The Quit Smoking Report Ezine

The Quit Smoking Report 7/14/98

Brought to you by QuitSmoking.com
http://www.quitsmoking.com

Hello,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer (or winter, for my
friends in the southern hemisphere). In the U.S. we celebrated
Independence Day on July 4th. This marks the date (July 4, 1776)
that America declared its independence from British rule (sorry
to my friends in the U.K.)

I hope that each of you will declare your own Independence Day
from cigarettes. Mark it on your calendar. And celebrate it
proudly!

============

I was on vacation (some of you may refer to it as "holiday")
since the last Quit Smoking Report went out.

I stayed in touch while on vacation using my new laptop. The
Internet is a wonderful tool that allowed me to communicate with
people all over the world who were (and are) trying to quit
smoking.

I hope that you will keep me posted on your progress toward
quitting. Send your mailto:fredk@quitsmoking.com

Also, if you have a friend who is trying to quit smoking
why don't you take just a second to forward this email
to them? It may save their life!

============

I can always tell when the words that I write in The Quit Smoking
Report strike a nerve with my readers because I'll get more
people who ask to be removed from this mailing list.

After my last message I got numerous "Removes" from subscribers.
I suppose that sometimes the truth is too difficult to bear. I
don't ever want to gloss over the truth of smoking, its effects
on you, and your own responsibility to overcome YOUR habit. Yes,
quitting is difficult, almost impossible for some people, but
only YOU can end your habit--not me, not your family, not your
doctor, not the government, not even the tobacco
companies. Only you can find the resources, courage,
energy, desire, and just plain guts to quit.

So let's talk about guts for a minute or two. (For my
international friends who don't understand the meaning of "guts",
it basically means the "power and courage and determination
inside your very soul")

I assume that you are getting this email because you want it.
Great! You're way ahead of millions of smokers who say they want
to quit but then don't do anything about it. Admitting you need
help takes guts. Acting on the information you read here takes
even more guts.

Unfortunately you can't buy guts at the store. Guts
must come from within YOU.

You create guts by trying. And trying. And trying.

And eventually you will be Doing. And Doing. And Doing.

Practice makes perfect as they say. Quitting smoking is no
different. To succeed at anything in life you must give it a
try, see how you do, correct your mistakes, try again, correct
your mistakes, try again, until you eventually master that which
you are trying.

The key is to not get discouraged by mistakes, to persist, to try
again, over and over until you win. Don't "beat yourself up"
if you slip. Just quit again. And again. And....

Often you must push through fear of failure, fear of
the unknown, even fear of success and not having
your friend--the cigarette--around anymore.

Many of you have written to tell me about how you quit for months
or years, only to start smoking again at some low or vulnerable
point in your life. You've quit before. Now DO IT AGAIN!
Experience the triumphant feelings that you had before when you
quit. Remember how great you felt? You won! If only for a day
or a week or a year-You Won!

Please win again. Find your guts. They are within you now.

============

This week I'm excited to introduce our newest product: Citrol.
Dr. Jed Rose, the inventor of the nicotine patch, originally
developed Citrol while he was on the faculty of the medical
school at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Citrol is an oral spray with a distinctive citrus taste. It is
nicotine-free and contains no stimulants. The principal
ingredient is citric acid, a naturally occurring substance in the
body. Citrol is NOT a smoking cessation drug, nor a nicotine
replacement drug.

Citrol comes in a handy pocket-sized dispenser about the size of
three cigarettes bundled together. When sprayed to the back of
the throat, Citrol mimics the sensations produced by cigarette
smoke. Citrol works to reduce your desire to smoke, helping you
get over those immediate moments when you want to smoke.

Citrol is ideal for use in smoke-free areas, on airplanes or
other public transportation, in restaurants and theaters, or any
other place where smoking is restricted.

You can use Citrol to complement any smoking cessation program of
nicotine replacement and/or behavioral support you are currently
using. Citrol is not a substitute for an overall smoking
cessation plan, but makes a great addition to any quit method you
are using now. Citrol is also great for smokers who aren't quite
ready to stop, but do wish to cut back on their habit. When you
have the urge to smoke just spray Citrol instead.

Visit our new Citrol page at:
http://www.quitsmoking.com/citrol/

I've made special arrangements for you as a subscriber of The
Quit Smoking Report to try Citrol for a low introductory price.
These prices will only be available until 11:59 PM EST,
July 22, 1998, so take advantage of this subscriber-only
offer today!

