Very occasional smoker- help choosing the right type of fags

[wsn03]

Ex fat heavy smoker / drinker and eater of shyte. 15 yrs later im a fit, lean non-smoker who eats really healthy and works out etc.

Once in a while I like to remember my roots, like when I go to Le Mans, or a weekend at a mates house.

As expected I suffer big time coming off the fags after a weekend on them. I know they are filled with all sorts these days to make you suffer if you leave them.

Probably a dumb question, and im really hoping someone will come on here and tell me fags are bad for me (said nobody), but what fags are the easiest to come off? I presume it will be one of the roll up brands???
Any insight to the dilema appreciated

[R8Steve]

The thing they are filled with to make you suffer if you leave them is called nicotine and they all have it.

You could go for a herbal alternative i suppose but it will still have toxins in it.

I wouldn't bother personally as it only takes one to get you back smoking regardless of what anyone may think.

[cbmotorsport]

Been down this route..many times.

Gave up, started again, gave up started again...rinse repeat.

The problem I always had was that I really enjoyed a fag, especially with a drink or on holiday etc, and I'd convince myself that I could happily have a few then knock them on the head again when I got back to my normal daily routine. These special occasions turned into most weekends, then I'd have a few left in a pack on a Monday morning, and have a st day..and boom...back on them. Endless annoying loop of addiction and craving.

There's only really one answer, and that is to stop and don't go back. You've done the hard yards, and the longer you go without having the nostalgic/special occasion ones, the less it will be an issue.

I've now been stopped for good for a long time, I don't really think about them, and don't crave them. I can happily sit with smokers in any situation and not feel the urge to have one, but it took total and absolute abstinence to get there...

[wsn03]

R8Steve said:

The thing they are filled with to make you suffer if you leave them is called nicotine and they all have it.

You could go for a herbal alternative i suppose but it will still have toxins in it.

I wouldn't bother personally as it only takes one to get you back smoking regardless of what anyone may think.

Last time I went herbal was 1980somethig....they were absolutely rank back then. I'm reading some reviews now on menthol herbals with some people claiming they're not bad. Really good advice, might be one for future, thanks

[wsn03]

cbmotorsport said:

Been down this route..many times.

Gave up, started again, gave up started again...rinse repeat.

The problem I always had was that I really enjoyed a fag, especially with a drink or on holiday etc, and I'd convince myself that I could happily have a few then knock them on the head again when I got back to my normal daily routine. These special occasions turned into most weekends, then I'd have a few left in a pack on a Monday morning, and have a st day..and boom...back on them. Endless annoying loop of addiction and craving.

There's only really one answer, and that is to stop and don't go back. You've done the hard yards, and the longer you go without having the nostalgic/special occasion ones, the less it will be an issue.

I've now been stopped for good for a long time, I don't really think about them, and don't crave them. I can happily sit with smokers in any situation and not feel the urge to have one, but it took total and absolute abstinence to get there...

I hear you. The problem is my self-discipline is so high I don't have this problem. I'm highly trained in martial arts, and as part of it I've learned to condition my mind - hence I no longer eat shyte like a pig, I train hard but not excessively, I've gone from drinking daily to not at all.

Then about 5 times a year I have a weekend away when my brain says "you're away, in your old world, fags and beer taste better than anything ever in the whole wide world"....and I actually manage to turn into a total slob, and its great fun. Minute its over my brain makes me go back to my new regime and anything else is non-computable.
The crap part is that I feel like a bit of a neurotic wreck for the first 36 hours :-)

[MYOB]

Don't do it! You may be a highly trained martial art expert but nicotine is probably the toughest opponent in the world.

[wsn03]

MYOB said:

Don't do it! You may be a highly trained martial art expert but nicotine is probably the toughest opponent in the world.

That's brilliant. You are right of course !!!
I should add though I have been doing this occasional smoking for years, only ever on the odd trip away. I've just come back from the Manx Grand Prix, and in the course of coming off a weekends smoking I've wanted to divorce the wife and start a fight with just about everyone because they're all out to get me....same st every time !!!

