EasyQuit Blog

I can’t remember my first ever cigarette, but I know I had a rather odd attitude to smoking when I was at school in the late 50’s. Some of my friends smoked surreptitiously. They used to go to the cinema in the afternoon in Bristol, primarily to smoke cigarettes and I remember thinking, ‘That’s really pathetic!’

I was a bit of a late-starter when it came to smoking because of my attitude towards my school-friends. I didn’t start until I was 25 and rehearsing a show in New York at the end of 1964. We were working in a theatre club and there was a big cigarette machine there. I started off smoking menthols, then after a bit I moved onto Larks and Parliaments. Most of the time that I was doing Monty Python (and certainly Fawlty Towers) I was smoking quite a lot and I got into a cycle, as many writers do, of making myself a cup of coffee, then having a cigarette with it.

I knew that smoking didn’t make me feel too good, but I never thought of myself as a very heavy smoker. I was vaguely thinking about giving up and then, when I was talking to my dear friend, Robin Skinner, he said something that made a big impression on me. He had been a heavy smoker, but had given up some time before. I think we were talking about smoking and I said that I thought smoking cigarettes relaxed me. He suggested that the next time I had a cigarette, I check my pulse, before and after. I tried it and the moment I realised that having a cigarette put my pulse rate up, I stopped believing that it was relaxing!

Later on I went to see a nututrionist. The nutritionist tried to persuade me to cut out both coffee and cigarettes because he said they were both poison. I hate to say it, but I found it relatively easy to give up, which I think had something to do with the fact that I gave up coffee at the same time. It was a pretty wholesale lifestyle change for me. I went back to coffee eventually but I don’t think that I could have given up smoking if I hadn’t given up coffee as well. It also helped that I’d cut right down some time before I quit smoking completely. That might not work for everybody, but I think it helped me. I was lucky in that I didn’t suffer very severe withdrawal symptoms, I just began to feel a little bit better. I’d always had a bit of a wheezy smoker’s cough and I soon noticed that it had started to clear up. My sense of taste improved quite quickly and there’s no question that your lungs get better when you quit smoking.

I’d given up for some time when I was approached to do some anti-smoking ads by the Health Education Authority. I’d worked with them before and I trusted them to do a good job. They had some very, very good scripts for those ads and that persuaded me to get involved. The best single joke in the campaign was that wonderful one where I’m sitting there with a full ashtray, talking about how much ash the average 40-a-day man creates. “But then of course,” I add, “ they’re not all cremated!” There was another ad in which I coughed non-stop for ages, and one in which I shot a packet of cigarettes with a revolver.

Over the years I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the US, and I never cease to be amazed by the fact that although fewer and fewer older people smoke in America, there still seem to be loads of young people taking it up. The tobacco industry’s marketing obviously works very well as they are addicting new smokers all the time. I think it’s one of the most cynical commercial operations that I’ve ever witnessed. A long time ago, way back, in the early ‘80s, I was approached by a tobacco firm, who asked me to do some cigarette advertisements in Australia. That was when I was smoking 20 a day, and I’m ashamed to say that I agreed to do it. You’ve got to remember though, that the research gradually strengthens the case against tobacco in your mind, and at that time, even though I knew it wasn’t the healthiest habit in the world, I didn’t realise just how bad it was. I remember doing a couple of ads for them, which were shown only in Australia, but I would never agree to do such a thing now.

It is a source of concern to me that my two younger children still smoke, but my approach to trying to modify anyone’s behaviour is not to be dictatorial, as that has exactly the wrong effect. I do say things like, “Check your heart-rate, because then you’ll realise that it’s not relaxing you,” but I would never try and lay down the law.

John’s Top Three Tips:

If you still think that smoking is relaxing then try the ‘Pulse Rate Test’ like I did. Check your pulse before, and after having a cigarette, and you’ll see that smoking really makes your heart race.

Tapering off the number of cigarettes I smoked helped me to quit, but I wasn’t a very heavy smoker, so others might need to stop more abruptly.

Make it a major lifestyle change and consider giving up (or reducing) the amount of tea and coffee you drink. A bigger change can feel like more of a fresh start, and coffee or tea are closely associated with cigarettes for a great many smokers.

Quit SmokingQuit Smoking

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“If you do your best in your present moments, the future will take care of itself.”

Paul Wilson

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Another interview with celebrity ex-smokers. This interview is with supermodel Christy Turlington who has graced countless magazine covers during her successful modelling career. After losing her father to a smoking related disease, she finally managed to beat her own addiction to tobacco and went on to lend her support to the US tobacco control movement.

I was 13 when I first started. I was never directly pressured to smoke by my friends, but by surrounding myself with others who were also experimenting with cigarettes, I felt more socially ‘comfortable’. After about three years of smoking and thinking I wasn’t addicted, I discovered that I was, after all. Young people are most prone to addiction between ages 13-19, so I was right on target! My career contributed to my addiction in that it just wasn’t an issue for people in the modelling business. No one was concerned about my smoking. As a result, I was completely accepted as an adult and a confirmed smoker at a premature age.