Citrol is normally $20.95 for six packs. Your special
subscriber-only price is $16.95, a savings of $4.00. These
prices are so low, they will not be repeated, so get your supply
today! There is a limit of four (4) discounted six-packs
per subscriber.

To order at this special low price, go to the order page
http://www.quitsmoking.com/orderform.htm
and in the Comments box type
"Subscriber Citrol Discount". This will entitle you to
$4.00 off the price of six packs of Citrol. Enter your other
ordering information as you normally would in the order form.
Your subscriber discount will be deducted when your
order is processed.

Questions? mailto:fredk@quitsmoking.com

===================

SMOKERS' STORIES

Athena (aproimakis@sprynet.com) writes:

Hi Fred,

I've written to you before and told my story. I had planned to
quit on the 21st of June. But, on the 11th of June I went out
with 4 of my smoking friends. That night I smoked so much,
almost a whole pack. This made me very sick the next day, since
I had cut down to under one cigarette a day. I felt like I had
worked so hard for months, only to go back to the full potential
of my bad habit. I decided that was it, I was quitting once and
for all. I threw out my remaining cigarettes and quit earlier
than planned, because I wasn't going to let the addiction beat
me. I wanted to kick the disgusting habit and prove everyone
wrong who said I couldn't do it.

So far it has been almost 4 weeks. I am so proud of myself but
the urges seem to get worse. I'm not saying it has been easy,
but with support from my boyfriend, friends, and family it has
been easier. Another thing that helped me out was the ez-quit
cigarette. [Fred's note:
http://www.quitsmoking.com/ezquit/ezquit.htm ] It seemed to help
the mental aspect. Having something that looks and feels like a
cigarette helps a lot. Now days seem to be more beautiful,
flowers seem to smell better, and I feel so energetic and
healthy. I'm proud to say I'm fighting the addiction, maybe
slowly, but I will prevail.

Sincerely,
Athena

+++

Tommye (UserID@gulftel.com) writes:

Thanks for all of the good "quit smoking" stories. I had been
quit smoking for 3 weeks when I was handed down my sentence of
"lung cancer" and it's also in my bones-never did I dream this
could happen to me-always to someone else. They are giving me 6-
12 months to live but I have faith that I'm gonna live much
longer. I'm taking chemo. All of you who believe in the Power
of Prayer, please pray for me as I will continue to pray for all
of you.

Love Ya,
Tommye

[Fred's note: I hope that each of you will take a moment to pray
for Tommye. Thanks.]

+++

Michele (Michele_Lerner@papajohns.com) writes:

Hi Fred! I am a smoker of 9 years. I am 27 years old. I wanted
to thank you for making this information available. Smoking has
become such a taboo and it is believed by many that people who
smoke are stupid for doing so. After some research I discovered
that smoking is more addictive than cocaine! Stupidity has
nothing to do with smoking-it is an extremely strong addiction.
After trying to quit cold turkey several times, I decided to try
the patch. I have been wearing the patch for six days and have
not had one cigarette! I am NOT a strong willed person. I do
not like to be miserable and I believe that is why my prior
attempts at quitting cold turkey failed. The patch has relieved
me of any physical side effects from nicotine withdrawal, and
forced me to focus on the mental "withdrawal". It has been so
much easier than I expected! I can now focus on the habit end of
my addiction, recognize my patterns of cravings, and conquer
them. I recommend this method to anyone who has tried to quit
cold turkey and cannot. But you must have the desire to quit
smoking. If you can tell yourself that you can have a cigarette
whenever you want one, and decide that you do NOT want one, then
you have the right mental attitude to tackle this unhealthy
habit. I still have a long way to go to win my battle with
cigarettes-the rest of my life actually. But I know that each
day I am smoke free will make my battle easier and easier. Good
luck to all of you in your battle against smoking!

+++

Bruce (brus@odsy.net) gives us his quitting story:

I knew I would quit. Like I would tell friends...'its just a
matter of when, not if'. I also had some idea of how I would quit
since I had done it before, years earlier.

Like most people I started smoking when I was a teenager, about
17 years of age. I smoked for about 6 years before managing to
quit. Of those 6 years I suppose I spent at least two of them
trying to figure out how to quit. I tried chewing tobacco,
cigars.....cutting back....everything, but nothing worked. It was
only when I decided to quit cold turkey that I had any luck.

