My Battle with Cigarettes

It's very easy to give up smoking. Take my word for it. I've given up thirteen times

Every day I battle my addiction to cigarettes, I go to bed wanting a smoke and when I wake up I'm still craving.

Last year, on holidays, I didn't smoke for 3 months, but the craving is powerful and as I write this I could kill for a smoke. Sometimes I despair of ever stopping!

What's wrong with me?

It's easy to pin the exact time when I started smoking.

(No, I don't mean when I was 12 and pinched one of my mother's virginia cork-tips)

I saw smoking as sophisticated, suave, somehow womanly and I wanted to be beautiful just like the women I saw on the screen.

When Lauren Bacall was framed in cigarette smoke in the scene from To Have and Have Not , I practiced her line " "Anybody got a match?" over and over.

I wanted to be like Lauren but I also wanted to be tough like Joan Crawford. I wanted to be bossy as well as beautiful.

Bette Davis was always smoking and even Audrey Hepburn puffed away on camera.

Tobacco companies forked out hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of dollars in the first half of the 20th century, to persuade Hollywood icons to smoke on screen.

It's a timely reminder that the steady drip-drip repetition of positive smoking images can be a powerful force in encouraging people to smoke. Powerful enough make it worth paying actors like Gary Cooper, Clark Gable and Joan Crawford the equivalent of six-figure sums.

Achieve Now - Stop Smoking

You never catch me in the fierce Australian sun without protection. I'm not stupid.

Recently I threw out an expensive electric frying pan because I'd scratched the non-stick surface. I was concerned that the coating would now adhere to my food and I didn't know what that coating was made of. Was it some chemical? To be safe, I turfed the appliance in the rubbish. Not worth the risk.

I never, ever, eat that fast food stuff from the big chain chicken, hamburger, doughnut (heck I don't even eat doughnuts) places. I don't eat any food. from take away shops unless I see them cooking it in front of me. And I mean cook, I don't mean heat up. I try to keep my diet healthy. I take the adage "You are what you eat" to heart.

So why did I smoke continually for years and years? Why do I crave a cigarette as I write this? How seriously stupid is that?

I'm quite aware that I'm a victim of aggressive advertising.

Being a victim does NOT mean staying a victim.

It means you have to fight your way out.

I tried going cold turkey. Who was it coined that phrase? It's more like the red-hot screaming heebie-jeebies.

I tried hypnotherapy. There was no difference in my smoke cravings whatsoever. Even spending all that money on four sessions didn't deter me.

I tried the new anti-smoking drug. This is expensive, but my doctor arranged for it to be under $10 for a month's supply. It made me sleepy, but still desperate for a cigarette.

I tried the nicotine chewing gum. That made me feel sick and still craving for a smoke

I tried the nicotine patches. They help me hold off that first cigarette for about 3 hours. That's a good start!

Micro tabs. I've been having some success with sub-lingual micro tabs. They have a rapid 'hit' that takes the razor edge off the desperation. Followed quickly by an extra strong mint, I can delay the shrieks for an hour at a time!

• First thing in the morning

  When I wake I instantly want a cigarette. This is when I hit the nicotine chewing gum followed by extra strong peppermint lollies. I tell myself to hold off until noon. If I can get through the morning I stand a good chance of getting through the whole day.

  
  

• After a good meal

  Why is it always after a meal? I drink glass after glass of water, clean my teeth and drink more water.This is a battle I often lose.

  
  

• Answering the phone

  I've overcome this by being as fast as I can on the phone. If it's going to be a complicated conversation, I tell callers I will email them

  
  

• Being around Smokers

  This is the worst, this is really the worst. Even if my good friends refrain from smoking when they're in my house, I'm still tormented by the smell of cigarettes that surrounds them. Talk about craving! If I can't get over this one I'll end up with no friends left.

I suppose I do,

I don't care if I spend the rest of my life relying on cigarette substitutes. I don't care if I still have to pay out to the big tobacco companies by purchasing nicotine patches and micro tabs.

I tell myself that I'm not going to inhale the stuff anymore