I used to smoke at least a pack a day. I would get up and out of the house to wherever I was going, and light up as I got to my destination. It became a familiar part of my work routine. Throughout hair and makeup sessions, breaks would be taken to smoke, as well as between shots. Once back at home at the end of the day, I’d carry on smoking while watching TV.

After a while I was finding myself far too short of breath for my years. My skin had a sallow complexion, and dullness. My hair and skin smelled all the time and my teeth needed to be cleaned more frequently than usual. My immune system was quite broken down as well. I didn’t have much resistance to infection and would frequently go down with colds, strep throat and bronchitis. I hated being addicted to anything, especially cigarettes and I attempted quitting many times. I was ashamed for having let myself (and others) down repeatedly. I was tired of being out of control. I was also motivated to quit by losing my own father to a smoking-related disease.

By the time I finally quit five years ago, the decision came naturally, and I had the strength to do it. I now have no desire to return to smoking. In fact, I’ve experienced many physical benefits since stopping. I feel much more clear-headed, there isn’t any ‘fogginess’ in my head when I wake up in the morning either. I resumed a strict exercise regime, where I increased cardiovascular training as a means to clean out my lungs and blood, while trying to also maintain weight control. I also gave up drinking alcoholic and caffeinated beverages temporarily, to assist my effort.

It’s now five years since I quit smoking and it’s proved to be a major turning point in my life. I knew when I quit that I could do anything I set my mind to. I’m dedicated to discouraging young people from smoking by sharing my story and speaking to teenagers about the manipulative nature of advertising which sometimes uses glamorous imagery to market products that are both harmful and addictive.

Christy’s top three tips for successful quitting:

Make a firm commitment to yourself.

Set a quit date, and don’t stray from it.

Think about all of your loved ones, especially children if you have them, and know that they depend on you. You owe it to them to stick around for as long as possible.

Quit SmokingQuit Smoking

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This article was originally published in Stop! Magazine and it provides an interesting insight into the changes in attitudes around smoking.

TV star, Larry Hagman became a national favourite when he played ruthless Texas oilman, J.R. Ewing in the hit series, Dallas. But success led to excess for Larry, whose smoking and drinking nearly killed him.

My father smoked and so did my step-mother and my step-father. It was accepted completely back then. For my 16th birthday, my mother gave me a carton of cigarettes and a cigarette case! I guess she thought if I was going to do it anyhow, she’d help me get started! I was 14 when I had my first smoke, and I was going out with a 16 year old girl. I really wanted to come across as a man not a boy. She said, “I’ll tell you what, if you take a drag of my cigarette I’ll let you put your hand on my breast!” That was it. I took that first drag, got my reward and then went on to smoke for the next 20 years!’

I was 30 and was making films, when I got the lead role in ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ with Barbara Eden. The show was a big hit and established me as a TV star. It was then that I read about the Surgeon General’s new report on Smoking and Health; it was big news. I read about it in Time magazine and thought, “Gee that sounds just like me, I must be addicted to cigarettes.” I tried to stop straightaway but soon discovered that it was very difficult.

I was doing a film in Italy, when I first started to worry about what smoking might be doing to my health. I had a really terrible cough, so I went to a local doctor for a check up. I couldn’t speak any Italian and the doctor couldn’t speak any English. When he showed me my X-rays, they had scary looking arrows drawn all over them. Struggling to find the right words, he said, “Morte, Morte!” I thought he was telling me that I was about to die, but looking back, I think he was really saying that I had to quit smoking soon. It really got to me.

I made a number of attempts to quit or control my smoking, none of which were very successful. Usually I’d manage to last for a day or two but then I’d be right back where I started. I tried switching to pipes, cigars and chewing tobacco; I tried all kinds of stuff but none of it worked. At most I could go for maybe two weeks without smoking and then … oh God was I miserable to be around! In the end I stopped cold turkey. I threw all my cigarettes away and hung on in there until the cravings went away. There were no treatments around to help you quit back then so I didn’t have much choice really.

Larry’s top three tips:

I’d recommend keeping a diary of when you smoke, so you can analyse your smoking habits and prepare to quit. Just the physical thing of writing it down will remind you of what you’re doing.

You have to stop using all forms of tobacco. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that light cigarettes or pipes or cigars will be any less harmful. Tobacco’s tobacco and it’ll kill you.

Don’t worry, be happy and feel good. As an ex-smoker and an ex-drinker I have more chance of feeling good for longer. As a matter of fact, I feel like I can walk on water!

Quit SmokingQuit Smoking

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“The bad news is that time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

Michael Altshuler

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Quit SmokingQuit Smoking

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Sorry I didn’t get to post yesterday… busy, busy, busy!

