I, however, am weak and open to any rationalization, however shaky.

Betty, my insurance company doesn’t cover it either.  I had been using my FSA for that until it ran out.

I was weak and started again.  I’m thinking of going back to the Doc to get another prescription because, you’re right, you DO forget to smoke.

Thanks for the tips guys.  I’ve quite before using the gum but (of course) became addicted to the gum and eventually went back to smoking more than ever.  I have a feeling the patch would have the same drawback.

Guess I’ll try that Chantix (one of these days anyway).

Glix—Try the Chantix, or (as once worked for me for a year) hypnosis.

I tried the patch, but I liked them so much I started slapping them on six at a time and STILL smoking. I’m lucky I didn’t catch fire or steal a high-lift and fgo on a rampage.

Strange, that’s what I’m afraid of.  I worked with a guy who was wearing the patch but he was out there on smoke breaks with the rest of us.

I tried the patches back in 2000 and they acted as a hallucinogen on me, srsly. I had the weirdest fucking dreams for the three or four days I tried them and I still kept sneaking out back to have a smoke.

Glix—The experience may not be the same for everyone. I’m some kind of inhuman dopamine sponge, so I tend to abuse the “replacements” as badly or worse than the real thing. I finally backed off because I was tasting nicotine 24/7 and giving myself heart twitters.

Everything is worth a try when you’re finally serious about quitting. I may try hypnosis again—since I stopped immediately after a single one-hour private session (not the group thing) and was good for a year. My mistake was foolishly granting myself “just one cigarette, ‘cause I can handle it” when I was out celebrating with friends.

You’re aware of what can happen with the patch, so you’re already forearmed. You just have to trust yourself enough to knock it off if you find yourself enjoying them too much.

Glix—PS: Good luck! It’s worth the effort.

Humboldt—You HAD to bring that up, didn’t you?

Betty,

I am so proud (and envious) of you while you are going through nicotine withdrawal.  I attempt annually to quit in a tropical setting, but while I cut down significantly, I can not seem to actually sever the ties. 

Last year, it was Chantix to the rescue.  I had such awful nightmares that I quit the Chantix, and smoked my wife’s cigarettes.  This year, I’m using the patch, but alas, they are over a year old, and don’t do much to bump my nicotine to required levels, so I smoke my wife’s cigarettes once again. 

Perhaps once I’m back home and freezing my skinny ass off, I’ll be more motivated.

I quit a year ago. I still haven’t lost the weight that I gained.

Gus and Fin suck.

Hey, good luck to all of you who are trying to quit!  I do not smoke but have a couple of friends who do and fully understand it’s an addiction as they are very intelligent people who understand the risks but still have not been able to stop. I am conflicted by it all the time as I lost another good friend a few years ago to throat cancer, caused by smoking, and am still grieving, always will be. 

Anyway, Betty, if you had been in on the Flying Monkey invasion, no doubt it would have set back your efforts considerably (as the guy from Airplane said “today was a bad day to try and quit smoking”).  I was out all evening and then stayed up way too late reading the comments with my jaw on the table!  It’s actually still going on over there (without PUMAs last I checked)

marindenver—With over 300 comments, I think Kevin K.‘s on to a hot franchise here. I think he should repost that same image at regular intervals, with headers like “New Year’s Eve—Day 7.”

This could be evergreen.

In regards to nicotine, I grappled with the subject for sometime and finally reached this delightful accord with my body:

Smoking whilst sober:  Absolutely disgusting
Smoking when drinking:  FREAKING AWESOME