Now if you have quit it is very important that you listen to the
rest of this. I quit for TWENTY years. I was as close to being a
"non-smoker" as you can get. Not only that, but I had also became
a REGISTERED RESPIRATORY THERAPIST! That's right! I learned just
about all there was to know about the respiratory system. How
your lungs work, and more importantly, what happens when
something goes wrong.

I worked with people who spent 24 hours a day...just trying to
breathe. In spite of all that experience, all it took for me to
start smoking again......was ONE weak moment, and ONE cigarette!

I went fishing with my Dad, and brother, both of whom smoke. I
had a couple of beers, and the next thing you know I had talked
myself into .....'just one cigarette' What the hell....one can't
hurt you...right?

WRONG! I'm hear to tell you, that's ALL it takes.

The next thing I knew I was smoking a pack a day, and sometimes
two. It was as if I had never quit. It wasn't long before I hated
it. Although I knew now what it would take to quit, in some ways
it was harder than the first time. Why? That is hard to say, I
guess because I knew the fight would be in my head, and sure
enough I was right.

What worked this time? I can't say enough about ZYBAN! Even
though I wonder if I received a placebo effect for the most part.
It doesn't matter does it? As long as it worked.

I decided to try Zyban after reading some of the success stories
on this list, but I really made up my mind when I learned that
several Nurse friends of mine had quit using the drug. It was the
hardest easy thing I've ever done. For me Zyban reduced the
quitting process to nothing but a mental exercise. If I had
withdrawals....I didn't realize it. Why do I think it had a
placebo effect? Because it was TOO easy. Once I made up my mind
it was easy. My cousin had left me some patches only 7mg patches.
I used them for the first few days and I can't say they helped
because I couldn't tell a difference.

To sum up: For me the tricks for quitting cigarettes are: 1. Cold
Turkey. Won't work for everyone, but its the simplest thing to
do. You don't keep thinking about when you can smoke the next
one, so your mind is not on the cigarettes so much, and your body
rids itself of the nicotine quicker.

2. Use Zyban or Wellbutrin, it sure worked for me. Some how it
took the edge off, and I didn't even notice how. (One of the
nurses I know that quit using it, agreed with me when I
said....'It was too easy.')

3. And maybe the most important thing. Remember it is a MENTAL
GAME. Fight it with your mind. YOU CAN DO IT!!!! Believe it!

4.Once you've won the battle, never forget, you will NEVER win
the war. Not until you are dead. Once a smoker ALWAYS a smoker.
There is no such thing as "...just one cigarette."

Just as when I started again it was like I had never quit, now it
seems as if I never smoked. It's pretty neat.

Good Luck

As of today month 2 weeks 3 days 6 hours $97.39 saved and 1181
not smoked, 4 days longer to live

Bruce McNeely RRT, RCP

+++

Katie (K-kay@webtv.net) writes:

ugh cigarettes

thats how i feel when i smoke , im katie and im want to quit
smoking . Everyday i will try to quit, and i know god willing
I'll be able to quit someday . the letters u send to me are very
helpful. let me know i"m not alone at times I feel very alone
with this I'm trying to keep a support system for me and let
people know i need help. thank u very much for your support i
really do need it.

thanks from not a lost cause yet smoker.

[Fred's note: How about sending Katie some supportive email?]

====================

Where's your story? I'd sure like to share it with the other
subscribers to this email list. Mailto:fredk@quitsmoking.com

I hope to hear from you!

====================

You can find additional helpful quit smoking tips and information at http://www.quitsmoking.com/quitinfo.htm

While you're there, take a look at our products page at
http://www.quitsmoking.com/products.htm for some helpful
quit smoking tools.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time, DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE DAY,

Fred Kelley

QuitSmoking.com
Phone: 770-346-9222
Fax: 770-475-5007
Web: http://www.quitsmoking.com
Email: mailto:fredk@quitsmoking.com

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© Copyright 1998 Fred H. Kelley
This email may be freely distributed and forwarded
as long as the entire email remains intact.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or professional therapist.
The information included in this email is my opinion and the
opinions of the people sending in their comments.
Fred Kelley and QuitSmoking.com make no warranties,
either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy of the
contents of The Quit Smoking Report.

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