I want to talk about some of the illnesses associated with smoking to provide some motivation for you to go on and learn how to quit smoking. If you have read many of my other posts you will know that I refer to learning how to quit smoking quite frequently. The gist is that you need to learn how to do things before you can do them successfully. The simplest example is changing a car tyre. It might seem obvious to you how to do it but you have to undo the nuts before yojack the car!

Anyway, I digress.

Emphysema is the disease I want to talk about today and it is a horrible disease so this is worth learning about!

When you smoke, the particles in the tobacco smoke are inhaled into your lungs where they stick to the membranes throughout your lungs. The particles cause the lungs to be irritated and as a result, you body tries to expel them, using cillia. The cillia though, become overwhelmed by another reaction to the cigarette smoke and that is the overactivity of the mucus glands within your lungs.

With mucus all over the cillia, they lose their ability to function and as a result, the particles (toxins) in the cigarette smoke remain in the lungs. This is why cigarette smokers have black lungs as opposed to nice pink ones found in non-smokers.

Having been overwhelmed, the lung’s next response is to swell up. The inflammation is a natural response to the continued irritation. (Think what happens when you get an insect bite.) When your lungs are inflamed, they release a mixture of enzymes and other metabolic chemicals into the surrounding tissue, but most notably the enzyme elastase is released in large quantities. Elastase breaks down the elastic proteins in the lung tissue. This reduces the lung elasticity which in turn makes the lungs less ‘rubbery’ and less effective for inhaling and exhaling air.

The lung structure breaks down and the vast numbers of highly flexible alvioli (air sacks) are replaced with a holed tissue that is inflexible and useless for absorbing oxygen into the blood. Furthermore, the lack of elasticity within the lungs prevents the sufferer from being able to exhale the air in these holes. The result is stale air that remains in the lungs doing absolutley nothing for the sufferer.

Emphysema is diagnosed using spirometry, checking lung volume and exhaling capacity/speed. Sufferers in early stages will find themselves becoming breathless very easily and often hyperventilate. Hyperventilation over-oxygenates the blood and results in a reddening effect of the skin. Early emphysema sufferers are often referred to as ‘pink puffers’ reddened palour. This is in direct opposition to bronchitis sufferers who become blue from lack of oxygen in the blood (known as cyanosis from the Greek word ‘cyan’ to describe their colour).

Emphysema leaves it sufferers struggling for breath and they often have to purse their lips to improve the effectiveness of their breathing. It is totally incurable and can only be managed with the use of bronchodilators, steroid medications and oxygen. Sufferers are largly incapacitated not only because they become so breathless, but also because treatment with oxygen means carting a 20kg bottle of oxygen everywhere with them.

The single most important contributing factor in emphysema cases is smoking and emphysema effects about 1 in 20 smokers in later life. If you die from it, you suffocate to death over a period of years with no quality of life whatsoever.

I hope that helps motivate you to quit smoking.

emphysema Quit Smokingemphysema Quit Smoking

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“It’s not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.”

Adlai Stevenson

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“If you don’t think every day is a good day, just trying missing one.”

Cavett Robert

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I have decided to give nicotine replacement therapy (my favoured punchbag) a rest for today and ask some questions about quit smoking support forums.

In the years I have been involved with smoking cessation and familiarising myself with the whole industry, I have focussed mainly on the two great evils of smoking cessation: pharmaceutical companies and snake oil vendors.

Smokers are a desperate bunch. They desperately want to quit smoking but they don’t know how and every time they try something new, it fails them (or so it seems). Anecdotally of course, hypnosis, acupuncture, even bloody homoeopathy is successful, but in the long term, education if far and away the most successful way of quitting smoking.

So why am I having a go at quit smoking support forums today?

Well, If you have read my book (if you haven’t you should!) you will understand that I make people realise how easy it can be to quit smoking if you know how. If you know how to quit smoking, much like changing a tyre on your car, you dont need any support. It is so easy, there is no need.

Quit smoking support forums merely serve to perpetuate the lie that quitting smoking is a) difficult and therefore b) a big deal.

It is neither!

Quitting smoking is just as easy as changing a car tyre ONCE YOU KNOW HOW! As a result, you do not need a quit smoking support forum to get you through it, just as you don’t need a tyre changing support forum to overcome changing a tyre on your car!

I am not suggesting for a minute that you don’t look at quit smoking support forums because there is plenty of useful information on them. It’s just a bit difficult to get at because a quit smoking support forum isn’t organised like a book. Books that are written to convey information to you are ordered (it’s one of the things that makes them valuable!) wheras forums are discussion boards and are disorganised. Sure the information is probably there is snippets and nuggets but there is a lot of fat between the meaty bits.

So for now, my view is that you shouldn’t worry about quit smoking support forums, you should worry about learning how to quit smoking!

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