Edited by wsn03 on Monday 3rd September 18:00

[loughran]

Read Allen Carr's Stopping Smoking Book which shines light on the tobacco industry and nicotine addition. (not the bloke off the telly, the guy that died from smoking.)

Talk to your doctor/practice nurse about Champix to see if it would suit your circumstance/addiction.

[anonymous-user]

loughran said:

Read Allen Carr's Stopping Smoking Book which shines light on the tobacco industry and nicotine addition.

Great advice. You could download the audio-book, and listen to it on the way back from IOM, Le Mans etc.

I listened to the book one day whilst at work and stopped smoking that day. I have had the odd one or two over a few years but I know that if I ever felt genuinely tempted to go full-time this book would put me back on track!

If you are going to smoke occasionally, go for the strongest, and smoke a few more than you'd ideally want, preferably right before bed; when you wake up the next morning with a dry mouth and headache you won't want another!

[Brads67]

Nobody has bothered to answer the OP so I will

Winston one or Silk cut Silver. Both low tar low nicotine.

Should be an easier comedown.

And doing what you do is no bad thing. If you enjoy having a blast every now again that includes a few fags then why not.?

We`re not a Nanny state quite yet, and I dare say you`ll be healthier than most non smokers.

[Captain Smerc]

wsn03 said:

R8Steve said:

The thing they are filled with to make you suffer if you leave them is called nicotine and they all have it.

You could go for a herbal alternative i suppose but it will still have toxins in it.

I wouldn't bother personally as it only takes one to get you back smoking regardless of what anyone may think.

Last time I went herbal was 1980somethig....they were absolutely rank back then. I'm reading some reviews now on menthol herbals with some people claiming they're not bad. Really good advice, might be one for future, thanks

You need to go full Herbal

[popeyewhite]

wsn03 said:

but what fags are the easiest to come off?

The packet you're smoking when that lump under your tongue makes its presence felt.

[MYOB]

Brads67 said:

Winston one or Silk cut Silver. Both low tar low nicotine.

Should be an easier comedown.

Low tar and low nicotine do not make the addiction weaker.

[wsn03]

MYOB said:

Low tar and low nicotine do not make the addiction weaker.

Really? Is that the case? Im asking because I don't know not because I'm challenging the statement.

[wsn03]

Thanks for all the replies so far, very interesting. For sure it doesn't make much sense to be a casual smoker for most people.

I used Alan Carrs book to quit years ago. I totally got the psychology. When I was made redundant years ago the panic of no job was quashed by applying that same psychology to start smoking just to give me a bigger solvable issue to deal with each day (needing my next fag), and it worked for the 3 months before I got myself established, saved me a certain nervous breakdown Im sure.
Alan's arguments keep me disinterested in a smokers daily life successfully too.

However about 6 weekends a year i like to say feck it to everything, and I magically turn into a smoking, drinking slob. Its great for about 2 days until I start to feel ill, but then its time to go home.

If weak cigs don't make things easier I might do roll ups. There is no question its not just nicotene, I've had different symptoms with different brands, hence I think it might be the mix of chemicals.

[mattnovak]

You could try 'American Spirit' snouts.... the hipsters choice (at least when I lived in London 15 years ago!).

[cbmotorsport]

OP, if you're self discipline is as high as you state, you really shouldn't have a problem not bothering to smoke at all. I mean ultimatley what are you getting out of it? A fresh layer of st in your lungs and a cranky 36 hours withdrawal. Doesn't seem worth it for a nostalgic dip into your past life. Probably not what you want to hear. You gave up that lifestyle for a reason.

[loughran]

Smoking roll ups is definitely worth a try.

No filters to stifle you enjoyment, Never knowing how many fags you've smoked, you measure your intake by grammes, not packs of twenty. Fingers go a much deeper colour of yellow. And.....

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-an...

[Cardinal Hips]

Only two choices for me as an occasional smoker:

Roll ups, baccy in order of preference :Pueblo / Amber Leaf / Golden Virginia.

If you want pre-mades then it has to be Silk cut, we don't call them sports fags for nothing. You could happily chuff away on a 20 deck whilst doing a half marathon and feel no ill effects. Sunday morning pub league football sidelines must be littered with Silk cut filters.

[Smoggy XJR]

Try a pipe?